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To Medical Center Employees:

During the week of June 26 we conducted nine Medical Center town hall meetings. We began quarterly town hall meetings in September 2004. We are committed to continuing to improve communication through a variety a methods, including town hall meetings.

We had an estimated attendance of approximately 850 for the June town hall sessions. We hope to increase attendance at future meetings. We are learning how to do a better job with town hall meetings and we will continue to improve.

Our meetings have focused on the Medical Center’s goals and progress, among other topics. We will use future town hall meetings to share details about our MUSC Excellence initiative, including the progress of the Service Excellence Teams. 

As we move forward, we will generally try to limit town hall meetings to 45 minutes to respect everyone’s time. Questions will be solicited in advance and we will address these questions in the context of the town hall presentations. The administrative team members and I will also personally address individual’s questions at the end of each town hall meeting.

For the June town hall meeting we revamped the evaluation form. The form now serves to evaluate not only the meeting itself, but helps measure our progress with MUSC Excellence-related initiatives. 

A total of 683 evaluation forms were submitted for the June town hall meetings. Key topics and responses are highlighted below. Our goal is to move these responses for future town hall evaluations in a positive direction.

Question/Topic                
I am encouraged by the direction the Medical Center is headed.   
33.6%    Strongly Agree 
52.0%    Agree
11.9%    Mixed
1.7%      Disagree
.8%        Strongly Disagree   

I receive praise/recognition for doing a good job.   
22.4%    Strongly Agree 
42.1%    Agree
22.4%    Mixed
10.1%    Disagree
3.1%      Strongly Disagree

Overall, I am a satisfied employee.   
18.6%    Strongly Agree 
53.9%    Agree
20.7%    Mixed
4.8%      Disagree
2.0%      Strongly Disagree

I receive sufficient feedback on my performance.   
20.2%    Strongly Agree 
48.0%    Agree
21.1%    Mixed
7.1%      Disagree
3.7%      Strongly Disagree

I feel proud to tell people where I work.   
37.2%    Strongly Agree 
48.1%    Agree
12.1%    Mixed
1.2%      Disagree
1.4%      Strongly Disagree

My manager holds regularly scheduled staff meetings.   
88%    Yes
12%    No

My supervisor has rounded on me.     
64%  Yes 
36%   No

In the near future we will roll out a new “MUSC Excellence” Web site for all Medical Center employees’ use. This Web site will help keep everyone abreast of our initiatives and progress. We will also post the town hall evaluation results on this website, including narrative comments and questions.

We also expect improved use of other forms of communication including department-based communication boards and meetings, rounding by leaders, improved praise and recognition, timely performance feedback and other methods.

Thank you very much.

W. Stuart Smith
Vice President for Clinical Operations
and Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center

EOC Safety, Service Recovery addressed

In anticipation for the upcoming JCAHO survey visit, Al Nesmith, director of Medical Center Safety, reviewed the first of several presentations featuring Environment of Care or EOC Smart. EOC addresses the status of safety, security, hazardous materials, emergency management, fire and life safety, medical equipment management and utility systems on campus.
 
Nesmith’s presentation focused on fire safety management reviewing the institution’s five-step fire plan and where to find it (OSHP Safety Manual,  back of an MUSC employee’s badge and supervisor’s files). The plan is: remove patients and injured from danger area; ensure all doors are closed; activate the fire alarm system; call for help (792-3333 or 911); and try to fight the fire,
    
Nesmith also reviewed the locations of fire alarm pull stations (nearby all exits) and smoke safe areas of inpatient units (usually the vicinity nearest a fire-rated door). He outlined the  institution’s unit-specific fire plan as provided by Joe Avant, manager of occupational safety and health program, Finally, Nesmith reviewed the Medical Center’s status as a “defend-in-place” facility; meaning that because the facility incorporates sprinklers, detection systems and fire/smoke compartments to minimize the way a fire can spread, facility occupants may be able to defend it in place.

HR Update
Helena Bastian, director of Human Resources, gave an update on the status of primary source verification of required credentials reminding department managers that they are responsible for verification at the time of renewal. Documentation of verification must be maintained in the unit/department file and information entered into CATTS. Questions regarding primary source verification call 792-1684. Questions regarding CATTS call 792-8805.
    
Bastian also reminded managers that evaluations should be completed  within 45 days of the due date. In addition, evaluation raters must be competent within the area of which they are evaluating.
    
As of July 9, eligible employees had six hours of ESL transfer into the new Supplemental Medical Leave (SML) bank. The SML balance is reflected in  MyRecord under MyPayStub and MyLeaveBalance. The revised leave request form is available online in the MUHA HR Web site.
 
Also effective July 1 SC Retirement System employees’ contribution on earnings  increased from 6.25 percent to 6.5 percent (.25 percent increase)  Questions regarding the S.C. Retirement increase may call 792-9320.    
 
Bastian concluded the presentation by reminding the group  that the deadline to submit Position Employee Action Request (PEARS) forms for new hires is by 5 p.m. on the Wednesday prior to orientation. 

APOC Update
Mark Daniels, Patient Support Systems manager/APOC program manager, reviewed the latest on the APOC Clinical Systems project and blueprint timeline. Clinical projects like the System Setup, Materials Management and Pharmacy Replacement System, and ED Tracking Board are scheduled to be completed in September.
    
Current projects slated to kick off are the Emergency Department’s clinical documentation and bedside medication administration projects will be rolled out in lockstep of each other. The clinical documentation project will support admission assessments for adult and pediatric hospitals, plus the IOP.
    
Daniels introduced the MUSC Core Project Team members headed by Marilyn Schaffner, executive sponsor and Bonnie Foulois, project coordinator.
 
The team is responsible for coordinating staff education and workshops and designing sessions to incorporate feedback.

MUSC Excellence/Service Recovery Team Progress
Carol Younker, Medical Center risk manager, briefed the audience about the efforts made by the Service Recovery Team formed as a result of previous meetings of the MUSC Excellence Leadership Development Institute (LDI).   At the latest LDI, the team identified four deliverables: develop a comprehensive service recovery program; identify opportunities for service recovery;  conduct housewide training of all employees in service recovery techniques; and institute tool kits, monitoring usage and measuring effectiveness.
 
The team defines a service recovery program by a service deficiency. When this occurs, all employees will be empowered to use key words and tools to determine a customer’s expectations and guided to meet or exceed those expectations. Staff should use the LEAD approach focused on the key words: Listen, Empathize, Apologize, and Deliver.
 
The team also defined examples of practicing the service recovery program:
lengthy waits/delays; canceled appointments; cancellation of procedure/surgery; staff fails to demonstrate MUSC values; environ-mental issues
 
Younker outlined the schedule for service recovery training: Phase 1: Main Campus Orientation from Aug. 21 to Sept. 15; 40 (one-hour sessions) including weekdays and all shifts (a Webcast recording will be created for new employee orientation and outlying service areas;  Phase 2: Outlying Service Areas; and Phase 3: Courtney Street Campus.
 
Finally, the team created Service Recovery Toolkits, composed of mugs, gift shop and cafeteria coupons and other incentive items, to support this initiative. The tool kits will be distributed after 75 percent of employees in the specific service area have completed training. Staff are encouraged to utilize items in the kits when the LEAD approach is not enough to restore the customer’s confidence or loyalty. When using an item from the toolkit, employees will complete an electronic Service Recovery Action Report Form. A copy of this form also goes to the service area’s manager. The Patient and Family Liaison office will follow up at random with recipients of the gifts. Usage of the gifts will be monitored and evaluated by the Service Recovery Team.

Announcements
  • Kenya Logan was named the new social work manager for Ambulatory Care Services in Rutledge Tower. Logan replaces former manager Nancy Draffin.
  • Carrie Weston is the new manager for scheduling operations, Ambulatory Care Services.
  • Katy Kuder, manager of Volunteer and Information Services, announced the availability of discount Carowinds Theme Park coupons to MUSC employees. Interested employees may obtain them from the Volunteer Office.

   

Friday, July 21, 2006
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.