December 7, 2007

Leadership meeting highlights hospital activities and capital budget

The quarterly MGH/MGPO leadership meeting Nov. 28 provided updates on the hand hygiene program, clinical business development (CBD), process improvement and the hospital's capital budget. Sally Mason Boemer, vice president for Finance; David Hooper, MD, chief of the MGH Infection Control Unit; and Ann Prestipino, senior vice president for Surgical and Anesthesia Services and Clinical Business Development, presented information to hospital managers and supervisors.

Peter L. Slavin, MD, MGH president, opened the meeting by announcing that the hospital had been awarded the Betsy Lehman Patient Safety Recognition Award from the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction of the Massachusetts Office of Health and Human Services to recognize the hospital's great strides in hand hygiene compliance. The award was established to acknowledge leadership and innovation in patient safety.

Mason Boemer then introduced the Compass program — a new Partnerswide, multiphase process improvement initiative that will simplify scheduling, registration and billing. With Compass, patient information will be standardized and accessible across the Partners system, resulting in improved efficiency and accuracy and enhanced navigability of the system for both patients and Partners staff. Implementation is scheduled to take place at the MGH in 2011, and Mason Boemer emphasized that managers and staff will be updated as the process unfolds. Reviewing the FY '08 capital budget, Mason Boemer said that in addition to the $73.7 million allocated for the Building for the Third Century, $131 million has been set aside for new capital improvements and initiatives. This allocation to areas such as construction and renovation, clinical equipment and information systems is similar to recent years. Approved FY '08 projects support the MGH strategic plan in many ways, including enabling capacity management, growing service lines, and enhancing quality and safety measures.

Hooper provided a detailed update on the MGH's hand hygiene compliance rates and the Hand Hygiene Incentive Program, which this year links a portion of the employee bonus program to hand hygiene compliance. (See MGHers succeed in making hand hygiene 90-90 goal)

Prestipino outlined the history and development of the hospital's CBD initiative, noting that enhancing patient care while respecting financial concerns and embracing opportunities to deliver care in community settings as a result of limited free space on the MGH main campus were among the core principles of the hospital's efforts. Strategic and business plan development has occurred for each of the MGH's targeted growth areas, leading to the development of many centers of excellence. Major strategies have included multidisciplinary program development, innovation and new technology development supported by both new physician recruitment and marketing. All of the targeted growth areas, she noted, have achieved increased patient volume in the years since implementation of the CBD initiative. Over the coming year, the CBD group will continue to analyze the impact of the initiative across the MGH and MGPO, maintain its market research activities, bring all ambulatory care center developments to implementation and focus on its strategy of network development and relationship-building with key regional players.