Change: Plan on it!

Vol. 1, No. 2 February 2006
Change: Plan on it!
As we plan a new facility, one thing is certain:
Change. We won’t simply be moving to a new
building. We will be changing many of the things we
do, from the way we work together to the way we
serve our clients.
If you’re old enough to remember, think about
life in 1975, when life was simpler…or was it?
We didn’t have personal computers, laptops,
COWS or cell phones like we do today. We drove
cars with spark plugs and distributor caps, not
computer chips. We listened to 8-track players. So
what happened to them? Change!
We don’t yet know what the future holds. No
one—not the board of directors, not senior
leadership, not administrative staff—can say exactly
what is going to happen in the coming months
ahead. Often, it feels as if we’re building an airplane
while we’re flying it. Picture that!
In order to stay healthy as individuals and as
members of the RMH team, we must think now
about how to manage ourselves through the
inevitable changes ahead. The Center for Learning
and Development, a part of Human Resources, is a
resource during this time. We hope to equip leaders
with information and skills that will help them walk
with their staffs through the coming changes.
We must think now about how
to manage ourselves through the
inevitable changes ahead.
We will never come this way again. It’s up to
each of us to make this time of change a positive
and exciting one.
--Wayne Woodson, Director,
Center for Learning & Development
Save the date . . .
June 20 is the date to save on your calendar for
the official ground-breaking
ceremony for the new
hospital and health campus.
You may have noticed
trees coming down and dirt
being moved at the site
already. That is preliminary
work to clear away buildings
and debris left on the site.
But the “real” groundbreaking will take place
June 20. All staff, physicians, volunteers and
friends of RMH are invited to be part of the
celebration. Watch for details in forthcoming
publications!
Did you know . . .
•
•
As an individual, take time to re-energize
yourself. Celebrate small successes in your work
area. Ask questions! Seek developmental
opportunities so you can grow professionally.
•
Send questions to destinationhealth@rhcc.com
Two signs—one facing Port Republic Road
and one facing Reservoir Street—were erected
on the new site Feb. 1. If you don’t have time
to drive by the site, you can see photos of the
signs on EPICnet and RMHOnline.
All employees have access to current and back
issues of this newsletter, as well as the DH
Bulletin and other information about the new
hospital and health campus, at the Destination
Health page on EPICnet. Just click on the
Destination Health icon in the left-hand
column of the home page.
Nurses and other clinical providers gave ESa
(architects) feedback on the first round of
working documents showing stacking and
adjacencies (what department goes where).
They were part of 15 “user groups” that met
the week of January 23 to let the architects
know how patient care will flow in the new
facility.
Operational Planning Update
Centralized scheduling means more efficiency
This article is the second in a series of reports on
how we anticipate changing the way we work as we
prepare to move into a new facility. For a full
description of these “operational model reports,” see the
January 2006 issue of Inside Scoop on EPICnet.
One phone call. To one number.
That is all it will take for any patient, any time,
to schedule and pre-register for most services at
RMH, reports Craig Warner about planned
process changes.
Warner, director of Health Information and
Patient Financial Management, is leading a team
looking at how we can streamline the processes
we use to move patients through the RMH
system.
The first part step, says Warner, is the frontend patient process. The goal: efficiency and
accuracy through centralized scheduling.
“Everybody knows how frustrating it is to
answer the same question more than once when
registering for a procedure,” he points out.
Moving registration and scheduling to one central
area will eliminate that kind of redundancy, as
well as create other efficiencies, Warner says. And
that will make the entire hospital experience
better for the patient.
RMH departments that currently have their
own scheduling processes include Radiology,
Heart and Vascular Services, Rehab Services, OR,
Women’s Health Focus, Center for Sleep Medicine, Center for Behavioral Health and the Lab
(for some procedures).
Sometimes a patient needs to phone more than
one department to schedule various procedures.
Each department asks the same basic questions—
name, address, birth date, etc. And rarely do the
appointments line up to simplify the patient’s
visits to the hospital.
With centralized scheduling, a patient will
make one phone call to schedule appointments
and to answer all pre-registration questions. The
scheduler will then mail an appointment
confirmation, a map, instructions for parking and
other necessary information.
During the call RMH staff will also verify
insurance coverage by clarifying the reason for the
procedure or test, and, in some cases, process the
patient’s co-pay. This will provide significant time
savings for the patient and cost savings for RMH,
says Warner.
How can centralized schedulers be in touch
with specific department needs? “We will
definitely not do this in a vacuum,” says Warner.
Centralized scheduling is a partnership between the
schedulers and the departments for whom they
schedule. The schedulers will be in daily contact
with the departments to process emergencies, addon procedures and late notifications, or events
such as equipment malfunctions.
What will happen to my job? Scheduling of
ancillary tests and procedures will change at
RMH; therefore the way department schedulers do
their jobs now will change. The new centralized
scheduling will take advantage of the specialized
knowledge that employees who currently do
scheduling have, and apply it hospital-wide.
RMH will provide support and training for people
whose job responsibilities change.
When will this happen? The earliest this
change could take place is spring 2007. Centralized
scheduling will be rolled out first to outpatient
ancillary services such as Radiology and Heart and
Vascular Services. Some more complex services,
such as OR, will happen much later, if at all.
The Next Step: Beyond the “Front End”
Patient processing includes more than
registration and scheduling. Warner’s team will
consider issues such as:
• Patient Arrival–Will patients stop at a central
check-in spot upon arrival or proceed directly to
the department? What kind of active and
passive way finding tools will we use?
• Co-pay collections–One advantage to a central
scheduling/pre-registration process is that it
provides the opportunity to know, in advance,
the co-pays, co-insurances or deductibles
patients will owe at the time of service. What
processes and procedures can RMH put in place
to collect those amounts due?
• Patient Transportation–How will we move
patients around the hospital? Does a nurse or
other clinician always have to accompany the
patient? Would a dedicated “dispatch” system
work? Could equipment and supplies be
incorporated into this system?
Warner says the opportunity to improve patient
access to services is exciting, and the front-end
process is the first chance for RMH to make a
positive impression on the community it serves.