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2014 Success Story Award
Grady Memorial Hospital
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Atlanta, GA
Motivation of employees with data-driven
metrics;
 Increase the quality of care for the system's
most vulnerable populations
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The following tactics were also implemented:
Teaching Hospital
910 beds
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Area of Focus
The importance of having baseline data as a
way to measure future performance and the
need to build leadership accountability based
on trustworthy sustainable data was made to
the health system. Another challenge was an
organizational imperative of having the Grady
receive Magnet status. In order to complete the
application for Magnet designation from the
American Nurses Credentialing Center, Grady
needed engagement data from the nursing
staff. Exacerbating the fear and uncertainty was
the lingering sense of insecurity about Grady’s
future in the health-care reform era of ACA.
Grady is the largest safety net hospital in
Georgia and a significant portion of its patients
are uninsured. As a result it is particularly
vulnerable to government funding changes.
Actionable Steps
An inspirational leadership meeting was made
to nearly 300 leaders from the across the
organization, where the following benefits of the
survey would be part of the consistent
messaging:
 Employee Feedback
 The improved ability to execute the
organization's Mission and Vision
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Survey Ambassadors representing every
department would champion the benefits of the
survey at huddles, staff meetings, and Studer
rounding initiatives
Meet and Greet with employees at all of the
main entrances of the hospital as they arrived
and departed work in all three shifts
Random drawing for contests
Transparency via real-time participation
percentages of each department available
online to every employee
Personal messages emailed weekly from the
CEO, John Haupert and Larry Callahan to every
leader and employee stressing the importance
of every employee’s participation.
Setting up Computer Kiosks in the cafeteria, and
every offsite location where every employee
would have 24/7 access to a computer for the
completion of the survey.
Grady set measurable and attainable goals and
implemented rounding on all employees and
senior leader rounding to make sure people
understood their core job requirements and that
leadership was all in to not only inquire what
can the leader do to improve performance,
outcomes and their employee experience but
provide the support necessary to make it
happen. The human resource team also began
holding breakfasts each month with new
employees after their first 90 days to get
feedback about whether they felt they have the
tools and equipment to do their jobs, ''we were
in a very different place than we were just one
year earlier: People wanted to be involved in
the process. We went from about 80 survey
ambassadors in 2012 to almost 150 in 2013.
And the response rate grew from 81% to 90%.’
Score percentile rank improved from 9th to 46th
and the percentage of third tier work units was
cut in half...Not a single item declined
compared to the 2012 survey. The greatest
strengths were seen in employee confidence in
senior leadership, pride in the organization,
community service contributions and emphasis
on quality improvement. Grady takes particular
pride in the areas that showed the greatest
improvement. These include employees'
willingness to recommend Grady as a place to
work.
ROI
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HACs reduced by 38.5% over the past two
years
Medicare patient readmission rate was reduced
by >50%
Press Ganey measured Patient Experience in
the ED has improved from the 1st percentile to
the 50th percentile over the past five months.
Grady is now a top five performer in publicly
reported measures.
Overall voluntary turnover has decreased to
10% from 25%
Case mix index improved from 1.45 to 1.75 in
two years.
Reduction of unfunded patients from 42% to
28% and increasing net revenue.
Grady has experienced 5% per year gains in
Medicare growth and insured procedural
volumes for the past two years.