November 15, 2022
Hi Team –
Greetings from the Northern Kentucky Convention Center where I’m joined today and tomorrow by our 800+ TriHealth leaders at our first in-person Leadership Development Institute (LDI) in nearly three years! We are excited to finally be able to safely gather again as a full leadership team to connect, learn, and grow together at this LDI – all to become even better servant leaders for YOU – our 13,000 team members and physicians! Your leaders will be in touch soon after the LDI to share what they learned and how they will be actively assisting you in our work to remaster our foundational TriHealth Way best practices, ultimately, to deliver better clinical outcomes for those we serve. Thank you, again, for supporting your leaders as we take this necessary time away from our daily responsibilities to participate in the LDI. Doing so will equip us to be even better leaders at helping you do your best and be your best as we continue on our journey together – ONE Team, TriHealth STRONG – to Get Healthcare Right for all those we serve!
Getting Healthcare Right
TriHealth Partners with Essence Healthcare on New Medicare Advantage Program
With a growing number of individuals across the nation – including here in Greater Cincinnati – currently or soon to become Medicare-eligible, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has been on a very deliberate path to improve health outcomes by moving away from traditional “fee for service” payment models to alternative or value-based payment approaches, such as Medicare Advantage (MA) Plans. MA Plans pay health systems based on their ability to improve quality of care and overall health while making care more affordable…which perfectly aligns with TriHealth’s Journey to Get Healthcare Right – the right care at the right place at the right time to achieve the right outcomes at the right cost.
So, I’m excited to announce that TriHealth is partnering with Essence Healthcare –among the nation’s top-performing Medicare Advantage health plans – to offer a new suite of patient-focused MA insurance plan options to community members age 65 and older! These affordable plans are designed to provide significant value while creating opportunities for improved health outcomes. This will be achieved through our high-performing network of TriHealth and collaborating providers, a robust Part D prescription drug benefit, and a pre-tax FlexCard that helps lower out-of-pocket costs for vision, dental, hearing, and over-the-counter medical expenses. When participants stay in the high-performing TriHealth network, they pay the lowest cost for their care, while receiving the highest quality care and preventive services to maintain good health and achieve better long-term health outcomes.
While TriHealth will continue to work with and accept other Medicare Advantage plans and other payers, our partnership with Essence Healthcare demonstrates how TriHealth is leading the way to evolve healthcare financing models in ways that reward our system and our providers for delivering on the Triple Aim. As importantly, Essence Healthcare directly responds to the needs of a growing segment of our community seeking affordable Medicare plan options that provide them with better care and better value that will ultimately help them maintain better health. This is yet another shining example of how we are leading the way in Getting Healthcare Right!
TriHealth Cardiac Surgery Program Recognized as Best in Class
Last week, TriHealth’s Cardiac Surgery Program was awarded a 3-star rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) – the highest rating possible – for the fourth year in a row! This ranking (which covers three years from July 2019 through June 2022) means that TriHealth consistently performs in the top-tenth percentile of all cardiac surgery programs in the country based on our overall patient care and clinical outcomes in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures. TriHealth is the only cardiac surgery program in Cincinnati, and among just a handful in Ohio and across the country, to achieve this prestigious “3-Star” rating.
As we develop and expand our Advanced Heart Failure Program and continue progress on our destination TriHealth Heart Hospital at Bethesda North, this recognition further establishes TriHealth’s heart program as the most comprehensive and highest quality in the region. Congratulations to our amazing team members and physicians for this remarkable achievement – a true testament to their unwavering commitment to provide the safest and best cardiac care to our community!
Throughput & Clinical Redesign Initiative Poised to Make a Real Impact
In August, we announced a major initiative to more consistently deliver the “right care in the right place at the right time” by addressing two important improvement opportunities: throughput in our hospitals and Emergency Departments (EDs) and care model and workforce redesign in our Perioperative, Inpatient Nursing, and ED areas.
A central goal of this work is to address the underlying inefficiencies and “bottlenecks” in our care processes that result in patient care delays and workplace stressors. When we don’t get staffing right or team members feel overburdened or pressured, it’s difficult for our teams to derive satisfaction and reward from their work. And it also impacts the way patients feel about the care they receive. By addressing the source of these stressors, we can create an enhanced work and care environment where team members more consistently feel a sense of joy, fulfillment, and pride in the work they’re doing and the care they are providing to our patients – which will also improve the patient experience.
The first phase of this highly collaborative initiative was completed in September. It involved actively listening to our frontline team members to validate identified improvement opportunities and discover other areas we may have missed. The feedback we received provided a deeper understanding of TriHealth’s current state related to operational, cultural, clinical, and financial performance. Key learnings from team members reinforced the vital importance of:
- Continuing to cultivate a positive and collaborative work environment to foster effective and meaningful communication and care coordination
- Addressing staffing challenges to improve care quality and safety and enhance work/life balance
- Further leveraging technology to improve efficiencies and reduce unnecessary staff burden
Since October, more than 160 team members have been engaged in the “design phase” to address these opportunities. To date, 72 design workshops have been completed, canvassing all three workstreams (Nursing, Perioperative, and Throughput). Through these workshops, we have identified a number of opportunities for process improvements, as well as some “quick wins” that are now being implemented, which include:
- Improved collaboration through the implementation of multidisciplinary rounds
- Increased workflow efficiencies through the utilization of auto-notification features in Epic, reducing staff administrative burden
- Adding technology to McCullough-Hyde SDS and PACU bays to increase the ability to efficiently share equipment
- Instituting Long Length of Stay (LOS) meetings to more proactively address discharge barriers and reduce LOS for complex cases
- Standardizing team member recognition programs to be more intentional about team member appreciation
The design phase will continue over the coming weeks and we expect to begin implementing comprehensive change plans early next year. I will provide periodic progress reports on these plans in my Weekly Updates.
TriHealth Recognized in the Community for its Innovative Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work
Last Friday, TriHealth was honored by the Northern Kentucky branch of the NAACP with their 2022 Outstanding Community Partner Award in recognition of our efforts to provide hundreds of free neighborhood health screenings and talent acquisition support at the NAACP’s Annual Diversity Health Fair this summer. TriHealth’s community engagement and participation in important events like these throughout our region help us become a trusted partner and provider in improving the health, wellness, and quality of life for the communities we serve. As importantly, these events provide an ideal forum to help us address health disparities head-on within underserved communities – demonstrating our commitment in action to diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is an essential component of Getting Healthcare Right!
Also on Friday, TriHealth’s School to Work Program – a partnership with Cincinnati Public Schools and Hughes High School – was recognized at the UNCF (United Negro College Fund) Annual Mayor’s Luncheon. The School to Work Program was celebrated for its innovative work in building a “talent pipeline” and promoting careers in healthcare for under-represented minority populations.
A big THANK YOU to our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), Talent Acquisition, and Corporate Health teams whose collective hard work and expertise resulted in these well-deserved recognitions!
Final Call: Take the Engagement Pulse and Safety Survey by November 18
Last week, we kicked off our two-week Engagement Pulse and Safety Survey and 46% of our team members and physicians have already participated! If you have not done so yet, please take a few minutes to complete the brief survey before it closes this Friday, November 18. Your feedback is essential to help us continue to make TriHealth a great place to work and practice in ways most meaningful to YOU – our valued team members and clinicians. Visit Bridge for information!
COVID Update
While still relatively low, COVID transmission rates in the region have begun to “tick up” slightly following a steady decline in September and October. This week at TriHealth, we have 28 COVID-positive inpatients in our hospitals and just one on a ventilator. Regionally, half of the counties in the tri-state area – including Hamilton and Butler counties – moved to “Medium” community risk levels, indicating increasing transmission and associated hospitalizations (see sidebar graphic to the far right for details). The number of new weekly cases per 100,000 population inched slightly upward to 99.09/100,000 (see trend graph to right). While not yet at the CDC threshold for mandatory clinical masking (100 new weekly cases/100,000 population), we are continuing to closely monitor transmission rate data, and will provide any updates on clinical masking policy changes, if required.
Join Us Thursday at Noon for the November Team Member Town Hall
Mark your calendars to join us this Thursday, November 17, from 12-1pm on Bridge for our November Team Member Town Hall livestream. We will celebrate system wins, provide current COVID updates, and share more about how we are advancing our journey to get healthcare right. And, as always, we will provide plenty of time to answer your questions – with some great TriHealth prizes available to those who join the conversation!
Honey Baked Ham Co. Holiday Meal Vouchers on Their Way to You
As a reminder, be on the lookout tomorrow afternoon for an email from the Honey Baked Ham Co. containing your personalized voucher code for your choice of a ham, a turkey breast or two large sides and a pie – the perfect holiday meal to share with your loved ones. As we start the holiday season – a time of giving thanks and giving back – this is one way we are expressing our deep gratitude to the best healthcare team anywhere! Visit Bridge for all the details on our Honey Baked Ham Co. meal.
Because of YOU, our incredible team members and physicians, we continue to make outstanding progress on all fronts to Get Healthcare Right for each other and all those we serve! Thank you for everything you do, every day, to make TriHealth GREAT!
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