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Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO)

The Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO) has always valued 'leadership over luck' when it comes to measuring the impact of quality work life (QWL) initiatives.

A provincial organization with over 150 members, including all of the regional health authorities and affiliate agencies like independent hospitals and special care homes, SAHO has demonstrated this leadership by implementing unique data systems to track and analyze QWL and support increased accountability.

The systems were created in response to a lack of useable data available for managers to identify, track and measure improvement in key areas related to human resources.

Effective measurement of results is a critical consideration when it comes to QWL issues, according to SAHO President & CEO Susan Antosh. "It's important to understand where you stand, set targets for improvement and measure if improvement occurred," says Antosh. "Without using this type of process, it's more luck than planning if you achieve a positive change."

The data is owned by the members and is available for internal purposes. As a service provider, SAHO collects the data and creates tailored reports for use of its members. The aim is to provide information that assists managers in identifying their usage, how they compare to others and trending insight.

SAHO's innovative reporting system even gives users the flexibility to filter or 'slice and dice' data according to various influencing elements such as gender, age, full-time/part-time/casual status, and so on.

"These reports also allow 'drill down' to the department/unit level and provide comparisons to the next level up," explains Antosh. "For example, if someone is looking at a regional indicator, a provincial comparison of that same indicator will be provided."

The system uses administrative data to provide focus for managers on a timely basis, and gives them the functionality to analyze data specifically reflecting the area for which they have responsibility.

"Our approach is not only creative, but it leads to greater efficiency in practice due to the timely and efficient method of collecting data, along with comparability," confirms Antosh.

SAHO's targeted approach has also proven to be an effective tool over the last five years for the regional accountability structure.

The system's ability to isolate key data elements has allowed SAHO, on behalf of the regional health authorities, to provide the provincial government with specific indicators such as overtime hours per paid full-time employee or sick hours per part-time employee on behalf of regional health authorities.

Fortunately SAHO's successes to date have not tempted them to rest on their laurels, and the best of their QWL-related innovation may be yet to come.

"As a next step, SAHO is seeking funding so we can implement an executive 'dashboard' which provides key indicators such as those used by the Quality Worklife Quality Healthcare Collaborative (QWQHC) to all managers at their level of accountability with targets and comparison information," says Antosh.

To round out their QWL efforts on behalf of its membership, SAHO is also involved in a safety management system for healthcare workers, and SAHO staff are active in HHR planning and committees focused on QWL strategies at a provincial level.

With this level of attention to detail and dedication to member services, it's no wonder that when it comes to SAHO's QWL leadership, luck has nothing to do with it.

For more information on SAHO, please visit www.saho.org.