Information

Network roadmap

Team roster

Team org chart

Network pillar goals

Nine Principles of Excellence

Linkage grid

Form

Rounding

Rounding guidelines

Thank you notes

Thank you notes will be addressed, stamped and logged by your VP's administrative associate.

Resources

StuderGroup.com

Studer's Partner Website for NHHN: After registering at www.studergroup.com, access the StuderGroup Partner Site by clicking on Partner Site in the upper right-hand corner of the screen (after you log in). Enter NHHN's password: 727medicine. Only hospitals who are engaged with the StuderGoup have access to these resources.

Upcoming LDI Session - March 29-30

Location: Coast Line Convention Center at 501 Nutt Street (not Sunspree as originally scheduled). Limited parking. Please car pool.

Time: Registration and Continental Breakfast for both days begins at 7:30 a.m. Training begins promptly at 8:30 a.m.

Dress is casual and jeans are welcome. Wear your favorite school colors.

There will be assigned seating both days for both the program and for lunch, designated by the numbers on your ID badge given that morning.

No cell phones or pages are allowed. A master cellphone and pager will be manned throughout the day for emergencies only. The pager number is 254-8131 and the cellphone number is 617-1250.

New rounding tools available; no more faxing required
In an effort to simplify the rounding reporting process, a new form has been added to CapsulesLive that replaces the weekly faxed forms.

This form is called the “Rounding Summary Log” and is available through a link on the home page of CapsulesLive and the Service Excellence page. (This is not available for submission from home).

No longer are managers required to fax their rounding logs at the end of each week. The form online is the only submission that is needed and it may be submitted as frequently as the manager desires.

Also on CapsulesLive are a variety of rounding forms that may be used for taking notes during the rounding process. These forms are provided as a guide and as a method of taking notes during rounding. (See worksheets under the "Rounding" heading at right).

Managers are free to develop their own rounding forms or use anything they wish to write on. Keep in mind that notes taken during rounding are to be discussed at meetings between managers and their directors or vice presidents, so the notes should be kept in some way.

The official method of tracking rounding frequency, however, is by using the Rounding Summary Log form and submitting it. This is the information the Accountability Team will use to ensure all medical center leadership is rounding as required by the Rounding Guidelines.

The summary log should include the most important information from the rounding episode.

Remember, rounding is a chance to have meaningful interaction with employees, patients and physicians, giving leaders an opportunity to reward their staff members and improve patients’ experiences.

New logo brands service excellence for NHRMC
Many hospitals that embark on an initiative like service excellence choose to create a logo and slogan, or a brand, for the initiative that makes it their own.

The Communication Team took on this challenge and created the “Geared Up For Greatness” theme. The team unveiled the logo during the LDI training and explained its symbolism.

Gears were used to represent the need for all parts to work together, just as it takes all departments working in harmony to make the medical center run smoothly.

Five gears were chosen to represent the five pillars of service excellence. Each gear was given a pillar designation:

- Green represents the Finance pillar
- Blue represents the Quality pillar
- Yellow represents the Growth pillar
- Orange represents the Service pillar
- Purple represents the People pillar

The purple pillar was placed at the center as a reminder that people truly are at the center of everything the medical center does, whether they be patients and their families, employees and co-workers or physicians and volunteers. This purple gear is meant to remind employees to keep people the center of their focus.

Each gear then was given nine spokes to remind employees of the Nine Principles of Service Excellence.
The logo will soon start making its way onto many items around the network and, eventually, to every medical center employee.

Communication boards coming to each department
A key component in the goal-setting process for departments is the establishment of a communication board. These boards are the way staff members, patients and visitors can easily see the network’s goals and department-specific goals.

With the exception of having different department goals, the boards should look the same across all departments in the medical center so they are instantly recognizable as the center for information on network and departmental goals.
A representative from each department should have received a starter kit of materials to create this board during the LDI training. The kit contains pre-printed cards to put together the board seen above.

If starter kits are needed or more information, call Kendra Gerlach at ext. 2668.

Department leaders have been asked to identify a 3x4-foot space in a publically visible area for establishing their communication boards. An existing board may be used, or if a new board is needed, please e-mail that request to Deb Stafford through GroupWise.

Because the network’s goals are already established, those cards are pre-printed and ready to be cut out and hung. Once each department establishes its own goals, the cards provided in the starter kit will be used to write those goals to then be posted under the appropriate pillar. Likewise, as steps are taken to achieve success under each goal, those success will be tracked in the same manner.

Goal setting soon moves to department level
Bill Bielenda, a coach from Studer Group, introduced the next “Must Have” topic for the medical center: Leader Evaluations. But before leader evaluations can be developed, the medical center must have goals in place that are working toward the same objectives, from the very top to each departmental objective.

Leader evaluations will then be based off these goals, helping to keep leaders focused on what’s most important to the medical center.

NHRMC has already set overall goals under the Five Pillars of Service Excellence. These were reviewed at the last LDI and will soon be going up on communication boards throughout the medical center.

The next step will be for senior leaders to set goals that are aligned with the medical center’s overall goals. That is expected to be complete Feb. 7. Once those are set, department leadership will set goals that align with their senior leader’s goals.

Goal alignment will ensure that department leader activities are consistent with and supporting the goals of the organization.

Once established, goals are given a weight, or level of priority. For instance, if five goals are set and all are given a 20-percent weight, they would be of equal importance. If one is given a 40-percent weight two are weighted at only 10 percent each, clearly the 40 percent goal is of higher priority.

Goals will be reviewed by each department’s senior leader and then shared to ensure all needs are met, particularly when a goal could impact another department. This helps departments know what each other is doing, how they can work to help each other reach their goals and it helps to know that other areas are working toward aggressive goals as well.

NHRMC’s leadership is working now to establish vice president-level goals that align with the overall goals already set by the medical center. Goal setting will be discussed again at the March LDI.

For your toolbox...

AIDET is a tool to be used by every person who interacts with patients. Many caregivers are probably already doing some form of this communication, but this tool provides an easy way to remember all the points to cover when talking to a patient about his or her upcoming treatment.
Example for a patient transporter: "Hello, Mrs. Jones. I'm John Smith. I'm going to take you for your ultrasound now. The staff in ultrasound is excellent. They'll take very good care of you. We expect this to take about an hour and then I'll bring you back to your room. Thank you."

Five pillars of excellence
The network's first goals under each of the Pillars of Excellence are listed below. These goals will be tracked and their progress reported on through communication boards and other means so that every employee will know how we’re progressing.

Growth Pillar:

• Achieve new patient volume growth of 3.6 percent

Finance Pillar:

• Attain operating margin of 2.5 percent
• Achieve cost per adjusted discharge of $9,571

Quality Pillar:

• Reduce rate of patient falls from 3.9 falls per 1,000 patient days to 2.0 falls per 1,000 patient days
• Achieve 90 percent compliance in reviewing discharge instructions with CHF patients and reviewing smoking
  cessation strategies with CHF, CAP and MI patients
• Achieve 90 percent compliance in administering beta blockers and/or aspirin upon arrival and at discharge

People Pillar:

• Decrease turnover by 2 percentage points (from a baseline of 19.7 percent in FY04)
• Increase overall employee satisfaction rating to the mean (50th percentile)

Service Pillar:

• Increase physician satisfaction scores by 20 percent (using Jackson Survey as baseline)
• Increase patient satisfaction by 25 percent by 4th
• Quarter FY05 (using first quarter FY05 Press Ganey survey results as baseline)

Nine Principles of Service Excellence
Principle 1:
Commit to Excellence
This principle teaches that a firm and measurable commitment to excellence is a must for success. Part of this commitment is a hardwiring among the leaders for strategic direction, accountability for the things that must be done, and then tracking that progress at all levels of the network.

Principle 2:
Measure the Important Things
This principle teaches the value of measuring to reach important goals and how to use measurement to align behavior. Measuring goals helps excite the organization when gains are made while holding people accountable for continuing their efforts to make progress.

Principle 3:
Build a Culture Around Service
This principle will teach how service teams (the teams now in place for this initiative) can be used effectively in our organization, how the "Must Haves" (like thank you notes and rounding for outcomes) will position the medical center for improved patient, employee and physician satisfaction.

Principle 4:
Create and Develop Leaders
This principle teaches that the pursuit of excellence will happen in phases - the same phases that have been experienced by all hospitals that embark on this journey and how our organization must evolve to reach success. This evolution will include "hardwiring" some practices into the daily work life until they become a natural part of what we do. This principle will also teach us how to reinforce high performers, how to move employees from being middle performers to high performers and how to work with low performers.

Principle 5:
Focus on Employee Satisfaction
This principle teaches how employee satisfaction impacts patient satisfaction and teaches ways to identify employee needs by using tools like leadership rounding - a "Must Have" behavior that employees will start to see in action around the medical center.
It also teaches how to effectively roll out employee perception survey results - something the network will be doing in the coming weeks.

Principle 6:
Build Individual Accountability
This principle teaches how to successfully steer new employees through their first 90 days on the job and the importance of selecting the right employees. It explains the high cost of employee turnover and how to change employee attitudes from those of "renters" to "owners" of the organization.

Principle 7:
Align Behaviors with Goals and Values
This principle teaches how to connect the vision, value and goals of the organization into the daily decisions, behaviors and actions of the employees. This draws from the goals the medical center has identified under the five Pillars of Excellence (see more about that below) and helps connect them to specific plans at the departmental level for achieving those goals.

Principle 8:
Communicate at All Levels
This principle teaches how to use communication boards to effectively convey the network's goals throughout the organization, how to run an effective employee and CEO forum and how to positively position co-workers and leaders through "managing up." See an example of managing up under "Rounding for Outcomes." (Page 4)

Principle 9:
Recognize and Reward Success
This principle teaches the impact of publicly rewarding and recognizing employees to reinforce positive behavior, to create role models for other staff members, to show staff how they can make a difference and to create winners that will improve network service and quality.

Service and Operational Excellence Team Rosters
Team leaders are in blue 

Printable version