August 7, 2018

Texas Children’s recently convened the region’s first autoimmune encephalitis (AE) family day. Headlined by former NFL player Amobie Okoye, an AE survivor himself, the event was held on July 28 at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women. Seventy family members, 23 AE patients and their siblings, and 20 volunteers from Texas and beyond made the day a rousing success.

Dr. Eyal Muscal and the division of Immunology/Allergy, Rheumatology & Retrovirology hosted a nurse and family panel as well as educational sessions by members of the neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation and behavioral health teams. Families also were able to form new connections and strengthen previous relationships formed via social media.

The goal of the event, titled Day of Hope, was to raise awareness of this spectrum of immune-mediated brain disorders. Plans are already underway for next year’s event, which will include adolescent AE health, transition to adult care, and needs of adult AE survivors.

August 2, 2018

Over the course of a two-and-a-half-day meeting in late February, 18 Texas Children’s system leaders came together to strategize streamlining business operations between Texas Children’s Hospital and the Texas Children’s Health Plan. Led by Lou Fragoso, president of the health plan, and Richelle Fleischer, senior vice president of Revenue Cycle at Texas Children’s Hospital, the group worked to challenge business as usual, with an eye toward transforming how the system runs.

This “rapid improvement event,” organized and facilitated by the Texas Children’s Business Process Transformation team, was a key step in the We Are Family initiative, a multi-month undertaking by Texas Children’s system leaders committed to breaking down barriers between the hospital and the health plan in an effort to help the organization work more efficiently as a singular entity. Among the working group’s goals was to plot a roadmap of and deconstruct the revenue cycle process between the hospital and the health plan in order to identify waste and collaborate on solutions that will increase the system’s efficacy.

“We sought to take advantage of our ‘system-ness’ to create a seamless interchange of claim processing, with the potential to save over $30 million in the process,” Fleischer said.

The driving force behind this effort is a desire to leverage the shared organizational identity between Texas Children’s Hospital and Texas Children’s Health Plan in order to reach the common goal of improving patient care.

“During the rapid improvement event, we had a room full of people who wanted to do the right thing for Texas Children’s,” Fragoso said. “When we work together, we can reduce unnecessary or duplicative work, improve the member or patient experience, use data to help deliver better health outcomes, and ultimately make Texas Children’s a leading force in advancing how care is delivered.”

“The biggest accomplishment of the event was the building of relationships between the health plan and the hospital team,” echoed Dr. Heidi Schwarzwald, chief medical officer of Pediatrics at Texas Children’s Health Plan. “Opening new lines of communication, creating efficiencies, and reducing waste will allow for more resources to be available for innovation and improvements in care coordination and delivery throughout our system.”

The We Are Family initiative kicked off in December 2017 with the initial process assessment and event design planning phase taking place between January and February 2018. Further implementation planning followed February’s rapid improvement event, with project kickoffs beginning in April. Implementations and transitions are now underway, with reports of these projects’ measurable results expected in Q4.

Of the 71 ideas suggested at February’s event, the team consolidated and selected 14 high-impact solutions, with 12 projects centered around these solutions currently ongoing. One project has focused on improving antiquated communications technology between the health plan and the hospital. The health plan and the hospital previously relied on fax communications to exchange patient information, a cumbersome and time-consuming process.

Based on the collaborative solutions recommended at the rapid improvement event, the system has transitioned to an entirely digital communications process, thereby reducing administrative burden and allowing employees to focus on timely claims processing and communication with members and providers.

“Ultimately, we’re giving our most important assets, our people, time back in their days,” said Dr. Lia Rodriguez, medical director at Texas Children’s Health Plan. “We’re reallocating resources to focus on what we do best: providing our patients and their families with the best care possible.”

Projected improvements resulting from the We Are Family initiative include:

  • 25,000 hours saved
  • 85,000 fewer phone calls
  • 68 percent fewer handoffs
  • 11,000 reduced paper claims
  • 12,000 faxes eliminated
  • 1,200 reduced appeals

“Just imagine if we take the results from our collaborative effort in February and apply that same concept across the rest of our system,” said Fragoso, who revealed that Texas Children’s Hospital and Texas Children’s Health Plan are already working on a second We Are Family initiative, this time focused on improving outcomes and experience for health plan members by using the hospital’s specialty pharmacy. “As we begin to think differently about how we interact, Texas Children’s will redefine what it means to be a health system in the future. When we unite as one amazing team to improve the lives of the families we serve, Texas Children’s has the ability to completely transform the way care is delivered.”

In June, U.S. News and World Report named us the No. 4 best children’s hospital in America with eight subspecialties ranked in the top 10 – and just last week, Forbes recognized Texas Children’s as the No. 1 in Houston and 11th best employer for women among the top 300 companies in the nation.

As more and more people around the country and even across the globe discover Texas Children’s and learn about what makes us such a special place to both receive care and build a career, you now have the opportunity to share your experiences as part of our One Amazing Team with our fellow Houstonians here at home by completing the Houston Business Journal’s annual Best Places to Work survey.

We encourage you to again raise your voices and participate in the 2018 Best Places to Work survey by clicking here or copying and pasting this link into your web browser: https://survey.quantumworkplace.com/bpsurvey/language/oc_HSUR62801/. HBJ will announce the results of the survey and company rankings in October.

Please note that the Best Places to Work survey is a third-party survey administered by HBJ via Quantum Workplace, Inc., so your participation is 100 percent confidential and your responses will be kept anonymous.

If you have questions about the survey, do not contact the IS Service Desk, as they will not be able to assist you. Instead, please contact the Best Places to Work team at bestplaces@quantumworkplace.com or by calling 1-888-415-8302.

Dr. Allen Milewicz, chief surgical officer at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and chief of Community Surgery, recently assumed a new role within the Department of Surgery – associate chief of Clinical Affairs.

“Dr. Milewicz is uniquely positioned for this important new role,” said Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Larry Hollier. “After operating at Texas Children’s for more than 25 years, he has experienced the growth of both the hospital and the Department of Surgery, has helped guide community outreach efforts for the department, and has a keen understanding of the needs of our referring providers.”

Aligning activities for one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive pediatric surgery programs – with 120 surgeons, over 130 highly skilled advanced practice providers and 800 staff working across three different campuses – requires continuous oversight and attention to detail. In his new position, Milewicz will work closely with Hollier and other hospital leadership to provide that high level of oversight, as well as enhanced medical, operational and strategic leadership across the entire surgical enterprise, ensuring continuity of the efficient, high-quality care for which Texas Children’s Department of Surgery is known.

“I have had the good fortune to spend my entire career at Texas Children’s Hospital, and the growth of the organization has been tremendous and inspiring,” Milewicz said. “We want our Department of Surgery to be top of mind as the standard whenever a parent, pediatrician, health care specialist, resident, medical student or medical school faculty member thinks about surgical challenges in children.”

Additional aspects of the position will be the continued professional development of Texas Children’s surgeons and advanced practice providers, and improved patient and family experiences.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help guide and serve,” Milewicz said. “We have so many talented, motivated people in our department that I think the best thing I can do is make it easier for everyone to do the job they come here to do. This means simplifying processes, facilitating flow and communication, and utilizing technology to improve access and help patients navigate our large organization. Of course, this must all be done under the umbrellas of safety and compassion. In everything we do here, whether it’s a highly complicated procedure or a condition that requires a simpler solution, I’m proud that we always remember that the child and the family are our focus.”

In addition to his new role, Milewicz will retain his duties as chief surgical officer at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus and chief of Community Surgery.

Texas Children’s President and CEO Mark Wallace is committed to meeting every employee at Texas Children’s, and one way he does that is during a New Employee Pep Rally.

New employees at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus hired between January 1 through June 30 attended the most recent Pep Rally on July 30, and from the moment team members arrived, they shared their excitement to be with Texas Children’s!

New employees, leaders, and assigned “buddies” mixed, mingled, and snapped selfies around the room. To close the event, team captain – Wallace – celebrated what our team had accomplished and what’s ahead as our One Amazing Team keeps growing!