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These are difficult times for the health care industry. Much like the nation’s economy days, health care is in a state of flux. The public appropriately expects and demands a more safe, efficient and user-friendly health care system. Uncertainty in the capital markets, the relentless introduction of new and increasingly expensive technologies, decreasing government and private reimbursement, and increasing regulation are challenges that impact upon all providers. It is clear that dramatic change is needed in the near future in order to sustain a health care system that meets the needs of our nation. Much of this future is already here. With the advent of pay for performance, publicly reported quality and satisfaction scores, efforts to recover or not pay for care that is delivered in the wrong setting, with the wrong documentation, with poor outcome or with other error, the need to begin to transform ourselves is already upon us. Catholic Health East has been preparing for this future. Our Vision for 2017 calls for the continuation of our role as a transforming, healing presence in the communities we serve. Our approach is to provide leadership in creating a person-centered system, which focuses on the needs of the whole person with as much focus on the coordination of care as on its provision. To have a realistic chance of attaining this vision, we must collectively embark on a total and true transformation of the way health care is provided by focusing on not only the quality of care and the efficiency with which it is provided, but the appropriateness of care as to safety, setting and duration. In the first decade of CHE’s existence, our focus was on bringing the system together and having it look for and accomplish synergies that have made each RHC more successful than it could be on its own. Such initiatives as revenue management, supply chain, productivity improvement, information services development, and Values in Practice have helped to build a strong base. While these activities have made us stronger, it is clear that excellence in these areas will need to be a given. In order to reach our goal of becoming a person-centered system, significant changes must be made to the way we provide care…in essence, a clinical transformation. We embark on this journey to clinical transformation together…as a health system. Our collective efforts will be referred to as our ACT Initiative (Advancing Clinical Transformation: Every Person, Every Place Every Time). The ACT initiative will systematically look for opportunities to improve quality, safety and satisfaction. Some of the areas and activities that our work groups believe will lead to true clinical transformation include utilization management (length of stay, readmissions and denied days), comprehensive care management activities, clinical improvement activities and emergency department patient flow. Top clinical leaders throughout our RHCs have already identified five hospital-acquired conditions that will be our areas of focus:
One short-term yet critically important objective of our ACT Initiative is to achieve large-scale savings across the system that will help us meet the financial challenges of the present and prepare us for our transformed future. This short-term focus is known as 100/100. Through the transformation of key clinical processes and improvements in operations, our short-term goal is to identify $100 million or more in savings in the first 100 days of 2009. The identified 100/100 actions must be implemented by 2010; those that can be implemented sooner (in 2009) are encouraged. While our health system will benefit from these financial savings, finances are NOT the driver of the 100/100 goal. Our quest for transforming key clinical processes is simply the right thing to do…it is a moral imperative for all of us to strive for the creation and maintenance of safe, error-free environments for our patients and residents. As several RHC CEOs concurred during a February 9 webcast that provided an overview of the ACT Initiative to our RHC leadership teams…if we are successful in creating breakthrough processes that reduce/eliminate the incidence of the hospital-acquired conditions mentioned above, we will have achieved our main goal of transforming and improving key clinical processes…and the financial gains will follow. The clinical transformations we are able to implement will improve quality, decrease expenses and/or increase revenues. In addition to projected savings realized through clinical process transformations, we will also continue to pursue opportunities for operational savings at the RHC and System Office level. For example, the CHE System Office has already committed to reduce its expenses by $10 million annually. Other savings will be pursued in areas such as labor management, supply chain, revenue management and shared services. In summary, 100/100 is a short-term objective that helps prepare us for 2010 and beyond; the ACT Initiative continues on, and represents a fundamental shift and emphasis on clinical outcomes and ultimately, achieving our Vision 2017. CHE’s Mission, Core Values and Vision call us to be a transforming, healing presence in the communities we serve, and to be excellent in all we do. As we strive to evolve to a person-centric approach to care, our Mission and our Sponsors call us to be true stewards of our ministries. Stewards in advancing superb clinical outcomes…stewards in excellent patient safety…with the belief and faith that being good stewards in these areas will naturally result in achieving our financial stewardship responsibilities and ultimately the strengthening and growing of the Mission. The dictionary defines transformation as “a complete change…usually into something with an improved appearance or usefulness.” And…to help meet the evolving health care needs of our nation and the challenges of tomorrow…that is precisely what we need to do with our ministry. With the creative and committed support of all CHE colleagues, I look forward to working together with you as we embark on our journey to transform Catholic Health East into a person-centric organization that meets the needs of all who seek our care. Sincerely yours,
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