Knowledge on the Go

Well-being: Leading your staff during a crisis – Part 2

The Coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on hospitals and clinicians across the country. As the surge persists, staff stressors increase, and the relentless pressure compounds the seriousness of the problem. This episode reveals how Rush University Medical Center’s Strategic Communications department became a key player in helping the hospital, staff and community cope during the COVID pandemic crisis.
 
Guest speaker:
Anne Burgeson
Associate Vice President, Strategic Communications
Rush University Medical Center
 
Moderator:
Nicole Spatafora, MS-HSM
Senior Director, PI Collaboratives
Vizient
 
Show Notes:
[00:27] Rush staff were very stressed as they prepared for “tsunami” of COVID heading their way and their first patient
[00:55] Rush set up a Hospital Incident Command to prepare for COVID pandemic
[01:50] Volume of positive COVID patients at Rush University Medical Center
[02:10] Established a communication plan and collaborated with command center and senior leaders
[02:50] Rumors were controlled by transparency and consistency in communications
[03:57] Rush used every means possible to spread the latest information – emails, newsletters and intranet accessibility at home, including positive articles, message boards and Q&A
[05:08] Senior leaders rounded seven days a week to directly answer questions and thank staff for coming to work and caring for patients in such an amazing way
[05:27] Started virtual town hall meetings
[06:05] Staff relied on constant and trusted communication
[06:49] Engagement survey numbers showed staff were still excited to come and do their jobs
[07:30] Robust communication to support community’s knowledge of latest COVID information
[08:30] Preparation for emergencies and frequent, reliable communications helped hospitals, staff and people around the world in a meaningful way
 
Links | Resources:
CDC: Stress & Coping Click here
AMA: Caring for Health Care workers during a crisis, Creating a resilient organization Click here
Harvard Medical School: Strengthening Resiliency in Health Care Providers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Click here
American Academy of Pediatrics: TheResilienceProject. We can stop toxic stress Click here
 
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Well-being: Leading your staff during a crisis – Part 1

The Coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on clinicians across the country. As the surge persists, staff stressors increase, and the relentless pressure compounds the seriousness of the problem.  This episode reveals how a new Chief Medical Officer at Loyola Medical Center helped his staff and himself get through this unusual crisis event.
 
Guest speaker:
Kevin Smith, MD, MBA (Guest)Chief Medical OfficerLoyola University Medical Center
 
Moderator:
Nicole Spatafora, MS-HSM Senior Director, PI CollaborativesVizient
 
Show Notes:
[00:19] Loyola staff felt fear and confusion when COVID hit
[00:56] Kevin Smith was a new Chief Medical Officer when the pandemic hit
[01:18] Leadership team was new to Loyola
[01:48] Leadership stayed on campus to work through problems, and developed trust in each other
[02:34] Leadership tried to reassure staff they were being as transparent as possible
[03:05] Physicians wanted to hear from their local leader, but message had to be consistent with other messages
[03:38] Started virtual town halls
[04:00] Daily huddles with leadership
[04:25] Loyola’s three hospitals coordinated care with thee times a week leadership calls, forming a tight, regional bond
[05:16] Lessons learned as a leader who brought his staff through a crisis event
 
Links | Resources:
American Psychological Association: Building your resilience  Click Here
CDC: Stress & Coping Click Here
AMA: Caring for Health Care workers during a crisis, Creating a resilient organization  Click Here
Harvard Medical School: Strengthening Resiliency in Health Care Providers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Click Here
 
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Managing high utilizers

Patients who are high utilizers, also known as multi-visit patients (MVPs) or frequent flyers, whether found in the ED, inpatient units or other departments, drive up readmission rates and tie up resources. Often, clinicians and administrators hold out little hope that they can end the multi-visit cycles of these patients. Yet, by looking at a patient’s multiple visits as a symptom of a deeper problem, and then identifying and rectifying that underlying problem, clinicians can end a patient’s cycle of care utilization.
 
On this podcast, a leading expert in high-utilizer care discusses her MVP Method, used successfully in a recent Vizient performance improvement collaborative. The general principles and actions of the MVP Method can revolutionize care, break the cycle of utilization and change the life of your patients.
 
Guest speaker:
Amy Boutwell, MD, MPP
President
Collaborative Healthcare Strategies
 
Moderator:
Heather Forst-Ramirez, MS
Performance Improvement Program Director
Vizient
 
Show Notes:
[00:35] Looking at the high utilizers
[01:17] Conventional approach: nothing can be done
[01:34] High utilizers account for 50 percent of readmissions
[02:12] Defining patients who are high utilizers
[02:56] How the Vizient PI Collaborative tackled the challenge
[03:29] Details and strategies in the MVP Method
[06:12] Addressing the challenges and the drivers of utilization
[07:52] One patient’s story: a life transformed
 
Resources:
High Utilizer (MVP) Collaborative Guidebook (Vizient, Jan 2021) Click here
Lessons Learned from the High Utilizer Collaborative: Case Study (Vizient) Click here
When Being an MVP is Not a Good Thing (Health Care Quality Innovation Network, Sep 2020) Click here
Readmissions News: MVP Method Click here
Designing and Delivering Whole-Person Transitional Care Click here
 
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COPD Chronic Care

In this program, Curt  Muhammad from University of Washington Harborview shares his insights on how Harborview Medical Center leadership established a respiratory protocol that included staff training for social determinants of health. The effort would generate better results for those patients and better effectiveness for the staff.
 
Guests:
Curt Muhammad, RRT, MSW
COPD Case Manager
Harborview Medical Center
 
Resources:
Watch the COPD Chronic Care webcast here for additional details.
 
For more information, email knowledgetransfer@vizientinc.com
 
Show Notes:
[00:00 – 01:25]  Establish respiratory protocol for COPD patient
[01:25 – 02:39]  Need for staff training
[02:40 – 04:26]  Alleviating staff concerns and training for social determinants of health
[04:27 – 04:39]  Seeing the benefits of the training for staff and patients
[04:40 – 07:45]  Other positive results from the protocol
[07:46 – 08:34]  Harborview leadership gained valuable insight
[08:35 – 09:50]  Patients taught everyone a bigger lesson
 
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Using Data to Reduce Opioids in Orthopedics

Lehigh Valley Health Network recently participated in a Vizient Performance Improvement Collaborative that reduced the use of opioids in orthopedic surgery. The key to success was convincing clinicians to join the initiative and fully participate. On this podcast, you’ll hear from two leaders at Lehigh Valley who share how they used data to accomplish this goal.
 
Guest speakers:
Matthew McCambridge, MD, MHQS
Senior Vice President
Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer
Lehigh Valley Health Network
 
Joshua Rosentel, BSN, RN
Senior Clinical Quality Information Specialist
Lehigh Valley Health Network
 
Moderator:
Marilyn Sherrill, RN, MBA, CNOR, CPHQ
Knowledge Transfer Director
Vizient
 
Show Notes:
[00:26] The interview that started the initiative
[01:38] Joining the Vizient collaborative
[02:20] An opioid problem in Pennsylvania
[02:40] The challenge of provider variation
[02:52] Physicians and data
[03:21] One slide is all that’s needed
[04:17] Telling the story
[05:02] Data transparency and benchmarking
[06:12] Taking the approach to other clinical areas
[07:09] The role of Vizient’s CDB
 
Links | Resources:
Program handout from October 28, 2020 Vizient Medical Leadership Series webcast Click here
Link to October 28 webcast Click here
“The Opioid Epidemic: Impact on Orthopaedic Surgery” (Journal of the AAOS) Click here
 
For more information, email knowledgetransfer@vizientinc.com
 
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Improving Ortho Implants

Hospitals are constantly faced with the pressure to improve quality and outcomes while reducing costs. Keir Mitchell and Kendra Pitts from the University of Illinois highlight their achievements in establishing a utilization protocol – with appropriate resources, including implants, for the orthopedic product category. They also discuss how participation in a Vizient Performance Improvement Collaborative focused on establishing protocols for orthopedic implants shaped their efforts in the process.
 
Guests:
Keir Mitchell, PT, PhD, GCS
Director, Musculoskeletal Clinical Services
University of Illinois Health
 
Kendra Pitts, MS
Assistant Director, Value Analysis Program
University of Illinois Health
 
Carla Stephens, CMRP, LSSGB
Collaborative Advisor
Vizient
 
Host:
Kelly Randall
Knowledge Transfer Director
Vizient
 
Show Notes:
[00:00 – 02:20]  Beginning the University of Illinois orthopedic utilization protocol
[02:20 – 03:23]  Working with Physicians on the orthopedic utilization protocol
[03:24 – 04:12]  Selection of team members
[04:13 – 05:54]  Building a case for change
[05:55 – 06:12]  Importance of data in developing orthopedic utilization protocol
[06:14 – 06:45]  Results from the protocol
[06:46 – 07:23]  Working with new technology
 
For more information, email knowledgetransfer@vizientinc.com
 
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Identifying Ambulatory and Post-Acute Care Strategies to Reduce Readmissions

Transitions of care can be arduous for clinicians and confusing to patients. Often, clinicians and patients alike face unreal expectations as to the level of care that results. As an answer, NYU Langone Health fostered better communication between clinicians in the acute-care areas and clinicians in the post-acute facilities to improve on the inefficiencies and drawbacks involved in care transitions.
 
Ana Mola, PhD, ANP-BC
Director
Care Transitions and Population Health Management
NYU Langone Health.
 
Adrienne Goldberg, MPT
Director
Post-acute Innovation and Special Projects
NYU Langone Medical Center
 
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Behavioral Response Team

Hospitals all over the country are overwhelmed by an increasing number of patients with behavioral health issues. Many use the emergency department to access care and end up staying in the hospital for a more extended time.  These patients jeopardize health care workers safety and impede their own ability to receive necessary care. The University of Kansas Health System developed a Behavioral Response Team to intervene with these patients that has shown positive results for the organization and their patients.
 
Guests:
Teresa Long, MD
Associate Professor for Psychiatry and Internal Medicine
University of Kansas Health System
 
Heidi Boehm
Quality Outcome Coordinator
University of Kansas Health System
 
Show Notes:
[00:00 – 01:17]  Beginnings of the Behavioral Response Team
[01:18 – 02:36]  Recognizing the need for safety and improving the care of patients
[02:37 – 03:39]  Specific skillsets of Response Team
[03:40 – 04:39]  Training and partnering with police department
[04:40 – 05:57]  Prevention intervention
[05:58 – 06:42]  Importance of Documentation
[06:43 – 08:16]  Challenges and changes
[08:17 – 09:42]  Setting up for success
 
Links | Resources:
Watch the Vizient Behavioral Response Team webcast here for additional details.
For more information, email knowledgetransfer@vizientinc.com
 
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Improving Sepsis Early Recognition

Sepsis is a life-threatening infection that kills nearly 270,000 Americans annually.  Another 1.7 million people develop sepsis but survive the experience.  In this podcast, we dive into the work of patient and family advisory councils and why the collaboration between patients, families and their providers can mean the difference between life and death.
 
Guests:
Armando Nahum, Director, Center for Engaging Patients as Partners, MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety
Jeanne DeCosmo, BSN, MBA, CPHQ, Director, Clinical Quality, MedStar Health
For more information, email knowledgetransfer@vizientinc.com
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Emergency Medicine of the Future, Part 3

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency medicine departments faced a myriad of challenges. Dr Tomas Spiegel from the University of Chicago and Dr. Martin Lucenti from Vizient return for part 3 of this series summarizing factors that shape emergency medicine today and offer their thoughts on what will be different in the future. In this episode they examine how emergency departments can adjust scope of care and use social determinants of care to help shape their future.
 
Guests:
Thomas Spiegel, MD, MS, BA, ED
Medical Director
University of Chicago Medicine
 
Martin Lucenti, MD, PhD
SVP & CMO, Solution Architecture
Vizient
 
For more information, email knowledgetransfer@vizientinc.com
 
Show Notes:
[00:00-08:13] Switching scope of care model in emergency department away from convenient care and making it easier for patients to access care.
 
[08:14-09:36] Training providers differently for the change in scope of care in emergency department.
 
[09:37-12:36] Role of specialists in emergency department when changing to a new care model.
 
[12:37-15:30] The transition of the emergency department to point of access for all service lines an organization.
 
[15:31-18:24] Role of community in helping emergency medicine in the future.
 
[18:25-26:56] Taking strain off emergency medicine by tapping into the resources of the community.
 
[26:57-29:43] What’s on the horizon for emergency medicine.
 
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