OR Manager - February 2019 - 8

OR Business Management Conference
Early 'victories' forecast bright future for business awardee
ach year at the OR Business
Management Conference, an outstanding
leader receives the Best
in OR Business Award. The 2019 award
will be presented to Tracy Raymond,
MHA, BHA, CRCST, CHL, perioperative
services business manager at Amita
Saint Joseph Medical Center (formerly
Presence Saint Joseph), a 480-bed
hospital in Joliet, Illinois. Raymond has
demonstrated great business instincts
and is an inspirational role model.
E
Raymond has a master's
of science in management
from
CornerTracy
Raymond,
MHA,
BHA,
CRCST, CHL
stone University and a
bachelor's of healthcare
services from the University
of Phoenix. Previously
she was clinical
operations director for
Integrated Medical Systems,
Inc, in Birmingham,
Alabama; central sterile manager
at Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming,
Michigan; and central processing lead
technician at North Ottawa Community
Hospital in Grand Haven, Michigan.
Initially hired as the sterile processing
manager at what is now Amita Saint
Joseph, Raymond was " a driving force
to initiate the renovation of the department.
Her data-driven statistics and
cost analysis were key factors in the
overall decision process, " says Jennifer
Barnickel, CRCST, CIS, CHL, who succeeded
Raymond in that role.
Within her first year, Raymond was
asked to serve as the interim business
manager, and she jumped at the
chance. " I've always loved data, " Raymond
told OR Manager.
Leading by listening
Two years later, Raymond can look back
on challenges she has overcome as the
business manager. She inherited a dissatisfied
staff of five surgical schedulers
and three anesthesia technicians,
a situation she turned around through
effective listening and communication in
one-on-one meetings, she says.
www.ormanager.com
" The biggest thing was listening and
helping to solve problems they had in
the past, " she says. " They're the frontline
staff, and they have some wonderful
ideas. You may not be able to
implement everything, but listening to
their ideas makes them feel more empowered
and involved. "
Raymond also sought ways to help
her staff advance. For anesthesia technologists
who want to become certified,
she found in-services and other educational
resources, and she got reimbursement
for their testing. For surgical
schedulers, she increased their scope
of responsibility and knowledge by adding
the account charges for procedures.
" They work closely with the team in
that room, and it creates a much better
team atmosphere, " she says.
Raymond has also made inroads with
surgeons by showing them data to back
purchasing decisions. When a group of
urologists wanted to create a stone center
of excellence, Raymond sought support
from the C-suite, analyzed vendor
costs, switched to a lower-cost vendor,
and established a block schedule giving
the surgeons 10 to 15 cases per day.
" We were able to grow volume and create
a better service for our patients, " she
says.
" [She] continues to serve my service
line and my team even though it is outside
of her direct responsibility, " says
Sharon Skelton, MSN, RN, CNML, CAPA,
nursing director medical/surgical/telemetry
services. " I can honestly claim her
performance is above what I have ever
experienced for a manager in her position, "
she adds. Skelton attributes this
performance to characteristics Raymond
has demonstrated numerous times:
* extraordinary knowledge base
* resourcefulness
* direct and compassionate communicator
*
active listener
* excellent critical thinking skills.
Other colleagues praise Raymond's
collaboration, which has led to
increases in block utilization and decreases
in costs. By partnering with surgeons
and creating dashboards to measure
on-time starts, turnover time, and
room utilization, she has kept the surgical
services unit on track, says Doreen
Jantz-Makofski, MPA, MSN, BS, RN,
CAPA, CNML, nursing director, perioperative
services/orthopedics/pain center.
" She is intelligent, hardworking, a proactive
thinker, and collaborates well with
the other leaders inside and outside of
the surgical services department, " JantzMakofski
adds.
What's ahead?
Raymond faces challenges similar to
those of many surgical services leaders:
* How will newly elected government
leaders shape the future of reimbursement?
*
How can we keep our costs competitive
but not so low that we can't
grow?
* How can we maintain surgeon satisfaction
and prevent them from leaving?
* How can we hold surgeons accountable?
Although
Raymond has revamped
the block schedule to improve utilization,
she says that timely case starts
continue to be challenging.
In May 2018, a surgical services executive
team was formed with surgeons
from each service line, as well as managers
from perioperative services and
the C-suite. Since then, Raymond has
been generating monthly reports with
data on first case on-time starts. Each
surgeon receives a letter detailing block
time performance and average cost
per case, as well as the average cost
within that service. In addition, a " Hall
of Fame " and a " Hall of Shame " have
been started to identify surgeons who
are always on time vs those who are
always late. " Sometimes you need that
peer pressure, " she notes.
Raymond will receive the Best in OR
Business Award on January 29. To learn
more, visit www.ormanager.com/managementconference.✥
-Elizabeth
Wood
OR Manager | February 2019
7
http://www.ormanager.com/man http://www.ormanager.com
OR Manager - February 2019

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