Streamlining the Process of Communicating and Reporting of Hospital Operations by Using Checklists as a Quality Improvement Tool: An Experience of Designing and Implementation at a Large Multispeciality Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Introduction: Checklists used in hospitals and healthcare organizations can promote process improvements and increase hospital, employee, and patient safety and can be implemented anywhere in the hospital, whether it is to show adherence to a protocol or to ensure that a certain set of duties are being completed daily. Even with the apparently quick acceptance and dissemination of the checklists, there are limited researches depicting the definite methods of creating and implementing such tools in health care. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the experiences from checklist development and implementation in a group of three vital departments of hospital—Medical Records Department, Central Sterile Supplies Department, and Department of Nursing Services. Materials and methods: Execution of customized version of checklists in three following departments was planned, i.e., Medical Records Department, Central Sterile Supplies Department, and Department of Nursing Services, and after ensuring the changes made after pilot testing were valid, training programs for all the staffs of those three departments was planned, and the checklists was implemented using PDSA cycle. Conclusion: Checklists development involves a comprehensive, efficient and systematic approach, especially when implemented in high intensity fields for example the medical field. The checklists will help hospitals and health care systems in their endeavors to prevent and lessen preventable errors, which are the ultimate objectives of any healthcare organization.