Kendall Keysor Wins Apple Watch for Idea That Will Save Methodist $40k Over 10 Years

The Operational Innovation (OI) and Value Analysis teams are excited to recognize Kendall Keysor, a fire system inspector for Integrated Services, as the fourth-quarter Innovation Award winner.

His award-winning idea involved matching the fire alarm battery replacement schedule to the fire code, as the health system had previously changed the batteries more frequently than required. This small change will save the system $40,000 over 10 years.

Kendall was awarded an Apple Watch for his efforts.

The Innovation Award celebrates employee-generated ideas to reduce avoidable spending, increase efficiencies, boost revenue and enhance the quality of care we provide. Ideas may be submitted by full- and part-time employees below the service leader/manager level. High-impact ideas are included in a monthly drawing for a $25 prize and quarterly smart watch drawing.

Monthly Innovation Award Winners

We’re pleased to recognize the following employees for their impactful ideas over the past several months. Each of them were awarded a $25 prize.

January 2023: Brittney Gohr, Methodist Fremont Health Environmental Services

December 2022: Kendall Keysor, Methodist Health System Integrated Services

November 2022: Deena Heimann, Methodist Fremont Health Environmental Services

October 2022: Bertha Taylor, Methodist Hospital Environmental Services

September 2022: Brenda Halbmaier, Methodist Fremont Health Occupational Therapy

August 2022: Nico Charvet, Methodist Fremont Health Physical Therapy

July 2022: Linda Weiler, Methodist Hospital Pre-Surgery

June 2022: Cheryl Palmer, Methodist Health System Value Analysis

May 2022: Amy Lundholm, Methodist Fremont Health Outpatient OR

April 2022: Thea Kyhnn, Methodist Hospital Pre-Surgery

More on the Innovation Award

The Innovation Award was introduced in April 2022 and replaced and combined the previous Operational Innovation Golden Idea Award (managed by the OI team) and the Sensible Savings Award (managed by the Value Analysis team). Ideas may be submitted by full- and part-time employees below the service leader/manager level.

Leaders can submit innovation award ideas through the People Portal for their staff. (People Portal > Operational Innovation > Innovation Award Submission). If you have questions regarding the Innovation Award, email @email.

More on Operational Innovation

The OI department is a five-member team that works across Methodist Health System to promote and foster a culture of continuous improvement (CI), partner with system leaders to facilitate CI initiatives, and educate and coach teams on CI methodology and tools.

For more information about Operational Innovation, its available services and its educational offerings, visit the OI intranet site (Intranet Home > Departments > Operational Innovation). You can also reach out to an OI team member directly either via phone or email.