Overview
In 2024, UC San Diego Health (UCSDH) — ranked the #1 hospital system in San Diego by U.S. News & World Report for the fifth year in a row — launched its second annual Health Improvement Excellence Awards to celebrate employee-driven innovation and elevate process improvements across the organization. The program's success and impact earned UCSDH a 2024 InnoLead Impact Award, recognizing organizations that have delivered measurable innovation results and integrated innovation into their culture.
The Goal
As part of its broader effort to integrate innovation into everyday practice, UC San Diego Health (UCSDH) launched its second annual Health Improvement Excellence Awards in 2024.
The awards were designed to build momentum behind a cultural shift: empowering every team member to identify problems and lead change.
By recognizing outstanding improvement projects, the program encourages staff to think proactively, collaborate across disciplines, and amplify ideas that advance health outcomes and operational excellence.
"We want to have 14,000 problem solvers that relentlessly improve care while loving their jobs. This initiative is a reflection of that mission in action."
– Ashley Gambhir, Executive Director for Healthcare Transformation, UC San Diego Health
The Culture
UCSDH's initiative supports a broader cultural transformation:
Collaborative Learning
Recognition & Celebration
Communicating Impact
The Process
Using HYPE Innovation, UCSDH structured the six-month initiative to be inclusive, transparent, and engaging:
- Submission: Team members uploaded projects for review and visibility.
- Voting: Staff engaged by liking and commenting — helping surface crowd favorites.
- Evaluation: A judging panel used predefined criteria to select the winners.
- Showcasing Impact: Winning projects were highlighted in short videos and celebrated during a hybrid in-person and virtual award ceremony.
- Community Connection: A poster session encouraged real-time dialogue and inspiration among colleagues.
“Healthcare’s complexity makes innovation both essential and difficult. By creating systems that reward daily problem solving, we ensure innovation isn’t episodic—it’s integrated.”
– Ashley Gambhir
The Results
The 2024 awards surpassed engagement goals across the board:
- 53 nominations (goal: 20)
- 25 posters (goal: 15)
- 220 attendees (goal: 200)
- 1,406 views (goal: 1,000)
- 1,383 likes (goal: 500)
- 285 comments (goal: 200)
- 8,205 LinkedIn impressions (goal: 5,000)
Winner of the 2024 Improvement Excellence Award at UC San Diego Health stands proudly next to their project, Population Health Wellness Outreach Hub.
The Impact
Winning projects demonstrated measurable improvements to care delivery and patient outcomes:
- Pharmacy’s Medication Reconciliation Redesign: Created a new process to keep medication lists up to date. This enabled the proactive removal of 828 medications per month, reducing unnecessary physician-patient discussions by 84%.
- Optimizing Discharge Instructions: Improved the clarity and accessibility of discharge instructions by making them available in both Spanish and English. As a result, patient satisfaction scores increased from 83.3% to over 90%, and the new format has since been adopted in additional departments across UC San Diego Health.
- UCSD at Home – Emergency Department (ED) to Home Program: Reduced ED visits by 76.6% for enrolled patients through an interdisciplinary approach to post-ED care coordination, enhancing outcomes, access, and patient experience.
- Focused Interdisciplinary Team (FIT) Rounds: Standardized rounding processes and optimized real-time workflow logistics, leading to a 14% reduction in Length of Stay, a 60% improvement in discharge accuracy, and a boost in patient experience scores from 80% to 98%.
- Cultural Integration Initiative: Developed a new onboarding process that improved team member integration and contributed to an increased hire rate. Positive feedback from leaders, managers, and staff affirmed the program’s success in strengthening cultural cohesion.
- Discharge Planning Enhancement: Streamlined collaboration between physicians, charge nurses, and care managers to improve accuracy and timeliness of Estimated Discharge Dates (EDD)—supporting more effective discharge planning and better care transitions.
Team members celebrate their win at the 2024 Improvement Excellence Awards at UC San Diego Health with their project, Cardiovascular Care: Improving High-Intensity Statins for Optimal Patient Outcomes.
The Final Word
“Being part of an organization that values every team member’s input and drives impactful changes in patient care is incredibly rewarding. I’m proud of our teams — and grateful to our partners at HYPE Innovation — for making innovation part of the everyday fabric at UC San Diego Health.”
– Ashley Gambhir
Interview with Ashley Gambhir
Read Ashley Gambhir’s interview with InnoLead to learn how UC San Diego Health is building a culture of innovation at San Diego’s top-ranked hospital system.
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