Beginning last winter, a team assembled six times over four months in the Borgess Navigation Center. Their mission was to find ways of improving efficiency in the BMC admissions process. "Multiple improvements have now been made in the admissions process," said Rand O’Leary, Executive Director, Surgical Services, who served as a key member of the team. "These include creation of an Access Center which specifically deals with insurance verification and a change in the staffing and location of the Referral Center. And more changes to help improve customer service and staff efficiency are expected in the coming months."

Key players come together to make rapid progress

The experience of the admissions team is just one example of how many groups that have used the Navigation Center turned ideas into reality. In concentrated periods of time--typically half-days or full days--problems are turned into opportunities and action plans are developed. "The Navigation Center is not a place for routine meetings, but home to a way of working that brings together diverse perspectives in a collaborative environment," said Terry Hluchyj, Navigation Center Transition Leader. "By involving all the key players in processes that include learning new information, creative ideas can emerge and action can proceed at a more rapid pace."

Admissions group started by developing a vision statement.

The group that assembled to work on the admissions process represented employees from many areas that play a role with incoming patients--the Emergency & Trauma Center, regional hospitals, the billing office--as well as Pre-Admission Testing and Planning (Admitting). One of the team’s initial steps was to develop a vision of an ideal admissions process. They described it as a ‘24-hour, seven-days-a-week system with one access number where the caller interacts with a person rather than with phone mail. The people answering are appropriately educated and empowered to problem-solve, make decisions and maintain positive relationships with customers and professional providers.’ Explained Bob Cochard, Decision Support Project Leader, "The admissions group wanted to improve patient flow by reducing the number of ‘hand-offs’ (from one employee to another) and the amount of time from initial scheduling through admission. "Members of the group mapped out the patient route as it existed at the time and it looked something like a bowl of spaghetti," he continued. "Team members looked for points where unnecessary complications might be eliminated, then assembled an action plan with steps and timelines for implementation." Working with the ‘NavCenter’ staff to design sessions using Navigation Center tools, Cochard found that such resources as the six-foot- tall erasable WorkWalls and moveable process symbols accelerated the work of the team and kept everyone involved. "I believe that the work would not have been as effective or as timely if we had been in a more traditional setting," he said.

Circle of involvement is widened as process moves forward

Since the Navigation Center opened, nearly 900 Borgess employees have participated in about 250 sessions there. Among them have been teams from Borgess Health Alliance and Metropolitan Health Corporation, who have worked together to form and advance Borgess Metro Health Alliance (BMHA). (Their progress is being reported on a monthly basis in inserts published in Teamwork.) "Teams working at the Navigation Center have found real value in its setting and methods," said Pat Dyson, BHA Senior VP, Corporate Services. "Much of the progress we have made in establishing BMH and combining support services was either made during sessions at the Navigation Center or has been built on what was accomplished there." A sampling of other work at the Navigation Center includes establishing BHA goals for 2001, as well as Sustainable Stewardship decision-making and advancing regional hospital affiliations. Departmental projects--such as redesigning program schedules for Borgess Behavioral Medicine and developing process improvements for Otsego Family Physicians--has also occurred during Navigation Center sessions. "Navigation Center users have shown the value that comes from participation that ‘leaves titles at the door’ and welcomes all learning styles," Hluchyj said. "‘Patient at the core,’ a phrase describing Borgess that was coined by NavCenter participants, is reflected in events like ones addressing cardiac best practices and older adult services."

Navigation Center is a place for everyone

Borgess employees are also welcome to use the Navigation Center for research and to participate in discussion groups or workshops about challenging topics. People with questions about work at the Navigation Center are invited to call 616-226-5170.