Jan L. Bergen, CEO, Lancaster General Health
I am pleased to announce the winners of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health’s 2018 CEO Award. This annual award, which is LG Health’s highest institutional honor, recognizes teams for extraordinary, measurable value in support of our Mission and Vision.
The winning teams demonstrate specific, sustainable results that impact patients, team members and the entire health system in our five dimensions of performance: Quality & Safety, Experience, Access, Finance and People.
A committee of LG Health leaders reviewed submissions from the 16 nominated teams and I had the difficult task of selecting the winners. The quality of the submissions was outstanding, and I am very proud of all the nominated teams.
Two teams stood out for their truly extraordinary accomplishments. Both are wonderful examples of the transformational work that currently engages so many teams throughout LG Health.
The Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute team implemented the Oncology Care Model to increase standardization in outpatient care, care coordination and end-of-life treatment. In doing so, the team hoped to decrease the number of patients unable to effectively manage side effects at home. These patients often sought care at the ED or were admitted to the hospital, resulting in higher costs of care.
The team worked together to standardize procedures and handoffs, nursing and patient education, and documentation templates, and build smart phrases in Epic. All staff members were empowered to share barriers that impact patient care, and test ideas and outcomes.
The team’s impressive results include a 19 percent decrease in 30-day readmission rates and a 20 percent decrease in seven-day readmission rates, as well as decreased ED usage and improved hospice utilization. The project also generated a significant cost savings for the health system.
The Emergency Department, Observation Unit and Performance Improvement teams worked together on standardization and process improvement in the ED, with the goal of improving patient experience and Likelihood to Recommend scores.
The team engaged in rapid improvement cycles and projects to positively impact patient perception of wait time, experience and satisfaction, and efficiency. Regular huddles engaged staff in idea generation and implementation.
The team’s accomplishments included a 51 percent decrease in the number of patients who left the ED without being seen and a 3 percent increase in patients who reported being kept informed about delays. The team also reduced disposition to departure time from the ED to Observation from 79 minutes to 35 minutes 50 percent of the time.
I was impressed by the winning teams’ strong commitment to the principles of continuous improvement. The use of Lean tools and processes enhanced the work of both teams, which reflects the cross-discipline collaboration that is essential to driving transformational results. I truly believe that LG Health’s commitment to continuous improvement will enable us to become even more consistent and reliable in our performance, which is so critical to providing our patients and community with the safe, high-quality care and extraordinary experience they expect and deserve.
Please join me in congratulating the winners of our CEO Award!