AVPRINT Monthly - Doing Well by Doing Good!

Shifting Public Perception, with the GOOD message.

"If you go back six or seven years, we were willing to accept the conclusions other people had about us, that we 'couldn't' provide good care." AVP - What changed? " When Rick got here, people would ask when we were going to build the new hospital. Rick would say we are building the new hospital now. We will put the walls up later. And we had him repeat that at press conferences over and over again, over a couple years of development."

AVP - At that point, I would imagine funds were scarce, with the losses the hospital had taken. How do you justify spending time and resources on "intangibles"? - "We started putting resources into programs that work. Rick would say "We are going to focus on quality, and the money will follow it."

AVP - What did the accounting folks say? "Part of it comes down to the dynamics of that senior team and their ability to meet needs with available resources. I remember back in 2005, we did a day long retreat on customer service that I was facilitating, and I could tell something was going on, because the top leaders were stepping out and breaking off in corners. They had just gotten word from the state that one of our huge funding streams was being dramatically cut. By the end of that day, our leadership had developed a sound strategy that would address this loss in revenue and increase the bottom line." K.C. continued

"We consider our key competency as access to care in areas where care would otherwise be unavailable. The reason we can do this, is that working within the reimbursement structures set up by the government, we have figured out ways to provide this service."

AVP - How does Adventist Health Central Valley Network "do well, by doing good?"
"Being seen as a partner in the community is incredibly important. And I think we help. Things like the Thursday Night Market Place here in town have been a really great synergistic experience - we put money into the Market Place and Main Street Hanford, but by being the Title Sponsor, it means we have 2 or 3 booths out there each week, to share what's going on, but mostly, we hear stories from community members. And we hear a lot of that. We harvest a lot of employee recognition from things people tell us out there on Thursday nights. And I think for a lot of community members, we have put a human face on the hospitals. We actually have marketing staff who get hugs at the Market Place."

AVP - Have you done any "measurable" outreach? Spending time and/or resources where you could measure an increase in business?

"Absolutely, but with some lessons learned. In 2005, we wanted to raise awareness and improve visits to our clinic in Huron. We learned of a community Easter egg hunt, and bought 100 baskets, did some simple customization with information about the clinic, and immediately saw a 20% increase in business the next month. Now - how much of that can be attributed to Easter baskets? Not sure, but we know it worked. Fast forward to today - over 7000 Easter baskets are given out, over the network, but there hasn't been any tracking. I caution folks to continue analyzing as well as you can the return you are getting on your investment. Don't rely on anecdotal evidence of success."

"Investing TIME in a community may pay off just as well, or in different ways - 4 of 5 clinics had HUGE increases in their book of business. One Community Coordinator had all of these clinics in her territory. What was she doing? She was "everywhere". If the senior center wanted her to come play bingo with them, she tried to be there. She was putting up flyers in laundromats. Whatever was happening, she was there."

"Doing Well is also about looking for opportunities to do things in the communities we serve, whether it is to sponsor a local sports team or help underwrite the cost of a Horned Toad festival. My paradigm has always been that I would rather see our name on a baseball shirt than on a billboard. I want to see us as being active."

AVP - Adventist Health - Central Valley Network also does some HUGE charitable giving that they keep under wraps.

The hospital provides write offs for households making up to 400% of the poverty level. They also have mechanisms in place where the uninsured or underinsured don't have to fear losing their home because they had to come into the hospital. (In 2009, $24,561,000 in free and low cost services were contributed to the community.)

AVP - When you see small local businesses that are suffering, or that don't have the resources, what advice would you give to the business community?

"what can't you do! Part of my advice is to "get the most bang for your buck"... If I were a business on main street in Hanford, I would stay open on Thursday nights, especially if I were on the east side of Irwin Street.... I would do SOMETHING to get people into my store. Even if they don't buy that night, knowing that you're there may bring them back.I learned about shopping in downtown Hanford at a Wine and Chocolate Event."

If I need to raise money for the Senior Centers, what good does it do to ask nursery schools? Really understand who your target is. Understand your OWN business.
From the hospital's perspective, even in giving, thought should be placed to ROI (return on investment.) Know your reach, audience and then what message you want them to get.

AVP - What Next? I was reading something about nutritional illiteracy. The point was that when you don't necessarily know that there is more sugar in the spaghetti sauce than in the sugary cereal you are buying, how can you make an informed decision about eating healthful foods? Can you imagine? That could be one of the next frontiers, for Adventist Health to start educating the community on nutrition. Possibly teaching the community how to buy fresh and prepare your own meals.

AVP - Parting Wisdom? You remember the book Good to Great - many of those "great" companies have since declined. Why did they falter? Did they start believing their own press? We must constantly be looking for those opportunities to achieve or maintain greatness. And another thing... Service excellence is elusive, because it is 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. You can never get it right because you have to do it again, the next day.

Satisfaction must come from running the race, because you are never going to win it.