Alverno Clinical Laboratories: The Best of Blends
Laboratories
Written by Eric Slack   
Thursday, 31 January 2008
Alverno Clinical Laboratories: The Best of Blends
A merger of two hospital’s lab operations was so successful a third has joined the mix.

When a merger produces positive results, it is like poetry in motion. But to reach your goals in less than three years is a daunting task. Alverno Clinical Laboratories is clearly not afraid of a challenge.

Alverno Clinical Laboratories: The Best of Blends
Cheryl Vance, CEO
“We are projecting well ahead of where our cost savings would be in the second year, and the hospitals are happy,” said Alverno CEO Cheryl Vance. “Because we’re a larger organization, we can focus on internal training and education for our support staff. Stand-alone hospitals often don’t have the resources to do that.”

Based in Hammond, Ind., Alverno Labs is the result of a laboratory operations merger between the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services (SSFHS) and Provena Health. It specializes in clinical and anatomic pathology for providers in Indiana and Illinois. It is the only freestanding, local reference lab in northern Indiana and performs more than 700 tests. In less than three years, Alverno integrated the services of its two Catholic hospital systems to produce results neither would have seen on their own.

The proof lies in the facts. Alverno already added more than 90 new tests, which were previously sent to national reference labs. This cuts down on response time and produces a significant long-term cost savings. The ultimate indicator of the Alverno model’s effectiveness was the addition of a third Catholic hospital system last December.

Resurrection Health Care, the parent company of eight hospitals in the greater Chicago area, became the first Catholic system to join SSFHS and Provena in the Alverno venture. Bringing additional Catholic systems on board is central to Alverno’s growth plans. The union brings the number of hospital labs under Alverno management from 18 to 27. Not bad for an entity that didn’t exist three years ago.

“Resurrection wanted a core laboratory model. It had a strong pathology council but was anxious to bring value to the system through its lab operations,” Vance said. “It looked at a number of options, including building its own core lab, but it decided we were the right partner because of the model we have here.”

The completion of the initial merger between SSFHS and Provena’s lab services certainly gave Alverno the background it needed to seamlessly bring Resurrection into the fold. Not only has Alverno demonstrated its ability to improve services and control costs, but since Resurrection is also a Catholic system with a similar mission, it was practically a match made in heaven.

All shook up
Alverno’s success stems from its quality control. Timely and accurate lab analysis is critical to doctors and patients alike, and Alverno takes its responsibility in those arenas to heart. Vance and her team are creating a new culture, making Alverno function like a commercial laboratory based on the pillars of service, quality, stewardship, people, and growth.

First, the organization hired three quality directors. They are responsible for the quality oversight of the entire organization. The directors organize three annual training and education days for all leadership staff. These leadership development days, known internally as Camp Alverno, include all supervisors, managers, and directors. According to Vance, the sessions provide the tools to effectively manage costs and people. Alverno also has the advantage of looking to Provena, SSFHS, and now Resurrection, for additional training tools and guest speakers.

In addition, the organization has a monthly leaders meeting at the central lab, giving each manager a role in shaping Alverno’s priorities. Alverno also has vice presidents responsible for each hospital location. Those VPs meet quarterly with hospital liaisons to understand the hospital’s strategic initiatives. Each hospital also has its own lab director on site to manage daily operations.

“The hospital is their only client, and they need to keep the hospital happy,” Vance said, noting Alverno uses quarterly surveys to get feedback and create improvement plans.

Alverno is also careful not to change processes simply for the sake of change. When the merger first took place, SSFHS stuck with its SCC Soft Computer information system, while Provena stayed with Meditech. The two were linked through SeeBeyond’s Datagate/eGate interface engine. The decision allowed Alverno to see outcomes faster and achieve cost savings earlier. The success of the move means Resurrection will not be forced to change its information system either.

“Resurrection is on a relatively new Mysis system, and it will continue to use that,” said Vance. “We don’t need to worry about standardizing or retraining. Those are just disruptions that are unnecessary with our model.”

Alverno developed clinical expertise each of its owner systems would be hard pressed to devise on their own. This is because the company is positioned to use its capital differently. Rather than have multiple hospitals spend money on the same tests, the central lab can run those tests more frequently. The central lab has three shifts 24 hours a day and regularly reviews peak load staffing data. This allows the company to move staff accordingly rather than waiting for the first shift to come in.

Last December, the central lab christened its new automated Roche line, which is hooked in to its chemistry and immunochemistry testing. The company can also commit to large volumes of equipment purchases, as it did with Beckman Coulter’s hematology analyzers and supplies. This allows the labs to keep up with improvement in testing techniques and keeps costs down in the process.

Alverno also has staffing flexibility rarely seen at individual hospital labs. It created a formal research and development group headed by its medical director. Alverno’s leadership includes a chief clinical officer, and its molecular department is led by a PhD molecular biologist. This provides the leverage to compete with commercial laboratories.

Although the central lab has room for expansion, Vance knows growth avenues outside Indiana and Illinois are there for Alverno and its owner hospital systems. Currently, the organization is developing its second five-year plan. Focused on growth and system-wide quality improvements, the next phase of Alverno’s existence should be as rewarding as the beginning.

 
< Previous Story