Reading Hospital dives into the Shark Tank to improve operations

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For the second year in a row, Reading Hospital went to the source to find ways to improve its operations with a Shark Tank style competition that asked staffers what they think could be done better. 

Michael Stern, president of CEO of Tower Health, came up with the idea last year and said he plans to host the competition every year to find ways to improve patient safety, patient experiences and save money. 

Originally, he said he thought a competition with prizes would be a good way to “bring the fun back to the hospital” after several years of struggles, but it’s become much more than that. 

Stern said it isn’t just a way to engage those who work at Reading Hospital, but an excellent way to get good ideas from the people doing the actual jobs. 

This year’s winner went by the name “the perfect pair” and came up with an idea to stop much of the waste the hospital experiences with latex gloves. 

“What they came up with is a prototype for a dispenser of latex glove that dispenses one glove at a time,” Stern said. 

He noted that the way gloves are stored in boxes, caregivers often try to take out a pair of gloves, but several come out. Once they’re out of the box, they are no longer considered sterile. They can’t be used again and need to be thrown away. 

“I Can’t tell you how many tens of thousands of gloves we waste each year,” Stern said. 

He said he’s looking forward to implementing the system that will make caregivers’ jobs easier and will save the hospital significant money on waste. 

Second prize went to a group of NICU professionals who came up with an IV warmer to be used to help premature babies maintain body temperature. 

The idea could potentially be lifesaving, said Pamela Hernandez, chief administrative officer at the hospital. 

“Every degree a premature baby loses increases mortality by 24%,” Hernandez said. “So, this is a very impactful one.” 

Third place suggested the use of RFID technology to track all items in the hospital. The goal was to help caregivers find what they need as quickly as possible and to prevent theft. 

In all, there were 100 submissions and eight finalists that competed in the Shark Tank style finals on April 21. 

The first-place team split a $15,000 prize. Second prize was $10,000 and third prize was $5,000. 

But Stern said Tower will be implementing many of the ideas submitted, and those who made the suggested will be compensated with a percentage of the money saved. 

Hernandez said there was definitely a growing interest in the competition after staffers saw the first competition and realized the opportunities. 

“They were more prepared. We got true Shark Tank presentations with visuals and tight speeches. I can see it improving each year,” she said. 

And Stern assured that the ideas employees came up with won’t just go away. They’ll be looking for ways to improve outcomes throughout the year.