As I reflect on the recently ended fiscal year 2019 at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, the word “extraordinary” comes to mind. Along with extraordinary challenges, FY19 gave us plenty of reasons to celebrate extraordinary accomplishments.
LG Health felt the impact of a hospital closing, which created significant staffing and other challenges while we worked to accommodate increased demand. At the same time, we earned prestigious recognitions for quality, safety and community service, and announced our intent to pursue the largest expansion project in our history.
Despite FY19’s challenges, our remarkable and dedicated teams were able to make significant progress toward LG Health’s annual system goals. Thank you to all for helping us continue to improve clinical outcomes and patient safety, experience, access, financial performance and retention of our talented staff.
As we begin fiscal year 2020, our goals will once again align with our five dimensions of performance: Quality, Experience, Access, Finance and People. In this column, I will briefly introduce our FY20 goals. You will find more details on the infographic below.
- Quality: Reduce 30-day readmissions. Reducing readmission rates is a key component of LG Health’s efforts to become highly reliable and eliminate harm to everyone in our care. In the year ahead, we will continue to utilize Continuous Improvement practices to reduce infections, complications and other factors that contribute to readmissions.
- Experience: Increase likelihood to recommend. Delivering an extraordinary patient experience sets LG Health apart. It’s also the right thing to do. Patients who have a positive experience are more likely to return for future care and recommend us to others. Emphasizing the Penn Medicine Experience Standards will ensure a consistently extraordinary experience for all of our patients and their families.
- Access: Increase distinct lives. To grow the number of patients LG Health serves, we will continue our efforts to provide convenient, affordable and timely care. This will include opening an annex to the Emergency Department at LGH, as well as our seventh Urgent Care; promoting same-day access at our primary-care practices; and expanding our use of interactive technology.
- Finance: Achieve operating margin. We will continue to grow and optimize revenue, reduce waste and ensure efficient spending whenever possible. Maintaining sufficient financial strength will enable us to achieve our short-term goals, including the Duke Street Expansion, as well as our long-term vision of serving our community for the next century and beyond.
- People: Improve organizational retention. LG Health owes our success to the dedication, hard work and loyalty of our employees. In the year ahead, we will continue to look at opportunities to enhance your compensation, benefits, development and professional well-being, as well as workplace safety. These efforts in turn will enable us to attract, hire, develop and retain a healthy workforce.
In the coming months, you will learn much more about our FY20 goals and how your own work directly impacts our success. With your support and our ongoing commitment to Continuous Improvement, I am confident that we will achieve our goals and become even more consistent and reliable in our performance. Thank you again for your commitment to our organization and those who depend on us for vital health-care services.
