Challenge
A new urban hospital was an exciting contribution to the community. The facility was new, they had the latest equipment and top medical staff. Nevertheless, in the first couple of years, problems began to surface.
- Throughput was low and costs were high
- Patient satisfaction and morale were dropping
- A full engagement program only yielded 12 ideas from over 900 people
- They lost a major source of patients and revenue but needed to hit their targets
- From top to bottom – leaders were stuck in thinking they were fine and others were the problem, with no common future view or set of behaviors
Traditional town halls, team-building, leadership training, action campaigns, and engagement efforts were not getting any traction. It was clear to the CEO, they needed breakthroughs in both results and behaviors – and they needed them quickly.
B STATE Approach
1) Leveraged External Drivers to Unify the Senior Leadership Team (SLT)
Establishing their own Strategic B STATE Roadmap, the SLT created a shared Picture of Future success and a new set of leadership “habits” to drive change. By identifying their external business drivers, the SLT instantly unified around a new Mindset, new Collective Habits of Execution, and Shared Priorities.
2) Facilitated a Department Manager Role Change as a Senior Team
The SLT then identified and communicated 7 critical shifts in the role of department (middle) managers. Using the B STATE Team Accountability System, they provided forums, support, and time for the department managers to “pick up the reigns” in leading priority initiatives and resolving day-to-day issues as a team, taking shared ownership and accountability for success.
3) Implemented a B STATE Communication and Proactive Recovery System
Standing meetings were completely reworked. A management forum was created for the department managers to share ownership and accountability for implementing top priorities. At the same time, leaders held daily “huddles” to surface and address any operational or patient throughput issues utilizing a
B STATE Proactive Recovery System to respond and adjust quickly as a team.
Immediate Culture Shift
- The Senior Leadership Team was energized, unified, speaking with one voice, and working off of the same picture and priorities
- Middle Managers were now working together to surface issues and resolve problems, rather than pushing them to the SLT or pointing fingers at each other
- Employee engagement was transformed – people felt recognized, connected, and understood the hospital direction and initiatives
Rapid Breakthrough Results
By creating and updating their Strategic B STATE Roadmap, the hospital continued to transform itself year-after-year as three new major opportunities and challenges presented themselves, demonstrating their ability to dynamically sustain success.
Year 1 – Transformed leadership from siloed victims to cross-functional leaders
- 30-day readmission went from 4/5 to 1/5 (leading practice for the system)
- Quality scores and patient safety improved (now top 10% nationwide)
- Successfully implemented an electronic system for transitioning patients
- Patient experience and physician engagement scores soared
Year 2 – Expanded capacity by 45 percent in 90 days
- Captured new health plan, increasing demand and boosting revenue by 45%
- Patient experience scores improved by 20% year over year
- Achieved 21% income margin and year over year numbers improved
- Now hospital represents 40% of the net income for the system of 14 hospitals
Year 3 – Responded to new financial and Health System challenges in just months
- Leveraging their updated Strategic B STATE Roadmap and culture, they rallied and engaged people at all levels to address the financial and system demands
- Changed from a distributed to a centralized approach to care
- Transformed productivity from 33% to 25%; addressing a need to reduce costs
- Exceeded profit goal by $1M after projecting a loss just a few months earlier
Read the whole story – click here to order Mark Samuel’s B STATE book.
“B STATE brought a powerful and practical paradigm for developing our organization’s culture. It embeds an emphasis on accountability and execution coupled with a method of measuring your success over time, which is rare and very effective. The impact at our Medical Center has been profound and lasting.” – Hospital CEO
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