RUNNER UP:
Methodist Medical Center
Peoria, IL

A FISH Story
When confronted with the often intimidating shift from paper to EHR, the health information services (HIS) staff at Methodist Medical Center in Peoria, IL, rose to the challenge. With many employees holding double-digit tenures at Methodist, the team was admittedly "old-school," according to MT Amy Diggle, who sent in the contest entry. But that made their transition to a functioning electronic system all the more impressive.

"The success of our department this year has been a team effort," Diggle said. "We pride ourselves on how well we work together because we've worked together so long."

All 39 members of HIS are housed under one roof, so the department has become a second family over the years. Face-to-face communication is common, and employees are comfortable addressing any issues that arise.

Diggle described the staff as "patient-driven, responsible, real, responsive and ready" and said they are dedicated to the facility's ongoing mission to deliver superior health care. Managers and employees alike uphold high standards, as the organization strives to be in the top 5 percent of anything it does, whether it's employee satisfaction or patient outcomes. Most recently, the MT department scored highest in the facility's physician satisfaction survey.

Staff camaraderie became essential when HIS faced the high expectations and negative connotations accompanying EHR implementation. Diggle said they heard other facilities voice frustration about the switch to an electronic environment. "To weather that and to have successfully, so far, implemented EHR, I think that's something that we're most proud of," she said.

Taking a cue from Fortune 500 companies, Methodist Medical Center instituted a departmental initiative to facilitate the transition to EHR. The FISH! philosophy, inspired by dedicated fishmongers from the Pike Place fish market, emphasizes four leadership principles: be there for co-workers, play, make someone's day and choose your attitude about work. Employees spent 2 days a month getting oriented to EHR, which Diggle said helped to settle nerves and "got everyone on board" for the transition. The department also carried the FISH! philosophy over to annual events: HIS week had an aquatic-themed potluck, games and prizes. At the department Christmas party, the office manager gave live fish as gifts.

The HIS team plans to throw another one of its infamous potlucks during this year's HIT week. But the party will be even bigger, as it coincides with the release of ADVANCE's Team of the Year issue. "We're definitely going to celebrate," Diggle said. "We're very honored and excited."

Diggle hopes the recognition from ADVANCE will help the department garner more visibility. The nursing staff at Methodist Medical Center has been drawing attention as employees pursue Magnet recertification, so Diggle wants to add HIS to the hospital chatter. "It's nice to put our department on the map," she said.

HIS Director and President-elect of the Illinois Health Information Management Association, Jean Ward, BS, RHIA, agreed and said she was proud that Diggle took the initiative to nominate the staff. "To be recognized for the behind-the-scenes work that we do is very rewarding," she affirmed.

While the switch to an electronic environment has been a success, the HIS team is far from done. Document capture technicians are honing techniques for scanning documents into the EHR, while MTs not only use speech recognition technology, but have also learned a Word-based application that improves productivity. Diggle said they hope to expand speech recognition even further and are now looking to improve chart turnaround time.

"We're meeting goals, we're improving," Diggle said. "That's all we can ask for at the end of the day."