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Women & Infants' Hospital/Rhode Island
Situation:
As the premier provider of women and infant care in the state, Women & Infants' Hospital prides itself on delivering exceptional care in every area - from the operating room to the cafeteria. However, explosive growth in ambulatory services had stressed and strained human, system and facility resources. Pressure intensified under the Hospital's outpatient network development strategy, which called for building closer clinical affiliations with hospitals and physicians throughout southern New England.
Physicians and staff wanted to ensure that patient satisfaction - the cornerstone of their success - would not erode as increasing numbers of patients were seen. Leadership worried that continued growth in patient volume and services, without additional resources in staffing and dollars, was impossible. Boosting patient volume, while simultaneously providing higher levels of customer service - in a fiercely competitive market - meant challenging and upending current operational assumptions and processes.
The Croes•Oliva Group Contribution:
Physicians and staff collaborated with The Croes•Oliva Group consultants to develop plans to create a stronger, more efficient and patient-focused operational infrastructure. Working in three divisions - Reproductive Endocrinology, Oncology and Urogynecology - senior consultants applied their insight and strategy to develop recommendations that can spur dramatic gains; specifically:
- A physician-supported redesign of clinical care delivery teams to ensure increased coordination of care and to reduce the administrative burden on physicians and nurses.
- Reconfiguration of staff tasks and roles for increased efficiency and productivity.
- An operational structure to ease stress on providers and staff, reinforce the team approach to patient-focused care delivery and promote patient base expansion.
- Redesigned scheduling, visit preparation, patient flow, testing follow-up, and care coordination processes and facility changes to improve provider and staff productivity by helping the care team work smarter, not harder.
- A plan to simplify and streamline the patient's experience in the three divisions' highly complex treatment areas to sustain and improve high-caliber, personalized services.
"The Croes•Oliva Group joined forces with our staff to reconfigure operations to help us to manage increased patient volume and our clinical affiliations throughout the area. The additional challenge was convincing all of us that it could happen. The Croes•Oliva Group's assessments and strategies were on target."
Connie Howes, President and CEO, Women and Infants Hospital/Rhode Island
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