Happy Staff, Happy Patients: Atrium OBGYN and Clinic Builder Design a Great Place to Work

It’s no mystery that a happy employee is a loyal employee. Keeping employees happy, however, can be tricky. Ruth White, practice manager for Women’s Health Alliance, PA (Atrium OBGYN), has been with the physician group since 1980. She recognized early on that she was working for a unique group of leaders, physicians who valued employee input. Her employers maintained an upbeat work environment and she was hooked. She knows firsthand that keeping employees engaged in the business is key to staff morale and productivity.

Armed with a degree in medical secretary science (read: shorthand and dictation), Ruth started with as a secretary and was soon promoted to assistant manager. She stepped aside for three years after the practice merged with another to create a significantly larger group. Although the culture remained pleasant, managing more than 25 staff seemed daunting at that time. When that merger dissolved three years later, and she was asked to return to her former role, she immediately said, “Yes!”

So what has kept her with Atrium OBGYN for nearly 30 years? Ruth says it’s the doctors. “They care about the staff, they’re very generous, attentive, and want to reward employees,” she says. She feels very fortunate to work for highly competent physicians who are “people people,” a combination she says that makes for happy staff and happy patients.

Atrium OBGYN has historically had very low employee turnover. In fact Ruth’s last hire was over three years ago. She credits staff loyalty to both careful selection of talent as well as the attitude of the physicians towards employees. She admits, “I like everybody during the interview,” but goes with her gut when she senses someone is not a good fit for their practice. During the current economic downtown, they have made a conscious to retain staff. Even though routine visit rates dropped (likely due to lost insurance coverage), and pregnancies were being delayed, they made no staffing cuts.

Ruth feels the physicians have set the standard for employee engagement. When planning the new office space, she ensured the entire team participated in the two-day offsite meeting where they utilized value stream mapping (VSM) to create the design that became the outline for their new clinic’s blueprint. Along with achieving very pragmatic goals, the collaboration produced the intangible benefit of team building. Because their buy-in helps ensure a functional and satisfying result, each employee had input on how their desks and work area would be designed. In keeping with being attentive to employee needs, Bikas Building of North Carolina, LLC (dba Clinic Builder), was selected as general contractor for the project. Pete Bikas, owner of Clinic Builder, is known for listening to client needs and ensuring everyone affected is a part of the decision-making process when modifications to a project are made along the way. (In 2000 Bikas Building built out Atrium OBGYN’s current facility.)

Today, employee engagement is apparent as Atrium OBGYN staff members voluntarily drop by the new space being built at 2615 Lake Drive (near Rex Hospital’s campus) to check its progress. When there’s a question about how a particular design element will work, Ruth will “role play” with affected employees to test it. This has resulted in last-minute design changes that, while they potentially could delay the project, have strengthened relationships with the staff.

Ruth feels that by routinely involving staff and giving them credit for their intelligence and input, she’s carrying out a tradition begun by the founding physicians over 30 years ago. And it’s for that tradition that she stays.

*for more information on VSM, see LEAN process, Blog Article #1

Bikas Building Clinic Builder incorporating Value Stream Mapping

Where our health is concerned, as individuals we generally wear one of two different hats. Which hat we're wearing depends on how good we feel or how healthy we are. When we're feeling well we wear the everyday person hat. And when we're sick, or uncertain about our health, we have the option to wear the patient hat. That is, if we choose to seek medical care. Choosing to be a patient is often tempered by our concerns for receiving medical attention. Do we have a physician? Do we like him or her? Is their medical practice a convenient place to visit? Do we feel welcome and cared for there?

Women's Health Alliance-Atrium OBGYN is an example of a physician's practice that is thinking ahead of the curve to ensure patients feel well cared for on all levels. In 2009 they carefully observed how the physical setting of their care environment worked, and didn't work, for their patients. By utilizing value stream mapping, or VSM, (a process learned through North Carolina State University's Industrial Extension Service), they found that the environment they had designed ten years earlier had some drawbacks. VSM involves literally following and documenting actual patients' movements through the typical steps in a patient encounter, i.e. the transitions between check-in, waiting room, exam room, laboratory, x-ray, and check-out.

As they observed patient "flow" Atrium OBGYN noted that because an exam room opened into the waiting room, patient privacy was compromised whenever the door opened. Going from exam room to laboratory or x-ray or the restroom for specimen collection sometimes meant backtracking and wandering into administrative or private office areas within the practice. Getting lost in "a maze" of hallways is confusing, sometimes embarrassing, and causes unnecessary interruptions and ultimately delays care. Atrium OBGYN wanted to ensure a more positive patient visit, with the expectation of improving patient outcomes. They believe the more pleasant the encounter, the more positive you may feel about your health situation and more likely to fully participate in your care.

With this in mind, and armed with the data to prove they didn't have the best setting for a satisfying patient encounter, Atrium OBGYN is building a new facility that incorporates a patient flow model that minimizes inconvenience. And to take it a step further, they've chosen a spa-like design and décor to further enhance the atmosphere. In March Bikas Building of North Carolina LLC will begin the process of transforming the interior of Atrium's new office space near Rex Hospital. The anticipated result is a warmly welcoming, easy-to-navigate medical office. When completed, Atrium OBGYN will be helping the everyday person be a more responsible patient. By eliminating barriers to patient flow, it is expected patients will better enjoy their visits and won't hesitate to return when necessary. ---- Lisa Herrington

Lisa Herrington to Develop Bikas Building Clinic Builder Brand

In Aug 2009 Bikas Building of North Carolina LLC hired Lisa Herrington to serve as Director of Business Development. This full-service commercial completion and retrofitting company focuses on the planning and construction of business offices, health care facilities, and medical, dental and retail spaces.

Lisa brings a passion for problem-solving and exceptional service to the building industry. With 15-plus years of accomplishment in health care administration and customer relationship management, she is delighted to assist clients in creating workspaces that are functional, inviting and cost-effective. Her interests include architecture, interior design, health care reform advocacy, environmental policy, outdoor adventure travel and fitness.

“The art of construction has developed into the art and science of construction. Health of the patient is the primary focus to meet ever changing needs and requirements of the health care industry,” says Pete Bikas, owner of Bikas Building of North Carolina LLC. “Bikas Building, with its design team of Jilla Montenegro, AIA, Atlantec Engineers and sub-contractors are meeting these ever changing needs. Adding Lisa Herrington to our team is creating new insights and opportunities in the health care industry. We appreciate Lisa’s contributions.”

In recent years Bikas has watched health construction trends evolve to meet baby boomers’ aging demographics and needs. Lisa’s experience with health care administration and customer relationship management complements Bikas Building’s capabilities to update outdated facilities into state-of-the-art outpatient clinics, offices, X-ray rooms, health care facilities and medical laboratories for physicians, dentists, veterinarians and other health care professionals across the Triangle. You can learn more about Bikas Building of North Carolina LLC at http://bikasbuilding.com. ---- Elizabeth Shugg