Prioritizing a new Mission, Vision, and Values for OrthoIllinois

At OrthoIllinois, we are constantly looking at the fundamental ways we go about our day-to-day business – what we do, why we do it, how we do it and where we want to be.

That’s why we took the opportunity during the past year to refresh our mission, vision and values statements. It had been more than 10 years since we’d adopted our previous guiding principles, and this was an opportunity to really dig in, focus and define what we strive for as an organization.

The world has changed so much in 10 years. Health care is much more driven by consumers, thanks to the ease of using the internet. Our organization’s mission, vision and values needed to reflect those changes and our dedication to improving access to subspecialized bone and joint care across northern Illinois.

Tackling a task like this is not easy. It took time, honest discussion and creative thinking. Here’s a peek at our process:

• Using patient satisfaction data and research, we started brainstorming the new mission, vision and values last year to help guide us into the future and to match what we think our patients want and expect from us.
• Feedback was solicited from our physician leaders and then presented in February for approval, which was received enthusiastically.
• We began rolling out the new mission, vision and values to our staff this summer.

I’m pleased to share with you the results of our work.

Mission: Partnering with people to promote and restore active lives.

Vision: To be the premier employer and provider of bone and joint treatment with immediate access to respectful and high-quality, patient-centered care.

Values: OrthoIllinois operates by the following guiding principles – compassion, respect, trust, integrity, innovation, education, fiscal responsibility, practice independent, accountability and empowerment.

I can tell you every word of those phrases means something. In our mission statement, for example, partnering reflects engagement with our patients, including the individualized case management services we provide that aim to improve outcomes after surgery.

Promoting and restoring active lives might mean a grandmother being able to hold her grandkids again or a runner completing his first marathon. We want to be a partner in what you want out of life, and our approach is unique to every person.

In addition to the work on our corporate Mission, Vision, and Values, we also completed a professional survey of our employees about areas where we excel and areas where we can improve. That feeds directly into our vision about being the premier employer in this region. Every decision we make has to lead us back to that vision.

From my position as CEO, I have a clear direction of where we need to go and focus as an organization. I’m very happy with how this process took shape, and it sets us apart from others in the marketplace.

I’m also excited to share our priorities with you so you can help keep us on track. We continually strive to be a valued organization by our staff and patients.