The “silo effect” can be very damaging to a hospital system. It occurs when hospital staff members strictly focus on their function (e.g., social work, discharge planning, utilization management) and forget how their function influences other healthcare professionals. When this happens, communication between disciplines becomes very difficult.

When Grace Dotson, RN, MS, CMAC, CPUR, joined Greenville Hospital System (SC) as the director of outcomes management, the first matter she wanted to address was improving communication and eliminating the facility silos.