Improving surgical services performance through changing work culture.

Children's memorial hospital administrators knew that they needed to improve their surgical services infrastructure to accommodate growing patient volume, implement new technology, and address a major shift from inpatient to outpatient surgery. The hospital partnered with an outside consultant to better understand the impact of the work environment and culture on performance and to identify opportunities for improvement. During a seven-month period, new work processes, tools, and staff training helped significantly boost surgical services volume and revenue. Today, the hospital continues to sustain the performance gains achieved through the surgical care coordination initiative.