Posted by: astanowski | March 5, 2010

The CFO Perspective

Late in 2009, I had the good fortune to participate in a series of roundtables with leading CFOs and healthcare executives.  I previously blogged about how the strategies  focused on enhancing value of care delivery.  Whether these strategies involve perfecting the patient experience, removing waste, eliminating defects, or reducing process variation, they ultimately will play a strong role in driving volume and margin.  The approaches recognized the changing relationships between hospitals and physicians, and the need to identify and evaluate key measures of the patient experience as well as foster clinical/financial collaboration across all departments.   This quote from Teresa G. Finch, CFO Woman’s Hospital of Texas, Houston, sums up the need for collaboration: “You have to involve clinical and nonclinical staff by getting them together to talk and round with patients.”

HFMA has made available the full write-ups of the session in Philadelphia and in Houston.  You can access them by visiting the HFMA web site at either:

http://www.hfma.org/NR/rdonlyres/11530D88-40C8-45BE-9BF7-C383BEEFCCE8/0/400686ValueCareDeliveryRoundtable.pdf

Or

http://www.hfma.org/NR/rdonlyres/CABA400B-1F87-4C5C-B181-CCC497396E53/0/1075_Roundtable200910Aramark_w2.pdf

Leave a Comment

Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: ,

Posted by: astanowski | February 17, 2010

Checking the Promise of Quality

During the recent snowstorms in the East, one of my friends told me about an arrangement that he has with a neighbor.  The neighbor has a John Deere tractor, and ploughs the snow from their driveway.  In return, my friend, who is a tool and die maker, fixes their tractor when needed.  He said that he certainly gets the better of the deal, because a John Deere rarely breaks!

In the 2005 book, The John Deere Way, David Magee reports on Deere’s commitment to quality and customer service.  Quality extends far beyond the John Deere product lines and dealerships.  The total quality effort is what employees see…that quality in their daily work ultimately results in quality that the customer sees when they “get behind the wheel of a new yellow Deere 710 backhoe loader.”

Hospitals and tractors are certainly different animals, but the importance of quality processes is shared. In a recent blog (2/8/2010), Bob Wachter reviews Atul Gawande’s Checklist Manifesto. The insightful point that Wachter makes is that “the public is so unsettled by our patient safety and quality flaws… (because) they assume that we do know the right thing to do, but simply screwed it up.”  Wachter quotes Gawande: “… under conditions of true complexity – where the knowledge required exceeds that of any individual and unpredictability reigns – efforts to dictate everything from the center will fail.  People need room to act and adapt.”  Read More…

Leave a Comment

Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by: astanowski | January 26, 2010

Join me for a Free Webinar

At a time when the implications of healthcare reform are uncertain, there are things that remain constant – like operational efficiency and patient satisfaction. On 1/28/2010, I’m moderating a webinar that explores practical application of the Studer Principles with support services delivered by ARAMARK Healthcare to meet the goals of Philadelphia-area Holy Redeemer Health System. The presenters will demonstrate an application of LEAN methodology to improve patient satisfaction and financial performance. ARAMARK’s I Impact management system underlies the basis for prescriptive behaviors, measurement, and accountability. 
 
I’m proud to work with a great group of professionals around this webinar. Patrick Kennedy, Senior Vice President of Holy Redeemer presents his organization’s situation in 2003, and an approach to demonstrate improvement in patient satisfaction and other outcomes by unit. Industry guru, Quint Studer, provides a foundation for underlying performance standards. Jan Moellering, VP for Strategic Development, ARAMARK Healthcare examines how a partner organization works within a hospital to meet the hospitals goals.  
 
More than 800 people have registered for the session. If you would like to attend, you can register on the ARAMARK Healthcare web site. The session is offered at no cost.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: astanowski | January 22, 2010

Comparing Financial and Operational Data to Evaluate Clinical Engineering Performance

In his January/March 2008 Journal of Clinical Engineering article, Clinical Engineering Benchmarking: An Analysis of American Acute Care Hospitals, Binseng Wang, ScD, CCE, Vice President, Performance Management and Regulatory Compliance for ARAMARK Healthcare’s Clinical Technology Services group, reported detailed analysis of data collected by Thomson Reuters from 253 acute care hospitals exploring a variety of different metrics, such as:

  • Total number of scheduled maintenance work orders completed in a year as a function of the total number of capital equipment owned by the hospital
  • Percentage of CE departments that have administrative support as a function of the number of FTEs
  • Total number of FTEs in the CE department as a function of adjusted discharges
  • The total number of pieces of capital equipment and unscheduled repairs completed in a year as a function of the hospital’s total patient occupancy percentage
  • CE labor expense versus total CE expense
  • Parts and supplies expense versus total CE expense
  • Service contract expense versus total CE expense
  • Total cost of management and maintenance of medical equipment (total CE expense) versus the total capital acquisition costs
  • Total CE expense versus the total number of beds that are staffed and operated by each hospital
  • Total CE expense versus adjusted patient discharges
  • Total CE expense versus the total number of capital equipment it maintains
  • Total CE expense versus the hospital’s total operating expense.

From this study, Dr. Wang concluded that using multiple comparisons (both financial and operational) one can gain valuable insights into the current performance of a CE department and find areas that deserve further scrutiny to reveal unique characteristics and/or opportunities for improvement.

For a briefer commentary on clinical technology benchmarking, Dr. Wang authored an article in the October 2009 issue of 24×7 magazine that focuses on technology and service solutions for biomed. Here is a link: http://www.24x7mag.com/issues/articles/2009-10_10.asp.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: astanowski | December 23, 2009

Hospital Staff at all Levels Featured in YouTube Hit

This You Tube video entitled the “Pink Glove Dance” was passed along to me:

Initially created as a way for MedLine to raise awareness for its new line of pink gloves, it was done to increase Breast Cancer Awareness. However, it is also obvious that it involved staff at all levels at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, along with their supplier Medline. I especially enjoyed the environmental service workers dance with their high dusters, and food service people with their plates! What a great way to energize an organization, and have employees be front and center.

I guess it is not surprising that this hospital has been a Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospital a phenomenal 10 times, last named in April 2009. Their focus on their employees is manifested by this quote on their web site from Janice Burger, chief executive of Providence St. Vincent. “Our highly skilled physicians, nurses and staff are dedicated to delivering outstanding, compassionate care to our patients and their families.”

With an administrative staff that puts their employees first, their patients benefit.

Great job, Providence St. Vincent.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: astanowski | December 3, 2009

Checking the Patient Perspective

Press Ganey recently released The 2009 Hospital Pulse Report: Patient Perspectives on American Health Care. The study reveals a six-year trend in increasing inpatient satisfaction. The findings are based on surveys from nearly 3 million patients treated at more than 2,000 hospitals nationwide in 2008.

Highlights:

  • Press Ganey calls “Response to concerns/complaints” the “Number 1 priority” for our nation’s hospitals.
  • Highest correlated item between HCAHPS “Likelihood to recommend” was “staff worked together to care for you.”
  • In April 2008, CMS began requiring all hospitals to publicly report HCAHPS data. Only seven months later (October), Press Ganey data showed inpatient satisfaction scores climbed more significantly than at any other point in the 24 year history of Press Ganey (see chart on page 2 of report). The study reports (p. 14), “In October 2008 alone, Press Ganey found a 1.53 percent jump in the overall rating of a hospital and a 1.96 percent increase in the likelihood to recommend a hospital to family and friends, both unprecedented increases in the more than two decades that such data has been collected. Typically, satisfaction follows seasonal ups and downs, with a modest upward trend being found in the past decade.”

What gets measured (and reported)…improves! Thoughts?

Leave a Comment

Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: astanowski | November 5, 2009

Connecting with Tomorrow’s Healthcare Leaders

It’s always great to talk to “early careerists.”  Earlier this month, we were fortunate to host a practicum at ARAMARK Healthcare with students from Temple University’s Masters in Healthcare Administration program as part of their Management Grand Rounds exercise.

According to Barbara Blundi Manaka PhD RN, Associate Director, Programs in Healthcare Management at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, the concept in structuring the Management Grand Rounds program is to offer students opportunities to visit organizations that are outside the traditional student mindset of a healthcare provider. Read More…

Leave a Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: astanowski | October 6, 2009

Playing Hardball: Winning Pennants and Talking Healthcare Finance

What do baseball and healthcare finances have in common?  Well, more than you would think!  Over the past several weeks Major League ballparks in Houston and Philadelphia served as venues for hospital senior financial, operations, and physician executives to gather for Healthcare Financial Management Association round tables focusing on identifying value-enhancing opportunities in tough economic times… and a little baseball. Read More…

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by: astanowski | September 22, 2009

“Belly to Belly Experience”

Carol Tome, CFO, Home Depot was interviewed in the August 31, 2009 issue of Fortune Magazine.  Click here to see the interview live.

The housing sector has been hit hard for the past four years, and Home Depot has seen an aggressive expansion by Lowe’s, a smaller but formidable competitor.

The article details not just an overall strategy for Home Depot, but also tactics that fit within the strategy.  Home Depot monitors productivity and efficiency, and incents store managers on revenue growth and cost management, as well as on non-financial measures.  Home Depot has a long way to go; and it is by no means guaranteed to be successful.  One thing is certain, though.  Home Depot needs to differentiate itself from its competitors. Read More…

Leave a Comment

Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , ,

Posted by: astanowski | September 14, 2009

Mentoring and Fellowships

When I began my healthcare career at the Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia, I was fortunate to have access to a great preceptor, Beverly Slavic, who guided my fellowship.  Bev taught me a lot of lessons about hospital management, but probably the lesson that stuck the longest was the value of hard work and perseverance in getting things accomplished.

I’m fortunate to be in a position to help others now through a fellowship program that my employer is offering in conjunction with the Institute for Diversity in Health Management.  It’s been my job to shepherd this program and it is great to have our inaugural class of fellows on board. Read More…

4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Categories