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  4. May 18: UC San Diego's Continuous Improvement Journey

UC San Diego's Continuous Improvement Journey

Tuesday, May 18, 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Continuous improvement shapes the mindset that has taken hold all across UC San Diego. Small, incremental improvements power the mindset; the efficiencies we realize get reinvested back into our educational and research mission. This session showcases everything we've done to make continuous improvement a core component of our operations. 

Featured Panel: Living Lean for Return to Learn 

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  • Will Ford, Director, Project Management Office, UC San Diego Health
  • Natasha Martin, D.Phil., Associate Professor of Medicine, UC San Diego
  • Bob Neuhard, Executive Director, Office of Operational Strategic Initiatives, UC San Diego
  • Dean Pham, Director, Ambulatory Clinical Systems, UC San Diego Health 
  • Angela Scioscia, M.D., Interim Executive Director of Student Health and Wellness, UC San Diego

A virus like COVID-19 does not care about our best practices, policies, titles, hierarchies, approval flows, or even traditional medical clinics and testing lab processes. To compete with a lethal adversary, UC San Diego developed an adaptive, science-driven, behaviorally informed model that integrated daily innovation cycles that allowed us to “mutate our campus operations faster than the virus.”  Our comprehensive approach is labeled Return to Learn and has become a model for universities, communities, and corporations worldwide. Learn how we failed faster to ensure success.  

Case Study: "Don't Forget to Sparkle" 

  • hillcrest.jpegGenesis Bojorquez, MSN, RN, NE-BC, PCCN, UC San Diego Health
  • Lina Theweny, MPH, San Diego Regional Center

Hand hygiene is a critical element to preventing the spread of infection. However, when a team from UC San Diego Health realized hand hygiene compliance was only at 50%, they decided to do something about it. Through their Lean Six Sigma Green Belt class, they enacted the DMAIC methodology and eventually achieved 93% hand hygiene compliance.

During this case study, learn about their project, “Happy Hands Sparkle,” and their journey of discovery and learning as they implemented seemingly simple steps and realized profound outcomes. Their message to physicians, staff and visitors: “Don’t Forget to Sparkle.”

The Great LSS Race Show & Tell

Each year during The Great LSS Race teams use their Lean Six Sigma knowledge to improve real campus business processes. Following the competition, the process owners take the best of the suggestions and implement them. We'll hear from Greg Nishihira, from Fleet Services, on how his department streamlined processes and benefited following the 2018 event. 

Speaker Bios

Featured Panel

  • Will Ford, Director, Project Management Office, UC San Diego Health

    Will Ford, Director, Project Management Office, UC San Diego Health

    Will Ford serves as Director, Health System Innovation and Transformation at UC San Diego Health and is currently site manager for the UC San Diego RIMAC Vaccination Center. The site, which opened on February 8, 2021, has the capacity to deliver 5000 vaccinations per day and has helped bring UC San Diego Health to be a statewide leader in vaccine distribution. Will is an accomplished operational leader in the healthcare industry with an outstanding background in program management as well as designing and leading process improvement initiatives that deliver great end-to-end, customer-centric experiences for UC San Diego Health patients.
  • Natasha Martin, D.Phil., Associate Professor of Medicine, UC San Diego

    Natasha Martin, D.Phil., Associate Professor of Medicine, UC San Diego

    Dr. Natasha Martin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health. She holds an honorary senior lecturer position at the University of Bristol. She is also the co-director of the Biostatistics and Modeling Core of the University of California San Diego Center for AIDS Research (UCSD CFAR). She has worked for 18 years developing mathematical models of disease progression and transmission in both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Dr. Natasha Martin is an infectious disease economic modeler who develops dynamic transmission models to evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of public health interventions. 
  • Bob Neuhard, Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives, UC San Diego

    Bob Neuhard, Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives, UC San Diego

    Bob currently serves as the Executive Director of the Office of Operational Strategic Initiatives which is charged with identifying, responding to, leading, and supporting unique initiatives and opportunities across campus on behalf of the Chancellor and the Chief Financial Officer. He specializes in building consensus in highly dynamic situations by developing comprehensive strategies and solutions to the most complicated and novel issues and opportunities.  His focus is on strategic leadership and planning, innovation, customer-centric process optimization, complex public-private alliances, and delivering transformational outcomes.

  • Dean Pham, Director, Ambulatory Clinical Systems, UC San Diego Health

    Dean Pham, Director, Ambulatory Clinical Systems, UC San Diego Health

    Dean has worked at UC San Diego Health since 2009 and currently serves as an IT Director of Ambulatory EMR (electronic medical record). He works to establish and optimize outpatient clinic workflow as it relates to our EMR. Dean received his PharmD and MBA from the University of the Pacific and completed his residency at San Joaquin General Hospital. At UC San Diego, Dean has worked as an IT pharmacist with a focus on ambulatory care and oncology services before taking his current role.
  • Angela Scioscia, MD, Interim Executive Director, Student Health and Well-Being, UC San Diego

    Angela Scioscia, MD, Interim Executive Director, Student Health and Well-Being, UC San Diego

    Dr. Scioscia graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1980 and completed postgraduate training at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and Medical Genetics.  In 1989, she joined the Faculty of the University of California, San Diego as the Director of the Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Center.  Over the next 15 years, she was an active clinician scholar and assumed a variety of physician leadership roles. In 2004, she transitioned to the role of the Chief Medical Officer of UC San Diego Health, a position she held for 14 years.  She retired in 2018.   She has since returned to university service as the Interim Executive Director for Student Health and Well-Being. 

The Great LSS Race Show & Tell

  • Greg Nishihira, Assistant Director, Fleet Services, UC San Diego

    Greg Nishihira, Assistant Director, Fleet Services, UC San Diego

    Greg has been with UC San Diego since 2008, serving first as Operations Manager and now as Assistant Director of the Fleet Services department. He spearheads his department’s efforts to support UC’s goal to be carbon neutral by “greening” the campus fleet through the procurement of alternative fuel vehicles and hybrids. Additionally, he serves as co-chair of UC’s Fleet Sustainability Working Group and serves on the campus’ Transportation Working Group committee. Greg holds an AAS in Transportation Management from Milwaukee Area Technical College and a BS in Business Administration from California Polytechnic State University. He also maintains active Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) and California Underground and represents UCSD on the local San Diego Regional Clean Cities Coalition Board of Directors.

Case Study: "Don't Forget to Sparkle"

  • Genesis Bojorquez, Advance Practice Specialist, UC San Diego Health, Hillcrest Medical Center

    Genesis Bojorquez, Advance Practice Specialist, UC San Diego Health, Hillcrest Medical Center

    Genesis Bojorquez is the Advance Practice Specialist of the 6 East and 6 West inpatient units of UC San Diego Health’s Hillcrest Medical Center. Her Lean Six Sigma Green Belt project focused on improving hand hygiene compliance and decreasing healthcare-acquired infections within the Hillcrest Inpatient Medicine Service Line.
  • Lina Theweny, MPH, San Diego Regional Center

    Lina Theweny, MPH, San Diego Regional Center

    Lina has a Master’s in Public Health and is a Program Manager with the San Diego Regional Center, serving individuals with disabilities. She also earned her Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and applied the tools to improve hand hygiene compliance at UC San Diego Health facilities.

Hosts

  • Rachael Lapidis, Strategic Program Manager, UC San Diego

    Rachael Lapidis, Strategic Program Manager, UC San Diego

    Rachael Lapidis is the Strategic Program Manager in the Division of Social Sciences Dean's Office.  Her primary focus is Education Innovation, collaborating with faculty and staff to dream up, plan for, and launch innovative academic programs, and Student Affairs matters, including student data analytics for the division. Since 2005, she has been a proud Triton, as a graduate student, lecturer, graduate coordinator and Student Affairs Manager. Rachael cultivates communities, asks questions, and creates solutions as the convener of a divisional Student Affairs Community of Practice, as a participant in the STRIVE leadership development program and campus strategists group, and as a subject matter expert for the Student Information System. After her Lean Six Sigma yellow belt training in 2017, Rachael was selected as a team captain for the inaugural Process Palooza's Great LSS Race, leading the Sunshine Squad to victory in improving the travel process for Associated Students. She has emceed Process Palooza events ever since, and is continuously inspired by the ethos of continuous improvement.
  • Tracy O'Rourke, Co-Founder, Just-In-Time Café

    Tracy O'Rourke, Co-Founder, Just-In-Time Café

    Tracy is Co-Founder of the Just-in-Time Cafe and co-host of the Just-In-Time Cafe Podcast. She is also the co-author of “The Problem-Solving Toolkit: A Surprisingly Simple Guide To Your Lean Six Sigma Journey." Tracy is a Master Black Belt, facilitator, trainer and instructor. Over the last 20 years, Tracy has trained over 2,000 people, mentored 500+ people and has helped complete 500+ projects with results that range between $50,000 and $12 million in savings.  

    Tracy is also a Lean Six Sigma Instructor at UC San Diego Extension.