A Healthcare System Looks Within to Improve Outcomes

Healthcare organizations are facing exponential growth in change-not just to compete, but to survive. Amid the widening gap between expenses and reimbursements, hospitals must manage the adoption of expensive advanced technologies, continuous synthesis of emerging clinical knowledge, intensive regulatory readiness, and public ranking of quality outcomes. And they must handle all this as patient expectations grow. At Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH), we have approached these challenges by nurturing an organizational mindset of transformational innovation. The ability to harness the collective brainpower of 12,000 MLH associates to find cost reductions, operational efficiencies, and better ways to provide patient care has proven invaluable when facing the demands to do more with less. Achieving this degree of engagement began with full transparency of the challenges we face as an organization, clearly articulating the need to change, and providing a structured approach to capture and respond to suggestions from the workforce. The Power of One Idea program, a platform for listening and learning, has enabled the workforce to answer that call and make an impressive impact: $17 million in cost savings and previously untapped revenues. In return, the forward-thinking associates submitting those ideas have shared in those savings and realized more than $1.5 million in extra income. The Performance Excellence Award, a program to seek out best practices in safety, efficiency, or effectiveness, also has enriched the business with at least 100 proven approaches to advance care delivery.