“Quality is a basic principle of health care,” explains Randy. “People count on hospitals and health care providers to do everything in their power to protect the health of their patients. They expect to receive safe, effective treatment whenever they’re in our care.”

Recently, health care consumers have rightfully demanded more access than ever to information about quality,” Randy continues. “They want to be assured they’re going to receive excellent care when they choose a hospital for treatment.”

As of January 2010, the Ohio Department of Health makes it easy for health care consumers to compare quality ratings among hospitals on the Ohio Hospital Compare web site. The online quality ratings help consumers compare measures of care specific to certain conditions, treatments and procedures, as well as how safe the hospital is and what patients thought of the care they received.

“In addition to public reporting, quality of care measures can also be linked to reimbursement from insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid for certain services,” says Randy. “All of this factors into the effect our performance has on the future of our health care system and why we need to always be aware of how we’re rating.

“Transparency in quality of care isn’t new to ProMedica, though. We aim to continually improve patient-desired outcomes for all quality measures,” Randy continues. “Consumers can view quality information on our own web site, and employees should be looking at this information, too.”

In last month’s Inside, ProMedica Clinical Outcomes & Resource Management (CORM) shared links to their public “Quality Reports” section of www.promedica.org and employee “CORM (Corporate Quality)” department page on myProMedica (http://my.promedica.org). Visit the Inside Archive, select February 2010, and scroll down to “ProMedica’s Quality of Care Compared to National Averages” for the full story.

“Quality is everyone’s job at ProMedica. It’s part of the Mission and Values that define us,” states Randy. “The value of Excellence, or superior performance and outcomes, clearly states this. But read on and you’ll see that all of our values are tied to the quality of care we provide to our patients and the community.

“A positive clinical outcome is the patient’s expectation,” Randy explains. “We have to go above and beyond that to make each patient’s experience with us a truly good one. That’s what makes ProMedica a place that patients will come back to repeatedly and recommend to their family and friends.”

How does Randy suggest we do this? “We should all strive to give the type of customer service we would want to receive as consumers,” says Randy. “Even if we’re not involved in direct patient care, how each one of us performs our job affects the image we project as an organization and the overall effectiveness of the system.

“When we see opportunities for improvement, we can take the appropriate action to make change,” Randy continues. “There are more opportunities than ever to do this, including the Got Ideas? Employee Involvement Program. Take part in department initiatives to improve quality, and share constructive feedback with your supervisor.”

Randy leaves us on a positive note about celebrating our quality accomplishments. “We can also give ourselves credit for the many things we’re doing well,” Randy notes. “We can all be advocates for ProMedica in our community. Don’t be shy about letting your friends and neighbors know why you’re proud to work here.”

Randy encourages you to contact him directly with your questions at randy.oostra@promedica.org. Answers will be included in upcoming Inside issues.

Editor’s Note: If you have suggestions for relevant topics you would like to see Randy address in future issues of Inside, please send them to inside@promedica.org. We value your input.

Randy Oostra, president and CEO, ProMedica; Alyse Krauz; Mark Brahier; and Rebecca Funke

Their winning entry encourages elementary school children to “travel” to different countries around the world. While visiting each country, students learn about the culture, perform several exercises unique to the children of that country, and enjoy a healthy snack from that culture. After completing an exercise, students receive stamps in their “passport” as a fun, interactive way to record their exercise activity.

In addition to the first-place winners, 15 other students received scholarships and 10 schools received money, totaling more than $50,000 in prizes. Read more about the competition, view photos from the event and see a video of the finalist presentations, which aired on Buckeye Cable Sports Network.

As in previous years, you will select a gift online to commemorate your years of service. The letter you receive will provide you with a username, password and instructions for ordering your gift online. The web site will be open for you to order your gift Thurs., April 1 – Fri., April 30. Gifts will be shipped to your home Mon., May 17 – Fri., June 18, based on when you place your order. (ProMedica Physician Group Employees: Gifts will be shipped to your work site.) New this year, you can see select gift choices in person before ordering.
View the schedule of dates, times and locations available for you to view sample gift choices.

ProMedica thanks all of our 2009 milestone employees for choosing to grow their careers with us! If you have questions about service recognition, please contact human resources or your supervisor.

This is one of an ongoing series of brief, anonymous questionnaires that we’ll share with you throughout the year. We’ll continue to ask about what you’ve seen in the newsletter and what you might like to see.

Please help us make your system-wide employee newsletter even better by telling us what you think … Start the questionnaire now!

We also welcome your feedback about Inside any time at inside@promedica.org.

—Corporate Communications

2009 Quality Leadership Award-recipients from BPCH with ProMedica executives

2009 Quality Leadership Award-recipients from DRMC with ProMedica executives

Bay Park Community Hospital (BPCH) and Defiance Regional Medical Center (DRMC) were co-winners of the 2009 Quality Leadership Award. The hospitals tied with the highest cumulative performances against national targets and benchmarks on more than 50 quality and service

indicators included on the ProMedica balanced report card. These indicators assess performance in the areas of patient safety, effectiveness, patient-centered care, and timeliness.

009 PI Team Award-recipients from the BPCH Surgical Care Improvement Team with ProMedica executives

2009 PI Team Award-recipients from the PCCS Cytology Processing Team with ProMedica executives

BPCH’s Surgical Care Improvement Team and ProMedica Continuing Care Services (PCCS) Corporation’s Laboratory Cytology Processing Team tied to receive the 2009 PI Team Award. The team award is given based upon the seven Baldrige Award criteria: leadership, strategic planning, customers, information analysis, workforce, process management, and results.

Congratulations to the winners of these awards, which were announced at a quality retreat held Jan. 19 at Paramount Health Care in Maumee.

Jeanne Drouillard, chief nursing officer, FH; mom, Stephanie Sargent; baby, Abigail Sargent; dad, Nick Sargent; and Elaine Ozarzak, director, labor and delivery, FH

Flower Hospital, named for founder Stevens Warren Flower, first opened its doors to patients in January 1910 in downtown Toledo at the corner of Collingwood Boulevard and Cherry Street. Over the years, the hospital grew and flourished, eventually moving to its current location in Sylvania on Harroun Road in 1975.

“Our 100^th anniversary is a great opportunity for us to reach out to and thank the physicians, patients, employees, and other community members who have supported us over the years,” says Alan Sattler, president, FH.

In 2009, Flower Hospital recorded one of the highest numbers of births in its history. This growth has resulted in the expansion of the hospital’s labor and delivery unit by adding one more family birthing suite that is scheduled for completion later this year.

ProMedica’s corporate operational performance improvement (COPI) department includes two ASQ-certified black belts, as well as experts in industrial and process engineering, project management and public health. They use quality tools and methods to look at the way we currently do things and suggest ways that we could make these processes more efficient to benefit the organization, and the patients and customers we serve. This ongoing process is sometimes referred to as continuous improvement.

“Evaluating opportunities for improvement on an ongoing basis supports ProMedica’s mission, vision and values,” explains Ron Rasey, MSIE, ASQ-CSSBB, CHMM, manager, COPI. “We work with hospitals or business units to plan productivity standards annually and help them monitor progress throughout the year. We also take on special projects, at the request of executive leadership, to help meet strategic goals related to productivity or workflow.”

Jack Radomyski, Jeff Smith, Steve Marcuz, Ron Rasey, and Srikanth Peddireddy

Meet COPI

If you’re not familiar with COPI, this is the team using their skills to help our organization make continuous improvement a way of life:







   • Jack Randolph, president, Paramount Health Care, and chief merger and      acquisitions/performance improvement officer, ProMedica

   • Ron Rasey, MSIE, ASQ-CSSBB, CHMM, manager, COPI

   • Srikanth Peddireddy, MSIE, ASQ-SSBB, PMP, senior process engineer, COPI

   • Steve Marcuz, process engineer, COPI

   • Jeff Smith, PE, process engineer, COPI

   • Jack Radomyski, MPH, project coordinator, COPI

Process improvement is a team effort. COPI involves leadership and staff at all levels in the following steps to track process improvement projects to completion:

   • Define the project purpose or scope.
   • Measure baseline data on current process.
   • Analyze improvements that need to be made.
   • Improve by implementing solutions determined to address major issues.
   • Control by comparing data before and after analysis to monitor system, document results and      determine next-step recommendations.

COPI may use many quality tools to perform the steps in this process—some as advanced as a simulation computer model that mimics real-life events. COPI team members can virtually implement a change in procedure or workflow to see the results without interrupting patient care in real time. They’re currently using this simulation method to plan physicians’ surgery schedules in advance during construction of the dedicated orthopaedic hospital on the campus of Wildwood Medical Center—the first time they’ve used the computer model for a facility or department before it actually exists.

While a tool such as this may only be appropriate for large-scale projects, many other quality tools are simple enough that we can learn to use them on a daily basis to work more efficiently. You may have already utilized some of these methods without even realizing that they’re quality tools—for example, listening to customers, drafting flowcharts or check sheets, and brainstorming to generate creative ideas.

Enterprise Scheduling: Process Improvement in Action

Members of the Enterprise Scheduling department

Three – four years ago, COPI embarked on the Enterprise Scheduling project to improve the process for scheduling diagnostic imaging test appointments in ProMedica Central Region. The end result brought schedulers from two regions together and successfully improved the average amount of time a caller spends on hold from four minutes to 45 seconds and the abandonment rate, or percentage of callers who hang up due to extended wait times, from 29% to 3.8%. So, what’s the secret behind this process improvement success story? COPI project managers began by bringing together a multidisciplinary team from all of the entities involved to meet on a regular basis with a goal to standardize the scheduling process. Frontline staff later proved instrumental in helping this team develop process change, sharing their input about how to reorganize workflow in frequent one-on-one meetings.

Consolidating scheduling services for patients in Central and East Regions to increase efficiency proved to be one of the most notable outcomes of the project. The team evaluated and streamlined the process for communication between schedulers and testing departments at Bay Park Community Hospital, Flower Hospital and The Toledo Hospital/Toledo Children’s Hospital. They also drafted scripts for schedulers to communicate more effectively with patients when answering phone calls and giving directions to test sites. The information technology department helped implement fax-to-file capabilities to eliminate lost orders and integrate the scheduling and registration programs to facilitate sharing of information—an improvement later made system-wide. Physical improvements to the department better organized the schedulers’ work area.

Opportunities also arose to increase efficiencies between departments; for example, schedulers and Central Business Office staff who use the same data for different purposes streamlined the data entry processes to meet both needs without duplicating effort. COPI project managers created a spreadsheet system that Enterprise Scheduling uses to capture and monitor their performance on an ongoing basis. A new phone system allows for call audits to make sure patients get correct information and outputs reports on number of calls, average speed of answer and abandonment rates. Results are posted on a department recognition board and shared at regular team meetings to celebrate and continue Enterprise Scheduling’s success.

“Today, thanks to support from their executive project sponsors, COPI project managers and all of the staff involved, Enterprise Scheduling receives more calls and faxes than ever, and schedules more diagnostic imaging tests, all while sustaining the huge improvement we’ve made,” Havilland Miller, director, admitting/scheduling, The Toledo Hospital, boasts of her team. “The outstanding results of this project give our scheduling staff an opportunity to illustrate the tremendous value we give back to the organization.”

The process improvement team still meets monthly to resolve any barriers to scheduling patients in a timely manner and accurately. They also look for ways to continue making improvement, benchmarking other departments that provide phone-based customer service and analyzing the benefits of new scheduling applications.

“We give people the tools they need to make life easier,” Ron summarizes. “We can trudge through each day doing things the same way, or we change the way we think. COPI is here to help people look at things differently, or have that ‘Aha!’ moment.

“Performance improvement isn’t unique to our knowledge base,” continues Ron. “It can be applied to anything. Even if you’re not participating in a project with COPI, I encourage all employees to learn more about our performance improvement process.”

ProMedica University (PMU) offers three courses— PL-204 Quality: Doing the Right Things Right, SL-303: Benchmarking for Organizational Improvement and SL-305: LEAN/Six Sigma: Practical Tools

That Produce Results—for experienced leaders, as well as new managers and supervisors, who want to learn more about process improvement. As the continuous improvement initiative continues to evolve at ProMedica, PMU will work with COPI to expand its course offerings on this topic for all employees. For more information or to register for PL-204, SL-303 and SL-305, visit the “ProMedica University” department page on myProMedica (http://my.promedica.org).

Nikki Fike-Williams and Emily Jackson in the Bob Fike Teen Lounge

The Bob Fike Teen Lounge officially opened to patients and their families at Toledo Children’s Hospital (TCH) on Feb. 11. The lounge, which features two computers with webcams for school access, a juke box and a flat screen television with XBOX 360™, Rock Band^® and Guitar Hero^®, will also offer special programming, such as art therapy and movie nights, for teenage patients who come to TCH from across ProMedica’s 27-county region.

“The space is a special room that will meet the unique needs of teenagers,” says Nikki Fike-Williams, child life specialist, TCH, and Bob Fike’s daughter. “It’s this age group that is significantly affected by the loss of their independence during a hospital stay.”

Emily Jackson, 13, agrees with Williams and is excited to have somewhere to visit with her friends at TCH. “When they come to see me, we’ll have somewhere to go where there are things we like to do,” Emily says. “I’m most excited about the TV and the jukebox!”

Emily, who recently spent her birthday at TCH, also likes that families can reserve the room for special occasions or if they are expecting a group of visitors.

Emily’s mom, Sarah, who is grateful that adolescent patients will now have a place to gather and be themselves, is also glad her daughter can use the room to meet with her school tutors and possibly even join classmates for some school time via webcam.

“Patient rooms are not ideal for doing homework, even if kids have their own computers,” says Williams. “The clinical staff have jobs to do and there are often a lot of distractions.”

When asked if there’s anything else she wants to say about the new room, Emily responds, “Yeah! Thanks to Nikki for thinking of it!”

While Emily’s gratitude is appreciated, for Nikki and her family the room is an opportunity to not only help TCH’s patients, but also to acknowledge her father’s legacy. “He touched the lives of thousands of young people through his 40-year career in social work and his commitment to creating a brighter future for the youth of our community.”

The teen lounge, located off the waiting area on the 5^th floor of the Renaissance Tower, was generously funded by the Robert Fike Foundation, and the XBOX 360™ was provided by Buffalo Wild Wings.

“As one of the area’s largest employers, ProMedica has chosen to partner with Start! as sponsor of the 2010 northwest Ohio Start! initiative. Since workplace wellness programs have been shown to be an important strategy in the prevention of major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and stroke, our goal is to provide employees with support and tools to help them quit smoking, lose weight and make better lifestyle choices,” says Gladeen Roberts, RN, PhD, FACHE, president, ProMedica Continuing Care Services Corporation.

Start! Your Personal Journey Today

To take the first step in your personal journey toward a healthier, happier you, visit http://startwalkingnow.org. And, plan to register and participate in the ProMedica Employee Wellness Program’s six-week Walk ‘n’ Roll Challenge using the AHA Start! online exercise tool, kicking off in April. You could win big prizes, including a weekend trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland!

Also, mark your calendar and watch for more details about these upcoming events:

   • Wed., April 7: Start! Walking at Work Day … The ProMedica Employee Wellness     Program’s Walk ‘n’ Roll Challenge kicks off!

   • Sat., April 17: Hancock County Start! Heart Walk (Fostoria area)

   • Sat., May 15: Washtenaw County Start! Heart Walk & NuStep 5k Run (southeast     Michigan)

   • Sat., May 22: Toledo Start! Heart Walk & 10k Run

   • Sat., Sept. 18: Northwest Ohio Start! Heart Walk (Defiance area)

To date, ProMedica has helped AHA identify more than 35 miles of walking paths in our region, including at some ProMedica facilities, Toledo Metroparks, The Shops at Fallen Timbers, Westfield Franklin Park Mall, The City of Fostoria, and Levis Commons. Maps to those trails will be uploaded to the Start! web site so interested walkers can have them at hand whenever they’re ready to lace up their sneakers and go!

In addition, visitors to Start!’s interactive web site will find tools, tips and community activities to motivate and provide support to those who wish to improve their health.

ProMedica will once again offer employees, volunteers, and their family and friends the best-possible discount admission price on specially designated Cedar Point Fun Days this summer and fall! Mark your calendars for Fri. – Mon., July 2 – 5 and 9 – 12, and Fri. – Sun., Sept. 17 – 19 and 24 – 26.

Beginning in May, discounted ProMedica Fun Days tickets will be available for purchase in advance via myProMedica (http://my.promedica.org). Coupons to receive discount admission at the gate will be available from human resources. Admission will cost $16.99 each for juniors (age 3 and older; under 48” tall) and seniors (age 62 and older) and only $25 each for adults—a $20.99 savings with the ProMedica Fun Days discount.

Employees and volunteers who want to keep the Cedar Point fun going all season long will be able to purchase Good-Any-Day tickets online again this year. Good-Any-Day admissions can be used any day the park is open, Sat., May 15 – Sun., Oct. 31. The cost will be $16.99 each for juniors and seniors, and $36 each for adults—a $9.99 savings. Good-Any-Day Soak City and Ride-and-Slide tickets will also be available online.

For more details about Cedar Point, visit www.cedarpoint.com. Or, call 1-800-448-2428 for park information and 419-627-2106 for overnight accommodations.

Use it … don’t lose it! 2009 Flexible Spending Accounts

March 31 is the deadline to submit reimbursement claims for 2009 Health Care and Dependent Day Care Spending Account expenses incurred by Dec. 31, 2009. Due to IRS rules, you forfeit any funds remaining in your 2009 flexible spending accounts if you do not submit claims by this date. Put simply, you must use it or lose it. So plan now to submit claims so you do not lose your contributions to these accounts!

Help Improve Health Literacy and Patient Safety

National Patient Safety Awareness Week is March 7 – 13. During this week, the ProMedica Patient Safety Steering Council and corporate director of diversity, Jewell Lightner, MA, SPHR, will provide patients and staff with tips to help patients be active in their own care by talking with health care staff.

Research shows that many patients may be unfamiliar with the words used in health care.  This may be due to limited health literacy. Health literacy is the ability to read, understand and act on the information. Limited health literacy can affect patient safety.

You can take these steps to improve health literacy and patient safety.

Don’t Forget! Lose Healthy Weigh-ins—March 15 – 19

Participants in the ProMedica Employee Wellness Program’s Lose Healthy Challenge must weigh back in the week of March 15 to be eligible to win prizes. Visit the “Healthy Challenge” page in the Employee Wellness department section of myProMedica (http://my.promedica.org) for a schedule of weigh-in dates, times and locations. Three successful teams will be selected to win an iPod shuffle ($55 value); Jump Snap, The Ropeless Jump Rope ($50 value); or heart rate monitor watch ($50 value) for each of their team members. Remember, even if your entire team wasn’t successful, you’re still eligible for the individual prize drawings in June for a 32-inch flat screen TV and one-year gym membership if you meet your weight loss goal in March and keep the weight off or continue to lose between now and then. So, weigh back in to stay in the prize running!

The Healthy ProMedica traveling trophy again went to Paramount Health Care for the greatest percentage of participation in the Lose Healthy Challenge—52.6%. Congratulations to Paramount for their third consecutive win!

Cabin Fever Gives Way to Spring

Reflections from Lynn Sinclair, director of customer satisfaction services, ProMedica

With “cabin fever” fully entrenched into our psyches this time of year, it is nice to remind each other that the bleakest winter days are behind us. This means that slips and falls on the ice, winter car accidents and flu season will soon give way to spring and nature’s eventual rebirth. Do we notice that the days are becoming longer, nights shorter and the longing for warmer temperatures more intense? It’s the natural order of things.

As we recognize and celebrate spring’s potential to bring us out of the doldrums, we should also recommit ourselves to the passions that brought us to health care in the first place. The joy at seeing a sick child overcome serious illness, the compassionate caregiver holding the hand of a hospice patient, the extra special smile we put on our face to brighten a cloudy and cold day for someone else, and the helping hand we lend to each other as we get through the never-ending to-do list. Think spring; think positive.

Tax-Free Education IRA Offers Flexibility and Best Rate

Saving for a child’s education is a lot easier with an education IRA from your ProMedica Federal Credit Union (PFCU). Anyone can contribute to a child’s educational savings account. The annual contribution limit per education IRA is $2,000, but you can contribute to multiple IRAs for different children. Contributions to the IRA must end when the child reaches age 18, but the student can withdraw the funds until he or she is age 30.

Withdrawals of principal and interest are tax-free when used for education expenses for elementary through the post-secondary school. The education IRA can also be transferred to another child in the same family.

PFCU is offering a rate of 2.02% for any IRA, including the education IRA. This rate is double that offered currently offered by most other financial institutions in the Toledo area. You can also choose the convenience of payroll deduction for your IRA contributions. There is no minimum deposit and no fees. All funds deposited are insured up to $500,000. For information about education IRAs, contact any PFCU office, call 1-888-861-1114 toll-free or visit www.promedicafcu.com.