The VMG Infusion Team celebrates its Vanderbilt Health Team Award, recognizing its efforts to expand access to infusion care, streamline processes and connect patients with treatment closer to home. (Photo by Erin O. Smith)
The VMG Clinical Infusion Workgroup came together in July 2021 with a goal that sounded simple in concept but difficult in execution: identify opportunities to better serve patients in need of infusion therapy.
The workgroup’s success earned it a Vanderbilt Health Team Award and recognition at the recent May 2026 Leadership Forum.
“The team was able to collect and elevate feedback from providers, nursing staff and patients to shape a vision for the future of infusion care at VUMC,” the nomination letter noted. “Of particular importance was feedback regarding the influence of convenience and location being the primary driver of a where a patient elected to receive care.”
With that insight in mind, the team outlined key strategies to remove barriers that kept patients from getting the care they needed.
Those strategies included:
- Increasing visibility and access to enterprise-wide infusion locations
- Streamlining scheduling and authorization processes
- Simplifying infusion therapy initiation through dedicated resources
The team sought to leverage enterprise infusion sites, connecting patients with locations that were near home. This focus on personalized care allowed more patients to receive care, improved convenience and decreased time to the receipt of therapy after a decision to treat is made.
An example of the workgroup’s impact on patient care was provided by a clinician in a Vanderbilt Health clinic: “We had a provider in clinic who needed to help a patient find an infusion site closer to home. [A team member] went to bat for us and was able to help make this happen so this sweet patient could get to her appointments. She is a widow and limited in driving, so this makes a huge difference. Thanks for living the Credo!”
“This Team Award is another reminder of how our patients benefit when our providers, clinic staff and Pharmacy team come together to make processes flow with less friction for our patients,” said Mark Sullivan, PharmD, MBA, Senior Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer.
Following the implementation of the Clinical Infusion Workgroup’s recommendations, infusion volumes increased well beyond budget, and chair utilization goals were achieved almost every month afterward.
The team is comprised of a broad range of enterprise stakeholders that came together to navigate initiation of infusion and injection therapies for patients: clinic leadership, infusion site leadership, patient service specialists, frontline nurses, physicians, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. This work has also been published the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy and presented at national pharmacy conferences.
“It has been a tremendous team effort to refresh the way we provide chronic infusion and injection care to our Vanderbilt Health patients, and we believe we have significantly improved their overall experience,” the nomination letter stated.
View the VMG Clinical Infusion Workgroup video from Leadership Forum.
If you are a VUMC employee, you can nominate a colleague for a Credo Award, C. Wright Pinson Leader Award, or Vanderbilt Health Team Award. Visit the Leadership Forum website to fill out a nomination form. Employees demonstrate credo behaviors when: They make those they serve the highest priority; respect privacy and confidentiality; communicate effectively; conduct themselves professionally; have a sense of ownership; and are committed to their colleagues. Elevate award nominations are accepted year-round. If a nomination is received after the cutoff for an award selection period, the nomination will be considered for the next period. VUMC VOICE will post stories on each of the award winners in the weeks following their announcement.
