Corewell Health System

Spectrum Health to Present Efficiency Best Practices to State of Michigan Employees

Part of Office of Good Government Lunch and Learn Series

Spectrum Health experts will share performance improvement techniques with State of Michigan employees at an event sponsored by the Office of Good Government, a division of the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget.

Terry Newell, director, best practice development, Spectrum Health, will speak to state employees at the George W. Romney Building in Lansing, Thursday at noon as part of the Office of Good Government’s Lunch and Learn series.

“Continuous improvement is a key element of our strategy to reinvent government in Michigan,” said Claire Allard, director, Office of Good Government and senior strategy advisor to the Governor.  “Our goal is to make excellence in customer service and continuous improvement distinguishing characteristics of the culture of state government. We are doing this by working with external partners to build internal capacity, empowering employees to develop and share innovative ideas and solutions, leveraging and promoting best practices across agencies, and measuring, communicating and celebrating successes.”

“The great state of Michigan is taking an active interest in the techniques of process improvement and is bringing in experts from around the state,” said Kurt Knoth, vice president, performance improvement, Spectrum Health. “As part of our goal to be a national thought leader in health care excellence, this is an opportunity to share the success of our program with a wider audience.”

Knoth said that Spectrum Health connected with the State of Michigan through its participation in the Michigan Lean Consortium, a non-profit membership organization dedicated to spreading lean principles throughout every public and private sector industry in Michigan.

According to a 2012 Institute of Medicine report, the nation’s health care system wastes $750 billion each year, or 30 cents of every dollar spent.  Labor productivity in the U.S. healthcare system decreased by .6 percent per year from 1990 to 2010.  During the same time period, the labor productivity of the U.S. manufacturing industry increased by 4.7 percent per year.

“The same improvement principles that helped transform manufacturing form the backbone of the Spectrum Health Performance Improvement System,” said Newell.

 According to Newell, the Spectrum Health Performance Improvement System (SHPIS):

  • Focuses on total patient satisfaction, an environment of teamwork and improvement and a reduction of non-value added activity  
  • Provides the tools for people to continually improve their work
  • Reduces wastes that result in non-value added activity in the areas of overproducing, transporting, defects, waiting, motion, overprocessing, inventory and underutilized people potential

Recent examples of success include:

  • More than $2.1 million in actual FY 2014 savings, $7.1 million in planned savings and a cost avoidance of $750,000
  • A 64 percent reduction in time spent waiting for a specialist referral
  • Structural improvements in the emergency department resulting in reduced wait times and savings

Event: Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget – Office of Good Government Lunch and Learn

Topic: Process Improvement

Presenter: Terry Newell, Director of Best Practice Deployment, Performance Improvement, Spectrum Health

Location: George W. Romney Building, 111 South Capitol Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933

Date: Thursday, April 17, at 12:00 noon

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system, based in West Michigan, offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of 11 hospitals including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital; 170 ambulatory and service sites; 1,080 employed physicians and advanced practice providers including members of the Spectrum Health Medical Group; and Priority Health, a 575,000-member health plan. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer with 21,300 employees. The organization provided $250 million in community benefit during its 2013 fiscal year.