1 NIATx Webinar Maximizing Staff Productivity Tuesday, March 9, 2010

2 Sinnissippi Centers Natalie Andrews: Director of Addictions Behavioral healthcare provider  Outpt: Substance Abuse, Mental Health, Family and Child Welfare, Crisis and Assessment Service area: 4 rural counties in NW IL  Total population of service area: 165,587 NIATx Founding Member 2003

3 1. Customer service/MI techniques at Admissions to increase admissions 2. Use of multiple group scheduling to reduce lost productivity of staff 3.Maximize your travel time Keep It Simple

4 #1. Customer service/MI techniques at Admissions AIM: Increase Client Admissions 18 intakes per month ( 7/05- 1/06 data) to 40 per month Promising Practices: walk through

5 Sinnissippi System 3 rd Party reporting system-Netsmart Opened admissions scheduling vs. intake slots only philosophy—Sept. of ‘04 Admissions is non-clinical staff- first point of contact for client scheduling appt.; training in motivational techniques– Dec. of ‘04

6 Change Admission staff will focus on customer service and engagement strategies “Do you see anything that may prevent you from making your appointment?” DATA  Track No Show Rates

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11 Opened Admissions Scheduling Engagement Strategies

12 2. Multiple group scheduling AIM: Increase Client Admissions Promising Practices: Intake groups and confirming appointments

13 Change Project Concern Low admissions Increase admissions keep rate by 5% (63% to 66% in two months)  High “no shows” and pattern of scheduled appointments that fail only to re-schedule and fail or cancel again

14 Baseline Data on Intakes November/December 2007  Keep rate 63%  Cancel 19%  No Show 18%

15 Planning the Change Select one day a week that staff can provide a Group Intake in same timeframe: Wednesday Change Team: Reception, Financial, Admissions, Sec. and Treatment staff Communication & Teamwork Identify time for client arrival: 8am - 9:15 a.m. Clients seen on a first come first serve basis Admissions informed of capacity of 8 clients for 4 staff

16 What happened Client arrival ranged from 7am (to be first!) to 3 arriving right at the cut off time Financial needed to shift a second business staff to accommodate clients Addictions staff occasionally had 2 intakes back to back but had sufficient time to complete as 2 staff blocked time of 2.5 to 3 hours

17 Tracking data

18 Outcome Nov/Dec Keep rate 63% 73.0% Cancel 19% 8.0% No Show 18% 18.0%

19 3.Maximize your travel time Multiple office sites Staff between two sites Download NIATx or other webinars Productive travel time by learning

20 Key Lessons Learned Change cycles viewed as “pilots” gets staff buy in since they understand that it is “not forever” if it does not work Communication & teamwork are the key to success Rapid cycle allows for immediate changes to tweak the system As important as increasing admissions are the efficiencies/cost savings of lost productivity-Business case Leaders and staff need to be flexible to adjust to changing circumstance of the day-if inclement weather and few clients arriving hold a team meeting, assign UM

21 Key Lessons, cont. Frequent communication-face to face weekly meetings with start of change project Weekly s on results of Group intake, sharing data, process snags, client feedback Helpful to use Promising Practices- talk with others, share ideas Changes cut across multiple processes and subsystems Recognize, thank staff and listen to their input

22 Promising Practices from NIATx Centralize Appointment Scheduling Centralize appointment scheduling so that counselors can focus on seeing clients instead of scheduling, making phone calls, and other logistical tasks. Use this method for appointments made both when clients call and when they are present in person.

23 Promising Practices from NIATx Adjust Staff Schedules to Meet Client Demand Adjust staff schedules to match client demand for service, including for assessments, groups, and individual sessions.

24 Promising Practices from NIATx Cross-train Counselors/Admissions staff and Assign Backups for Assessments Cross-train to both assess and treat clients and assign backup counselors to see clients whenever the number of requests for service exceeds scheduled staffing levels

25 Promising Practices from NIATx No Show Tracking Sheet NIATx example of tracking sheet found in promising practices. Double-book Time Slots Schedule two clients for th same assessment time slot.

26 Promising Practices from NIATx Re-assign Non-clinical Tasks Performed by Clinicians Reassign non-clinical tasks so that counselors, who are typically the most limited resource, do not perform them.

27 Promising Practices from NIATx Offer More Groups Instead of Individual Sessions Offer groups in place of individual sessions so that counselors can see more clients during the same amount of time.

28 Thank You “Step out of your comfort zone once more each week and create over 50 additional opportunities for excitement, challenge and possibility each year. This is what life’s about.” Sam Parker