As the foundation of America’s healthcare system, hospitals have been central to the nation’s COVID-19 response. These challenging times call for approaches to care that create opportunities for care to be more accessible and patient-centric than ever before.
Vituity, a leading provider of acute care management solutions partnering with hundreds of hospitals nationwide, recently led a discussion on how health systems can remain financially viable in an increasingly outpatient world. Vituity’s chief strategy officer, Denise Brown, MD, and president, Theo Koury, MD, shared their insights.
Virtual healthcare is here to stay
“It’s a mistake to fall into a crisis mentality and seek only short-term solutions. I think we need to wrap our heads around the fact that our pandemic response will change healthcare forever,” said Dr. Brown. “For as long as most of us have been practicing, we’ve always had a very provider-centric model of care. This is particularly true in acute care. And COVID-19 has underscored that we need a new paradigm moving forward.”
This newfound open-mindedness could allow for the continued use of more virtual care technology once the pandemic subsides, which would deliver a considerable benefit to patients. However, Dr. Brown noted that the industry will need to ensure that the virtual care environment doesn't become a fragmented experience for patients and providers.
The fight against healthcare fragmentation
“We not only need to capture patient volume [virtually] . . . but we also have to help people figure out what is the right point of access, whether the care can all be done on a screen or whether they do need to come into the hospital,” Dr. Brown said. “And then we’ve got to make sure that we close the communication loop to limit confusion.”
In addition to hindering both the experience of providers and patients, fragmentation also adversely influences fiscal performance, as operational inefficiencies tend to drive up costs. Dr. Koury put it succinctly: “If it’s fragmented, we’ll have failed at addressing cost of care, while quality of care will suffer.”
Designing a patient-centric, cost-effective future
A digital care experience that is holistic and not fragmented is one that is built with patient concerns in mind. According to Dr. Koury, keeping patients at the center of any care initiative or strategic priority is the key to better fiscal outcomes. As the industry becomes less transactional and more outcomes-based, quality care and better experiences will drive larger shares of hospital revenue.
“If you’re building something that really is patient-centric, it will improve care,” Dr. Koury said. “And if you improve care, the dollars will follow.”
Cultivating a cultural shift to embrace innovation
At this difficult moment, various stakeholders across healthcare are more willing to change and innovate than perhaps ever before. But change doesn’t happen automatically and often requires a dedicated shift in cultural norms and expectations to win buy-in from all stakeholders. According to Dr. Koury, developing a culture of innovation boils down to three main areas:
- First is ensuring that everyone within the organization understands and buys into the common mission and values. When we keep the patient at the center of our discussions, it creates a focal point for us to rally around.
- Second is provider engagement. Front-line teams, such as physicians, nurses, and advanced providers, are best positioned to solve the challenges they encounter daily. To engage them, we must open communication lines and invite them to the table from day one.
- Third is provider empowerment. This starts by removing obstacles, whether they’re outdated policies, cumbersome processes, or red tape. Also, carve out protected time for innovation that’s free from day-to-day commitments. Health systems that prioritized innovation time before the pandemic have been most resilient through the crisis.
In summing up what’s at stake for hospitals and how to incorporate virtual care successfully, Dr. Brown emphasized that “we need to keep focused on the patient, because [care] integration will be critical and one of the biggest challenges we face as we evolve into this new model of care.”
Click here to view the complete discussion on demand.
About Vituity
For nearly 50 years, Vituity has been a catalyst for positive change in healthcare. As a physician-led and -owned multispecialty partnership, our 4,200 doctors and clinicians care for 6.5 million patients each year across 400 practice locations and nine acute care specialties. Learn about our innovative solutions to healthcare challenges at vituity.com.