Universal Health Services, Inc.

A national hospital management organization

River Parishes Hospital - La Place, Louisiana

Reduce operating costs, strengthen the management team, and increase staff and patient satisfaction

Using a leadership competency assessment as its cornerstone, the program had three key phases. First, the senior management team of six received feedback related to both individual and team strengths and needs. In terms of core competencies, the team discovered their collective strengths as Planning, Problem-Solving and Quality Improvement, and their developmental opportunities as Empowerment, Efficiency and Relationship Skills.

Based on the feedback, each member of the team created goals and action plans, which linked their developmental needs to specific business objectives. In particular, the CEO recognized the need to enhance his skill in Staff Development, and felt that it was directly correlated with the team's overall Empowerment deficiency. Consequently, he crafted the following goal:

"Using a team approach, develop and delegate a comprehensive hospital-wide cost reduction plan by March 1, 1995, which ensures that RP Hospital meets and exceeds its budgeted operating expenses."

During the final phase of the program, the management team built "change partnerships" by sharing their goals (and action plans), soliciting input to enhance their plans and discovering ways to support each other and share accountability.

As a result of both the program and the team's follow-up work, the hospital reduced operating costs by $1.3 million (over the prior year), the majority of which is directly linked to the "cost reduction" plan. This annual profit increase was achieved while demonstrating increases in both employee and patient satisfaction, and without laying off a single employee. Partnerships among team members improved substantially. There have been two annual follow-up programs for the senior management team. The program has also been extended to Department Managers. The follow-up process and inclusion of middle managers is linked to tripling the operating profit that was achieved during the first year of the program.