To Medical Center Employees:

One of the key principles of MUSC Excellence is “Communicate at All Levels.” One of the methods we use to communicate is our town hall meetings.  During  the past two weeks we have conducted 10  sessions attended by approximately 1,150 employees. Two more sessions are planned for this week, including one session earmarked for the convenience of a large department.
 
Our town hall meeting agenda included a quick update on our pillar-based goals. Then we focused most of the discussion on our efforts to control costs and enhance revenue. It was explained that our current poor financial situation can be attributed to costs of the start up of Ashley River Tower (ART), flat inpatient volume this past year, poor Medicaid reimbursement and the economy. 
 
We know employee satisfaction and patient satisfaction are closely related.  Clearly our cost control measures can adversely effect employee morale. As discussed at the town hall meeting, there was a noticeable, although not dramatic, dip in inpatient satisfaction scores for the quarter ending Sept. 30 for certain areas of the medical center. It is during these challenging times that we need everyone’s continued support of our MUSC Excellence best practices.
 
Most recently some exceptional patient satisfaction results have been observed for the first month of this quarter (Oct. 1 – Oct. 29).

Service                       Percentile           Mean
Adult Inpatient            76 (N-262)         85.0
Pediatric Inpatient       99 (N-63)           86.1
Pediatric ED               92 (N-66)           83.6
Ambulatory Care        84 (N-1454)       91.9
 
I explained during the town hall meeting that I remain optimistic about the future. Indications on our numerous cost control initiatives are meeting with success. I have been encouraged by the high inpatient census in recent weeks (see above chart). 
 
A summary of the medical center's town hall meetings will appear in the Nov. 7 issue of The Catalyst.
 
Thanks to everyone for your support.

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

People—Fostering employee pride and loyalty
CATTS deadline is Dec. 1. As of Oct. 28, 71.45 percent of MUHA staff have completed their CATTS lessons.

First-time certification incentive bonus: $750; Recertification bonus: up to $500.

Enrollment period ends Oct. 31. Employees can make changes online or by visiting MUHA HR; Final briefing is at 1:15 p.m., Oct. 30, 2W Amphitheater

MUSC Service Awards Ceremony—2:30 p.m., Nov. 5, Room 100 Basic Science Building.

Daylight Savings Time
Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 p.m. Nov. 2. Employees scheduled to work 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. will be paid for nine hours.

eCareNet update
Mark Daniels, patient care systems manager (OCIO) and eCareNet Initiative program manager, reviewed the latest news on projects.

• Clinical Documentation Package (ClinDoc)—Currently live across all adult med-surgical areas. Analysts are working on the IOP design as well as a dozen other enhancements for this product.

• Bedside Med Administration Project (AdminRX)—Preparation continues for the activation of this product in the final unit. The project will then be active in all adult med-surgical areas around the Medical University Hospital.

• Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE)—Project was activated on 3West (ART). The implementation team is working on correcting on specific issues with the program including duplicate orders and workflow issues. The revised plan focuses on bringing up 5East and 5West (ART) during the second week of December with activation in 4E in January.

• Oacis (eCareNet viewer)—Within the past month, the team has focused their attention on performance. Managers will continue to improve in the problem areas. Designers have been collaborating with ICU physicians and working to finalize the Critical Care View design. Once in place, it will allow the hospital to circle back and look at placing both ClinDoc and AdminRX into the ICU areas. So far, the project is progressing. Coordinators also are evaluating key data views within Oacis—i.e. ability to view heparin, diabetes and PCA flow sheets as well as refining how medication are displayed in the viewer.
  

Matrix for professional meetings
Sharon DeGrace, R.N., Medicine Acute and Critical Care Service Line administrator, unveiled some new FY 2009 standardization efforts supported by hospital administrators. DeGrace debuted a Professional Meeting and Continuing Education Matrix sheet supporting all types of staff training. Leaders urged organizers to keep it clear and simple. Categories featured are program type, comments, registration fee, notes on education/administrative leave, PTO, mileage, airfare, lodging, CME/CEU or Pre-conference fees. Staff program categories include professional development (in-state/out-of-state), MUHA representation; job requirement, state/national office of a professional organization, volunteer surveyor, etc.
 
The matrix is located in the manager’s toolbox of the MUHA Intranet and is effective as of Nov. 1.

ShiftSmart update
Elizabeth Perry, R.N., manager, Medical University Hospital staffing office/hospital supervisors and house options pool, gave an update on the new ShiftSmart scheduling system, implementation in the staffing office. The project, which began in early October, was created based on staff recommendations and was coordinated by Michael Irving, MUHA Clinical Informatics. The success of this schedule program hinges on staff participation.
 
ShiftSmart was developed to help patient care areas meet their staffing needs.
 
ShiftSmart increases the number of qualified staff members available to cover open shifts throughout the organization.
 
Staff have the opportunity to sign up to work available shifts, outside of their home unit, to supplement cancelled shifts from their home unit.
 
It can be accessed online via the MUHA Intranet.
 
ShiftSmart participants include RNs, PCTs, ASBs within the Medical University Hospital and ART. Participants must be in good standing in their home unit (not currently under disciplinary action or probation).
 
Expansion of ShiftSmart is currently in progress to include Ambulatory Care, IOP and Hollings Cancer Center.
 
Since its inception in October, a total of 745 shifts were submitted into the ShiftSmart system via managers; 313 staff applied to fill and work those shifts, resulting in 70 total shifts filled during this timeframe.
 
Solutions for other staff utilizing ShiftSmart—All staffing needs should be submitted to ShiftSmart, with the exception of immediate requests, within 48-hours; managers also should submit authorizations in the system for eligible employees; additional ClinDoc and Admin RX training to orient and train staff with the ShiftSmart system has been scheduled at the main hospital and ART. Training offered includes unit-based training and individual sessions.
 
Future ShiftSmart plans include extending the program to Ambulatory Care and other zone areas (OR, PACU zones, EDs and ICUs).
 
For information, contact the Medical University Hospital staffing office, 792-8375, 792-5126 or 7467

Announcements

• Action O-I data reports is due Nov. 15. Marek asked managers to review and verify new area information regarding write-ups and mapping. Contact Pam Marek, 792-8793.

• Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing certified three staff nurses in the MUSC Chest Pain Center. They are Amy Young, Nancy Phillips and Pamela Smith, CPC nurse manager.

• The next hospital communications meeting is Nov. 4.

Friday, Oct. 31, 2008