Simplify, Automate, Scale, Support and Sustain: Evolving How the Work Gets Done
The SASSS framework lets us improve the work for our teammates while also improving patient outcomes.
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I have a great passion for ensuring our employees feel heard and that patients have access to good health care. I have a great passion for creating a joyful work environment for our teammates. As leaders, we have access to tools we can use to create that opportunity.
One tool in our A GREAT Redesign Strategy is the SASSS framework, which stands for Simplify, Automate, Scale, Support and Sustain.
The redesign and the SASSS framework are not a flavor of the month. We are creating a culture in which we are constantly in motion to make improvements. Nothing good comes from staying the same, and I hope that our employees feel encouraged and challenged to be a part of the redesign.
SASSS is a tool that we use to make the work easier and better for our employees while improving patient outcomes. It can be as simple as better organizing a supply closet or as sophisticated as changing the way we create patient access.
We have worked to create a culture where our teammates feel confident and safe in raising their hand when they have ideas for how to improve what we do or questions about why we do things.
My priority is to make sure that people feel joy and passion at work, that they have the capacity to take action, and that we are focused on making positive changes to benefit our patients.
When an employee shares an idea, we first assemble a team so we can ensure all affected voices are heard. From there, we encourage, support and empower the right people to take action.
Our staff has been excited about the results we’ve seen and the energy that we are putting in to make their work better and improve the care we provide.
Home Health Redesign
In our Home Health services, we found ourselves facing a nursing shortage, regulatory changes and reimbursement changes. We also heard from our staff that they were having trouble getting to all the patients. Our service area is spread out among many rural counties, and the drive time is substantial for our Home Health staff. With that in mind, we scaled back our primary footprint so we could serve more patients in that primary area and work to bring more joy to employees, reduce the cost of care, and be prepared for the regulatory changes.
We were able to reduce our vehicle fleet which reduced our cost. We took a more team-based approach, organizing the teams around the patient rather than the type of work a staff member does.
Through that process, we’ve also implemented a “driveway conference,” where we have a conversation with our team virtually while we are still in the patient’s driveway to get input from the team about the care plan in real time.
Do we always get it right?
We want to go fast and get results, but we also know there are times we have to pivot.
We have found that when we have undertaken some redesign projects, we have underestimated the importance of the relationships.
For example, our case managers were in a unit-based model where they were assigned to specific units. To respond to staffing shortages, we moved to a provider-based model. We realized quickly that we lost that synergy that happens as a result of strong relationships. In this instance, we reverted to the former model. There’s no such thing as a perfect plan, and while we work hard to plan well, we are willing to change if things don’t work like we had hoped. We are always willing to adapt the redesign as needed to get the best outcome.
The best laid plans don’t always create the result that you want, so we are always willing to regroup, hear our employees and achieve tangible, understandable results for our employees and patients.
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