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I can think of many words that describe 2011. Eventful…Challenging…and Inspiring are a few that come immediately to mind. Sprinkle in a dash of “Surprising“ and “Emotional” and you have the ingredients for what made 2011 an important and unforgettable year for Catholic Health East. What made 2011 particularly “eventful’? This year will be forever linked with all of the hard work and the beginning of the implementation of our system-wide CareLink initiative. The intensive, detailed work involved literally hundreds of clinicians, informatics specialists, and information technology colleagues from throughout our health system working collaboratively on a number of related projects and component programs. The year-long efforts of our Clinical Advisory Council, Pharmacy and Therapeutics Council, Lab Council and Clinical Practice Council – all comprised of clinical leaders from our RHCs, supported by System Office experts - brought disparate geographical and cultural viewpoints together, helping us to collaborate, communicate and achieve consensus on key issues. One massive and extremely complex accomplishment was the construction of common order sets; over one hundred order sets have been developed to date, with hundreds more in the pipeline for 2012. We were excited to launch the medication reconciliation go-live at St. Peter’s Hospital and the OB go-live at St. Mary Medical Center in November…and thrilled to have the first hospital-wide go-live on December 1 at Nazareth Hospital, part of Mercy Health System of Southeastern Pennsylvania. We congratulate these RHCs for their trailblazing efforts, and we look forward to continuing to roll out electronic health records and our computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems to more hospitals in 2012 and beyond. In addition to supporting the massive CareLink initiative, our information technology efforts included the development of a mobile device infrastructure that supports the use of iPhones, iPads, and other mobile devices used by clinicians throughout CHE. In addition, “single sign on” – an initiative that streamlines on line interactions for all colleagues – was introduced at most of our RHCs. Another major event that occurred in 2011 was actually several years in the making. After a great deal of analysis and work and a lengthy but necessary approval process, in October the official announcement was made about the formation of St. Peter’s Health Partners. The result of the “coming together” of three of the New York State Capital Region’s leading health providers (Northeast Health, Seton Health and St. Peter’s Health Care Services), St. Peter’s Health Partners now represents CHE’s largest RHC, with more than 11,000 colleagues and over $1 billion in revenue. As a system, we made significant progress in the quality arena, with six of our eight ACT clinical indicators decreasing in 2011. We also moved forward with the development of important palliative care initiatives at the RHC level, with the introduction of new services and enhanced educational initiatives. And a system-wide task force focused on preventing readmissions shared successes and barriers to making improvements in this critically important system-wide quality initiative…with more progress anticipated in the coming year. Our Accelerating Operational Excellence (AOE) initiative focused on improving the quality, service and cost structure of non-clinical services across our ministry. Functional areas including supply chain, revenue management, IT, home health and hospice, workforce management, human resources, accounts payable and capital management combined for a $292 million spend in these areas in 2011; our AOE teams identified a 5.3 percent savings in these areas for 2012, with expected savings of up to 12.2 percent in future years when initiatives are fully implemented. Our efforts in continuing to develop and disseminate Mission-related resources and education continued to bear fruit in 2011. We completed our fifth year of sponsorship education for system and RHC governing boards, and our Excellence in Ministry initiative continues to reach and inspire hundreds of leaders throughout our ministry. We were all inspired by the depth and breadth of community benefit programs and services offered throughout Catholic Health East. Over three hundred million dollars in community benefit was provided throughout our ministry in 2011. And thousands of needy residents in Central and South America benefitted from the services provided by CHE volunteers via several Global Health Ministry missions completed this year. CHE continues to enlarge its footprint in the world of social media. An estimated 12,000 people are now connected to over 30 CHE, RHC and JOA Facebook pages, and the number of people using this communication tool grows every day. (For those who have not yet done so, I encourage you to visit the CHE System Office Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/catholichealtheast.) Over the last few months, over 500 people viewed CHE’s spiritual care video on YouTube, produced with the participation of many RHCs in celebration of Pastoral Care Week. Increasingly, our ministries are using other social media tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn and many more to share their stories, build awareness of specific programs and services, and recruit new staff. Our leadership in continuing care is growing. Our 10 PACE centers make CHE the largest provider of PACE programs in the nation, with four new centers now in development. And more health care providers within CHE as well as outside of our system continue to turn to CHESSM (Catholic Health East Senior Services Management) for its expertise and management support services. 2011 presented us with the unique challenge of repositioning many of our ministries. This “strategic repositioning process” reshaped our health system. Major – and sometimes very difficult – decisions were made based on what was in the best interest of the health care needs of local communities. Some of the key outcomes of this process included: the soon to be finalized joint operating company between Saint Joseph’s Health System and Emory Health Care; the transfer of ownership of Saint Joseph’s at East Georgia (to be renamed Good Samaritan Hospital) to St. Mary’s Health Care System; an operating agreement between St. James Mercy Health System and Guthrie Healthcare; the transition of Mercy Medical to focus exclusively on PACE programs and home health services; Mercy SEPA’s sale of its interest in a Medicaid managed care organization; the ownership transfer of Mercy Hospital of Miami to HCA; and the decision to close Marian Community Hospital in early 2012. As you can see, in 2011 we asked a great deal from our colleagues throughout the ministry…and I was personally inspired by your collective ability to handle the volume, urgency and complexity of the tasks at hand. As health care reform, an unforgiving economy and reimbursement changes continue to challenge our ministries, I want to thank you so much for your energy, your perseverance, and your unyielding commitment to our Mission and Core Values. YOU are what make Catholic Health East such a special place to serve those in need. As you gather with friends and loved ones this holiday season, please know that your efforts and hard work are truly appreciated. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa…and Happy New Year to all!
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