Lisa Griffin, MBA, CCCM, has joined Vanderbilt University Medical Center as Vice President of Patient Access Services.
In this new role, Griffin will develop and execute strategies to achieve improvements in service delivery and patient access. This includes developing novel ways to standardize referrals, improve provider data management and simplify patient access points in order to improve the patient experience. For example, she will enhance VUMC’s use of technology through online self-scheduling of appointments and fast track options within Epic.
“As part of our continued commitment to always put patients first, Medical Center leadership decided to advance improvements in our service delivery and patient access by hiring Lisa Griffin as Vice President of Patient Access,” said Mitch Edgeworth, MBA, CEO of Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital and Clinics. “Connecting patients with the right medical provider in a timely manner is not always a simple, linear process, but with a concentrated effort led by Lisa we will continue to identify and knock down barriers to simplifying and improving access to care.”
Griffin has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare, with most of that time spent in healthcare management at the Cleveland Clinic. She joins VUMC from Houston Methodist Hospital, where she served in several leadership roles including hospital systems director of Patient Access.
“Demand for the services we provide, many of which aren’t available anywhere else in Middle Tennessee, has never been higher,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Health System Officer for VUMC. “Lisa’s recruitment signifies the importance we are placing on improving access for patients who need our care. She comes to us highly recommended and brings a successful history of process improvement that will help fulfill this important goal. I want to welcome Lisa to Vanderbilt and look forward to working with her in this new role.”
As part of her work with Houston Methodist, Griffin led a major initiative that resulted in the centralization of their referral management center that supported their primary care group.
“Lisa has a strong track record of creating strategies to improve patient access, which directly impacts both patient and provider satisfaction,” Edgeworth said. “She has a focus on doing the right thing for patients, faculty and staff. We’re impressed with what she’s achieved in this area during her career, and we’re excited to have her talent helping us drive decisions at VUMC.”
While at Cleveland Clinic, Griffin was a key member of the leadership team that developed a centralized call center, and she led an effort that resulted in the call center becoming a URAC-accredited health call center. URAC is a Washington, D.C.-based independent nonprofit accreditation agency. URAC assesses call centers on multiple standards including clinical staff qualifications, training and roles of non-clinical staff, telephone performance thresholds, clinical staff response times, handling of triage calls, information sharing and feedback to physicians.
“Achieving URAC accreditation was a huge achievement at Cleveland Clinic,” Griffin said. “However, having the opportunity to align patient preferences and ease of scheduling to increase service efficiency and enhance patient experience have been my biggest achievements. The ability to understand how patients want to connect with healthcare providers and ensuring barrier-free access has been rewarding to me. Patient access is just a buzzword until you place a face and focus on patient-centered care, provider satisfaction and employee engagement.”
Griffin attended the University of Phoenix where she earned a bachelor of science degree in healthcare administration/management and a master of business administration, management and operations.
She has been joined in Nashville by her husband, Derek Griffin.
