Meet Penny Iannelli, SVP and Chief Transformation Officer at UMass Memorial Health, an organization with a network of hospitals and physician clinics throughout Central Massachusetts. Penny and her team successfully rolled out KaiNexus to 17,000 caregivers across their organization, achieving exceptional engagement and innovation results.
Before adopting KaiNexus, UMass relied on physical idea boards for their improvement work. However, the pandemic in March 2020 highlighted the need for a digital platform to support CI work with teams working remotely. Key requirements included the ability to:
Since the launch, over 175,000 items have been submitted to the system, and engagement has continued to flourish.
Penny attributes their success to six important strategies. Let's dive into what those were:
From the outset, the CEO, Dr. Eric Dickson, championed CI and the use of KaiNexus, demonstrating that buy-in starts at the top. His support has been unwavering, evident in actions like:
"Dr. Dickson's leadership ensures managers are not only using KaiNexus but are also actively encouraging their teams to participate and stay accountable," Penny explains.
Why this matters: Visible support from leadership drives adoption and accountability, embedding KaiNexus into the organization's fabric.
Penny's team partnered cross-functionally during this time, specifically with marketing and IT. Marketing provided branded items—mouse pads, sticky notes, and posters—to build excitement and develop a strong rollout communication strategy.
While IT made KaiNexus easily accessible by adding desktop icons and setting up KaiNexus-branded screensavers on shared computer spaces, they also had employees vote on an internal name for KaiNexus, settling on "Innovation Station," which fostered a sense of ownership across departments.
Why this matters: Engaging cross-functional teams and integrating KaiNexus into the organizational culture make it a seamless and adopted tool for improvement.
Setting clear goals to reach every year has been instrumental in getting people engaged within the system. In the first two years, UMass focused on participation, aiming for 50% participation in year one and 75% in year two. By year three, they shifted to a focus on continuous activity, requiring each team to submit and complete at least one idea monthly, ideally resulting in 12 ideas completed per team per year. You may have thought encouraging fewer ideas would equate to fewer ideas submitted - but instead, they saw powerful results. This refocused goal resulted in active teams growing from 261 to 380 in year three!
Why this matters: Strategic goal-setting encourages ongoing engagement and drives a culture of continuous improvement rather than one-time actions.
Recognizing that a rollout of this scale requires ongoing support, Penny's team offered brainstorming sessions led by Jami Yi, Process Engineer. These 90-minute in-person and virtual sessions posed questions like, "What wastes your time?" and "What process issues impact care?" One particular department that participated in a brainstorming session ended up implementing 126 ideas in a single year.
Why this matters: Offering structured support helps teams overcome barriers and makes KaiNexus an essential part of their improvement process.
From the beginning, Penny was confident that the more they pulled people into the system instead of pushing them, the more success they would have. So, Penny's team integrated as many improvement-related processes as possible into KaiNexus. This way, KaiNexus was viewed as the central hub for improvement work, making it easier for teams to incorporate the platform into their daily routines.
Why this matters: Centralizing improvement processes within KaiNexus builds a strong, unified platform that employees are motivated to use.
UMass places a high value on recognition and reward, which has fueled employee engagement and satisfaction across the organization. From login notices that remind users to celebrate each other's contributions, to their Innovator of the Year program, recognition is embedded in their culture. This year, they're celebrating their 10th year of running their Innovator of the Year program, which they call a "Decade of Excellence," with $250,000 awarded to implement top projects and ideas nominated by team leaders.
Why this matters: Recognizing contributions encourages participation and reinforces the value of continuous improvement, making it a priority for all.
UMass Memorial Health's approach showcases how a strategic rollout, backed by strong leadership, collaborative support, goal-setting, structured engagement, and consistent recognition, can drive success in CI initiatives. For new KaiNexus customers, adopting elements of UMass's strategy can foster a smooth, effective rollout and build a sustainable improvement culture. Follow their lead to ensure your success with KaiNexus—whether it's your first rollout or a re-engagement effort with existing users.