On May 20th, Deborah will serve on the panel “Key Pharmacy Strategies for Health Systems” at Becker’s Hospital Review 3rd Annual Health IT + Clinical Leadership + Pharmacy Conference. As part of an ongoing series, Becker’s is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place on May 19-21, 2020 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Deborah’s session, click here.
Question: What initiative are you most excited about today at your healthcare organization? How will it affect the future of healthcare delivery?
Deborah Simonson: There are many initiatives that involve pharmacy that will provide a lower cost of care and in a more consumer-friendly fashion which includes providing options for care in different environments. One example is our outpatient and home infusion center which will be live in early 2020. It will enable the system to have additional options for access to care that we currently do not have. Patients will be able to come in for an infusion 7 days a week in a non-hospital-based environment and connect with their provider at the same time via a telemedicine visit. Instead of sending a patient to the emergency room to get a PICC line placement and start antibiotics, they can go to the new center to have a PICC line placed, receive their first dose of medicine and either be taught how to administer subsequent doses or have home health set up. The onsite team will follow our best practices for patient care and keep the provider updated on the patient’s progress so it is seamless and coordinated. How will it affect the future of healthcare delivery? It gives us options for care, can be lower cost, more consumer-friendly and coordinated with the patient’s provider.
Q: What is the most important lesson you’ve learned about delivering excellent patient experience?
DS: The most important lesson is thinking outside of the box and examining how care is delivered today. Oftentimes, healthcare isn’t as consumer-friendly as other industries and our industry is held to specific regulations that can be difficult to navigate. We need to continue to focus on patient-centric, coordinated care, and become involved in creating solutions for potential payment methods and regulation changes.
Q: What do you see as the most dangerous trend in healthcare right now?
DS: Skyrocketing drug costs continues to be a hot topic and is impacting all hospitals nationwide. Items that are driving increases are channel shifting which includes disruption within the pharmacy supply chain, limited dispensing and clinic administered medication, and single-source medications, adoption of biosimolars and drug shortages.
Q: What future health IT capability will have the most significant impact on clinical workflows or patient outcomes?
DS: AI learning. If we can incorporate AI learning in more areas, it will have a huge impact on our workflows and outcomes.
At Becker's 4th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, taking place November 2–5 in Chicago, more than 1,500 hospital and health system executives tackle decisions that determine whether organizations thrive or merely survive: protecting margins under cost pressure, choosing where to grow, renegotiating payer relationships, stabilizing the workforce and proving real ROI on technology. This is where leaders work through them together, face-to-face. Apply for complimentary registration now.
