Category Archives: Physician Engagement

Terry Edwards

2016 Trends: What’s ahead in healthcare IT?

By Terry Edwards  /  14 Jan 2016

As I looked back over the past few years of movement within healthcare industry, I’m amazed at how much of a misnomer the oft-used phrase, ‘slow-moving healthcare industry,’ really is. In just a few years, we’ve seen a steady move toward value-based care; the majority of organizations adopted EMRs; patient engagement is a major focus for providers; and technology advancements, from security to robotics to virtual reality, are truly beginning to take shape. It’s an exciting time to be in healthcare, and I can see the industry as a whole taking big leaps ahead to improve care and outcomes for patients.

To maintain this healthcare IT momentum, there are a few technology trends that will help drive discussion and change in 2016:

  1. Hospitals will invest in new enterprise-wide healthcare IT infrastructure. EMR adoption continues to be a huge undertaking for healthcare providers, requiring large investments, staff resources and a new way of working for clinicians. EHRs have had a huge impact, both in terms of patient care and clinician workflow, but organizations are realizing that EMRs are not the end-all and be-all of healthcare technology. In 2016, providers will start to put the pieces in place to build the healthcare IT system of the future – one that can accommodate advances in genomics, smart computing, analytics, operational intelligence and other emerging clinical and technology innovations, while increasing security to protect patient health data and enabling the real-time health system.
  1. Healthcare data will explode. Healthcare data is rapidly growing, and has been estimated to be even greater than 150 Exabytes. As we collect more data from wearables, DNA, environmental factors and other health factors, we’re going to see an exponential increase in data. To make that data actionable for clinicians, the industry will continue to see interoperability as the key ingredient to foster the seamless flow of data across the enterprise in a secure environment, enabling analytics and actionable intelligence to help improve patient care.
  1. Smarter technology will ease the cognitive load on clinicians. We’re living in an era where every major consumer technology brand has their own “Siri” or “Cortana” to serve as our own virtual assistant, reminding us of appointments, researching weather patterns and answering questions about the ratio of pints to gallons. This kind of technology will make a big impact in healthcare in 2016, giving clinicians the data and insights they need, right when they need it. Clinicians are constantly juggling increasing amounts of information, so technology that can filter out what’s important (and what’s just noise) will allow them to do their jobs more efficiently and confidently.

Next week, I’ll share some additional predictions on what’s ahead for providers. In the meantime, share your ideas, predictions, hopes and fears for 2016 with me via Twitter: @PerfectServeCEO

2016

Welcoming 2016 with a look back at 2015

By PerfectServe  /  07 Jan 2016

In 2015, we had some great authors contribute their healthcare perspectives on The Connected Clinician. These authors, ranging from PerfectServe executives to practicing nurses and physicians to other healthcare professionals, discussed the current state of the healthcare industry, expected industry changes in the years to come, and how organizations can collaborate to improve patient care. As we kick off a new year, we invite you to take a look back at some of our top posts from 2015 and reflect on how these topics will affect us in the year ahead:

UnityPoint Trinity Health – Lessons learned on the road to improving clinical communication

By Paul McLoone, MD, CMO/CQO, UnityPoint Trinity  /  03 Nov 2015

As healthcare providers continually work to identify solutions to help improve care quality and coordination, an analysis of current process and protocol is a standard starting place. If it’s decided a change is in order, there are a number of considerations to take into account before committing to a resolution. Each care system functions differently, and each have cultural and historical communication norms that can act as obstacles.

At UnityPoint Health, a 10-hospital, 3,500 physician and specialist system in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois, our clinical leaders decided to proactively and systematically implement a solution to connect nurses, physicians and patients, across the care continuum – a challenging, but essential, step to improving care coordination.

We found a successful solution and path for implementation, and wanted to share a few reflections on lessons learned along the way:

  • Be mindful your organization’s culture – Implementing a new solution is not as simple as flipping a switch. You need to have physicians and clinical team buy-in from the beginning, and keep them engaged in the process to better ensure they understand the process and stay supportive. We learned that by identifying respected care team champions right out of the gate, it was easier to implement changes across the organization.
  • Make the system a standard – Set the system up as the standard instead of as an option. By introducing a new system as something that will stick around for the long-haul, staff will be more likely to learn and adapt to it. Standardizing it also ensures everyone will be operating on the same system, streamlining processes.
  • Get it right the first time around – Be sure to set up the solution right the first time, as multiple refinements can be frustrating to busy physicians and nurses. Thorough research and planning (as well as education) ensure hospital leaders are on board to help facilitate a successful implementation.
  • Have an internal project manager – It’s important to utilize the solution provider’s expert support to maximize the capabilities, but local ownership helps to ensure a smoother transition. Creating an expert local team gives staff a familiar face to go to with any questions or issues they may have.

There are always challenges and lessons to be learned in implementing something new, especially in refining healthcare processes and protocol. Our solution for the approach was to be consistent, embed the technology and hard-wire it into their processes. This resulted in a 36 percent improvement in hospitalist average response time, increased nurse satisfaction and improved average response times of more than 50 percent at most of the individual hospitals.

Embracing change: Four steps to an “A-Ha!” moment

By Chris McEachin  /  09 Sep 2015

At Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, we saw an opportunity to improve upon our care delivery by implementing a secure and efficient clinical communications solution to ensure that a message was delivered to the right person at the right time no matter what method was used.

Making these changes required us to get clinicians to embrace the new procedures that would guarantee all messages were delivered and received in the proper manner. The process required more than IT changes, it meant creating a cultural shift among clinicians and employees who were already facing busy schedules and had little time for additional training.

We followed a four step approach to get clinicians on board and embrace the change:

  • Raise awareness – The first step was to work with clinicians to help them understand there was room for communication improvement in our hospital or health system in general. If clinicians could see how previous methods of communication were bogging them down and affecting the overall flow and efficiency, we felt they would be more likely to help implement a change.
  • Calm fears – It can be difficult to mobilize an entire staff that may be used to the “old way” of doing things and are fearful of potentially new issues such as “alert fatigue” or learning a new technology. It was important to get everyone on board and familiar with the new process so the transition would be smooth. We found the best way to accomplish this was to be transparent, keeping everyone informed and educated.
  • Remind them of the benefits – During any implementation, it can be easy to get discouraged. The best way to stay the course is to remind clinicians why they are doing this. The answer is simple: to ensure that people can connect in a timely manner, ultimately improving workflow which improves patient care and healthcare provider satisfaction.
  • Set the standard – As with any new endeavor, the path from implementation to seasoned veteran is comprised of a series of trial and error. Along the way, we realized that we needed to identify which physicians were necessary to be copied on all alerts and who should be the point person for coordinating these messages, among other things. What once was a foreign concept is now the standardized process that is well-ingrained in our community.

Change does require time, but education and transparency during transition times will help the process go smoothly. Hospitals and health systems today need to embrace the new frontier of healthcare through organized and secure communication methods, where patient care and physician satisfaction will always remain the heart of these organizations.

In the comments below, tell us how you’re embracing change.

Patient Centered Medical Home model – Rewards of a successful transformation

By Joshua Bennett, MD, MBA  /  26 Aug 2015

joshua bennettWith healthcare facing pressures to transform the way care is organized and delivered, providers must find new ways to deliver high-quality, accessible, efficient patient care. One model that is growing in popularity since its inception in the late 1960s, and promises a way for better healthcare, is the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH). According to the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), more than 10 percent of the U. S. primary care practices are recognized as a PCMH, and in a recent MGMA survey of 30,000 practices, 44 percent of practices wanted to become a PCMH.

The PCMH holds promise as a way to improve healthcare by transforming how primary care is organized and delivered. Structured as a care delivery team, a PCMH is a primary care office where the provider is the “captain” of the team and the office staff provides care at the top level of their clinical licenses. In the PCMH context, a provider could be a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant.

So what’s convinced so many practices to want to change?

  • Comprehensive care for increased engagement – One of the leading principles of the PCMH is to treat the patient as a whole person, covering comprehensive care from prevention and wellness to acute or chronic care. Care is coordinated across the health system – hospitals, home care, skilled nursing homes, and specialists – to improve patient outcomes and provide an opportunity to open the door for easier patient engagement and prevent duplication of services and clinical errors. Technology is another access point for patient engagement, in providing information such as a website, patient portal, scheduling, clinical information, health records and 24/7 electronic access, so that patients can access services even quicker and easier than with the technology available in a traditional model.
  • Strong patient-physician relationship – Within a PCMH, the ongoing relationship between patients, providers, and their clinical team, is a priority. Patients work with a consistent team of providers, who learn about a patient’s health, as well as preferences, communication styles and values, so that care decisions can be made together. This strong relationship between patients and their providers also helps ensure patients and their families make informed decisions. With the PCMH model, providers collect patient experiences and gauge patient satisfaction, and by combining those insights with performance measurement and improvement, providers are able to provide more personalized care to their patients.
  • Lower costs and higher quality – Cost is a concern to everyone who plays a role in healthcare, and due to the increased accessibility and proactive mindset among physicians in PCMH, the value is seen by more than just the patient and doctor. For patients, the PCMH helps to reduce medical costs. A Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative report analyzing 20 peer-reviewed studies on medical homes, found that about 60% showed a decrease in the cost of patient care. From the provider’s perspective, the model improves clinical outcomes through coordinated care and demonstrates to both local and government health plans, the need for increased reimbursement for this additional care management and coordination.

Not all practices may be a right fit to be a formal accredited PCMH. However, when boiled down to the basics, many of the characteristics of the model can be instilled in most practices due to one common goal – bringing care coordination to the forefront of care delivery.