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22 Hartford Business Journal • December 11, 2017 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Holland's 'Dashboard' system improves patient's care quality, safety By Christopher Hoffman Special to the Hartford Business Journal D r. Stephen Holland's mission is to improve the quality and safety of patient care, and to do that, he said, you need num- bers, lots of them, every day. That's why Holland created "Dashboard" shortly after becoming Gaylord Specialty Care's vice president and chief medical officer. The system tracks care-quality outcomes in 18 areas such as infection rates from catheters and IVs inserted for long-term infusions of medicine. Those metrics give clinicians and staff a real-time, running tally on what is work- ing, what is not working and what needs improvement, he said. The information is regularly reviewed by various groups within the hospital and available to staff. "When someone says, 'tell me why you have a quality program,' I just show them the Dashboard," Holland said. "It's to focus us to look at how we are doing in various ar- eas and what areas do we need to put our resources into and improve on." The system has been a major success, Holland said, leading to changes that have significantly lowered infection rates and improved care qual- ity. "We've seen steady improve- ments since we formalized this approach," Hol- land said. "We're very happy to show excellent trends in most of these areas." The Dashboard is among the visionary and successful inno- vations that Holland has introduced during his five years at the hospital, which specializes in rehabilitating patients with serious physical impairments. His efforts have drawn effusive praise from the hospital's administration and staff. Holland has "shown a laser-like focus on quality" since his arrival, said Gaylord Spe- cialty Healthcare CEO George Kyriacou. "When you hear people talk about quality in the hos- pital setting, you generally hear about 'getting the process down,' " Kyriacou said. "But is the pro- cess working? Is it achieving outcomes that you are proud of ?" Steve is focused on both. What Steve has done is to track, measure change and improve outcomes so that once we have that information we can continue to work towards the next level of improvements." Susan Hostage, Gaylord's outcomes management and compliance officer, said Holland has a talent not only for big ideas but also for getting staff to buy into them. "Steve is focused on making staff truly understand what quality care means and the impact it has on our patients and the organi- zation at-large," Hostage said. Holland, an emergency room doctor by training, came to Gaylord in 2012 from St. Mary's Hospital in Water- bury. He said he left due to concerns over the possible impact on patient care of a proposed merger be- tween St. Mary's and a for-profit hospital, a deal that ultimate- ly didn't happen. Gaylord's special- ization in helping patients recovering from life-altering accidents and ill- nesses made it less susceptible to the hospital merger ma- nia, a major appeal to Holland. "I was very glad to be over here with an organization that was not concerned with merging," Hol- land, 62, said. "I was able to concentrate on work and improv- ing patient care." Improving patient care was what he set out to do within months of his arrival. In addition to the Dashboard system, Holland also introduced a process called "High Reality Organization." All employees are trained in the process, which involves rigorous assessment and scrutiny of treatment to improve care. "It's really about how you reduce mis- takes," he said, adding that program has been a big success. As an administrator, Holland is careful not to become isolated. To keep in touch, he heads the hospital's wound treatment team, which puts him in a clinical setting on a regular basis, he said. "I'm out there every day, maintaining my credibility by continuing to see patients," he said. "It's a part of the job that, on many days, I enjoy the most." It's not all work and no play for Holland. Another of his innovations grew from one of his off-hours activities: running. After taking part in an obstacle course race, Holland real- ized that Gaylord's bucolic 400-acre campus would be the perfect setting for a similar competition. He organized the first 5K Gay- lord Gauntlet in 2014. The race has since grown to 1,000 com- petitors and raised nearly $200,000 for the Gaylord Sports Association, which runs sports programs from archery to rugby for the disabled. A Waterbury native, Holland lives in Watertown with his wife with whom he has four grown children. HEALTH CARE HEROES AWARDS "When you hear people talk about quality in the hospital setting, you generally hear about 'getting the process down.' But is the process working? Is it achieving outcomes that you are proud of ?" George Kyriacou , CEO, Gaylord Specialty Healthcare Category: Physician Dr. Stephen Holland Employer: Gaylord Specialty Healthcare Title: Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Stephen Holland consults a patient. He heads the hospital's wound treatment team.