At our annual shareholder meeting last week, I talked with our medical group about a period in my work life that I’ll never forget. I became the chief of the Bainbridge Island clinic when it opened in 1987, and something about that time has stayed with me all these years. We provided great care for our patients, and we laughed a lot too. Work was fun. And on some level I have been trying to recapture that experience ever since.

I realize now it was the first time I really understood how it felt to be on a team where everyone was truly inspired to work together. We all want and deserve to feel this way about work. Yet it doesn’t just happen. It takes some thought, some new habits. And just as this great feeling was uniquely ours at Bainbridge all those years ago, it can be uniquely yours at Lidgerwood Primary Care, in Orthopedic Surgery at Tacoma Medical Center, or in Behavioral Health Services.

In the last few years we’ve worked incredibly hard to master new tools for increasing quality while decreasing costs. We’ve focused on improving processes and achieving greater alignment. And even with enormous pressure on everyone, we have seen steady improvement in our Gallup staff engagement survey scores.

I see this as a sign that we are making some progress in our work environments. That’s why I’m so excited to see us forge deeper connections with each other. A great workplace will challenge your head and connect with your heart.

The Group Health strategic plan calls for continued improvement in our Gallup scores, but the real point is to work to start with our values and take care of each other—not just move the numbers. We’re all responsible in some part for building the workplaces we want and deserve. If we can do this, our Gallup numbers will take care of themselves.

Let’s take a look at some summary information from our 2010 Gallup survey—not because it is perfect or prescriptive—but because it’s the best tool we have for stimulating ongoing conversations about our workplaces.

GHP had highest agreement with these statements:

• My coworkers are committed to quality work
• This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow

GHP had the most improvement in agreement with:

• There is someone at work who encourages my development
• I have a best friend at work

GHP agreement decreased for these statements

• At work my opinions seem to count.
• I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.

Quality shines
There is value in comparing our own engagement trends to national data about healthcare organizations. Here’s one measure I feel amazing about: within GHP our mean score for “My coworkers are committed to quality work” was in the 99th percentile compared to Gallup’s database of other healthcare companies.

We’ve had tremendous third-party quality recognition this year that bears this out. I can’t thank you enough for bringing your best to your patients, and for modeling quality care for each other and for the nation.

Three measures GHP watches closely
There are three survey questions that I have paid very close attention to over the years. The way we answer these questions is tied to our ability to be the best place to get care and the best place to work.

Though we should all take pride in how much we've moved the numbers, it's no where near good enough. I am asking what will it take for us to get to 100 percent for these questions?

1. I would recommend Group Health as a place to get care. Since we started asking if you’d recommend Group Health to a close friend, the percentage of GHP staff who answered “agree” or “strongly agree” has increased from 65 to 93 percent.
2. I recommend Group Health as a good place to work. Since we started asking this question, the percentage of GHP staff who answered “agree” or “strongly agree” has increased from 43 to 83 percent.
3. I have the right amount of influence over the staff who support my care of patients. For many years this was our lowest scoring area. The percentage of GHP staff who answered “agree” or “strongly agree” when asked about their ability to influence support staff has increased from 31 to 53 percent since 2004, the first year we asked the question (note the question wording changed slightly beginning in 2009).

Bottom line: more respect for front line opinions
Front line medical staff are closest to the work, and you are telling us through Gallup that your opinions are not being heard. We can and must do better at seeking and respecting front-line input, because our ability to adapt to change depends on it. An environment that not only accepts, but actually embraces change can only exist where there is respect for people. And respect can come to life in many ways—from formal recognition, to remembering to say thanks, to simply listening without rushing to judgment.

I strongly urge you to take advantage of the impact plan training we’ve set up for managers, chiefs and medical leaders. Building the plan with staff is a respectful action in itself. The Gallup data is a starting point but the ongoing conversation is up to you. What satisfies you, motivates you, or makes you want to tell your friends and family about your day? Do you know how your co-workers would answer these questions? Talk to each other to learn from each other.

Questions or comments? Respond to Open Mike

 

Over 550 staff and special guests gathered on February 8 to recognize GHP’s annual award recipients, take stock of the year’s successes, and hear from the insightful and entertaining Len Nichols, PhD.

Barbara Detering, MD, began the evening with her own words and those of several colleagues—all reflecting on the theme of contribution. Clinicians from all around Group Health spoke in video clips about contributing ideas, problem solving skills, creative energies, or expertise in

Dr. Barbara Detering’s remarks (pdf) / video Dr. Paul Flugstad’s remarks (pdf) / video Scott Armstrong's remarks video Dr. Michael Soman’s remarks (pdf) / video Keynote speaker Len Nichols, PhD video Award Winners' remarks video Annual Meeting Photo Slideshow (pdf) GHP 2010 Annual Report (pdf)

their clinics and communities. “All of these giving actions, big and small, make our group stronger,” said Dr. Detering. “Find your way, and enrich us all. We know that those who contribute find much greater satisfaction and enjoyment in their work.”

GHP Board Chair Paul Flugstad spoke about GHP’s strong financial condition and business direction. He pointed to the new, collaborative opportunities we have to reach more communities with better coordinated care. “It is not easy to bring cultures of medical groups together with the kind of staying power that improves security, builds all of our practices and makes each organization stronger,” he said. ”The health care world, business leaders, and politicians all the way to the White House are watching to see if we can do it.”

President and Chief Medical Executive Michael Soman, MD congratulated everyone on a year of amazing recognition for our outstanding quality of care. The American Medical Group Association’s Acclaim Award was one of many accolades and top quality ratings we achieved in 2010.

“I believe we’re making progress because we’re finding ways to come together with honesty and accountability to put patients at the center of our work. We’re looking at the entire patient experience from birth to the end of life, and at every stage of wellness and sickness along the way, and we’re creating systems that make the right thing to do the easy thing to do,” he said.

Dr. Soman also emphasized that Group Health’s strategic plan points to growth, largely in our group practice. He explained that through profitable growth, we can hire more staff, add new specialties, and invest in improvements to existing facilities and new clinics. “Profitable growth will allow us to expand our footprint and strengthen our relevance, not only in the markets we serve, but across the nation as we demonstrate that our approach can transform health care in this country.”

Keynote speaker Len Nichols, PhD brought an historical and economic perspective to the evening, looking at how global financial conditions, government influence, and partisan wrangling all end up shaping the national health care landscape. In remarks that ranged from academic to folksy to flat-out funny, Dr. Nichols left everyone thinking about Group Health’s place in the big picture.

Annual award presentations rounded out the evening. Congratulations to the following colleagues for their work and contributions to making Group Health Physicians a leading medical group.

Group Health Physicians Annual Award Winner
See a video of our award recipients’ acceptance remarks.

Jerome F. Beekman Award for Outstanding Leadership
Amanda Lee MD, Consultative Internal Medicine, Everett Medical Center

Ward C. Miles Award for Clinical Excellence
Diane Dakin MD, Family Medicine, Olympia Medical Center

Jesse Mantel Award for Service Quality
Tien Bao Chao MD, Surgery, Capitol Hill Campus
Barbara Schinzinger MD, Family Medicine, Capitol Hill Campus

Teaching Excellence Awards
David Kauff MD, Family Medicine, Downtown Medical Center
Art Resnick MD, Cardiology, Capitol Hill Campus

Steven Turnipseed Award for Outstanding Non-Physician Clinician
Linda Radka ARNP, Family Medicine, Silverdale Medical Center

Don Miller Innovation/Research Awards
Elizabeth Lin MD, MPH, Affiliate Researcher, Group Health Family Physician
Rob Reid MD, PhD Associate Investigator, Associate Medical Director of Health Services Research & Knowledge Translation, and Group Health Family Physician

Team Excellence Award
Radiology Service Line - Karen Ackerman, MD; Esther Argenyi, MD; Mark Backus, MD, Matthew Bloom, MD; Jason Burns, DO; Dennis Buschman, MD; Elizabeth Carter, MD; James Cefalu, MD; Michael Chang, MD; Joe Duffy, MD; Stephanie Flagg, MD; Ron Fletcher, MD; Basil Grieco, MD; David Hillier, MD; Peter Huzyk, MD; Robert Karl, MD; Drew Lambert, MD; Johanne Leblanc, MD; Jessica Leung, MD; Sung Logerfo, MD; Michael Maxin, MD; Harvey Niebulski, MD; Asher Nov, MD; Michelle Oh, MD; Gary Reeves, MD; Uhng-Kyu Shim, MD; Neimeh Shalash, MPH; Allison Smith, MD; Mark Steffen, MBA; Paula Stuart, MD; James Tomich, MD; Thomas Vimont, MD; Jennifer; Westmoreland, MD; Donna White, MD; Kenneth Zirinsky, MD

Outstanding Community Service Award
Dan Baldini MD, Anesthesiology, Bellevue Medical Center
Christine Fordyce MD, Family Medicine, Northgate Medical Center
Cindy Johnson PA-C, Family Medicine, Northgate Medical Center

President’s Award for Outstanding Customer Service
Olga Mantilla, Group Health Physicians Human Resources Consultant

The Howard & Stephanie Kirz Tomorrow’s Medical Leaders
Sarah Philp MD, Family Medicine, Burien Medical Center
Rosemary Agostini MD, Sports Medicine, Bellevue Medical Center

Lifetime Achievement Awards
Joe Berkson, MD, Family Medicine, Bellevue Medical Center
Lester Thompson MD, Urology, Capitol Hill Campus

Board election results
The Group Health Permanente Board of Directors governs the organization, represents the GHP to the community, formulates corporate policy, develops strategic goals and actions, and oversees the activities of the corporation.

Two board positions that came up for election this year. Candidates Zachary Miller, MD and Barbara Detering, MD retained their positions.

Dr. Miller serves as the At-Large Representative for Consultative Care. He chairs the Finance Committee, which is responsible for oversight of GHP’s financial, accounting, and investment activities of GHP. Dr. Detering serves as the At-Large Representative, Primary Care North. She chairs the Board Development Committee, which is responsible for oversight of effective board learning, processes, structures, and roles.

Questions or comments? Respond to Open Mike

 

Take one minute today to nominate a clinician whose professionalism and expertise you admire. No essays, no lengthy form!

“It’s possible to have worked for a long time at Group Health without receiving formal recognition, so the Board has created a peer-elected recognition program to celebrate more great work across the state,” explains Board Development Committee Chair Barbara Detering, MD.

• Nominate by March 1
• Vote via e-mail survey March 7 - April 1
• We’ll present the awards at each region's Spring Business Meeting in May and June.

Use the online nomination form on InContext (only available within GH) to nominate GHP medical staff in the region closest to your clinic: Bellevue, Kitsap, Olympia, Seattle, Snohomish, Spokane or Tacoma.

Or, e-mail your nomination to Rosemary Ryan at ryan.r@ghc.org

Questions or comments? Respond to Open Mike

 

 Did you notice the new “Care Everywhere” button in your Epic navigator? The February 8 launch moves Group Health one step closer to exchanging medical records with other clinics and hospitals that use an Epic electronic medical record.

According to Chief Medical Information Officer Gwen O’Keefe, MD, “Group Health can now access patient records from other organizations, after the patient grants permission to both organizations. It’s happening right now as part of our collaboration work with The Everett Clinic.”

In this first step, information can be viewed, but not yet imported into Group Health’s system.

“Patients may choose to opt out of allowing their record to be viewed, if that’s their preference,” adds O’Keefe. However by opting in, a patient gives medical staff the important information needed to provide appropriate treatments quickly, and to avoid duplicative care.

Care Everywhere allows Group Health patient records to be viewed elsewhere. For example, if a Group Health patient sees a specialist at The Everett Clinic, he can give permission for The Everett Clinic to view his Group Health record for medical history and recent test results. This will eliminate faxing, copying and then scanning paper records, which also presents security risks.

The Everett Clinic, Swedish and MultiCare are all current users of Care Everywhere.
For a Care Everywhere FAQ and self-guided training for medical staff, see Clinical Information System (only available via InContext).

Questions or comments? Respond to Open Mike

 

The Minority Physicians & Allies Resource Group launched in January 2011. We welcome the participation and input of our clinical colleagues and anyone at Group Health interested in contributing to culturally and ethnically sensitive care for our patients.

Staff resource groups such as ours are great for networking and connecting around common interests, and there are now three staff-driven groups here at Group Health.

Our group’s mission is to improve the well-being of minority patients and physicians within Group Health in three ways:

• Cultural competency—understanding how cultural backgrounds influence clinical outcomes
• Clinician recruitment and retention
• Community outreach

Our next meeting is March 7 at 4:00 PM, via video conference.

Our first meeting generated a brainstorming list of about 20 different short-and long-term goals for our work. We’re currently reviewing and ranking preferences via a survey, and at the March meeting we’ll review the results and narrow our chosen activities.

It's a great time to get on board with our group and help shape its future. Our overarching commitment is to make Group Health the community's employer of choice and health care system of choice. We'll be working on programs to support recruiting and retaining minority clinicians, reaching out to ethnic communities with education and mentoring, and seeking ways to build minority physician participation in organizational decision-making.

Questions or comments? Respond to Open Mike

 

The Partnership for Innovation seeks proposals for pilot projects with the potential to improve patient care while reducing costs and enhancing patient satisfaction. To date, the Partnership for Innovation has provided more than $1.4 million in funding for 15 pilot projects throughout the Group Health delivery system.

Group Health is recognized as national leader in innovation. The Partnership for Innovation is just one of the ways that Group Health is exploring new ways to improve care for our patients and reduce costs.

All Group Health staff are eligible to submit proposals by March 16, 2011

To read about past projects and download an application, visit the Partnership for Innovation page on http://incontext.ghc.org/foundation/PartnershipforInnovation.html (only available within GH).

The Partnership for Innovation is a collaboration among the Group Health Research Institute, Group Health Physicians and the Foundation’s generous donors. Funding is made possible by Group Health Physicians, the Robin E. Johnson Endowed Fund, the Jerome F. Beekman, MD Memorial Endowed Fund, the Donald G. Miller, MD Endowed Fund for Clinical Innovation and many other generous donors.

Questions or comments? Respond to Open Mike 

 

Group Health is inviting the region’s medical and policy leaders to learn from us. Innovation through Engagement is a ticketed, day-long event featuring keynote speaker John Wennberg, MD, MPH. Group Health experts will lead breakout tracks on engaging patients and clinical staff in reshaping care, creating healthier lives, and lowering costs. Spread the word about our great work! Public registration and topics at www.ghc.org/solutions.