U-M health leaders offer an innovative framework for keeping academic medic...( and pharmacy practices. Customer se...),Health

Customer service

• Adopting a "Putting Patients and Families First" theme that emphasizes empathetic customer service for patients.
• Implementation of means to measure patient satisfaction, staff productivity, quality and cost-competitiveness. In surveys of patients throughout southeastern Michigan, the U-M Health System consistently ranks high in public perception.
• Distribution of certain operating surpluses to hospital and health center employees, in a manner tied to patient satisfaction scores.
• Improvements in communication with referring physicians through toll-free phone service, fax and e-mail so they can follow the progress of their patients in real time.

Cost-cutting

• Redesign of clinical procedures and purchasing to improve efficiency and cut costs.
• Spreading of fixed costs over an increased volume of inpatients and outpatients.
• Acceptance of input from a broad range of sources, including system engineers from General Motors who helped assess operating room and post-op procedures, ultimately saving more than an hour in cardiac surgery time and eliminating a bed transfer from post-op care. The same team also helped redesign patient flow and layout for the University Hospital's Emergency Room, now under renovation.
• Plan for a four percent reduction in base spending across every hospital, ambulatory and administrative adjusted for volume.
• Development of a new health plan for a major employer, Ford Motor Company, that features disease management programs for major ailments, patient advocates, and the possibility for doctors outside the U-M Health System to participate if they agree to meet guidelines. This plan, called Partnership Health, is exceeding expectations and is being adapted for other employers and patient populations.

Innovation in education and research

• Initiation of a Biological Sciences Scholars program to recruit the best yo
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