|
|
|
|
Build A Shared Agenda
with CEO Bo Boulenger, Baptist Hospital of Miami, Miami FL |
|
 |
Presenter at Studer Group's What's Right in Health Care Conference |
|
|
| “W |
e need to get over the fact that we’re occasional competitors with
physicians and find common ground,” says Bo Boulenger, CEO of Baptist |
Hospital Miami in Miami, FL. “If you engage physicians on quality, operational efficiency, and safety—reducing adverse patient events for example—physicians will become your allies in realizing meaningful improvements.” |
|
|
While some hospitals might be satisfied with physician satisfaction in the 87th percentile, Baptist Hospital Miami raised the bar, jumping to the 92nd percentile in just one year. Physician satisfaction with nursing care is also at the 97th percentile. Performance on National Quality Measures has doubled since December 2006, with 88 percent of the 28 measures in the top 10th percentile nationally. Baptist Hospital is also a 2008 Studer Group Fire Starter award winner.
|
|
Look for Ways to Collaborate
Boulenger and his team are always on the lookout for ways to partner with physicians. “The social contract between physicians and others is broken across the nation,” he says. “Hospitals have to compensate physicians for on-call services and provide subsidies for large uninsured populations. Given that reality, we need to leverage these financial agreements to better align our physicians with the strategic goals of the hospital.”
|
|
|
Leaders meet monthly with all contracted and employed physicians. The goal: to drive higher patient satisfaction and quality clinical outcomes through shared accomplishments and best practices. When the emergency department and hospitalist groups partnered to improve efficiency, other doctors took notice. Hand-offs were more seamless; communication was improved; and VTEs (veinous thrombosis or blood clots) were significantly reduced.
|
|
|
Together, ED physicians and hospitalists presented the tools to their colleagues that they credited for these dramatic gains in patient satisfaction (e.g. AIDET training and individualized patient satisfaction report cards for each physician). “When given the data, physicians are extremely motivated to selfcorrect,” adds Boulenger.
|
|
|
In the same way, the hospital is open to physician ideas for joint ventures when incentives can be aligned. Because data and outcomes are shared in a very transparent way, the strategic plan is shared openly and posted on communication boards all over the hospital. Physicians are involved in multidisciplinary “collaboratives” at the department level. After hospital leaders ask physicians what they want to work on and where they see opportunities, their ideas roll up into strategic and annual performance plans guided by a steering committee. “Use your existing physician committee structure,” Boulenger suggests. “Doctors get excited about achieving outcomes for patients. Ask them what they want to achieve.”
|
|
|
Another example: Four years ago, the hospital formed a management company with its cardiac and vascular surgeons with a 50-50 ownership split. The hospital contracts with the management group to run this service line, which has since become internationally renowned. Incentive compensation is based on hitting eight key targets, including patient satisfaction and case turnaround time (less than 34 minutes). This innovative arrangement was structured to allow the hospital to target physician incentives on desired outcomes while adhering to all regulatory guidelines regarding physician compensation.
|
|
Support Physician Learning
Baptist Hospital Miami also offers a robust continuing education program to support physician learning of key leadership skills that weren’t offered in medical school. A 21-week collaborative leadership course for hospital executives and physicians has been particularly well-received. “Physician morale is low around the country,” notes Boulenger. “But we’ve found physicians to be very responsive to focused training that is endorsed by respected physician colleagues.” This training is provided in a private and individualized setting to boost communication, leadership, and analytical skills that ultimately have a dramatic impact on patient care.”
|
|
|
Boulenger credits the hospital’s high physician engagement to Mark Hauser, M.D., the hospital’s inspired and committed chief medical officer at the hospital. “It’s also about pride of ownership, time, and attention,” he notes. “When we demonstrate a culture of trust and mutual accountability, we find the common ground that moves results.”
|
|
 |
Bo Boulenger is CEO of Baptist Hospital, a 577-bed hospital affiliated with Baptist Health South Florida. During his leadership over the last two years, Baptist Hospital has climbed to the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide in both patient satisfaction and quality. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
