The Crackleberry Group (TCG) specializes in working with hospital administrators and physicians to jointly tackle some of the most pressing problems in healthcare. Whether the relationships between the physicians and the hospital management team are strained with neither party getting what they need or collaborative, we are effective at bringing the physicians to the table (and keeping them there). We refer to this approach as physician engagement. It is at the core of what we do, and based on our client's successes, something we do well. Some examples of our work include:
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Served as the bridge between warring surgeons, anesthesiologists and administrators in a large, urban, academic perioperative setting to identify and implement a shared vision for success. |
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Engaged over 1,000 physicians across six disease groups to establish and implement clinical and financial best practice for a large Midwestern health system. |
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Instrumental role in facilitating merger of two highly competitive pediatric hospitals and their medical staffs in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area (helping address a gamut of issues including operational, clinical and cultural). |
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Worked with physicians and administrators of an Ivy League affiliated PHO to find common ground and establish plans to improve overall profitability. |
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Successfully facilitated tense negotiations with a hospital and its medical staff around a catastrophic healthcare event with far reaching legal and medical ramifications |
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Worked directly with a highly competitive physician practice, devising ways in which all could agree to improve collaboration. |
We have trained internationally in conflict management and negotiation, and worked all over the country with some of the most well recognized names in healthcare: Montefiore Medical Center (Albert Einstein College of Medicine), Bronx, NY, Allina Health System, Minneapolis, MN, and Yale New Haven Health System, New Haven, CT. We understand that physicians everywhere are tired, angry, and mistrustful. As such we have developed effective ways to break though the skepticism and build trust. But in addition, we fully recognize the realities of healthcare today from the administrators’ perspective. We appreciate the economics and the challenges administrators face every day. Our value comes from our ability to effectively establish credibility with both sides and move everyone rapidly towards common objectives.
We are based out of Georgia and Minnesota. Working extensively in the Minnesota market has been challenging but never dull. One thing it has allowed us to do is build up some one-of-a-kind experiences that we can pass along to our clients.
The following is a description of some of our other services and capabilities:
Measure Alignment™......This tool, originally developed and proven outside healthcare for companies like American Express, UPS, and BellAtlantic, allows for real time tracking of internal data that statistically correlates to patient satisfaction survey results. This program puts process measures in place that allow hospitals to predict the results of patient satisfaction surveys and to make operational changes immediately, sometimes while treatment is taking place, to enhance patient satisfaction. Using a four-stage process, Crackleberry Group can help you determine what those internal or "aligned" measures are for your organization and how you can implement them for maximum benefit.
Operations Performance System (O.P.S.)™......O.P.S.™ develops and links each department's performance measures to the hospital's strategic plan. Targets for performance are then established, and specific, actionable plans are created around tailored improvement initiatives. The end result is a program that links expectations, actions, and progress from the Board room to the Patient Room. This program provides each manager with the structure, data, and accountabilities to execute their portion of the strategic plan. O.P.S.™ can be managed manually with binders for each manager or automatically with a software solution.
Concierge Services......Crackleberry Group is pleased to introduce the Concierge Services Concept, a new product we developed in cooperation with a community hospital in New Jersey. The Concierge Control Center serves as a one-stop dispatch center for a multitude of centrally supported departments and can be supported by a customized software tool. The control center is staffed with cross-trained individuals who handle such things as emergency cleaning needs, room setup, courier services, vehicle reservations, and a host of other duties. This concept allows you to be as creative as you want to be in scheduling and coordinating services across a multitude of departments and/or functions.
Conference Style Redesign......While Crackleberry Group is comfortable using traditional redesign approaches, we have also had a great deal of success with the Conference Style Redesign Process. This model helps organizations quickly and cohesively improve operations in central support departments. The conference design brings several departments (no more than three or four) together once a month for three months. Each meeting is a separate "conference." At each gathering, there is a mix of formal education, group discussion, group exercise, and breakout time, with a good amount of homework between conferences.
At the conclusion of the third conference, each department will have quantified service, quality, and economic goals, specified data-supported initiatives to achieve those goals, and detailed action plans, including timeframes for implementation and clearly assigned responsibilities. Participants leave the third conference ready to implement.
While this approach is not for every situation and culture, it has proven to be very successful when embraced.
The Seven C's......Crackleberry Group, through collaboration with The Cariam Group, Inc., is committed to the development of leadership excellence through educational initiatives. These initiatives enhance employee commitment to the organizational mission, empower associates of the enterprise to strategically support the management goals, and provide assistance to the leadership by defining their role and function in a collaborative relationship with management.
Underlying these efforts is the philosophy that the workplace must be an environment in which "The Seven C's" flourish--Courtesy, Communications, Collaboration, Creativity, Consistency, Commendation, and Cost Containment.
Assessment Services......Crackleberry Group structures assessments in order to provide hospital leaders with a complete 360-degree picture of potential performance improvement opportunities. We have the capability to assess operational improvement opportunities in any of the following areas:
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Economic-Cost: This assessment provides in-depth insights into cost reduction opportunities. It uses national and internal benchmarks in conjunction with face-to-face validation of results with key hospital leaders. |
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Economic-Revenue: This assessment provides insights into new business formation, innovative product opportunities and new marketing approaches in light of your strategic direction and financial objectives. |
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Patient Satisfaction: This assessment provides insights into your organization's preparedness/ability to positively affect your patient's satisfaction as measured by external or internal patient satisfaction tools. |
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Medical Practice and Clinical Improvement: This assessment provides insights into the quality and cost opportunities associated with changes in physician practice and utilization, as well as the level of resistance the institution can expect from such an effort. |
Implementation Support......Detailed implementation planning and execution is the key component of success for any initiative. Recognizing that healthcare organizations have not been very successful in the past with implementation, we have devoted a significant effort on the development of tools and methods to help hospitals successfully implement their change initiatives. We can help support the implementation needs for changes that we have designed, others have designed for you, or ones that you may have developed. Regardless of the situation, we can help your leaders address and stay focused on the following key implementation components:
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Human Resources Needs-Job description designs, customer service agreements, posting and hiring, FTE requirement by shift, flexing strategies |
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Facilities and Equipment Needs-Enabling systems (delivery systems, communications systems, measurement systems, storage facilities, etc.) construction needs, new equipment purchasing |
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Marketing Needs-Internal communication planning for the various customers (MD's, managers, staff), external communications planning for patients, JCAHO, regulators, and others |
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Education and Training Needs-Competency requirements, competency checklists, tracking methods, number of employees requiring training by activity, by location, performance level targets |
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Operation Performance Systems-Quality, Cost and Service goals, baseline targets and stretch targets by location, core department involvement in target achievement |
Work Redesign......We define work redesign as a careful review of what work gets done, how it gets done, where it gets done and who does it. Sometimes the changes are significant and sometimes they are minor. In all cases the changes are customized to outcomes required by the hospital. Our redesign efforts typically fall into one of the following categories:
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House-wide: These engagements take a systematic approach that incorporates clinical inpatient and outpatient, ancillary, business, and support areas. |
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Service Line: The focus of these engagements is often to look across a particular service line, e.g. Cardiac. |
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Individual Department: The objectives of this type of engagement are as varied as the projects. The time required to complete the project, however, is relatively short, with well-defined outcomes in place. |
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Special Process: These engagements focus on processes that span several departments to ensure sensible and efficient handoffs that achieve desired outcomes. |
Key Benefits
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Customized Approach |
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Results Driven |
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Outstanding Customer Service |
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Implementable Solutions |
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100% Satisfaction |