In late 2017, NorthShore University HealthSystem developed a bold three-year vision and plan, which included converting a full-service hospital into Illinois’ first dedicated orthopaedic and spine hospital, implementing an advanced and innovative clinical care model across the system, and implementing more than a dozen other initiatives of similar scope and scale.
While execution was one of the health system’s historical strengths, the executive team recognized that the pace, degree of complexity, and cross-functional nature of these and future transformational strategies would require a heightened level of execution, skill and coordination. So an early partnership with Integrated Project Management Company, Inc., a business consulting firm focused on helping companies execute their strategies, helped establish the NorthShore Transformation Management Office. Its objective: to drive and coordinate implementation of the transformational portfolio while embedding critical new skills and supporting enhanced ownership and accountability throughout the organization.
Making it Happen
NorthShore built a team of internal consultants with different experience and expertise, but with the common strengths of complex problem solving and collaboration. The TMO leaders refine and prioritize the strategic portfolio, lead execution to drive results of the most strategically critical initiatives, and help embed and disseminate new implementation capabilities throughout the organization.
Enabling highly qualified full-time staff to devote their time to the TMO required an investment and the trust of the organization. It helped immensely that the TMO had broad organizational leadership support. Executives were willing to give team members the opportunity to do their best, take chances, experiment, fail, learn and evolve. Small successes led to earned trust with more stakeholders, and within the first year, the TMO gained a reputation throughout the organization for getting things done.
Successfully Leading Transformation
As envisioned, the TMO was a critical component of NorthShore delivering on its quality, financial, growth and people strategies. In close partnership with the executive, clinical and operational teams, it guided the establishment and prioritization of the portfolio and drove key initiatives with skills and tools that helped the leaders look at execution in new and different ways. Those initiatives include:
- Integrating new partners into the system (Swedish Hospital in 2020, Northwest Community Healthcare in 2021, and the Edward-Elmhurst Health merger in 2022).
- Establishing Illinois’ only dedicated orthopaedic and spine specialty hospital, which required complex coordination across the system and managing difficult operational change.
- Advancing NorthShore’s clinical care model, which enables the system to segment patients and provide more personalized and effective care.
- Supporting NorthShore’s diversity, equity, and inclusion and health equity efforts.
An unexpected benefit of the TMO and the organizational skills and capabilities it instilled was the system’s reaction to the pandemic. Leaders at all levels were better prepared to pivot, make decisions and execute quickly, and then readjust in a coordinated manner as the crisis ebbed and flowed.
Besides careful selection and driving execution of the initiatives, another key to the TMO’s success has been to identify the capabilities and skills necessary to transform NorthShore and help develop them throughout the organization. Through their work with a variety of leaders and teams, the TMO has helped transfer and develop project management skills and discipline, change management, process improvement, innovation, creative thinking and other competencies across the system.
Another success factor: how the TMO has grown. Members continue to be added based on both their exceptional skills and their ability to expand and complement the knowledge of the TMO team. Also, some of its members have moved to other areas of the organization to take on leadership roles. This speaks to the achievement of the TMO to prepare those individuals with critical skill sets and leadership experiences, and it helps to spread the skills and mindset across the organization.
The TMO and its truly unique approach fosters the spirit of partnership through shared learning and collaboration. The inclusive and adaptable process continues to identify, prioritize and realize opportunities for the greatest impact and value, all while building trust and relationships for future growth and success.
NorthShore’s TMO was recently recognized within the ACHE community as a recipient of the Chicago Health Executives Forum Innovations Award. The award, presented at the 46th CHEF Annual Meeting, honors a healthcare team that has inspired leadership, change and advancement. To learn more about how the TMO was created, read “Charged with Transformation.”
Beth Cutler is system lead, Transformation Management Office, at NorthShore Edward-Elmhurst Health. She can be reached at Bcutler@northshore.org
Kristen Murtos is chief innovation & transformation officer at NorthShore Edward-Elmhurst Health. She can be reached at kmurtos@northshore.org.
C. Richard Panico is president/CEO of Integrated Project Management Company, Inc. He can be reached at Crpanico@ipmcinc.com.