What a Week

So, the reason that I haven't been blogging this week is because I have been too, too busy. For Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday there just weren't enough hours in the day.

On Monday, representatives from Johns Hopkins Health System/Bayview Campus came to WMHS to learn about value-based care delivery.  Our team spent around three hours taking them through our journey over the last four years.  The visit ended with a tour of our Center for Clinical Resources.  They were around the eighth hospital or health system to

visit WMHS to learn about our successes, as well as our challenges, under Total Patient Revenue.  There are two more visits scheduled this month. It is so rewarding to be able to tell our story and to repeatedly re-live this pretty amazing journey.

A few weeks ago, we were asked to serve as the site for the Governor and Secretary of Health to present their Governing for Results Tour.   The Governor is making visits around the state providing an overview of his administration's innovative policy efforts.  Quite honestly, I was under the impression that WMHS was serving as a backdrop for the Governor to present his white paper, "A Prescription for Innovation: Maryland's Data Driven Approach to Containing Costs and Advancing Health.”  To my surprise, and to the surprise of everyone else at WMHS, his visit yesterday was more about us than anything else.  

Governor O'Malley touted our success in advancing the Triple Aim of Health Care Reform (Better Quality, Less Cost and a Healthier Community).  He said that we had become a model for the state, as well as the rest of the country, on health care innovation. Secretary Sharfstein said that we are at the cutting edge of health care in our nation.  Wow!  The visit was scheduled to be an hour and it lasted almost two.  We met for almost an hour then he toured the Center for Clinical Resources.  The visit culminated with a press conference.  

It was a tiring three days in that Tuesday was spent preparing for the visit as well as dealing with all of the other issues and challenges of the day. It is truly great to have this health system and our exceedingly creative staff recognized for their amazing work over the last four years.