2023 Finance Pillar winners

Individual

Courtney Kendal, Sharp Grossmont Hospital

Faced with nurse staffing challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, Courtney reworked the onboarding process for new nurses to increase the number of annual cohorts from two per year to five. She onboarded 161 new graduate nurses with a retention rate of 96 percent. Her efforts resulted in a reduced dependency on agency-contracted nurses and increased the number of Sharp nurses, resulting in a cost savings of over $4.4 million.

Team

340B Initiative, Sharp Grossmont Hospital

The 340B Initiative team navigated complex reporting requirements, billing complexities and specific coordination mandated by the 340B drug pricing program to access lower-cost pharmaceuticals for Sharp Grossmont Hospital. The team increased the percentage of qualifying pharmaceutical dispenses from 15 percent to over 85 percent. The group’s efforts resulted in a measured cost savings of over $260,000, a 440 percent increase from the previous year.

Department

Patient Financial Services – Institutional Care Division, Sharp HealthCare – System Services

The department audited patients’ claims related to COVID-19 to identify uninsured visits and seek financial reimbursement through a program with the Health Resources and Services Administration. The process required meticulous work and great attention to detail to ensure all claims were accurate. The group identified 4,899 claims for patients who were deemed uninsured, resulting in a reimbursement of over $2.9 million.