Lean Management Engineer

Education/Background:

Jeff Vande Berg is a native of Fort Dodge, Iowa. He attended the University of Iowa where he received a BS in Biology (’92) and an MS in Epidemiology (’96). Jeff’s employment and volunteer experience at UIHC coincided with starting college (’88)(!). He began at the hospital Information Desk and eventually became an inpatient Nurse Assistant, and also volunteered in Pediatrics with BPD kids.  As an NA he was first exposed to a research study on SIRS (Sudden Inflammatory Response Syndrome), which gave him a new perspective in how data drives and improves patient care. In graduate school, he served as a Research Assistant on a Stroke and MI Telemedicine project. Eventually Jeff landed in Hospital Epidemiology as a Program Associate, creating infection control and risk reports for UIHC. Jeff was instrumental in creating the analytics for a grant to test a barcode scanning system. From working on this multidisciplinary grant project Jeff realized he missed more direct involvement in multidisciplinary teams making clinical and treatment changes. About this time he was invited to attend a week-long rapid improvement event in the Employee Health Clinic, facilitated by Operations Excellence. His participation in the event made Jeff realize that working in Operations Excellence would: meet his desire of working with teams, provide a means to apply his clinical knowledge, and apply his statistical interests. Jeff brought his idiosyncratic skills and personality to Operations Excellence in June 2008 and learned to apply the principles and concepts of Lean to health care.

Jeff is seen as a gifted facilitator and helps moderate UIHC’s Schwartz Center Rounds, a forum with a focus on healthcare worker self-care. Jeff finds comfort that, as an engineer, he has something to contribute that has nothing to do with data. He also enjoys working with Simulation teams at UIHC and UI COM, and has joined the faculty of the Team Simulation Design and Debriefing course. He also thoroughly enjoys statistical graphing and user-centered analytics: just ask him about them if you have an hour.  Jeff is multi-faceted and his co-workers think of him as a Renaissance man. He has a passion for his family, friends, reading, listening to and playing music. Lastly, Jeff’s wife, Melissa, calls Jeff the Mayor of UIHC for he knows everyone from all of his years of working on the medical campus.

Jeff’s favorite process improvement tool is the Process Map because like a great data graphic, conveys real information and may even tell a story, in a single image.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and deliver material for our two day training sessions.
• Play Good Cop to Mark Thomason’s Bad Cop.
• Work with outpatient, inpatient, service and administrative teams to develop short and long term methods for improving patient flow and length of stay.
• Is third-in-line to the Vice Presidency of the United States, due to an odd compensatory pick formula and a favorable draft order for Iowa in 2001.
• Collaborate with other OE staff to identify and support any emergent process needs within UIHC.

Contact:

Address: C 51-K GH
Phone: 319-467-5097
jeff-vandeberg@uiowa.edu

When asked, “What inspires you?”

“I react positively to Humans in all their forms. I am consistently inspired by their efforts to live and work, create art, children and food, and generally seek happiness in spite or because of existing conditions. Go Humans!”