Soon after our work with Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Army Medical Department of the U.S. Army (AMEDD) identified a great opportunity to roll out service excellence standards across their organization using the Back to BASICS training program.
The IDEAS team was asked to assist in the redesign of the Back to BASICS course materials. There was a great synergy between the IDEAS and key stakeholders within AMEDD, allowing us to get right to work bringing to life a new and improved Back to BASICS course for a global, Army Medicine audience. Although the framework of the training remained the same, we needed to address the context in which this training would come to life. There were new audiences to consider, new locations to think about, and new stories to incorporate to ensure that the messaging and training was relevant and applicable.
With the guidance and input of the AMEDD team a new audience analysis was conducted, stories were revised to speak to the vast roles and locations that comprise the Army Medicine organization, and the course was given a new title. It was determined that Begin with the BASICS was a more universal concept to roll out across their staff.
Begin with the BASICS has become the set of service standards that all staff members across AMEDD use as the benchmark for providing consistent service excellence to all patients, family members, and fellow staff. The simplicity and universality of the standards and storytelling assets for sustainment are key to making this a program something that will eventually be adopted and practiced across all of Army Medicine.
The Begin with the BASICS training program has also become integrated in to the Army Medicine Culture of Trust training initiative as well as tightly tied in to their Leaders Course. As new officers are commissioned to an assignment within Army Medicine, they are introduced to the BASICS. It is quickly becoming embedded in to the culture of every installation and facility across Army Medicine.
IDEAS’ work ties into the overall rich heritage of Army Medicine and supporting the key theme of Bringing Value…Inspiring Trust through all its message points. Below, Special Assistant to the Army Surgeon General Fred Larson talks about the program.
