Friday, December 27, 2013

2013 to 2014

As 2013 comes to a close, I’d like to thank each and every member of the MPMC family for their commitment to providing the highest quality patient-centered health care possible. This year has marked many advancements for the MPMC team and has made us stronger as we continue to grow. As we look forward to a new year and the progress that awaits, I want to provide you an update on some important initiatives on which we have been working. · Dr. Rebecca Wiebe of Surgical Specialists of Colorado will begin seeing patients at Middle Park Surgical Center four days a week on February 7. The goal is to increase days through 2014 to increase the availability of surgery in Grand County. · We are working to secure an interim human resources director and hope to have that person in place in January while we continue to recruit a full-time director. · Our new health information management manager will join us January 6. This should give us a good position to be more proactive in our charting and auditing of patient records as well as better position us for the ICD-10 crossover next year. · As our new Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Michelle Balleck, gets acclimated with the MPMC family, she will be meeting with directors and managers to develop a comprehensive communication plan for our organization. Please look forward to increased communication within and outside of MPMC. · Our Service Excellence Initiative is proceeding well. Currently we are focusing on the patient experience and how it is impacted by quietness and cleanliness. Trainings for staff will begin in 2014, and we look forward to the improvements to patient care we can all strive to achieve. · Chief Financial Officer Brendan Gale, along with others from the organization, will be having a budget meeting in January to finalize a revised budget for 2014. · Brendan and his team are working to standardize the revenue cycle and resolve reimbursement concerns. This is one of our primary goals for 2014 as we strive to improve cash flow and our billing processes. I am optimistic to enter a new year with many possibilities with all of the MPMC team. We have many opportunities in front of us to continue to grow the level of patient care we offer to all of Grand County! Happy New Year!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Congratulations!

Service Excellence Initiative
 
 
Middle Park Medical Center strives to provide world-class Service Excellence to
continuously improve the patient experience, employee satisfaction and physician
engagement at our facilities. We have launched our Service Excellence Initiative,
which will be implemented throughout the MPMC family during the next three years.

The Service Excellence Initiative will enhance the experience for our patients, their
families and our community, as well as ourselves, and will move Middle Park Medical
Center forward in becoming the health care provider and employer of choice in
Northwest Colorado.

As part of this project, we have selected the following leaders within our
organization to lead the first phase of implementation. The Service Excellence Council
will provide leadership and communication to the Service Excellence Initiative. The
Service Excellence Advisors will lead Service Excellence Initiative workshops for the
entire MPMC staff and guide us through implementation of customer service
improvement projects.
 
Service Excellence Council
David Solawetz, RN, CQO, Chair
Janet Peters, Program Director
Carmen Covington, CNO
Zane Gray
Miranda Marsh
Bridget Newman
Bethanie Reynolds
Jeanine Shunk
Jason Stuerman, MD
Theresa Vague

Service Excellence Advisors
Jean Anderson
Alexis Bates
Amanda Haight
Jeff Hoffman
Mary Meeks
Holly Peck
Evaldas Pilkis
Chris Porter
Daniele Porter
Marjorie Pfeffer
Chris Trimmer
Darren Zunno

Please look forward to further information as we progress with the Service
Excellence Initiative into 2014! This initiative will enable us to reach higher levels of
customer and employee experience. Your commitment to MPMC and patient
satisfaction is paramount to make this initiative successful!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Old acquaintances...


As we move toward a stronger relationship with Centura here are some facts on them and what they have to offer. 


WHO – Centura Health is a joint venture between Adventist Health System a mid-west and southern hospital system with net revenues in excess of $6.5 Billion and Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) a national hospital system that has net revenues in excess of $10.5 Billion, which puts them in the top 10 not-for-profit hospital systems in the country. Centura and Adventist/CHI are faith based organizations and all share the common mission of “promoting the healing ministry of Christ.”  Centura and Adventis/CHI work with a lot of affiliate hospitals, and while it is faith based, they do not require affiliated organizations to comply with are parts of their operating dogma.  Centura Health is the largest healthcare system in Colorado with net revenues exceeding $2.5 Billion, with hospital’s throughout the state and provide other healthcare services, including home health, nursing home care, and other ancillary services. http://www.centura.org/

 
WHY
·        Proximity to St. Anthony’s and St. Anthony’s Summit.

·        Well positioned geographically in the intermountain and front range to take advantage of population based medicine (See: Map of Centura CAH’s) and has a growing presence on the eastern side of the state with affiliate and owned hospitals in Western Kansas (http://www.centura.org/Workfiles/maps/CH-map-AllFacilities.pdf)

·        Annual per-capita spending on healthcare in the U.S. exceeds $8,233 per  person or $123,495,000 in Grand County alone. Total population in the Centura affiliate hospital counties exceed 150,000 with net healthcare expenditure in excess of $1.3 Billion. This doesn’t even include the tourism base that consumes another $100,000,000 in healthcare while vacationing in affiliate counties (Jackson, Grand, Summit, Alamosa, Chaffee, Clear Creek, Costilla, Fremont, Lincoln, and Park). Adjacent counties hold an additional 250,000 people.  Gaining a larger market share for MPMC in our area would be momentous. 

·        Centura 2020 mission to move upstream to help  http://www.centura.org/move-upstream-to-manage-health

·        Improved revenue cycle management (ICD-10, HIPPA compliance, value based purchasing, HCAPS)

·        Process efficiencies and economies of scale that would reduce costs  dramatically. 
  • New agile leadership to respond quickly to the needs of MPMC

·        Expanded service lines (Surgical, inpatient, home health, nursing home, etc.)

     ·        Access to high end services like legal, consulting, marketing, accounting, etc.

·        Improved viability as we face Affordable Care Act, ICD-10, Value Based Purchasing and Pay for Performance, Elimination of CAH Payments, Patient Centered Medical Home, etc.

 

Friday, November 15, 2013

Stopping to smell the flowers.

Today marks my fourth month of your Chief Operating Officer.  I did not realize that fact until my awesome better half posted this on my facebook page...






When I interviewed for this position in June I sat down in front of 10 or so MPMC employees that shared with me the challenges, the hopes, the set-backs, the concerns and the anxiety.  The one thing that stood out the most was there was no sign of "laying down and giving up".  I knew right away I wanted this job because of the staff.
 
 
 
 
The Four Horsemen: State Survey, IT Crash, Life Safety, and Workforce Reduction.


Fast forward four months...

CEO Cole White has recently likened these past year to the four horsemen of the apocalypse with all of the challenges that we have faced.  However, the assessment of the staff that I had in my interview was correct.  You all have not lain down your swords, stopped fighting and  not feared any tribulation.  You all have fiercely fought to make sure that our patients were taken care of. 

The senior leadership team and the board of director's are very proud of you all.   

Sometimes we all have to take a moment to pause and gather the holistic picture of the entire organization.  Once you have done this and seen the entire organization working as a whole you can capture the beauty of the self-sacrifice to ensure our fellow human beings are being cared for with high quality.  This involves EVERY individual. 

This is an amazing process to experience and everyone should from time to time stop to smell the flowers. 

...Oh yeah...and I am having a blast thank you all for all you do!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Deaf and Dumb


 
We had a great senior leadership retreat on Wednesday of this week.  One of the things that we did as an ice breaker was to give a personal experience on how something or someone has affected us and our leadership style.  This was a very easy topic to pick for me because a day rarely goes by without me thinking of it.

I was born with a congenital sensorineural hearing loss; my hearing is classified as a profound loss.  Which is one step below deaf; I am 93% deaf in both ears.  This has definitely caused a lot of hurdles in my life.  However, I have been received well in all circles with understanding people.  Though, there is one teacher during my junior high and high school years that whole heartedly tried to undermine my every action. 

He called me deaf and therefore, dumb.  That comment has resonated through me my entire life.  I went on to graduate from high school, get my AAS in Radiology, BS in Kinesiology and I am ¾ done with my Master’s in Administration…some of my classmates have called me “4.0”.  While it seems like I am bragging (which I am somewhat) my point is that any obstacle and hurdle can be overcome if you have determination. 

In fact I have put determination as my personal vision, mission and description word.

In health care it always takes a healthy dose of determination (pun intended) to give quality care, excellent customer service, perform under duress, make changes needed to create the “employer of choice and provider of choice”. 

Thanks for all of your hard work this week!

Friday, October 11, 2013

Who signs your PTO slip?

In my last blog post I mentioned that Trudy and I would be discussing organizational clarity at the next managers meeting.  Organizational clarity has a lot of different pieces that are important in not only MPMC's hierarchy, but patient safety and care as well.  This is important from front line staff to the Board of Directors.
 
Advis, S., A. (2010) states that "when hierarchical differences exist between health care clinicians, communication problems may occur. Those individuals that exhibit intimidating behaviors may further hinder communication between health care clinicians, causing delays in patient care particularly if the organization’s chain of command fails to outline structured communication techniques and clinical practice guidelines to follow when disruptive behaviors are encountered. Disruptive behaviors of health care clinicians have been linked to adverse events."
 
This amplifies the need for a clear chain of communication/command.  I use the communication/command interchangeably because largely that is what it is, a direction of communication flow for conflict resolution.  However, the number one first thing one should do when there are non-life-threatening urgent matters is always work the issue at hand out with the person of interest.  This always helps prevent wasteful, productivity killing, unnecessary use of the chain of communication.
 
Only then if the issue at hand cannot be resolved you should move up the chain of command.  You might wonder which area to go to...go to your immediate supervisor, the person "who signs your PTO slip".  That is the best place to start.  The following is the Senior Leadership chain of communication.  This is MPMC design and the Joint Commission best practice.  



 We will be rolling out the full chart at the managers meeting. 
 
 


Friday, October 4, 2013

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


 

Cc:  Cole white, Carmen Covington, David Solawetz, John Wisneski, Bethanie Reynolds, Sherri Solawetz
Bcc:  Board of Directors

 
From: Trampas Hutches

 
Subject: !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
i NEED MY SCANNER FIXED ASAP!!!!

 
Warm Regards,

 
Trampas Hutches, COO
Middle Park Medical Center
970-724-3130

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 How would you feel if you received this e-mail?  Would you be offended, angry, hurt?  How do you think the Cc people feel about this?  I know the senior leadership would frown on this.  Not over the scanner, but the sender is acting like a petulant two-year-old.  The Board of Directors would be wondering why they even received this e-mail, let alone the use of the blind carbon copy.  Not to mention IT would not be likely to move on the issue just due to the simple fact of human nature.

Right now you are saying to yourself “oh nobody sends these types of e-mails”.  You would be very wrong.  Aside from the obvious issues all around with this e-mail, the lost productivity to stop the fall-out from these e-mails are huge wasteful and “un-Lean”. 

 There are two things wrong with this:
1.        If the issue has not been resolved rather than Cc and Bcc sending chain of command should be followed.  An e-mail should be sent to the direct supervisor of the department in question
2.       All e-mail etiquette rules were broken

 
In the next managers meeting Trudy and I will be rolling out e-mail etiquette training.  This will be part of a broader training of organizational clarity.  The one thing that makes all of this go is communication.  It all comes down to the “good ol Golden Rule”   “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. 

 
I am glad to back to writing my blog as I have written close to a 50 page project over the past month for my Master’s Degree program.  This is one of my favorite parts of my job, my blog. 

 

**Disclaimer**  The above e-mail was completely fictional. 

 

 

Friday, September 6, 2013

Grabbing the bull by the horns.


 
 
What does Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Jesus Christ, Charles Darwin and Socrates all have in common?  They all exhibited a great deal of...
 
cour·age
ˈkərij,ˈkə-rij/
noun
noun: courage
1.
the ability to do something that frightens one.
"she called on all her courage to face the ordeal"
  • strength in the face of pain or grief.
One does not have to be a famous person to exhibit a large degree of courage.  In fact some of the biggest acts of courage sometimes go un-noticed.  As health care workers we see this every single day.  The courage of people battling illness, diseases and staring death in the face and winning (and losing).  That courage can be quite monumental in comparison to many of the above mentioned people.
 
Also, courage can simply be willing to face change during difficult times.  A lot of times we do things not because it is the best thing to do, but it is the easiest thing to do.  The phrase that comes to my mind is "because that is just the way we have always done it".  This statement along with the rapidly evolving and changing health care landscape can be detrimental to many health care organizations. 
 
Many battles have been lost due to the inability to find the silver lining in/and embracing change that is needed to adjust and adapt to changes that are uncontrollable.  At MPMC there has been change and there is more change to come.  This will require courage from the top leadership team and board of directors down to every single position in the MPMC organization. 
 
Sometimes you gotta grab the bull by the horns...
 
Our fearless leader, Cole "Tuff" White
 

 


Friday, August 23, 2013

HIPAA...It's a serious matter.

Ya it's boring, but it's serious...




Just about everyone has heard of HIPAA, it is especially drilled down into all health care workers for obvious reasons.  The whole reason of HIPAA is to protect sensitive information from becoming public knowledge.  HIPAA can be confusing, but it is also fairly simple.  The biggest phrase to remember is "is the information or access to information necessary to perform my job".  If the information is not a necessity, and you access it anyways you are in violation of HIPAA.  This pertains to even your personal records, your spouses records and your families' records.

The seriousness of the violation can be summed up in the following paragraph:

"Even if a person is the victim of an egregious violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule, the law does not give people the right to sue. Instead, individuals must file a written complaint with the Secretary of HHS via the Office for Civil Rights. It is then within the Secretary’s discretion to investigate the complaint. HHS may impose civil penalties ranging from $100 to $25,000, and criminal sanctions ranging from $50,000 to $250,000—with corresponding prison terms—may be enforced by the Department of Justice." 

All hospitals must self report any violation that is observed in its' organization.  usually this leads to immediate termination.  Also, it is worth noting that even minor violations can land a person on the National Database that will prevent any organization that participates in federal programs from hiring the violator.  Essentially if you violate HIPAA you won't be working in the health care field again. 

MPMC will be increasing the presence in the security of HIPAA related issues.  Also, we will be enforcing the rules and penalties.  I, myself, am astounded at how well the security system monitors for HIPAA violations.  So please...don't be the one that causes a jellybean (red flag)  to be sent to our HIPAA administrator's...

Here are a few HIPAA Myths/Facts:

Myth #1 Health care providers can share personal health information with employers.
FACT .

Myth #2 One doctor’s office cannot send a patient’s medical records to another doctor’s office without that patient’s consent.
FACT
 
Myth #3 The HIPAA Privacy Regulation prohibits or discourages doctor–patient e-mails.
FACT

Myth #4 Hospitals are prohibited from sharing information with the patient’s family without the patient’s express consent.
FACT
 
Myth #5 A patient’s family member can no longer pick up prescriptions for the patient.
FACT


Myth #6 The Privacy Regulation mandates new disclosures of patient information.
FACT
 
Myth #7 Patients can sue health care providers for not complying with the HIPAA Privacy Regulation.
FACT Myth #8 Patients’ medical records can no longer be used for marketing.
FACT .

Myth #9 If a patient refuses to sign an acknowledgment stating that he or she received the health care provider’s notice of privacy practices, the health care provider can, or must, refuse to provide services.
FACT

Myth #10 The HIPAA Privacy Rule imposes many new restrictions on hospitals’ fundraising efforts so that fundraising becomes almost impossible.
FACT

Saturday, August 17, 2013

In the eye's of our patients...

 
I posted this video a few weeks ago..if you can't see it at work, please watch it at home...
 
 
 
 
Sometimes as health care workers we get caught up in the many processes that comes with the territory.  We are focused on documenting in the charts, hurrying up to get a patient chest x-ray done, speedily trying to fax lab results, going from meeting to meeting to make strategic plans, texting a friend instead of working,  not answering the phone during shift change, etc.  We all sometimes fail to realize the purpose of the work we do here.  This is collectively coming together and providing outstanding patient care for our #1 priority...our customer, the patient.  Even if you have no patient contact, your job affects the patient some how, some way...there are no exceptions to this rule. 
 
A simple way to help with this is a process called AIDET.  Or:
 
Acknowledge — Greet people with a smile and use their names if you know them. Attitude is everything. Create a lasting impression.
 
Introduce — Introduce yourself to others politely. Tell them who you are and how you are going to help them. Escort people where they need to go rather than pointing or giving directions.
 
Duration — Keep in touch to ease waiting times. Let others know if there is a delay and how long it will be. Make it better and apply service recovery methods when necessary. (we will be adding said recovery methods in the future)
 
Explanation — Advise others what you are doing, how procedures work and whom to contact if they need assistance. Communicate any steps they may need to take. Make words work. Talk, listen and learn. Make time to help. Ask, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

 
Thank You — Thank somebody. Foster an attitude of gratitude. Thank people for their patronage, help or assistance. The phrase "Thank you for choosing MPMC" should be ingrained in every ones customer service skills. 
 
As you can see this process is based on communication skills.  This is interesting in that majority of the issues that arise in almost all industries and personal lives are communication related.  Just remember at all times try to view your work through the yes of our patients and ask yourself..."How would this look to me if I were coming through MPMC for care". 
 

Friday, August 9, 2013

A well oiled machine...

 


 
 
One of my all-time favorite movies is The Incredibles.  In fact it is the only thing I wanted for my birthday the year it came out (my 30th...I am a kid at heart).  In the movie there are many takeaways and real life lessons that apply to a broad spectrum of life issues and work instances.  The one that really applies to MPMC, especially the last week, is the scene where Bob (Mr. Incredible) is getting lectured by his boss, Gilbert Huph, for helping his customer's finding their ways through Insuracare's red tape.
 
 
 
 
Mr. Huph: "We're supposed to help OUR people! Starting with our stockholders, Bob! Who's helping them out, huh?! (sighs) You know, Bob... a company..."
Bob: "Is like an enormous clock."
Mr. Huph: "Is like an enormous clo-- Yes! Precisely! It only works if all the little cogs *mesh* together! Now, a clock needs to be clean, well-lubricated, and wound tight. The best clocks have jewel movements, cogs that fit, that cooperate by design. (chuckles) I'm being metaphorical, Bob. You know what I mean by cooperative cogs?"
 
Bending Huph's metaphor a bit, MPMC and any other medical organization, is like a clock...or a system.  For the system to work well all parts must be functioning at a high level and all jobs must be done in the best possible manner.  Also, all pieces are important, without one piece the clock will not function.
 
With the impending Affordable Care Act or "Obamacare" there is a part called the Value Based Purchasing Program (VBPP).  There are two main components of the VBPP one that focuses on patient outcomes and one that focuses on patient experience.  Patient experience items are room cleanliness, staff friendliness, etc. 
 
This area is important because it requires all staff to be on top of their game.  Future reimbursements from medicare will be tied to the scores we receive from the patients.  But the bottom line is...we should be doing this for our patients and each other anyways...to make sure we don't end up like this:
 

 


Friday, August 2, 2013


The past week was a very challenging week in a lot of areas in the MPMC organization.  However, when push came to shove we pulled through.  This makes me proud to be a part of something great. I look forward to watching MPMC grow into a great provider and employer of choice.

In the little time that I have been at MPMC one area needs addressed.  This also goes for the majority of other organizations across all spectrums of industry; this is accountability.  O'Hagan, J., & Persaud, D. (2009) states that “accountability encompasses the procedures and processes by which one party justifies and takes responsibility for its activities such as for achieving various organizational goals”. 

As health care workers this can be anything from not taking responsibility for medication errors, blaming others for your mistakes and letting your co-worker down by not performing your job in accordance to normal standards.  Accountability comes from the top level of CEO, COO and CNO holding each other accountable down to the most important health care workers….the front line workers.

We will be working more on accountability in the future to ensure we transform into the employer of choice and provide of choice.  In the meantime watch the video…there is a lot of take away in it.  BTW we will be moving my blog to the MPMC website in the future.
 
 
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Wl2_knlv_xw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

Friday, July 26, 2013

Health care...it's not just in the hospital.


This past Wednesday the Middle Park Medical Foundation hosted its annual meeting and dinner. This was held at the park in downtown Kremmling. The food was excellent and the fellowship even better. Meara Michel and the rest of the foundation did an outstanding job. The foundation does several things for the hospital and the community and they should be commended on their efforts.

Health care is not just about what we do within the four walls of the organization. Health care is about ensuring that our communities and population as a whole has an excellent quality of life. There are many ways that we at MPMC can ensure that happens. Right now there are already several good programs that MPMC does to promote the quality of life such as the health fair, partnerships with the school districts on concussion education, West Grand School nurse program and numerous others too many to list.



In the future MPMC will be collaborating with more schools in our area on the school nurse program. Furthermore, it is my goal to bring the Kremmling Recreation District, West Grand School district, the City of Kremmling along with MPMC together to explore more recreational and health promotion services. The ultimate goal is a facility where these types of activities can take place.
 

 

This would help increase the health of the 80% of the community who need little resources in order to focus our resources on the 20% of the population that requires said services (Pareto Principle). This increase in resources would greatly enhance the outcome of care on that 20% of the population that needs it.

Moving forward any ideas or comments for these types of services are greatly appreciated (no matter how wild).

 

Friday, July 19, 2013

This past week has been a wonderful week as the new Chief Operating Officer.  I have met a lot of really great people who no doubt make MPMC the great health care provider that it is.  I feel blessed to be part of an organization as awesome as MPMC.  I plan on helping make our organization the best place for health care needs, the VERY best place to work and help our communities of Kremmling, Granby and the surrounding areas grow to be strong, heal
thy communities.

My family and I are excited to call Kremmling and Grand County home.  Though my family will not be joining me until at least the first weekend of August.  We have purchased a new home and we will have two weeks of transition time before we can move into our new home.  We will be living in our RV until that time comes, but that is one of our favorite pastimes...camping! 

Me, my daughter, my son and my wife, Elizabeth.
Speaking of my family my wife and I have two kids...a 11-year-old daughter and a 8-year-old son, who are going into the 6th and 3rd grades respectively.  You will see us around a lot as we like to be active in community events, church and just out and about always as a family. 

A lot of people ask me, "why did you chose to move here"?  My family and I have always wanted to move to the mountains.  Also, we dislike the stifling heat of lower elevations, and we love snow!  Just a week or so ago in Sidney, NE, where we moved from, it was 97 degrees at 1915 hrs (7:15 pm for you non-clinical folks)...so I was VERY glad to move to Grand County. 

Phone screenshot of heat...ugghh!

The purpose of this blog is to help communicate MPMC's message to our patients, employees and community helping keep everyone connected.  Our goal is to "keep life grand!"