Dekalb Medical Center

The shift: from “everyone improving their own way” → one coordinated execution system

Execution challenge
Patient satisfaction had been a long-standing priority, but improvement efforts were fragmented. Managers trained and monitored locally, reviewed scores, and tried initiatives—without a unified execution model.

Organizational lag measure (WIG / outcome)

Patient satisfaction percentile ranking (they describe moving from roughly bottom 3% / ~3rd percentile to top-tier / ~99th percentile).

Visible scoreboards at point of work (e.g., nurses’ station): teams saw movement weekly, not retroactively.

Weekly WIG sessions (cadence of accountability): teams asked:
- “What did we do last week that moved the score?”
- “What is the one thing we’ll do next week that will impact it?”
“Program to the letter + then some” implementation discipline: consistency of the system became the lead.

What happened along the way:
People began connecting specific weekly actions to weekly score movement, which reduced guessing and increased learning loops.

Ancillary benefits
They describe confidence and momentum (“we’re going to smash it”), and the sense that improvement could exceed the original target.