Hi Team –

 

Last week was Medical Assistants Week, and I want to send a belated shout out and a BIG thank you to all of our dedicated TriHealth Medical Assistants! You play a vital role in helping us deliver exceptional care and an unparalleled experience, The TriHealth Way, and we are extremely grateful for all you do!

 

Last Thursday, I had the privilege of joining many of our leaders, team members, and physicians at our 2022 Service Awards Celebration in honor of those who have reached key milestones of 20 and more years of service to TriHealth. This year’s event took place at the Starlite Drive-In Movie Theatre, where we recognized more than two hundred TriHealth honorees and their guests, as well as several other team members who received a Living Our Values award throughout the past year.

 

It was fun to enthusiastically greet and extend a BIG thank you to every honoree upon arrival in their car – and I was joined by Terri Hanlon-Bremer, TriHealth Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Helen Koselka, TriHealth Chief Medical Officer, and Ellen Beckett, Director, HR Business Partner Operations, to present honorees with a really nice TriHealth throw blanket. Other team members and leaders also helped to serve a delicious boxed picnic dinner and provide an endless supply of movie snacks to enjoy during a private showing of “Field of Dreams!”

 

 

This special event provided us the opportunity to personally meet and speak with every team member and their guest to share our thanks for their service and to recognize their loved ones for their support. A number of Service Award honorees told me how our TriHealth Way culture has made a real difference for them, particularly as we all came together over the past two-plus years while managing through the worst of COVID. Click here to see additional photos from the event.

 

As we continue to work through industry-wide workforce challenges, it is especially important for us to recognize and celebrate all of our dedicated team members and physicians for their continued commitment to TriHealth and our mission!

 

We took another encouraging step forward with our “new normal” last week when we announced the rollback of masking requirements in most clinical areas. This change was made possible because of the decrease in COVID case rates (now consistently below 100 per 100,000 per week), stable COVID inpatient volumes in our hospitals, and decreasing numbers of TriHealth team members and physicians out of work with COVID (see sidebar graphic for latest statistics).

 

While masks will continue to be required in certain patient care areas, such as infusion centers and our NICU to help protect our immunocompromised or highest-risk patients, they will be optional elsewhere. And it is certainly a welcome change to again see the faces of many of our patients, providers, and visitors. We look forward to the opportunities that the safe rollback of masks will bring to deliver even more compassionate and personalized care – a real differentiator for patients in their TriHealth Way experience.

 

For the continued safety of everyone at TriHealth, we will still closely monitor COVID transmission rates each week. And it is possible, if not likely, we may need to reinstate temporary masking requirements from time to time if we experience sharp spikes in COVID case rates. However, as we continue to emerge from the worst of the pandemic and settle into a more manageable and stable co-existence with COVID, we believe that over the long term optional mask-wearing will become our permanent “new normal.”

 

Another important example of how TriHealth is leading the way to Get Healthcare Right is our investment in technology and “big data.” Just a few weeks ago, TriHealth was once again recognized as a “most wired” health system by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). TriHealth was certified as a Level 9 (with Level 10 being the highest possible) for both acute and ambulatory programs. This extensive and intensive survey examines how we are using digital programs and digital health capabilities to modernize healthcare delivery in ways that are improving patient care and health outcomes. And TriHealth is excelling on all fronts!

 

Our commitment to build our “Big Data” capabilities is elevating and enhancing all aspects of how we deliver care – from scheduling appointments, to treating patients, to sharing information, to better managing chronic conditions and health risks, one patient at a time. For example, our investments in clinical informatics have significantly increased access to real-time clinical information and actionable insights across our system. This is enabling our providers to more quickly identify and respond to unmanaged chronic conditions, close gaps in care, and identify and address rising risk. And all of this allows us to measurably improve the quality of care we provide and the health outcomes we deliver to our patients and community – another important way we are Getting Healthcare Right!

 

A big shout out to interim CIO, Donna Peters, and the entire TriHealth IS team for your leadership and hard work that resulted in this significant national achievement.

 

I’m pleased to share that all eight TriHealth Laboratory locations recently completed a rigorous biennial survey by the College of American Pathologists. Twenty surveyors assessed all eight of our Lab operations over two days and commended our TriHealth Labs for exceptional performance and best practices with respect to quality metrics, document control, and our TriHealth Way culture and team member engagement.

 

While we wait for official word, it was clear the surveyors came away very impressed with our TriHealth Team and we are confident we will soon receive reaccreditation. Many thanks to the team members, physicians, and leaders across our labs and clinical sites of care who participated in interviews. And congratulations to Brittany Bedel, Director of Laboratory Operations, and the entire TriHealth Lab team for your collaboration and preparedness, all to ensure the very best and safest care for all those we serve!

 

Part of TriHealth's journey to Zero Harm as a High-Reliability Organization (HRO) is to provide safe and reliable care by making sure we consistently use evidence-based practices in caring for our patients, as well as adhering to all relevant regulations and laws. As part of this commitment, each year all TriHealth team members, medical staff, and APPs are required to complete Annual Mandatory Education (AME) as a refresher on important and high-risk topics that could help save a life or prevent serious harm to our team members, patients, visitors, the public, and the organization. The 2022 AME eLearn deadline is fast approaching and must be completed by our entire TriHealth Team by no later than Friday, November 11, 2022. If you haven’t done so already, please visit TriHealth Learn soon to access and complete the 2022 AME before the deadline.

 

We are officially in the final week of our One Campaign – and are looking forward to a strong close as we cross the finish line! Thank you to all of our team members and physicians who have already generously donated to the campaign – helping us raise, to date, nearly 70% of this year’s fundraising goal! Because of your enthusiastic participation, we will, once again, make a very positive impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across the Tri-State region, among them, many of our own TriHealth team members!! Your support will help fund clinical programs our patients rely on each day, as well as strengthen vital community initiatives that help our entire region thrive!

 

I made my pledge last week, and if you have not donated yet, it’s not too late! Your participation – in any amount – is greatly appreciated and much needed. And remember, all those who donate online are entered into a system raffle where a new winner is selected each week to win a really cool prize! Our most recent weekly prize winner – Mandy Rumsey, TriHealth Way Operations Manager – just won a one-of-a-kind VIP experience to the Cincinnati Zoo! And at the end of the campaign on October 31, one lucky winner will be drawn to receive the grand prize of $2,500! Click here to donate.

 

Thank you to the best healthcare team, anywhere, for all you do to make TriHealth GREAT – for each other and all those we serve!!