Boston, MA, USA and Araguari, Brazil – The Center for Medical Simulation and The Hospital Universitário Sagrada Família (HUSF) are proud to announce HUSF’s widespread adoption of Circle Up, a groundbreaking approach to teamwork and communication in healthcare. This implementation marks a significant milestone in the hospital’s commitment to creating a people-first organization, prioritizing the well-being and clinical readiness of its clinicians and teams.
“We are thrilled to see the impact of Circle Up on our hospital culture,” said President José Júlio Lafayette. “Our teams are now more connected and supportive, leading to improved patient care and a more positive work environment.”
Dr. Henrique Arantes, Chief Learning Officer, added, “Circle Up has been instrumental in fostering a culture of psychological safety and collaboration among our teams. We are grateful for the guidance of the ALPS team at the Center for Medical Simulation.”
Chris Roussin, PhD, inventor of Circle Up, Harvard Medical School faculty member, and leader of the ALPS team, praised the hospital’s commitment to creating a team-first culture, saying, “The implementation of Circle Up at HUSF is truly impressive. It’s a testament to the hospital’s dedication to putting people first.”
The Circle Up implementation at HUSF (translated into “The Team Circle”) includes a range of daily huddles, designed to bring clinical teams together and promote a culture of teamwork and psychological safety. These huddles include:
- Warmups (briefings): Huddles to set the stage for the day ahead through shared support, planning, and mental rehearsals of key tasks
- Supportive peer check-ins: As-needed check-ins to foster open communication, support, and well-being
- Cooldowns (debriefings): Huddles to reflect on the shift’s events and learn from experiences
“One of the main impacts [of Circle Up] is on the interactivity between the multi-team, from hygiene to the doctor, everyone being known by name and having the possibility to talk about specific situations relevant to the work and being able to deal with them in the Circle Up,” said Gracielly Narduccy Rodrigues, Chief Nursing Officer.
“The positive impacts of Circle Up include more effective communication and better collaboration between team members. Furthermore, it promotes employee engagement and a more harmonious work environment. Consequently, the quality of care provided to patients is better,” added Thales Resende Damião, Anesthesiologist and Chief Medical Officer.
To date, the hospital has seen remarkable engagement, with over 250 Circle Up huddles conducted in just a few months, involving nearly 20 trained clinician-facilitators and over 3,000 clinician interactions.
“The Team Circle is a strategy that allows the distance between health professionals in the multidisciplinary team to be reduced… The experience of using the Team Circle strategy at Sagrada Família University Hospital has been very positive,” said Juliana Pontes Pinto Freitas, PhD, Chief of Pediatric ICU.
“I believe that two are the greatest potentialities of the Team Circle. The first is to create an emotionally safe work environment and allow everyone to talk openly about their weaknesses on a given day or situation… Sharing learning is the second potential of the strategy because in teamwork it is not enough for just one person to have a large volume of knowledge while others only have basic knowledge about it,” added Juliana Pontes Pinto Freitas, PhD, Chief of Pediatric ICU.
The hospital’s commitment to Circle Up has led to improved communication, increased collaboration, and enhanced patient care. As HUSF continues to prioritize its people-first approach, it sets an inspiring example for healthcare organizations worldwide.
For more information about Circle Up or other CMS-ALPS programs please contact: info@harvardmedsim.org
