September 2006

Printer friendly version       

'04 staff survey results inspire Finance

The results are in and Children's Hospital Boston's 2006 Employee Survey saw improvements across the board. One department that showed some of the largest improvements was Finance, which jumped up nine points from 2004's survey results in the leadership category alone. These increases were the result of two years of hard work on the part of the entire department, which is headed by Chief Financial Officer David Kirshner.

With help from Arlene Beauchemin in Human Resources, Kirshner took 2004's survey results to heart, namely the request from employees to receive more feedback from supervisors. "Arlene helped us interpret the survey results in a way we could work with," Kirshner says. "She showed us which teams to create to address the issues that our employees brought up."

One of Finance's main improvements was the creation of a Developmental Progress Report, which focused on five goals each employee should strive to reach. Finance revamped its orientation process as well, and new employees were assigned to orientation leaders who helped them learn about their department and the specific role they'd play in it.

In addition, Finance's quarterly Town Hall meetings were expanded to include speakers from all areas of the hospital, who talked about how Finance impacts the rest of the hospital. "We want them to see that they are as much a part of Children's as clinical workers or researchers," says Steve Nicoll, director of Patient Billing. "They're an integral part of what the hospital does."

Even with these accomplishments, Finance isn't slowing down. Inspired by the impact the changes have made, Kirshner and his team will ensure the improvements continue.

They're already plotting strategies to improve scores in both process efficiency and knowledge management, two areas in which Finance is below the hospital average. Nicoll adds, "We want to make sure we fix whatever we can fix."

:: Erin Graham, Editor :: Masthead ::

©2005 Children's Hospital Boston. All rights reserved.

All information provided on diagnosis and therapy reflects the care environment of Children's Hospital Boston
and related physician practices. It is not a substitute for the professional judgment of a qualified heath care
provider based upon actual examination of a patient's condition and history. Therefore, it should not be
construed as medical advice for any particular patient's condition, and may need to be altered in
different care environments.Please contact us if we can be helpful in answering any questions
or to arrange for a visit or consult.