We say it often because it’s true: at Temple, providing our patients with the highest quality healthcare is our top priority. It’s why we’re always working to enhance our standard of care, and why we have an entire department—Performance Excellence—dedicated to these initiatives.
To help our employees integrate best practices into their workplace, we’ve interviewed Performance Excellence leaders from across the Health System. Read their responses to learn about the future of healthcare quality, how team members can contribute to system-wide projects, and more:
What does healthcare quality mean to you?
Boris Tsypenyuk, MSPT, MHA, Director of Performance Excellence, Temple Health-Chestnut Hill Hospital: Henry Ford’s saying comes to mind—“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.”
Kristen Smith, MPP, BA, SSBBP, Director of Performance Excellence at TUH-Jeanes Campus: Quality is spending the time to evaluate each situation, develop plans of action based on the evidence gathered, and lead efforts to improve outcomes, pivoting when necessary to adjust for modifications.
What is the main focus of your department?
Kristen Smith: Our mission is to foster the delivery of exceptional care through continuous quality improvement and innovation. We help Temple Health focus on preventing complications, identifying areas of opportunity, and facilitating improvement efforts based on our findings.
Francesca Bauder, MS, EMC, PM-LPC, LSSGB, Director of Quality & Safety, TUH-Episcopal and Northeastern Campuses: We’re striving to create a clinical space where disciplines become more comfortable with team-checking existing processes and systems. Our goal is to break down siloed departmental operations by demonstrating how each clinical discipline’s role impacts one another. Let’s rid our vocabularies of the “Because we’ve always done it this way” vernacular. It’s old and tired, and we’re ready for a refresh!
Ultimately, this advancement in our collective thought processes will begin to organically flow into practice and process improvement, increase the quality of our documentation, and lead to better patient engagement and healthcare quality outcomes.
What role can Temple Health employees outside the Performance Excellence department play in advancing and sustaining system-wide quality initiatives?
Brittany Layton, MBA, Director of Operations, TUH-Main Campus: Every individual plays a vital role in advancing and sustaining system-wide quality initiatives. Maintaining a strong focus on quality requires engagement at every level, as quality is a shared responsibility across all departments and disciplines. By embracing accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement in daily practice, team members help drive lasting change and ensure consistent, high-quality care for every patient.
Francesca Bauder: Those outside of the Performance Excellence department are encouraged to provide active feedback on how system-wide initiatives may impact their respective units or disciplines. Participation in staff meetings, town hall sessions, and quality/safety meetings is a great way to provide real-time feedback on what’s working well, and also helps identify areas that need additional fine-tuning or attention. Active engagement and solution-focused discussion help demonstrate an individual’s commitment to the advancement and sustainability of system-wide quality initiatives.
What do you see as the future of healthcare quality, particularly with advancements in technology and AI?
Brittany Layton: Rapid advancements in technology and AI are creating opportunities to build more efficient, sustainable, and data-driven systems. As we integrate these tools into everyday practice, strong accountability and disciplined change management will be critical to ensuring adoption, consistency, and measurable improvement across all levels of care. Above all, our commitment remains centered on patient safety and outcomes: leveraging technology to empower our teams, enhance decision-making, and elevate the overall standard of care.
Kristen Smith: The future of healthcare quality is moving towards precision, prediction, and integration, driven by advancements in technology and AI. Clinical registries will evolve from retrospective databases into real-time intelligence systems, automating many elements of the abstraction process and providing actionable insights across community and specialty hospitals. Predictive analytics will allow us to shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive prevention, identifying risks and optimizing care before adverse events occur.
As leaders, our focus will be on leveraging these innovations while preserving personal connection, ensuring technology enhances our collaboration in elevating healthcare quality.