April 28, 2016

Hi Team −

It’s been quite a month of exciting achievements and meaningful progress as we moved full speed ahead on our journey to make TriHealth a great place for team members to work, for physicians to practice and for our community to receive the best care possible to live better!

TriHealth Shines as a National Leader in Excellence Across the Board!

April is known for showers – and this was certainly the case at TriHealth this past month as we were showered with national recognition and industry accolades, including:

• TriHealth named as one of the 15 Top Health Systems in the nation by Truven Health Analytics.  This remarkable achievement was based on overall system performance, as measured by inpatient clinical outcomes, process of care, efficiency and patient experience.  As healthcare evolves and value replaces volume, this recognition is especially important because it puts the spotlight on the select few organizations in the U.S. that are getting the balance between quality and high performance (i.e., “value”) right. 
• Three TriHealth hospitals earn “A” Grades for Patient Safety in latest Leapfrog Hospital Survey.  Good Samaritan Hospital, Bethesda North Hospital and McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital all earned “A” grades – the highest score possible!  Bethesda Butler also made a significant improvement from the last survey – raising its grade from a “C” to a “B.”  TriHealth Evendale Hospital was not rated because of its largely outpatient focus.
• TriHealth named by DiversityInc. #7 on America’s Top 10 Best Hospitals and Healthcare Systems for Diversity.  DiversityInc. is the leading assessor of diversity management in the U.S. and globally. Companies on the Top 10 list score above all others for diversity talent pipeline, talent development, leadership commitment and supplier diversity.  

These impressive accomplishments serve as powerful validation that we are already well on our way to achieve our strategic plan intention to become the leading, fully-integrated model health system in our region – a system that will thrive in an environment of greater accountability for driving value and improved health.  All credit for these exceptional national accolades goes to YOU – our talented and dedicated physicians, nurses and staff across the system who strive to give your best each and every day.  Thank you for everything you do!

System Progress Updates

Successful Joint Commission Survey at TriHealth Evendale Hospital.  In late March, the Joint Commission completed its survey of TriHealth Evendale – and the results were outstanding.  During the Surveyors Exit Conference, the Clinical Surveyor reported that the “quality of care is excellent” throughout all four sites, and the Life Safety Specialist stated that the TriHealth Hospital survey was “the best survey he has conducted in over a year.”  This survey followed Good Samaritan Hospital’s successful January survey and full re-accreditation.  The final Joint Commission survey of TriHealth hospitals is expected to take place this summer at Bethesda North.

Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) Operational Excellence Plan Yields Success.  I’m pleased to share that thanks to the hard work and focus of all of our TriHealth hospitals, ambulatory campuses, practices and other departments across the system, we’ve made exceptional progress to close our FY16 margin gap and meet our Annual Operating Plan targets.  In fact, in March, our performance was AHEAD of Plan!  I recognize how challenging these efforts can be, and I want to personally thank you for all you’ve done to help us operate as efficiently as possible.  Your efforts are paying off – enabling TriHealth to remain financially healthy so we can continue to make the necessary investments in our people, technology and facilities to secure our exciting future.

FY17 TriHealth Management Plan Shaped by New Strategic Direction.  We’re making great progress to incorporate our new Strategic Plan’s key focus areas into our FY17 TriHealth Management Plan, which goes into effect July 1, following Board approval in May.  This planning effort is a highly collaborative process involving our physician and other leaders across the system.  This month, we held retreats with our TriHealth directors and physician leaders to set FY17 System Goals and review the proposed FY17 Major Initiatives.  We then shared the plan with all 800 of our TriHealth leaders at last week’s Leadership Development Institute.  Following Board approval of the final plan, we’ll then conduct another series of physician and senior leader retreats in June and July to create the detailed FY17 work plans, timelines, and leader roles and responsibilities to support the Management Plan.  You’ll learn more about these plans at our June series of Team Member Forums.

New System Organizational Structure Begins to Take Shape.  The following is a recap of the key internal promotions and leadership appointments made over the past month to support our new TriHealth Organizational Structure – a structure and operating philosophy designed to foster greater integration and collaboration in delivery of care across the TriHealth continuum:

• David Cook, Jr. joins TriHealth on May 2 as our new Chief Human Resources Officer.
• Tom Tami, MD was appointed as TriHealth Physician Partners Physician Executive.  
• Vesta Johns was named TriHealth Physician Partners Administrative Executive.
• Brett Kirkpatrick becomes Executive Director of Hospital Operations for McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital on May 9. 

Recruitment continues for a new System Chief Quality Officer and for our two new senior leaders for the Good Sam and Bethesda North Regions.

TriHealth Launches Successful Leadership Development Institute (LDI).  Last Thursday and Friday, more than 800 of our TriHealth leaders convened off-site as ONE TriHealth Leadership Team to participate in our very first LDI.  The purpose was to introduce and teach leadership, people and service best practices that will make up the new, standardized “TriHealth Way... of Leading and Serving.”  Your leaders will devote time at May staff meetings to share their experiences with you and set the stage for the exciting changes coming to help foster and reward higher levels of team member and physician satisfaction and engagement, innovation and improved communications and, ultimately, improved service, quality, safety.   

It’s a New Day at TriHealth as We Honor & Build on Our Proud Legacy… We’ve had a month filled with lots of reasons to celebrate and be proud – and we’re just getting started!  TriHealth is about to come alive with new ideas, lively interactions, new working relationships and lots of fun.  Get ready to speak up, reach out and make a difference!

Mark