Mayo Clinic Consulting Edge

In 2017, a project team from Mayo Clinic’s Integrity and Compliance Office began taking steps to stop the routine collection and storage of patient social security numbers (SSN) in the demographic field of the electronic health record (EHR). Mayo Clinic recognized the potential risk to patients if the number was compromised through unauthorized access or ransomware. The SSN was successfully removed from Mayo Clinic’s EHR in April 2022. Join Allyssa Stevens, Health Systems Engineer, April Carlson, Senior Manager of Data Security and Architecture, and Leah Mudler, Manager in Integrity and Compliance, along with host Jodi Grimm as they share project details, steps taken, and lessons learned for other health care organizations interested in taking this important step to help protect their patients’ information.

Here at Mayo Clinic, outpatient labs are consistently engaged with patients throughout the week, particularly early in the week and during morning hours. While this congestion was a concern prior to COVID-19, it became a more pressing issue due to the new urgency to create social distancing for patients. Management Engineering and Consulting was asked to lead a project team to develop recommendations to reduce the number of patients in the lab lobbies at peak hours to increase social distancing. Adam Resnick, Health System Engineer Fellow, and host Tony Chihak discuss the challenging process of developing an accurate simulation model to provide recommendations for implementation.

In early spring 2020, COVID-19 cases were rapidly increasing across the US which resulted in shortages of beds, staff and equipment. Personal protective equipment, or PPE, are required for both staff and patient safety and if these were unavailable, there would be critical limitations to the level of care Mayo Clinic needs to provide for patients in need not only from COVID but other diseases as well. While Mayo Clinic wasn't expecting immediate shortages, a project was initiated to proactively implement mitigation plans in case of an actual surge. Management Engineering and Consulting was brought in to help identify an optimal plan for reprocessing PPE as well as implementing to solution in preparation for potential shortages. In today's episode, Senior Health System Engineer Tae Huh and host Tony Chihak discuss how ME&C was able to move with agility and creativity while being under a tight deadline to provide a sustainable solution for reprocessing PPE.

Many internal and external stakeholders are involved in the admission or transfer of a patient needing a higher level of care. The processes are numerous, complex and interdependent.  Executed efficiently, a refined process can positively impact patient and staff satisfaction, overall cycle time, and safety.  This episode of Mayo Clinic Consulting Edge, Mike Fabel, Principle Health Systems Engineer and host Tony Chihak explore how tactically applied systems engineering tactics optimized a complex process with multiple stakeholders.

Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) and Mayo Clinic announced a joint venture to operate Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC), one of the United Arab Emirates’ largest hospitals for patients with serious or complex medical conditions. Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City creates a pathway for further innovation and development of life sciences in the Emirates. Join Hugo Pariseau, Health Systems Engineer, and Andrea Smith, Project Manager, along with host Jodi Grimm as they discuss ME&C's contributions to this unique joint endeavor.

After smaller rural clinics were closed due to COVID-19, this left a need to provide healthcare to these communities in a creative way. A 38ft customized commercial Winnebago RV was built to bridge the gap. This self-sustained unit provides patients with a direct access to Mayo Clinic and their providers without having to travel long distances. Equipped with two fully functional exam rooms, the Mayo Clinic Mobile Health Unit uses remote diagnostic tools to provide a variety of care. Management Engineering and Consulting was brought in to help reach an aggressive target launch date while leveraging existing technology and developing partnerships. In today's episode, Jon Eckdahl, Senior Health Systems Engineer, and Bhushan Pendse, Project Manager, with host Jodi Grimm discuss how their ability to move quickly while utilizing Agile methodology was instrumental in getting clinic in a Winnebago developed and available to rural communities.

Even though employee mental health was a large topic of discussion during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayo Clinic identified this as a concern beforehand. The pandemic created new levels of stress and anxiety, with employee needs becoming more complex in this continuously changing environment. National data found that symptoms of anxiety disorders and depressive disorders have increased by approximately three to four times then what was reported in 2019. A multidisciplinary team was formed to collectively address the complex barriers to care and optimize support to employees and learners. This team reached out to Management Engineering and Consulting for assistance providing an objective third-party lens by assisting the current state of navigation to mental health recourses, mapping those barriers and coaching the team through those solutions. In today's episode we are joined by ME&C's Allyssa Stevens, Associate, members of the multidisciplinary team Kaisa Wieneke, Human Resources Director for Employee Well-Being and Recognition, Gretl Kruse, Senior Human Resources Analyst for Employee Well-Being and Recognition, and host Jodi Grimm as they dive into this important topic of employee mental health.

The Mayo Clinic Biospecimens Accessioning and Processing (BAP) Lab, which has facilities at all three Mayo Clinic sites, has been involved in various projects which were supported by Management Engineering and Consulting. The mission of the BAP lab is to provide world-class Biorepositories and state-of-the-art Biospecimen Processing and Storage with a focus on quality and service. The Mayo Clinic Biobank and the Center for Individualized Medicine’s Biorepositories Program are important resources that enable genomic medicine studies. Investigators can study millions of samples that can lead to evidence-based discoveries. the BAP lab has completed a number of projects for greater efficiency, increased automation, greater uniformity, and increased standardization of procedures and processes, all leading to high-quality material for investigators. In today's episode, Senior Principal Health Systems Engineers Keri Kirby and Rachel Martin, Bailey Van Ommeren, Health Systems Engineer and host Tony Chihak discuss the long standing relationship between the Center for Individualized Medicine, which is the organizational home for BAP, and ME&C, and how their collaboration has helped to evolve BAP and it's capabilities.

Over the last ten years, the advent of electronic medical records has dramatically changed the nature of healthcare practitioners' work. As these health records are optimized and re-engineered, changes to provider schedules may be required. In today's podcast join Spencer Richards, Health Systems Engineer and host Jodi Grimm as they illustrate how non-visit care time (time spent by providers charting in the medical record) can be successfully optimized to reduce patient wait times.

In today’s special edition of Mayo Clinic Consulting Edge we will introduce a significant organizational change for Mayo Clinic. The departments of Management Engineering and Consulting (ME&C) and Planning Services are combining forces to help enable and accelerate the organization’s strategic vision.  We are joined today by Janine Kamath and Steve McNeil for an extended podcast highlighting the background, benefits, and the need to execute on this important organizational change.