June 15, 2007

Clinical strategic plan for continued growth and development

In 2003, following a yearlong collaboration, MGH/Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO) administration and members of strategic planning task force teams laid out the MGH/MGPO clinical strategic plan to address opportunities for clinical growth and face challenges in an increasingly competitive health care landscape. Since its launch, the clinical strategic plan has guided hospital leaders and implementation teams in shaping the hospital's future and guiding business decisions in areas such as quality and patient safety, focused resources, promoting clinical growth and enhancing work life. All members of MGH/MGPO senior leadership use the plan to provide context for making decisions and allocating resources. When a resource request comes forward, the first question asked is, "How does this initiative further our strategy?"

Quality and Patient Safety
Quality and patient safety is a priority for the MGH. The hospital has set the goal of creating a culture that supports the vision of leading the nation in these areas. Much of the past four years has been spent implementing systems to help measure and monitor the quality of the care the MGH provides. These efforts have laid the groundwork for the new quality and safety program now in development. Gregg S. Meyer, MD, MSc, has been named senior vice president of Quality and Safety, and a substantial reorganization of the infrastructure has been initiated.

Enhanced Clinical Care
Since the implementation of the strategic plan, the Clinical Business Development Committee (CBDC) has led the formation of programs such as the MGH Heart Center and the Digestive Health Center and increased focus on the Cancer Center, Neurosurgery, the Vascular Center, MassGeneral Hospital for Children and areas of Orthopædics. CBDC is also leading several ambulatory care center development opportunities including the MGH/North Shore Medical Center Ambulatory Care Center, the Orthopædic Ambulatory Surgery Center at MassGeneral West in Waltham and the Multispecialty Ambulatory Care Center at Foxboro-Gillette.

As part of the strategic plan, the Capacity Management team has focused
on using existing space more efficiently and identifying opportunities to add beds. Clinical departments targeted for expansion and critical demand services such as the Emergency Department have been areas of focus. The implementation of the Coordinated Bed Efficiency Dashboard System (CBEDS), a software program
that identifies available beds and estimated times of patient transfers and discharges, has helped to improve patient flow.

Improving Work Life
Employees are the number one resource of the MGH. Numerous initiatives
stemming from the strategic plan have provided growth and development
opportunities to the workforce. Programs such as the MGH Leadership Academy and electronic medical record training have helped to enrich their work environment.

Future updates about the work resulting from the implementation of the MGH/MGPO clinical strategic plan will be highlighted in upcoming issues of MGH Hotline. For more information about the plan, visit intranet.massgeneral.org/strategicplansummary/.