Some health systems look to outsourcing to answer financial challenges—a Detroit system is currently considering laying off more than 500 housekeepers. But one system is taking a totally different approach.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) vice president Kathy Luther describes an effort at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center to determine the best approach for housekeeping, or Environmental Services:
…during a review of housekeeping operations, the leaders did some soul-searching, went back to the Medical Center’s roots as a faith-based organization, and decided the workers had a role to play in the lives, families, and communities of Environmental Services [EVS] employees. Wake Forest Baptist leaders looked at where these individuals lived and saw a significant overlap between their neighborhoods and the most socially complex patients that Wake Forest serves.
Supporters of Health make a difference
Luther reports that the medical center hired four EVS employes to be “Supporters of Health” who follow the most vulnerable patients in their own neighborhoods to provide, well, health support. For example:
Annika Archie, the first Supporter of Health, heard about a woman discharged from the hospital with over $500 in prescriptions, an amount that was utterly impossible for her to pay. Annika went to the prescribing doctor at the local safety net clinic and requested that the doctor change to generics, and switch to a cheaper pharmacy. The physician was surprised, but happy to make the change, knowing the price reduction would make it easier for the patient to take her medications. The change to generics resulted in a much more manageable $14 prescription charge.
Gary Gunderson, Wake Forest Vice President for FaithHealth, says of the Supporters, “They’re having frank conversations with patients about their living situation and specific post-discharge and health care needs. And in many cases they are able to help them get resources and help they need.”
Think twice before outsourcing, says Luther, “You may be losing a valuable asset.”
