By Holly Fletcher

Creativity and ingenuity are key to Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s growth and sustained focus on improving care and efficiency, leaders said during streaming of the August 2023 Leadership Assembly.

People from across the enterprise pitched actionable ways to improve operations and care while reducing costs earlier this year in response to a call for suggestions, and the responses will continue to steer leaders toward improvements in care delivery and culture, said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of VUMC and Dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Here are the highlights from the August Leadership Assembly:

Your Ideas, VUMC’s Path Forward

Ideas to improve care and efficiency submitted by people from around the workforce in the first half of the calendar year led to $200 million in savings and improvements, said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer. Suggestions ranged from how to better manage supplies to reorganizing space to take advantage of more people working from home and changing vendor contracts, said Balser.

A new idea-sourcing initiative, IdeaShare, will not only keep up the momentum but give people the chance to see how their suggestions are being considered or implemented, said Balser. The platform is going live for leaders first and will be open to everyone in the future.

“In order to remain financially strong and grow, we must continue to stay focused on delivering our high-quality care as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. That’s why the IdeaShare platform will continue to focus on your innovative ideas. This work, like so much of our work in health care, is never really completed,” said Pinson.

Improving Culture, Reducing Burnout — Innovative Solutions for Staff and Patients

Many of the ideas were suggestions about improving staff retention, which is an ongoing VUMC priority, said Balser.

“This is so important, not only because we need positions filled, but because we need people with plenty of experience to help us onboard new employees and handle the more complex assignments. We also know that when people stay with us for longer periods of time, strong interpersonal bonds form among co-workers, and those bonds are essential to a satisfying workplace culture,” said Balser.

There are many approaches to improving workforce retention. Initiatives such as the virtual nurse pilot and Care Partners are examples of how creative programs can increase efficiency while boosting both the patient and staff experiences. Finding ways to reduce the number of traveling nurses increased satisfaction and team cohesion, said Balser.

Burnout and resignations surged during the pandemic, and VUMC’s retention rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels, said Pinson.

Improving situations that contribute to burnout is an ongoing priority. The Medical Center is assessing how to use technology and flexibility to reallocate patient care to improve workload.

Two new initiatives are geared toward recognizing and lifting the voices from all corners of Vanderbilt Health:

• Staff Advisory Council: Forty people from around the Medical Center will be talking to colleagues to provide ideas and feedback to senior leadership. The council will be looking for suggestions about a range of topics from professional development and ways to relieve employee burnout to input on how to expand and deepen diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, said Balser.
• Cause for Applause: A new peer-to-peer recognition program that will be a great way for team members to show appreciation and respect for their co-workers, said Pinson.