PIP third-quarter results show struggles in some areas

Results of the Performance Incentive Plan (PIP) through the fiscal year 2015 third quarter, which ended June 30, show that while there has been progress in a few areas, the struggle to meet goals continues in other categories. If PIP were paid today, eligible employees would receive a payout of up to 1.77 percent of salary.

PIP results are measured in four hospital-wide areas of performance: patient safety and quality, patient experience, employee engagement and financial performance.

Patient safety and quality includes four measures: hand hygiene, catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) cases, RL Solutions adverse event reporting and readmissions.

Hand hygiene, an infection control measure monitored through recorded observations, exceeded the threshold goal. CAUTI cases, incidents where patients contract urinary tract infections from a catheter placed during treatment at YNHH, exceeded its maximum goal.

RL Solutions is the online event reporting system employees use to report near misses or potential problems related to patient safety. Results for this measure also well exceeded the maximum goal. Readmissions measures the percentage of patients readmitted to YNHH within 30 days after discharge. Results fell short of the threshold goal.

The patient experience category measures patients' experiences as expressed in Press Ganey surveys and HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) reporting. It includes overall inpatient satisfaction, as well as the satisfaction of patients who visited the emergency departments. Results for these areas missed their threshold goals.

Also included in patient experience is the teamwork measure, which includes patients' impressions of how well staff worked together to care for them, quiet scores, which measure how quiet patients perceived the hospital to be during their stay, and scores for ambulatory sites and services. Results for these measures were just short of threshold goals. ] Employee engagement measured participation in the 2015 employee engagement survey. Results exceeded the maximum goals in this category.

Financial performance consists of three components. The hospital's net operating margin exceeded the target goal. While the results for cost per inpatient discharge did not reach the threshold goal, the cost per outpatient encounter exceeded the target goal.

The FY2015 PIP plan year is based on hours and earnings between Sept. 21, 2014 and Sept. 19, 2015. The 2015 fiscal year ends Sept. 30.