A Message from Elliot J. Sussman, M.D.

We’ve come a long way. The System for Partners in Performance Improvement will give us tools to go even further.

Fifteen years ago, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network looked far different than it does today. Our costs were at the 75th percentile, meaning we were more expensive than three-quarters of hospitals our size. Some 62 percent of hospitals in our peer group had more satisfied patients than us. Our mortality rates were average. We weren’t giving our community the value it deserved. To fulfill our mission, we needed to change.

Where to begin? We started by focusing on operations improvement—finding ways to do things better. We concentrated on increasing quality and decreasing costs, thereby creating greater value for our patients. Thanks to your commitment and dedication, our journey produced astounding results.

What did we do? We embraced technology like computer-assisted physician order entry and the advanced intensive care unit, reducing medical errors by 80 percent and giving our nurses more time for hands-on care. We committed ourselves to patient-centered care, and we took steps to become much more efficient.

How far have we come? Our costs now are between the 30th and 35th percentile. Our patient satisfaction scores hover around the 90th percentile. Our overall mortality rate is one of Pennsylvania’s lowest.

We’ve come very far, but now we face even greater challenges. Over the next five years, we forecast that our expenses will rise by 5 percent, while revenues will rise by only 3 percent. If we don’t change now, we will face the reality of not being able to deliver the kind of quality and value our community expects of us.

It’s time to take the next step. We’re doing that through SPPI—the System for Partners in Performance Improvement. It’s an extension of everything we’ve done so far, a way to make our care even more efficient and better so we can tackle tomorrow’s challenges today.

Our system is based on lean efficiency tools used by worldwide organizations like Toyota, but customized to work in health care. Members of our SPPI planning team saw this kind of system in action at other hospitals and are using that background to give us a head start. The efficiencies that took five or six years to develop in other hospitals can be done quicker here thanks to our level of advanced planning.

We are partnering with a consulting firm—Simpler—to guide us on our journey. They recently led senior management retreats focused on developing our SPPI agenda for the next 18 months. They also are educating six “core coaches” from our staff to help teach all of us more about how the system will work. Colleagues will soon be working on the first SPPI project—improving in-hospital patient flow with our general internal medicine physicians and hospitalists.

Your role in SPPI is vital. You know the processes that do and don’t work in your department. SPPI will give you a roadmap to eliminate wasteful processes and concentrate on improvement. The end result will create efficiencies, ease frustration and above all, ensure better patient care.

We’ve come a long way in fifteen years. By committing ourselves to continual improvement though SPPI, we’ll help ensure that the best is yet to come.

This page last updated 6/19/08 01:17 PM