Sustaining clinical programs during difficult economic times: a case series from the Hospital Elder Life Program.

Objectives: To explore strategies used by clinical programs to justify operations to decision-makers using the example of the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP), an evidence-based, cost-effective program to improve care for hospitalized older adults.

Design: Qualitative study design using 62 in-depth, semistructured interviews conducted with HELP staff members and hospital administrators between September 2008 and August 2009.

Setting: Nineteen HELP sites in hospitals across the United States and Canada that had been recruiting patients for at least 6 months.

Participants: HELP staff and hospital administrators.

Measurements: Participant experiences sustaining the program in the face of actual or perceived financial threats, with a focus on factors they believe are effective in justifying the program to decision-makers in the hospital or health system.

Results: Using the constant comparative method, a standard qualitative analysis technique, three major themes were identified across interviews. Each focuses on a strategy for successfully justifying the program and securing funds for continued operations: interact meaningfully with decision-makers, including formal presentations that showcase operational successes and informal means that highlight the benefits of HELP to the hospital or health system; document day-to-day, operational successes in metrics that resonate with decision-maker priorities; and garner support from influential hospital staff that feed into administrative decision-making, particularly nurses and physicians.

Conclusion: As clinical programs face financially challenging times, it is important to find effective ways to justify their operations to decision-makers. Strategies described here may help clinically effective and cost-effective programs sustain themselves and thus may help improve care in their institutions.