A Clinical Command Center Serves as the "Whetstone" for CHI Franciscan's Health System

“The Mission Control Command Center is the Whetstone for the CHI Franciscan health system,” says Matt Metsker, Division Director, CHI Franciscan Mission Control. 

“Much like how a whetstone sharpens knives,” Metsker continues, “CHI Franciscan's Mission Control Command Center is a tool that continues to improve the performance of the eight-hospital health system.”

The biggest and most challenging hurdle CHI Franciscan faced was siloed thinking and operations within multiple groups and stakeholders within each of the eight hospitals. With the Mission Control program, CHI Franciscan learned the value of creating an extensive and inclusive governance structure that includes multidisciplinary leaders and front-line staff from all sites to gain buy-in, provide input, and make key decisions.

People who otherwise had not worked together were in the same room having conversations about how to work toward the same goals and effect change.

Building a Cultural Foundation

The first GE-led design session at CHI Franciscan was the first time—ever—that CHI Franciscan had C-suite executives, medical directors, nursing directors, nurses, physicians, service line leaders, and multiple operational leaders (such as EVS and transport) from all eight hospitals in one room collectively to discuss problems within the system and determine their options and solutions. This structure created the foundation to nurture and reshape culture and affect how work gets done and ultimately serves as the engine to sustain performance gains.

Developing System-Wide Visibility

Equally pivotal to successful transformational change was the need for system-wide visibility and access to actionable Real Time information by multidisciplinary roles and leaders—at the same time across the organization. Franciscan achieved this by selecting GE Wall of Analytics Tiles that stream Real Time information to Mission Control and to the hospitals directly through PCs, tablets, and mobile devices. With the Tiles, key roles, and interventions, CHI Franciscan activated a Mission Control program that continues to change the culture and deliver impact.

Embracing Resources for Transformational Change

Since the launch of Mission Control an abundance of variation in processes and barriers have come to light. Mission Control has addresses and solved these issues. CHI Franciscan also centralized bed management across all eight hospitals in Mission Control—a feat that seemed impossible six years ago.

Mission Control is also managing all observation patients across the system in Real Time with a GE tile, developing an optimized hospice program with another GE tile along with a host of other projects.

CHI Franciscan team members across the system are truly encouraged to solve the difficult challenges that they have been facing for years. They now feel that the focus and resources are available to truly make a difference.