Transcription:

Roxanna: On this episode of Inspiring Health, we're going to focus on daily engagement huddles. Daily engagement is one element of WellSpan's lean management system, and it enables our 20,000 problem-solvers at WellSpan to see as a team, learn as a team and act as a team. Daily engagement huddle should also provide each team member the opportunity to make a contribution to the organization that adds meaning and value.

Joining me today is Jeni Smith, a Director of Operations in the WellSpan Medical Group West Region. Jeni joined WellSpan through the Summit Health Affiliation. She's been a manager in a private practice, which was acquired by Summit Health and then was promoted to manage and direct Summit's primary care practices.

Today, Jeni's responsible for leading WellSpan's primary care managers in Franklin and Cumberland counties. Jeni, welcome and thanks for being here.

Jeni Smith: Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. I'm excited to share the great work our managers have been doing.

Roxanna: That's great, Jeni. So we know many teams at WellSpan are already using some form of the daily engagement process, but the most recent implementation will align the entire organization around one standard.

During daily engagement huddles, teams will reflect on yesterday, plan for today and define improvements for better results tomorrow. How does this enhanced system help you manage your teams?

Jeni Smith: Well, as you noted, daily engagement is not a new concept at WellSpan, but several of the enhancements rolled out are adjustments that have led to improvements and simplifications in our huddles. I'm very excited about the idea that all the teams across WellSpan will be holding daily engagement huddles and utilizing the same theories, standards, and language to discuss them. Daily engagement overall for our team has been an incredible tool for engagement, celebration and issue management, but the big unexpected win was in team communication and collaboration.

Roxanna: That's interesting, Jeni. Can you tell us more about how communication improved on your team? Do you have any examples you could share?

Jeni Smith: I do. we were doing our 8:00 AM daily engagement huddle a practice manager brought up a need for a front desk assistant immediately as the practice was open to patients and short-staffed. While this was a safety issue, I escalated it for awareness in the next tier of huddles. The manager took the initiative after the meeting to discuss and find a solution for the day. The other managers included having the other staff in the practices handle portal messages, prescription refill messages, referral needs, and indirect work, so that the patients could be seen safely in the office with limited staff as well as having top-notch experience via our portal.

This allowed our staff member who had the unplanned absence come back to their in-basket the following day and be caught up, not delaying care for the patients. So via our improved communication huddle, we were able to not only avoid one day of delays and possible safety issues, but avoid two days. This was huge for our patients and our staff engagement.

Our managers have said the communication between directors and managers, as well as between the managers themselves has never been better. They're able to huddle with their teams, answer their questions and raise issues. I see this as a see as a team, learn as a team and act as a team in real time.

Roxanna: Wow. Yes, Jeni, that's a great example of how a daily 15-minute or less standardized touch point can help improve communication. And it sounds like engagement has also improved among your team members. So I wonder if you could tell us how this daily huddle has benefited you as a director? Your team is huddling with their staff and you're huddling with your own team, reflecting, planning, improving all along the way. But as we've continued to roll out lean management system tools, team members have expressed concern over learning one more new thing. Have you felt that way and has this burdened your team?

Jeni Smith: That's a great question. And I can understand where that's coming from. Everybody has busy days and busy nights. I would have to say that after the initial work of the rollout of our virtual huddle, which included hard-wiring it into our day and being consistent with our agenda and especially our meeting time. I've seen a huge benefit in the amount of time it saves me each day. Less emails, less phone calls. In fact, if we look at another story that happens regularly to us in the west, I can illustrate a little bit more about what I mean.

Regularly, we have provider shortages as well at the urgent cares. I will get communicated by Brent Doores, senior director of the urgent cares, frequently. He will contact me early in the morning and I'll bring this up at our 8:00 AM meeting and we plan for today. Within an hour after that huddle, the managers have collectively solved the provider staffing issues by reaching out to their providers. Of course, as a team, we are working on four Cs to determine the root cause of the staffing and provider issues. But in the immediate time, we are able to work together quickly to improve patient experience and safety for all.

Before this daily engagement huddle, I would have received an email or a phone call about the need for a provider. With my schedule, the request may not have immediately been received. Then I would have started a phone tree with the managers calling each manager until I found the need filled. Today, our managers help each other. They take the initiative and work to solve the issue. Something that may have taken half a day to solve is now solved in minutes.

Roxanna: Jeni, I'm really glad you shared that example. It demonstrates how you and your team benefit and how our WellSpan patients benefit too. As our leaders are ruling out the daily engagement enhancements to align our language and our standards, we may have some team members who have just never done this work before. So do you have any advice to leaders at the tier one or tier two levels?

Jeni Smith: I do. I would start with having a standard agenda. I use it as a template to assist in my flow. Hold your huddle at the same time daily for each group you're huddling with. Consistency holds people accountable. Ensure that you visually walk through your board, whether in person or virtually. We do ours virtually as a team.

Remember huddles are not meetings. Issues can't be solved in a huddle, but you can alert of an issue at a huddle and then follow up the next day. And engage your team in sustaining and improving the huddle. It needs to be a tool to improve communication and engagement and not just one more thing to do. That doesn't add value. We have adjusted ours frequently. For example, we now have a COVID vaccine section where Nicki Holliman, who is a practice manager and our regional rep gives us updates every Wednesday or Thursday.

I must also mention how we utilize our huddle to provide recognition and celebration. We give shout outs at every meeting. I thank team members and they recognize each other. We call this our helping hand section. I keep track and use the Recognize app after each huddle. I also try to personally thank people if I'm rounding in their area that day.

Overall, I would say that the daily engagement huddles will change your world for the better. Trust me. Keep working on it and you and your team will see the value and build on the base we are learning right now. If it's not perfect at first, that's okay. Continuous improvement is the name of the game.

Roxanna: That's a great message, Jeni. You and your team are doing great work and it shows. Your examples are excellent illustrations of the power of daily engagement and addressing potential safety issues and achieving zero harm, improving quality and staff engagement. This is a lean management system at work and it's how we'll build a continuous improvement culture and align all 20,000 team members.

So to learn more WellSpan listeners can visit the lean management SharePoint site through the iNet for thoughtful resources and huddle demonstration videos. Leaders will even find daily engagement standard work and a huddle board starter kit.

Jeni, thanks again for joining me today. It was a pleasure to have you.

Jeni Smith: Thank you.

Roxanna: That's all the time we have for today. We hope you'll join us for the next episode of Inspiring Health.