Strategic Priorities

Bridging the Gap of Social and Health Equity

This priority is rooted in the fundamental principal that all people have a right to social and health equity. The concept of equity states that every person should have the opportunity “to attain their full social and health potential,” regardless of economic or environmental conditions. Achieving equity requires valuing all individuals and populations equally, acknowledging and repairing historical injustices, and investing in our communities.  Achieving a greater level of social and health equity truly depends on a collaborative model, which respects and champions the individual voice, while at the same time brings together the interests of all – as we close the gaps and further embrace the diversity of our own organization and the surrounding community. 

Goal 1: Develop a culture of diversity and inclusion to maximize potential

Initiatives:

• Understanding our Diversity– The ability to measure elements of diversity are critical to ensure inclusion and equity. Information gathered will inform all future decisions.
• Conduct a baseline inventory of diversity of SJH family, including employees, physicians, trustees. Establish system to capture data on a rolling basis
• Develop electronic infrastructure to gather and analyze patient diversity data
• Create mechanism to actively manage diversity reporting and potential impact on health outcomes
• Learning Together– Recognizing that each individual has different background experiences and competencies, SJH will develop a comprehensive, organizational-wide education plan. The plan will encompass the entire team at every level of the organization.
  • Formulate organizational-wide educational program with emphasis on topics including unconscious bias and structural racism
  • Incorporate behavior-based assessment into the hiring process
• Growing Together– Maximizing the potential of SJH as an organization requires the inclusion of all groups. Efforts promoting inclusivity and equity for SJH will enhance the organization’s ability to thrive
• Assess and expand the Affinity Group membership and types, as needed
• Collaboratively work with the Affinity Groups to develop charters and implement programs aimed at bridging the Affinity Group experience to the employee experience.
• Develop and implement programs aimed at achieving objectives promoting inclusivity for employees and patients
• Ensure inclusion of diverse team members in key organizational activities including hiring, leadership, shared governance etc.

 Goal 2: Strive to eliminate health disparities through internal efforts and partnerships

 Initiatives:

• Understanding the Health Disparities in our Community– As an organization committed to the health and the well-being of the community, SJH will work collaboratively with local groups and individuals to better understand health disparities, develop targeted action plans and achieve true health equity.
  • Developing a comprehensive baseline inventory of programs related to the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)
  • Develop a coordinated roadmap/plan which will focus on all SDOH aspects with assigned roles for SJH and community partners
  • Combining best practices with qualitative information from the community, SJH will develop pilot projects aimed at eliminating health disparities considering a particular ethnic group, neighborhood, and disease state. Lessons learned from the pilot projects will inform next steps for expansion.
• Investing in the Community— As an Anchor Institution, SJH is one of the largest employers and drivers of economic activity in the community. SJH will intentionally focus purchasing, hiring, investing and advocacy efforts to enhance the local economy. 
• Develop criteria to maximize purchasing from local community and under-represented groups (i.e. women-owned, minority owned, small business etc.)
• Working collaboratively with community agencies to promote opportunities for employment at SJH will improve the local economy
• Finalize the Redevelopment Plan for the Paterson neighborhood and begin implementation of selected projects

Transforming the Future through Innovation

This priority embraces the concept that a culture of continuous learning is vital to an organization that strives to be innovative. St. Joseph’s has a long-standing history of driving positive change and improvements through innovative thinking. Building on this tradition, we will hard-wire the principles of continuous learning, transformation, and innovation (elements that are critical to the success of any modern organization) into the health system’s culture. The St. Joseph’s Health Center for Innovation will play a pivotal role in building a formalized and structured approach in the engagement of employees around the understanding and use of innovative thinking.  Our progress, insights and successes will be shared internally and externally as components of sustainability in the innovation process. We will bring the innovation that occurs at St. Joseph’s to our colleagues, partners and communities as a foundation for collaboration with others near and far.

Goal 1: Build a culture of continual learning and innovation to drive future success

Initiatives:

• Develop and teach the SJH Innovation Model – Since the formalization of The Center for Innovation at St. Joseph’s Health three years ago, a team has developed the tools of innovation tailored to the needs of SJH. These tools will help change the way SJH learns as an organization and will be dispersed using the following key tactics: 
  • Design a tailored SJH innovation curriculum, learning program, and growth model and systematically launch across the organization
  • Provide key tools of innovation to all employees and integrate training into SJH HR practices
  • Develop methods to channel complaints into project opportunities
• Build support and delivery systems for innovation –The Center for Innovation at St. Joseph’s Health will strategically be deployed throughout the organization on key projects. The innovation team will support the innovation journey and serve as content resources.  Elements of this initiative include:
  • Develop the SJH innovation internal consultancy model
  • Launch the SJH innovation delivery model
  • Coordinate, track and measure innovation across the system
  • Expand and scale The Center for Innovation
• Share outcomes and insights for innovation best practices – Sharing the learnings of the innovation projects broadly is a key component to the success and sustainability of the innovation process. Information will be dispersed utilizing the tactics below:
  • Conduct regular share-outs of outcomes, insights, and updates. This will occur at leadership meetings, via email, and annual reports.
  • Build processes within nursing to share and institute best practices across units and departments
  • Provide innovation updates to the SJH community
  • Publish work and build pathways to enable others to publish successes
  • Add meaningful contributions to the fields of design, strategy and innovation bolstering SJH’s reputation locally, sate-wide, and nationally

 Goal 2: Foster a dynamic of collaboration and sharing within the organization and with external partners

 Initiatives:

• Share across enterprise – Tremendous innovation and process refinement occurs regularly throughout the organization; however, all too often these improvements are not communicated broadly due to a lack of formalized process for sharing. This initiative seeks to formalize the communication of best practices throughout SJH, utilizing the tactics listed below:
  • Create and launch communication framework for cascading learning across the organization
  • Establish methods for monitoring effectiveness of best practices deployment throughout system

• Connect with local communities – Recognizing that there are many opportunities to partner with the community for mutual benefit, this initiative formalizes the approach to collaboration, particularly as related to project development, via the following tactics:
  • Audit current state of relationships with community organizations
  • Develop and deploy repeatable models of local collaboration
  • Establish community “information hub” capability

• Strengthen industry presence – The innovation occurring at SJH on a regular basis is a strong foundation for collaboration with other industry leaders, as well as the opportunity for national recognition. Tactics to support this include:
  • Inventory leadership and staff industry relationships
  • Build a pipeline of bi-directional, project-based state and national collaboration

Goal 3: Enhance the use of information to better understand and measure our work

Initiatives:

• Integrate technical infrastructure – Throughout the organization there are many systems containing data. This initiative will centralize the data to garner useful information through the following tactics:
  • Inventory existing databases and data to determine utility and effectiveness
  • Build a centralized data and analytics platform to provide a “single source of truth” for the organization

• Provide accessible information – SJH is an organization rich with data. This initiative seeks to organize data into user-friendly platforms.
  • Assess current state information access and information needs
  • Develop enterprise-wide and service line dashboards to display key performance indicators
  • Create customer facing information hubs

• Provide analytics services – There are a myriad of applications for the data throughout SJH. This  initiative will build the capacity for data investigation, system metrics, and insights through the following tactics:
  • Understand current analytics capabilities and resources
  • Invest in infrastructure to meet current and future demands—business plans, research, human resources, patient experience etc.
  • Develop predictive insights capabilities including potential application for artificial intelligence

Navigating the Way to Wellness

This priority advances the redesign of healthcare delivery as we create new patient-centered service offerings, expand delivery and access points, and enhance partnerships in the management of care in collaboration with our surrounding communities.  Our diverse and changing populations throughout the region require a unique offering and structure of healthcare programs that can be provided in a wide-range of settings and environments. In rapid acceleration, healthcare organizations are enabling patient access to services with digital and mobile-friendly solutions. As a result, we now see a dramatic and permanent focus on patient self-service as a bridge to enhanced healthcare options. Online platforms are delivering more convenient, customer-centric service and healthcare organizations are readily using new technologies in the delivery of care.

Goal 1:  Strengthen and refine the range of service offerings based on community

Initiatives:

• Customize Services for Our Communities – SJH serves a large geographic region with cities, town, villages and neighborhoods that have unique demographic, economic and social characteristics. SJH will strive to understand the needs of the communities served to deliver programs and services that meet the local needs.   In addition, with investment in program expansion and new sites (e.g., Totowa Health Campus), SJH is expanding its primary and second service area by making access to care more convenient for additional communities
  • Segment service area to identify communities with shared needs
  • Partner with local community resources to identify gaps in services
  • Develop and implement “town-by-town” strategy – responding to local needs

• Ensure Access to Clinical Expertise – Professional expertise is essential to delivery of successful clinical programs and services. This initiative aligns physicians, advanced practice nurses and other clinical resources to support service area and service line initiatives.
  • Formulate and deploy primary care development plan that results in community access to SJH primary care resources through the region
    • Identify specific primary care strategies for each zone within the service area
    • Incorporate urgent care initiatives
    • Develop a range of options for provider alignment (e.g., employment, acquisition, professional services arrangement, management services)

• Update and implement Provider Manpower Plan that assesses both community supply of and demand for providers as well as SJH needs and supplies of providers. Anticipated SJH provider needs include:
  • Primary care providers
  • Surgical specialties (ENT, Thoracic, General Surgery, Cardiac Surgery, Urology)
  • Specialists to support service line development

• Enhance St. Joseph’s Medical Group infrastructure and management services to support efficient operations, revenue cycle enhancement, strategic recruitment, streamlined provider on-boarding processes and performance management

• Manage a Balanced Portfolio of Services – As a full-service health system and a community safety net, St. Joseph’s Health provides a continuum of health care programs and services. As part of this initiative, SJH will deliver a portfolio of programs and services that addresses community needs, organizational capabilities, access to services and other factors (e.g., impact of technology, financial considerations.)   The resulting service line strategy will ensure ongoing commitment to essential services supporting vulnerable communities and overall community needs while also investing in programs that contribute to financial sustainability.
• Establish service line “Institutes” as centers of excellence – enabling prioritization and focus of resources on these service lines
• Evaluate opportunities and implement, as appropriate, strategic opportunities in selected specialties while continuing to provide essential services addressing community needs and supporting Institutes and academic programs
• Reduce focus, adjust investment in and/or partner for programs and services with declining demand, outside organizational expertise or misaligned with strategic priorities
• Deliver Care across the Region – Now, more than ever, delivery of safe, convenient care is critical to success for health systems. As part of this initiative, SJH will ensure appropriate “distribution” of its programs and services across the region.  SJH will provide services on-site in convenient, patient-friendly facilities as well as in the home and through telehealth services.  Important elements of this initiative include:
  • Revisiting and refreshing the Master Facility Plan for the acute care campuses
  • Updating the ambulatory site plan
  • Developing in home and telehealth capabilities (See Goal 2.)

GOAL 2: Reinvent how people connect to healthcare

Initiatives:

• Increase Efficiency of Patient Journey – In a competitive healthcare market place, maximizing the convenience and efficiency of the entire healthcare experience is critical to successful practice operations and the ability of an organization to attract and retain patients. Key tactics include:
  • Providing a method for patients to complete all pre-visit booking and “paperwork” requirements digitally
  • Creating a system of centralized registration and scheduling for all areas of the organization
  • Develop a standardized, convenient process of education for patients discharged to home

• Improve Community Access to SJH – Ease of access to care and digital information is a significant driver for consumer decision-making. Deploying the following measures will improve patient access:
  • Expand community access to SJH telehealth services
  • Create a comprehensive standardization of digital front door plan at all locations
  • Implement standardized digital wayfinding, navigator infrastructure, and signage at all locations
  • Update and maintain SJH website with catalog of providers, services, and key information

• Enhance Community Based Service Offerings – Consumers prefer local, convenient health care options. SJH will implement the following tactics to drive community-based health services:
  • Increase SJH telehealth offerings
  • Wellness services for the community, based on needs defined by service zone
  • Expand and introduce new services that can be provided at home
  • Align hours of operation with customer needs for services
  • Increase SJH transportation service capabilities

GOAL 3: More effectively manage care of populations      

Initiatives:

• Enhance the Care for Employer Based Programs – Employer sponsored healthcare is a significant expense for every organization. These is opportunity for SJH to enhance the health plan offerings to current employees, and drive cost savings while promoting a healthier workforce. Additionally, there is a business opportunity to partner with community organizations to assist in the management of their healthcare expenses.
  • SJH Employees
    • Growing the network of inner-circle providers
    • Enhancing care management services
    • Offering incentives for healthy living
  • Commercial Population & Direct Employer
    • Expand the ACO in order to leverage contracting with commercial population will be developed
    • Grow and expand partnerships with large employers in order to increase volume and coordinate the care and health of the local community

• Increase Efficiency and Effectiveness of Care Delivered to Government Payer Population – Individuals receiving benefits from Medicare, Medicaid, and Charity Care accounts for a significant population of individuals cared for at SJH. Maximizing the efficiency and are care coordination for these individuals will result in enhanced quality and higher reimbursement.  Tactics include:
  • Increase efficiency on current Medicare bundles and prepare for prospective bundles
  • Explore opportunities with the Department of Health to develop a care management pilot for the Charity Care and Medicaid populations

• Manage Care for High Risk Communities – Individuals with chronic or complicated conditions often require additional care management and navigation services to contain the cost of care while increasing quality. Tactics to manage the care include:
  • Remote patient monitoring and analysis
  • Navigators to assist patients with disease management
  • Develop a Medicare transition of care program

• Continue to Enhance Value-Based Program Capabilities – With several years of population health and value-based purchasing experience, SJH has developed a strong foundation of population health management upon which to build. As part of this initiative, SJH will expand and enhance current capabilities and deliver desired outcomes through further development of operational processes, infrastructure and relationships with partners.  Tactics to support this effort include:
  • Expanding advanced primary care model throughout St. Joseph’s Medical Group
  • Exploring and implementing expanded value-based opportunities with purchaser partners
  • Further developing data analytics capacity to gain greater insight to needs of defined populations
  • Pursuing partnerships to ensure appropriate levels of patient engagement and covered lives