Above: Architectural renderings of the Main Lobby renovations.
Pulse
Our People Make Possible Happen
Thursday, August 11 was the 60th wedding anniversary for Mr. and Mrs. Dixon…but the couple thought a celebration did not look possible and would have to wait because Mr. Dixon was a “visitor” here.
Then came the staff of the University Tower’s 5th floor. They got busy, called in help, and the party was on.
Food and Nutrition Services delivered individually made meals on white china and wine glasses for their sodas. Sounds of their wedding song – “Sunrise, Sunset” by Perry Como – filled the room.
A magical anniversary for the Dixon’s brought a tear to everyone’s eye….including the newlyweds.
Help Name Our TUGs!
Starting this fall, our new “TUG” robots will be roaming the floors of UConn John Dempsey Hospital, transporting prescription medications from the pharmacy to our medical teams.
This is where you come in—our four new friends need names! Submit your TUG name below, along with your name and email. Submissions are due by September 9. Winners will be announced on Facebook.
In the meantime, the pharmacy folks are busy preparing for the TUGS’ first day and that includes making sure the robots know where they’re going (and don’t run into anything along the way). Watch the video to see how it’s done.
Applause for the PAWS Winners
Human Resources and the Pride In People committee at UConn Health hosted an awards reception today for the July PAWS winners. The celebration honors employees who consistently perform above and beyond the expectations of their job and exhibit the following attributes: part of a team; awesome attitude; wonderful work ethic; and superior service.
Kidd Collins……………………………………………… CMHC – Hartford / Mental Health
Margaret Cummings…………………………………. UMG – General Medicine
Jessica Demarest……………………………………… Intermediate Unit
Sarah Higley……………………………………………. Surgery/Orthopaedics Unit
Michelle Masters……………………………………… Intermediate Unit
Carol Wiediger…………………………………………. CMHC – Hartford / Mental Health
Vincent Williams………………………………………. Orthopaedic Surgery
The team award went to the Medical 3 Unit Staff.
UConn HealthONE: ‘Getting Into the Weeds’
As healthcare providers, the work is complex – links in a chain, each important, each small detail impacts everything after. It’s the people on the front line, in the middle of any care delivery process that know this best. The next step in our HealthONE journey is right around the corner. In August and September, the team will hold 264 ‘workflow sessions’ with the people directly involved in each key process so we can, if you will….get into the weeds, look under rocks, consider the details and the options as we build our electronic medical record (EMR).
It is a lot of sessions, but we do a lot of work — complex, interdependent work, right?
Each invite session includes the primary stakeholders of a given process…or step in that process. Each session builds upon the previous work with a goal to have a workflow and process design that reflects our experience, our reality, the capability of the Epic tool and the future state we envision.
So why should you care?
If you are invited, you are clearly not alone — you are an important link in the chain, without you the chain holds nothing. Not invited — you may think you’re lucky, you may question why not — either way you should know who is representing your work and make sure they understand the one, deep, hidden process clue only you hold. And, if nothing else, understand and appreciate the complexity of working toward our objective — one record, one place, one reason…you.
All UConn HealthONE information, documents, governance and education are now available on the project website, accessible by the icon on the top bar of the UConn Health Express. Check back often, and remember, in some way, this takes all of us to succeed.
Broadcast Message to Retire August 8
Monday, August 8, the UConn Health daily Broadcast Message email, and the system that supports it will be ‘retiring.’ In its place, a new format and new name – UConn Health Lifeline.
The new UConn Health Lifeline will continue to consolidate internal announcements, however, in a more useful and user-friendly way. “It is no less information, but it is a modernization of look and employing an already existing online tool that is more efficient and really tailored toward the end-user,” says UConn Health Chief Communications Officer Chris Hyers.
The new Lifeline is coordinated by UConn Health Marketing and Multimedia Services with great support from University Information Technology Services (UITS). As a “self-service portal,” gone will be the days of emailing information. Now, users will self-submit using an online submission form which allows for a preview of the announcement and editing before and after final submission. Lifeline will be distributed on weekday mornings. To be considered for inclusion, announcements must be submitted at least two days prior.
What you will see as a reader is an expanded list of categories; such as Human Resources and Benefits; Lectures and Presentations; Research, Funding, and Awards; Student Activities, and more. This will make it easier for you to find the information of interest to you, click the link and learn more. Lifeline is designed as a companion resource to “The Pulse,” UConn Health Express, and events.uconn.edu.
Check out what you need to know on UConn Health Express for more details and guidance on how, when, and where to submit.
Send questions or comments regarding the new UConn Health Lifeline to uconnhealthlifeline@uchc.edu.
Lafreniere to Focus on Clinical Practice
We shared the news late last week that Dr. Denis Lafreniere has decided to step out of his role as the Medical Director of UConn Medical Group (UMG) to spend more time in his clinical practice of Otolaryngology. He will also continue to serve as both an Associate Dean for the School of Medicine and Division Chief of Otolaryngology. Denis has been a tireless leader for UMG and accomplished much. In a letter to colleagues, Denis wrote of his four-year tenure, “I am proud to say that we have seen significant change in UMG – our expansion into the Outpatient Pavilion and satellite clinics in Storrs, Canton and Southington. UMG has consistently seen more patients each year and expanded our primary care base, most recently with a new Family Medicine clinic.”
Going forward we will be replacing the UMG Medical Director role with a UMG Chief Executive Officer (UMG CEO) position. Toward this end we have opened a national search for an MD with business credentials and experience, who will have a full-time focus on operational and strategic leadership of the faculty practice. Denis will continue in his Medical Director role until the UMG CEO is hired.
Those who know Denis won’t be surprised that although he is stepping away from his role as UMG Medical Director, he will still be very busy on behalf of UMG. In addition to the roles already mentioned, he will continue to have involvement in the Clinical Council, the roll out of UConn Health ONE and the PTN project. In addition, he has agreed to spend 10 percent of his time serving in the role of “UMG Physician Liaison” which will support the efforts of the new UMG CEO. As Denis wrote in his letter, “Although I will miss working with all of you as the Medical Director, I truly believe this is the right time for me to focus more on my primary passion – otolaryngology – while still contributing to the School of Medicine and helping UMG and its new leader when that person is selected. Fortunately, in the role of UMG Physician Liaison I will still serve on the UMG senior leadership team and therefore will interact with all of you frequently on the journey ahead.”
Andrew Agwunobi, M.D., M.B.A.
Chief Executive Officer, UConn Health
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs
Main Lobby Closure to Impact Foot, Bus Traffic
UPDATE: The closing of the main lobby and opening of the academic entrance, originally scheduled for Monday, July 25, has been postponed, with further information to come next week. Therefore, the changes to Shuttle Routes 3 and 4 and the Storrs Shuttle, also scheduled to take place Monday, will be postponed until further notice.
Starting this weekend, the main lobby area of the main building will be under construction for the next several months. This is to allow renovations that will grow and modernize the lobby as well as the dental clinics and the Calhoun Cardiology Center.
The front entrance to the building will remain open with a detour around the construction Foot traffic will flow to the left and let out in the hallway that runs along the windows to the center courtyard. The lobby elevators will continue to function, but only serve Floors G, M and 1.
For employees that use the main entrance to get to and from their jobs, please note that it may be quicker for you to use Garage 2. Garage 2 is for employees only and has a dedicated entrance on the bottom floor of the garage. The employee entrance will bring you to the University Tower and you can access the Connecticut Tower by following the signs, which lead you through Radiology.
With this also comes changes to the campus shuttle services. Starting Monday, July 25, two of the campus shuttle routes will discontinue service to the main entrance. The Munson Road shuttle (Route 3) will go back to stopping at the academic entrance, also scheduled to be re-open by Monday, and the 400 Farmington Ave. shuttle (Route 4) will pick up and drop off at the University Tower instead of the main entrance. All campus shuttle maps and schedules are available at health.uconn.edu/park/shuttle-bus-service. CT Transit and CT Fastrak routes are not changing.
UConn Health Discontinuing Clinical Pediatric Services
UConn Health has made the strategic decision not to continue to deliver clinical pediatric services.
This decision is in part financial and in part due that pediatric clinics fit more aptly within the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center model of care.
Connecticut Children’s has decided to operate pediatric clinics in the same sites of East Hartford and West Hartford. The effective date for this change is planned for October 1, 2016
However, Connecticut Children’s will be employing the same pediatricians and without any disruption of service to patients. Each year, East Hartford has approximately 8,000 pediatric patient visits while West Hartford has 4,500 visits.
While layoff notices were delivered on July 5 to 11 staff members, UConn Health is optimistic that through the filling of internal needs and jobs with pediatrics that Children’s will be posting that job losses will be minimal.
UConn Health’s leadership is working with the leadership of Connecticut Children’s to ensure a seamless transition that is supportive to patients, providers and employees.
For more information about this pediatrics news, please review the following Questions and Answers:
Q & A about Pediatrics
Does this affect neonatology or pediatric patients seen by non-pediatric specialties?
No, this change affects only the primary care pediatric sites of East Hartford and West Hartford.
Will this impact any UConn School of Medicine education or research activities currently associated with UCH clinical pediatric services?No. Pediatric education is conducted as a UConn School of Medicine function which is already conducted in part by Connecticut Children’s. This relationship will continue unchanged.
How much will be saved by this decision?
This decision will save nearly $700,000 annually.
How many UConn Health employees are employed in pediatric clinics?
Many of the employees are ‘dual’ employees, serving multiple UConn Health clinics in this location, so a count is tricky. In all, there are about 4 physicians and 11 staff who in part or whole support the pediatric clinical operation.
How many employees received notice, how many will be laid off?
Eleven people received layoff notices. Most are expected to be retained by UConn Health in other clinical operations or offered employment by Connecticut Children’s.
With this decision, will employees maintain their state employee status and state benefits?
Employees who stay with UConn Health to support the remaining non-pediatric clinical operations or transfer to other internal opportunities will continue as state employees. Those employees, including the physicians, who join Children’s would leave state service and become Connecticut Children’s employees.
Will all current employees be offered positions with Connecticut Children’s?
Children’s has expressed their desire to make this as seamless as possible. Children’s will make available to all involved their position postings so they can work through filling slots in a way that reflects their business plan and clinical operating model going forward.
Will Connecticut Children’s pay rent at East Hartford and West Hartford; are these locations owned by UConn Health?
Both sites are leased, not owned, by UConn Health. Children’s will assume a portion of the rent proportionate to the space they will use to operate pediatric clinics.
How many patients are seen at each site?
Approximately 8,000 pediatric patient visits occur at East Hartford and 4,500 at West Hartford annually.
Will this change decrease access to care?
Thanks to the Connecticut Children’s plans to operate pediatric clinics at these sites, community access to care will not change.
HealthONE Project Now Officially Underway
Chief Medical Information Officer
By R. Dirk Stanley, Chief Medical Information Officer
Disclaimer: The modern “information age” may not really be so modern. It actually started about 35,000 years ago in a cave in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Some of our earliest human ancestors made cave paintings to share information with other humans and – voila – Homo sapiens thrived. Since then, information sharing among humans has grown exponentially, and in the last 150 years, health care leaders such as Florence Nightingale and John Snow have used this information to help save lives. Indeed, documentation, information management, and health care share a long tradition.
Therefore, as a history-loving doctor and technologist, I’m very proud to report the HealthONE project at UConn Health is now officially underway!
The HealthONE project is a 22-month journey to replace our various current clinical systems with a single, unified electronic medical record (EMR) from the Epic Corporation in Verona, Wisconsin. This ambitious and forward-thinking project will bring together large numbers of our staff, both clinical and administrative, to help decide as a team: What do we want clinical care for our patients to look like in the future?
Not only will the project break down barriers between doctors, nurses, and other clinical and administrative staff – it gives us a real opportunity to combine the best practices of the past with the most recent evidence-based research. New clinical decision support tools will help improve and streamline care, while new analysis tools will help drive research and identify opportunities we have yet to discover.
Will all this bring change to our organization? You bet. But the change is going to be great. Just imagine the clarity, efficiency, and harmony of being able to find the information you want, at the right time, to guide the best decisions. The HealthOne project is going to help us design that future together, for the benefit of patients, families, and clinical providers.
To make this happen, UConn Health has now assembled a dedicated technical team who will be working very hard with clinical and administrative leaders over the next 22 months. They will collect information from our many doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other clinical and administrative staff, and build the configuration and processes needed to break down barriers, create new opportunities, and bring HealthOne to our patients, staff, and community.
As a chief medical information officer, I’ll be part of both the technical and clinical teams, helping to guide the project to our go-live. It’s rewarding work, with a great outcome in our future. Until we get there together, I’ll keep an eye out for more opportunities to show you what one place, one record, one reason is all about. You.