Volume 11
Issue 4
April 2012
SYSTEMnews Weekly meetings help the staff in Dermatologic Surgery work better as a team to solve problems. (Left Photo) Nina Manogue responds to a question posed by Michelle Sparrow, practice administrator, who led the meeting. (Middle Photo) Christopher Miller, MD, shown with Terri Nunnciato, offers his point of view as both a physician and director of Dermatologic Surgery. (Right Photo) Also participating in the weekly meeting were (l. to r) Tara Svedas, Elizabeth May, Jennifer Lacey, Helen Sneller, Xiao Zhu, Jovan Green, Nunnciato, Miller, and Julia Tzu, MD. Photo Credit: Daniel Burke Photography
CEO’s corner RALPH W. MULLER
CEO, University of Pennsylvania Health System
This time every year the president and governor release their proposed budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. For the federal government the new budget year begins on October 1. At the state level the start date is July 1. Both budgets have enormous impact on our operations, so it’s important to understand what is being proposed and how we could be affected if the budgets are adopted. Proposing the budgets is only the first part of the story however. Hearings are then held by the legislative branch. At these sessions lawmakers review the proposals, hear from expert witnesses, and eventually make changes (amendments). At the national level this is done by Congress; in Harrisburg it’s the General Assembly. In both cases the Penn Medicine government relations team tracks events as they develop and keeps us informed. We also work with colleague institutions on registering our views and recommending changes. At the state level Governor Corbett’s overall proposed budget amount is essentially flat. This means there are no proposed reductions or increases in the total spending amount. There are, however, proposed changes within individual categories that could have serious consequences for both the Health System and the Perelman School of Medicine. But let’s begin with the positive news — in this case, for safety-net hospitals such as ours. Safety-net hospitals have an open door policy for all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. (continued on page 4)
INSIDE UPHS Hospitals Accredited for Top Cancer Care........................2 Making a Match.........................2 Strom Appointed an Executive Vice Dean ...........2 Penn Medicine@Work..............3
TAKING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT > > > TO THE NEXT LEVEL PENN MEDICINE STAFF TRANSLATES SURVEY RESULTS INTO ACTIONS Valerie Layden, MSN, director, Patient Services & Operations, and her colleagues in Obstetrics & Gynecology, share a belief.
W hen we create a great environment in which to work, we create a great environment for patients to receive care. It’s a sentiment that is shared by the organization at large. At Penn Medicine, we recognize that our ability to deliver world-class care to patients and their families is a direct result of the talent and dedication of the people who work here. And so we invest in tools that can help us improve the overall staff experience and strengthen Penn Medicine’s position as a great place to work and a great place for patients to receive care. Most recently we partnered with the Advisory Board, a global consulting firm that helps health-care organizations serve their patients better. We were interested in finding out how engaged our staff feel. In other words, to what degree do they think of themselves as involved in and enthusiastic about their jobs and Penn Medicine in general? We used a web-based Employee Engagement Survey to find out. Key goals of the questionnaire, which was administered at the end of last year, were to assess and build on our strengths and identify areas that needed improving. The response rate for this voluntary employee engagement survey was outstanding. More than 13,000 employees — 85% of the targeted participants from UPHS and the Perelman School of Medicine — completed the survey. Every entity surpassed an 80% participation rate. Overall, our results were very encouraging. Fortyfour percent of Penn Medicine staff can be classified as “highly engaged,” compared to 35 percent in comparable organizations nationwide. At the point of care, we also scored above the national benchmark, with nurses and clinical directors registering well above average. Physician assistants and nurse practitioners scored a full 27 percent above the norm. For Layden and her team, the survey results provided unique insights into the department’s strengths and highlighted
opportunities for improvement. Through a collaborative process that included department leadership and staff at all levels, they identified one or two areas for improvement. “We asked ourselves four questions when deciding where to focus,” said Layden. “Is this focus within our span of control? Is it important to our entire group as a whole? Do we have the resources to make an impact in this area? And can we get results in three months or less?”
Sharing Responsibilities Leads to Success Susan Niskey Popp, MBA/MS, Dermatology’s chief operating officer, similarly emphasized a team approach to solve problems. Their survey results highlighted a need to improve communications between staff and managers, and in particular improve how ‘bad news’ was delivered. Since receiving its survey results, the staff have implemented a meeting that has been held each week, without exception. “At first, there were some staff members who felt it was strictly leadership’s responsibility to fix problems illuminated in the survey,” said Niskey-Popp. “But it’s all of our responsibilities. It’s our action plan. We own this environment. We own this team. Since the start of this process, we’ve seen a healthy shift, where each person is now recognizing our shared responsibilities in helping our team become stronger.” These experiences are similar to the ones that each department is currently going through as part of their Action-Planning processes. According to Kristi Pintar, corporate director of Organizational Development and Leadership Practice, the action planning process begins with employees reviewing the survey results and analyzing those results to better understand what the data mean. “The survey results give us our baseline quantitative data. Subsequent conversations with work teams give us that extra understanding of strengths and opportunities for improvement,” she said. Managers follow a process of leading these conversations, gathering additional information, prioritizing the issues, identifying root causes of the issues and then brainstorming possible actions for improvement. “The action planning process is the key to continuous improvement. It’s designed to be repeated as improvements are made and new opportunities are identified.” (continued on page 2)
Newsmakers..............................3 Awards and Accolades.............4
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