Denise Paulsen honored with Innovation Award, wins smartwatch for idea that saved Methodist $10,000

The Operational Innovation (OI) team is excited to announce that Denise Paulsen, an administrative assistant in the Radiation Oncology Department at Methodist Fremont Health, is the Innovation Award smartwatch winner for third quarter 2023!

When her department needed to remove its old CT machine, Denise remembered a local company that takes donations of old equipment and hauls them away for free. Working with Strategic Sourcing, the department was able to save $10,000 in removal fees thanks to Denise.

Thank you, Denise, for this innovative idea!

More on the Innovation Award

The Innovation Award was introduced in 2022 to celebrate employee-generated ideas to reduce avoidable spending, increase efficiencies, boost revenue and enhance the quality of care we provide.

The award 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.

Submissions for the Innovation Award must be made through the NMHS Service Portal on the intranet home page (NMHS Service Portal > Request Something > Innovation Award Submission). You can also follow the link provided on the Operational Innovation intranet page. If you have any 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.