Find a practice to try with your team
Flower Power Reduces Injuries
This team reduced the risk of trips and falls by identifying the safest spot for rolling chairs in exam rooms.
- Keeping workers safe and healthy means they can be there for their patients, families and communities.
- Placing a flower-shaped decal on the floor to indicate where to place rolling chairs in exam rooms
Emails Lick Stamps and Envelopes
Sending emails — rather than letters — is cheaper, faster and more convenient for our patients.
- Email provides patients with timely information about their appointments and enhances our ability to deliver safe, affordable and convenient quality care and service.
- Tracking the number of paper envelopes mailed to patients
Stress-free Service Soothes the Sleepless
A patient-centered approach to delivering supplies gets the job done.
- Timely delivery of equipment and supplies enhances patient satisfaction and speeds the diagnosis and treatment of common sleep disorders.
- Mailing sleep therapy supplies to patients, centralizing supply distribution and purchasing software to track deliveries
Pharmacy Helps Patients Get Mammograms
The team worked with Imaging department staff to identify patients overdue for breast cancer screenings and to help fast-track their mammogram appointments.
- Preventive screenings are important to detect disease early, when treatment is most effective.
- Checking patients’ electronic medical records to identify those due for breast cancer screenings
Tracking Time Yields Results
Wait time for lab results fell by 56% after team members adjusted their workflow and schedules.
- Delivering timely results reduces patient anxiety and enables physicians to diagnose and treat patients sooner.
- Documenting and tracking the time to process tissue specimens
Fresh Perspective Spurs Workflow Innovation
Listening to the "voice of the customer" is the key to getting results.
- Timely delivery of medication is critical for patient care and eases anxiety and stress among staff.
- Shadowing hospital nurses to better understand their wants and needs.
A Recipe for Speaking Up
A Food and Nutrition Services team boosts its People Pulse speak-up scores by creating an environment where workers feel free to voice their opinions and ideas — and can expect action to be taken on their input.
- When employees feel free to share ideas and concerns, it creates open communication that leads to better care, quality and service.
- Rewarding and recognizing employees for ideas and actions that contribute to the team’s work.
Savings Arrive on Wheels
Emergency Department clerks saved more than $88,000 in paper and copying costs by switching to laptop computers on wheels to gather member signatures instead of paper registration forms.
- Leaving old tools behind and embracing new technology leads to savings and efficiency.
- By using laptops on wheels, the team saved $88,000 in paper records, copying, ink, paper and scanning.
Teamwork Keeps Inventory in Check
This pharmacy team reduced the cost of expired medications by 90 percent after partnering with data specialists to identify and remove outdated drugs from the shelf.
- Keeping outdated medications in stock is a waste of money and a potential safety hazard if dispensed to patients.
- Unit-based team members worked with pharmacy analysts to identify slow moving medications and monitored the inventory to avoid over-stocking them.
How to Boost Team Morale
Improved workflow and coordination help a short-staffed telemetry team reduce overtime and schedule an RN to cover them while on break, boosting staff morale.
- Overtime costs can put a dent in department budgets and overworked employees are at greater risk for workplace injuries.
- Scheduling a relief RN to cover staff members on break, reducing the frequency of missed breaks
Choosing to Work Positively
Medical center operators find ways to manage the stress of answering tens of thousands of phone calls per month.
- Practicing mindfulness and focusing on the positive helps reduce stress at work and home.
- Create a gratitude jar and gratitude tree to build morale, relieve stress