Tower Health hosted its first-ever 'Shark Tank: Tower Health Edition' this week, and the friendly business pitch competition made a splash with employees. The brainchild of Michael Stern, incoming president and CEO of the health system, the competition was designed to encourage innovation, boost employee engagement, and add fun to the workplace. To start the event, attendees heard a special message from Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, before presentations began.
Shark Tank: Tower Health Edition
When submitting an idea, employees were asked to consider projects that would challenge the status quo, build trust and teamwork, promote collaboration, encourage creativity and innovation, increase employee involvement, and embrace continuous improvement.
Categories included:
- Quality and Patient Safety
- Patient Experience
- Employee Engagement
- Financial
First Place Winner
Rebecca Cofsky, Infectious Diseases Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at Reading Hospital, won the top prize with her idea for an antibiotic stewardship – rapid diagnostics program; earning her bragging rights, a 'The Power is in Tower' swag bag, and a $15,000 cash prize. The project aims to improve outcomes in patients with bloodstream infections continually.
Specifically, this method reduces the time it takes to complete effective and optimal antibiotic therapy - while shortening the lengths of hospital admissions, decreasing the duration of ICU hospitalization, and lowering health care costs. During her presentation, she explained how this can be accomplished by routing the results of rapid diagnostic tests performed on blood cultures to the infectious diseases pharmacist in real-time. The pharmacist will review the test results and make interventions, if necessary.
“I was proud to get my idea in front of the right audience,” Cofsky said. “They understood what this could mean for our patients and their families at all of our hospitals.”
Second Place Winners
The second-place idea, with a $10,000 prize and 'The Power is in Tower' swag bag, was The Pottstown NPDP Innovators. The team included Kellie Schuerger, MSN, RN, NPD-BC nursing professional development manager, Jeanne Matthews, MSN, RN, nurse professional development practitioner, and Madalyn Hunsberger, Nursing professional development practitioner, BSN, RN, from Pottstown Hospital. Their winning idea will bring in a 3-D printer to develop simulation equipment that can help educate staff, creating additional opportunities to explore hands-on training. Further, it could provide some financial savings, allowing the team to print items at a reduced cost.
Nine finalists were chosen from more than 100 entries, and those finalists included employee teams from Reading, Phoenixville, and Pottstown hospitals and Tower Health-affiliated entities. Similar to the popular Shark Tank television show, the teams pitched their ideas to the Tower Health Sharks, including Meg Mueller, Chair, Tower Health Board of Directors; Myra Forrest, Chair, Pottstown Hospital Board of Trustees; Jim Kovaleski, Chair, Phoenixville Hospital Board of Trustees; and P. Sue Perrotty, Tower Health CEO.
“The excitement and energy around our first Shark Tank: Tower Health Edition was palpable,” said Stern, Tower Health President and COO. “In healthcare, we understand solutions can bubble up from anywhere, and I was extremely impressed by all the ideas submitted. The finalists did an amazing job with their pitches. I can’t wait for next year’s event.”
Third Place Winner
Tania Nguyen, EPIC Credential Trainer in Tower Health’s IT Department, won third place with a $5,000 prize and The Power is in Tower swag. This project will equip patients with the ability to share instant feedback in real-time, letting care team members know what questions they have, and enabling them to address any concerns before discharge.
“All of the ideas submitted were fantastic, and it was difficult to pick a winner,” said Mueller. “Every team had a solid idea and a great presentation It was an honor to meet the teams, and I look forward to seeing these ideas being rolled out.”