KOAM TV 7 Joplin and PittsburgFreeman cheers staff ideas to improve hospital

Employee input helps save Freeman Health System more than $6 million.  

Today the hospital celebrates its Bright Ideas program, a way for those who see hospital business up close and personal on a daily basis to improve it.

Today the IT department gets cheered as having the most ideas implemented - 378.

Tech officials say it can be as simple as switching software or combining data storage.  Central supply switched from reprocessing lazer fiber to prepackaged disposable ones, saving $12,000 and employee time.

President and CEO Paula Baker says it's not just bosses who can make changes for the better.

"Nobody knows Freeman Health System better than our employees, the Freeman team, and they have come up with some incredible ideas of how to save money, how to be more efficient, how to improve patient safety, and how to run a better organization," Baker says.

Officials recognized the employee who has had the most ideas implemented - Kristina Cline - with 56.

Employees were also treated to ice cream.

Baker says she's received calls from other companies across the country interested in how the Bright Ideas program works.