The actual physical structures haven’t been built yet but some of the initiatives involved with Bioscience Connecticut are well-underway. Bioscience Connecticut is a multifaceted plan that aims to strengthen the state’s position as a national and global center for scientific innovation and improve access to quality health care for Connecticut citizens.
Ann Marie Capo is the chief quality and patient safety officer for the UConn Health Center. She is also the executive sponsor of the clinical operations transition for Bioscience Connecticut.
Health Center Today asked Capo how she and her team are preparing for the many changes that will occur on the clinical side as Bioscience Connecticut becomes a reality.
For Bioscience Connecticut, you are leading the Clinical Operations Transition Initiative. What are some of the long-term goals of this initiative?
Sandi Donahoe, executive director of organizational excellence for the UConn Medical Group (UMG) and John Dempsey Hospital (JDH), is leading the Clinical Operations Transition Initiative with me. We created a strategy for transforming our workforce through the principles of lean technology. The educational opportunity Sandi developed working with members of the Human Resources educational department is one tactic we are using to transform our workforce within UMG and JDH in preparation for the move to the new facilities and the planned backfill of our current JDH building. Sandi is currently working with Connecticut Children’s Medical Center to offer a Lean 6-Sigma certification course for 20 key clinical leaders. This course will be offered on site at the Health Center. We hope to replicate the course and, in the future, offer it to key individuals in our clinical organization. We would also continue to offer the tactical tools course through our HR department for the staff involved in developing the work plan for our new facilities.
Are your efforts focused exclusively on the new patient care tower?
Our efforts are focused on the new patient tower, the new ambulatory care building (including the new dental suites within that building), and the clinical backfill moves that will occur in the vacated spaces in the hospital and the C building.
What is the “lean training process” and why is it important to start that initiative now?
Lean is a strategy we are using to transform the way work is done within UMG and JDH. Lean tactical tools enable the line staff to take waste and rework it out of the system. Understanding how work is done (workflow), and what can be done to streamline it while increasing quality, will empower our staff to become “owners” of their work. We want our employees to suggest and make changes to continuously improve their workflow. In turn, this will lead to the transformation of our workforce, and lean training is the key to beginning this transformation.
What are you focusing on over the next six months?
We have work teams looking at our current workflows as a first step to identifying the inefficiencies in the system. Lean teaches us how to make small changes rapidly in an effort to continuously improve our workflows. We will begin seeing some of these changes in the near future occurring within the teams that have already started meeting to identify areas that need attention.
As a long-serving UConn Health Center employee, what are your hopes for Bioscience Connecticut and the new patient care tower?
Bioscience Connecticut will redefine the Health Center, and my hope is that our clinical operations will be transformed through this model of patient-centered health care that we are currently developing. I look forward to a very bright future for all of UConn.
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