2. Overview
• The merger that occurred between St.
Joseph’s Hospital (SJH) and St. Joseph’s
Women’s Hospital (SJW) Health Information
Management (HIM) departments opened up
an opportunity to incorporate volunteers into
the daily work flow of the operations
processes.
3. Introduction
• The objective for the HIM operations
department has always been to achieve better
resource utilization, reduce medical records
processing time, meet regulatory
requirements, and incorporate technology to
streamline processes (Bhagat 2008).
• November 2013 SJW and SJH HIM
departments merged
4. Opportunity
• Problem:
– With the merger already in effect, the SJW team
operations team members are going to be losing
valuable office real estate, they will be relocating to
an office across a busy highway to process their daily
work that is still being generated at the other facility.
• Solution:
5. Keys to Success
• The biggest success factor in
the current work flow
process is that the HIM
department takes
accountability and control
over the retrieval process.
• Cross Training Team
Members
• Interdepartmental
cooperation
– Utilizing PEVCO machine
• Team Member Safety
• Patient Safety
• Quality
• TAT
6. Analysis of Alternatives
• Interns
• Risky to offer nonpaid or low paid internships,
especially without a college or university
contract.
– The Fair Labor Standards Act has stringent regulations
about compensating employees for their time
• Adding interns to the mix is only adding more
man power, not the valuable office space we
need
7. Benefits and Risks
Benefits
• No/low cost
• Increase efficiency
• Increase community ties
– Colleges
– Volunteer Agencies
Risks
• High Turnover
• Training Costs
• Recruitment
8. Work Flow Process Pilot
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Weekly
Average
Pages
Processe
d Week
1
2438 3726 2798 5349 5762 6572 5076 4532
Pages
Processe
d Week
2
2532 3468 4025 5830 5876 7321 5135 4884
Daily
Averages
2485 3597 34112 5590 5819 6947 5106
Overall
Average
4708
9. Final Recommendation
• Utilize the Bay Care Volunteer Network
and Internship program to facilitate the
successful delivery of Confidential PHI.
• Bay Care policies
10. References
• Mary Long, Manager of Volunteer Services SJH
– Mary.Long2@baycare.org
– 813 870 4189
• Devon Polo, Manager of Volunteer Services SJW
– Devon.Polo@baycare.org
– 813-872-3705
• Benjamin, Tia. Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Volunteers in Work Settings.
The Houston Chronical. Retrieved from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-
disadvantages-using-volunteers-work-settings-36680.html
• Bhagat, Ankush (2008). Enhancing Hospital Health Information Management using
Industrial Engineering tools. Retrieved from:
http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEVx62ZfFUhcoAClVXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzZW9obG
0zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDVklQNTg0XzEEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=14251351
59/RO=10/RU=http%3a%2f%2fwww.iienet2.org%2fuploadedFiles%2fSHS_Community
%2fEnhancing%2520Hospital%2520Health%2520Information%2520Management%252
0using%2520Industrial%2520Engineering%2520Tools.pdf/RK=0/RS=L64pmSkCYu.IH66o
QhUdBTpBP_8-
• Price, Rob (2015.) The UK Foreign Office has saved millions using unpaid interns as
embassy labor. Business Insider. Retrieved from: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/uk-
foreign-office-saved-millions-
153924498.html;_ylt=AwrBT7fDZvFU4M0A9WNXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzZW9obG0zBGN
vbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDVklQNTg0XzEEc2VjA3Ny
