History and Development
Quint Studer
Studer model has been used by more than 400 hospitals and health systems to transform an organization's culture with employee engagement. This model of leadership was created by Quint Studer in 2003 to help organizational change and healthcare professionals build world-class organizations. Quint Studer created this model after working for 20 years in a healthcare facility in a variety of positions, including Chief Operating Officer. According to Studer Initiatives (2003), a healthcare organization's main objective is "to provide better care for patients, a better workplace for employees, and a better place to practice medicine for physicians and healthcare professionals. Studer Initiatives lists five pillars of employee engagement: people, service, quality, finance, and growth which serve as a framework for establishing goals and a course of action for service and operations in the healthcare setting (Matson, 2019 ; Studer et al., 2014).
One of the goals of creating the model was to have physicians and staff who were engaged on the same page to improve collaboration, culture, and, ultimately, long-term high performance. Various Canadian healthcare organizations have worked with the Studer model and group to improve quality patient experience by increasing physician and employee engagement. Studer Group helped some of the following healthcare organizations to accomplish employee engagement by implementing the Evidence-Based Leadership (EBL) methodology that has three crucial stages: objective evaluation systems, leadership development, and performance management (Schuller, et al., 2015)
Ottawa Hospital (TOH); Significant improvements were made in the alignment of physicians with organizational goals and physician engagement at TOH in Ottawa, Ontario. The process started in 2010 with focus groups using the World Café methodology with the goal of creating a Physician Engagement Agreement, which is now used for the Ottawa Hospital physician feedback every year (Studer et al., 2014). Implementing this strategy for truly meaningfully involving physicians, TOH physician engagement results increased from 49% in 2009 to 57% in 2012, while the proportion of disengaged physicians fell from 10% to 5% (Studer et al., 2014).
Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH); In order to establish excellence in safety, quality, and service and reform its culture, RVH in Barrie, Ontario, partnered with Studer Group in 2012. This collaboration led to appreciable gains in both employee and physician engagement. According to their annual survey, 47% of employees were engaged in their work in 2011. By September 2013, it increased to 59%, beating the 57% average of the Ontario Hospital Association. Physician participation increased even more dramatically, rising from 39% to 64%, exceeding the norm of 58% for Ontario Hospital Association hospitals (Studer et al., 2014).
Figure 1
RVH's Engagement Comparison
Note. Royal Victoria Hospital's historical employee engagement and physician engagement comparison (2009 and 2013). (Studer et al., 2014)
Arnprior Regional Health (ARH): located in Arnprior, Ontario, decided to change its culture in 2011. By 2013, employee engagement increased from 63% to 73%, with the expectations of its mission to improve patient experience. During this time, employee engagement increased and turnover decreased to 2% (Studer et al., 2014).
Sault Area Hospital (SAH): located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, has increased physician and general employee satisfaction by 97% and 42%, respectively since 2007 . Overtime and sick time were cut by 19%, saving $6.4 million, while lost time injuries were decreased by 68%, saving $5 million. SAH received a rebate of approximately $400,000 in 2013 after paying safety surcharges of nearly $750,000 in 2008, and spent that money in the development of its employees and organization (Studer et al., 2014). SAH reduced total hospital-acquired infection rates nearly in half, with C. difficile infections declining by more than 80%. This amounts to a $5.7 million cost avoidance.