First Quarter Momentum Will Fuel Us Through 2023

UH Clinical Update |April 2023

By Scott M. Sasser, MD, FACEP
Chief Physician Executive, University Hospitals, and President, UHPS and UHMG

With our first quarter of 2023 behind us, I want to take a moment to reflect on the past year and our journey into the remainder of 2023. As each of you knows, 2022 was an incredibly difficult year for healthcare systems across the country. The impact of omicron, supply chain disruptions, staffing shortages and financial challenges created a difficult environment and tested our clinical operations and resilience on a daily basis. These issues required us to lean into our mission, and rely on our creativity, patience and determination to continue to deliver the care our patients need and deserve.

In the face of these unprecedented conditions, UH and our physician and provider enterprise remained focused on patients and our tripartite mission: To Heal. To Teach. To Discover. We continued to lead with quality in the clinical care and service we provide, we imparted our clinical knowledge to medical students, residents and fellows, and we continued to harness our curiosity and scientific inquiry to lead in advancing the science of health. Simply put, the very real challenges of 2022 did not deter us from advancing our mission and pursuing our goals.

As we wrap up the first quarter of 2023, we have seen our efforts yield dividends. UH continues to receive recognition across the country for the quality, care and service provided by our team  To give just one example, Becker's Healthcare has recognized several UH institutes as programs to watch in 2023. University Hospitals was featured on the "50 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Orthopedic Programs Headed into 2023" and "53 Hospitals and Health Systems with Spine and Neurosurgery Programs to Watch" lists, while UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute was selected for the "58 Hospitals and Health Systems with Heart Programs to Watch" list. University Hospitals Coordinated Care Organization was chosen for their "22 ACOs to Know Headed into 2023" list.

We have seen the impact of UH on clinical care nationally and internationally, as last month saw the publication of two influential NEJM articles with two of our very own physicians as first authors, one a report on a trial of endovascular thrombectomy for large ischemic strokes, the other a report on a trial of an emerging therapy to help prevent amputation critical limb-threatening ischemia. Additionally, as we have focused on ensuring access and making our clinical operations more efficient and effective, we have seen both UHMP and UHMG outperform to budget during March.

These accomplishments early into 2023 are all the more impressive given that they have occurred while we were launching the initial phase of Epic. After a long journey to prepare our caregivers and systems, we went live with our initial phase on March 4. This first step on our Epic journey has not only set the foundation for our enterprise go live, but has also shown us the importance of the Epic transition for our patients and caregivers alike. A little over a month in, we are seeing remarkable engagement with our patients and success in adapting to and embracing the Epic platform from our caregivers.

2023 is just getting started. Let’s enjoy our success to date-and build upon it. Let’s remember how we got here, focus on our mission, strengthen our clinical operations and maintain a state of readiness for what may lie ahead. Let’s be diligent in our approach and continue to deliver high-quality, compassionate care for our patients and our community, ensuring that we expand access to care for everyone who needs our care. Let’s continue to train and prepare for a successful Epic enterprise go-live in September. Let’s be good stewards and ensure success in our financial performance for the year.

We’ve got a lot ahead of us this year, but I am confident in our team, the care you provide and the work you do every day. Thank you for all that you do. It is a privilege to work with and alongside all of you, and I look forward to our continued journey in 2023.