Parkview Health TeamSTEPPS Success Story
Parkview Health is a not-for-profit, community-based health system serving a northern-Indiana and northwest-Ohio population of more than 1.3 million. Parkview is the region’s largest employer, with more than 17,000 co-workers at 15 hospitals and an extensive network of primary care and specialty care physicians. It is a national leader in safety and quality, patient experience and workplace culture. Parkview has been named one of America’s Best-In-State Employers by Forbes and was selected as No. 7 on Newsweek’s list of Top 100 MostLoved Workplaces.
Background
The decision to implement TeamSTEPPS was driven by risk-event reviews that identified a need for better coordination and communication. These findings, combined with leadership’s commitment to a culture of safety, positioned TeamSTEPPS as a key strategic initiative within Parkview’s Safety and Quality Strategic Plan.
Situation
In 2019, Parkview Health launched its TeamSTEPPS journey to strengthen patient safety and foster a culture of high reliability. Recognizing challenges related to communication in risk events, Parkview saw an opportunity to leverage TeamSTEPPS as a systemwide strategy to enhance teamwork, situational awareness and structured communication across care teams.
Actions Taken
A multidisciplinary TeamSTEPPS Council, composed of entity and physician leaders, oversees Parkview’s TeamSTEPPS initiative. The Council took a phased implementation approach by first implementing TeamSTEPPS in Parkview’s smaller community hospitals and then continued to implement the program by service line in its larger hospitals in Allen County, Indiana.
Rollout began with an executive strategy planning session. Each rollout was led by the project team and supported by a hospital or service line executive leader, serving as co-champion, along with a physician champion to encourage and support the effort.
Rollouts included the following training sessions over one to two quarters, depending on a team’s size:
- Four-hour leader training course
- Six-hour trainer course
- Two-hour co-worker and physician training sessions
Physician engagement was a focus from the start. Parkview developed a flexible TeamSTEPPS “menu” for providers, offering multiple options:
- 2-hour session with co-workers
- Service-line specific intro and case study scenarios discussions at medical staff meetings led by physician champion and TeamSTEPPS coach
- Self-paced eModules via Symplr
A notable innovation was the creation of service-line specific case studies, including cardiology examples that illustrate how tools like SBAR, closed-loop communication and CUS can prevent patient harm.
Parkview uses the train-the-trainer approach with TeamSTEPPS trainers from Nursing Professional Development, Quality and Safety collaborating with newly trained hospital/service line trainers during implementation. The new trainers support sustainability efforts in the hospital/service line post-implementation and join Parkview’s TeamSTEPPS Sustainability Team.
The sustainability plan is comprised of several components, such as monthly concept slides and demonstration videos, regular sharing of TeamSTEPPS successes during meetings and in internal news channels, and a robust TeamSTEPPS resource page on the internal portal.
Results & Recommendations
The TeamSTEPPS project team is led by Marceline Rogers, SVP/COO Service Line Leader, Parkview Ortho Hospital and Dr. Jeffrey Boord, MD, MPH, Chief Quality and Safety Officer, Parkview Health.
Pivots & Innovation
Throughout the initiative, the project team pivoted as needed to overcome barriers. This included:
- Creating a condensed and interactive two-hour curriculum for co-workers and providers.
- Adjusting rollout schedules during COVID-19 disruptions.
- Breaking training into flexible segments to accommodate work schedules.
- Developing engaging, scenario-based provider training with a menu of options for individual service line needs.
Measurable Outcomes & Dashboard
To track impact, Parkview launched a TeamSTEPPS Metrics Dashboard in January 2025, integrated with Midas Risk data from 2023 onward. Key insights:
- 916 communication-related events were logged (1/1/24–5/31/25).
- Most common barriers: Lack of Information Sharing and Lack of Coordination.
- Most helpful tools: Handoff and Check-back.
- 39 events were documented where TeamSTEPPS tools directly prevented harm or error (e.g., Cross-Monitoring, Advocacy, Call-Out).
- Dashboard enables leaders to focus sustainability efforts on high-priority areas.
Sustainability Strategy
Sustainment is embedded in Parkview’s systemwide plan:
- A TeamSTEPPS Sustainability Team meets quarterly to guide efforts.
- Monthly “Concept of the Month” with leader-led discussions and reporting.
- Sharing TeamSTEPPS successes is standard practice during meetings.
- Ongoing resources include demonstration videos, monthly refreshers and a robust TeamSTEPPS resource page on the internal portal.
- Quarterly success story video series featuring recent TeamSTEPPS wins published in Parkview Health internal news.
New trainers join the Sustainability Team to continue spreading the use of TeamSTEPPS tools postimplementation. Leaders also reinforce TeamSTEPPS during regular co-worker check-ins before and after training to create an environment where every voice matters — and where great communication can have a significant impact on their team, patients and the communities Parkview serves.
See the Difference
Watch one of Parkview Health’s TeamSTEPPS success stories: