Frontiers of Health Services Management最新文献

Summary: "Using a blindfold, I want you to find your way to the front door of the school building," our elementary schoolteacher instructed. This was to teach us what it would be like to live without vision. We lined up on one side of the schoolyard and took turns when the teacher called our name. I watched as my fellow students, one by one, wandered about, never getting close to the school's front door. They eventually were guided along by other teachers. Then came my turn.As I pulled the blindfold over my eyes, I noticed it was windy. I could hear the flag snap in the wind. Recalling that the flagpole was only a few feet away from the door, I followed the sound the flag made. As soon as I touched the flagpole, I turned and walked directly to the door, and excitedly grasped the handle. Our teacher approached me, astonished. "Tresha, how did you do it? How did you find the door so quickly?" he asked. "It was as if you could see." I explained that I used my ears instead of my eyes. In effect, I reimagined my approach.Today, healthcare leaders must reimagine their approach to navigating workforce shortages. Indeed, many methods used prior to the pandemic seem ineffective now. Relying on policymakers or education institutions and simply investing more money in the same solutions may not yield the desired turnaround. Increasing sign-on bonuses may entice potential candidates, but it cannot stem the tide of the Great Resignation.I will describe three workforce practices that have rapidly become ineffective over the duration of the pandemic, then explore ways to rethink the practice and develop a new approach to navigating the workforce shortage.

Summary: The US healthcare sector differs from others, particularly with regard to how its workforce is compensated. In healthcare's third-party payer system, the consumer (i.e., the patient) typically is not the one paying for the service. Moreover, the payment for a given service is negotiated by the provider and the third-party payer before the patient ever seeks care-and the payment for the same service may differ among payers and patients. To further complicate matters, myriad overlapping federal, state, and local statutes and regulations govern how providers interact with patients and each other. The challenges with compensating physicians have been amplified by the healthcare workforce shortage that was looming even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of these various forces in the healthcare industry, this article reviews the current ways healthcare providers are compensated and the challenges with those compensation plans. Potential approaches to remedy those challenges are described, both broadly and with specific real-world examples related to primary care and surgical specialties. Lessons learned from these approaches include ways that healthcare organizations may measure the success of a compensation plan.

Summary: Digital transformation strategies in healthcare are presenting unique ways to support patient acquisition and retention efforts. Montefiore Health System is on a multiyear, multipronged digital transformation journey with interventions centered on improving access to care.Our patients can search for a provider, schedule a visit, get details about their visit, and check in through a welcoming digital front door. Asynchronous e-communication and video visits have also been implemented, and these added options are optimized by technologies including a new provider data management tool to support an enhanced provider directory, electronic health record system integration with online scheduling, telehealth/virtual care, and text message communications. Combined, these tactics support a positive patient experience. Happier patients are more likely to return for the care they need to improve their health and maintain wellness. In addition, digital solutions can alleviate administrative burdens, which can improve employee engagement and satisfaction.While the lack of access to technology as a social determinant of health can present challenges in our diverse market, Montefiore has developed a respectful process to meet patients where they are in an era of consumer-driven healthcare. The process sets forth various approaches to bridge healthcare's digital divide. The route is sequenced in a digital transformation road map to ensure that Montefiore remains competitive, provides value with operational efficiencies, and delivers the innovative care that is necessary in today's healthcare landscape.

Summary: Technology has become a mission-critical part of healthcare business operations. The electronic health record, medical equipment, revenue cycle, enterprise resource planning, marketing, legal, planning and building new facilities… every component today is dependent on automated tools. When computer systems go offline, everyone feels the stress of conducting business and delivering care without access to all the information they need. Downtimes are especially dangerous for patients.While there are many reasons that these systems go offline, cybersecurity breaches are primary culprits. Logically then, digital innovation becomes unsustainable in healthcare without cybersecurity transformation. What was good enough at one time is not acceptable anymore. As healthcare has accelerated toward digital dependence, particularly through the COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity threats have also increased. The time to transform cybersecurity is now.The first thing for healthcare leaders to understand is this: You do not have a malware problem or a ransomware problem-you have a cybersecurity adversary problem. It is important to learn everything about the organizations attacking you, including their structure, motivation, and goals. Armed with those insights, you are more likely to be able to defend your health system. By transforming your cybersecurity program, you will build a foundation on which you can thrive as a modern healthcare operation.

Summary: The University of Pennsylvania Health System was founded in 1993 as one of the nation's first integrated academic medical centers. Over the past 29 years, Penn Medicine has systematically built a care delivery system based on three core values: innovation, integration, and impact. The operating strategy is designed to meet the patient's needs in a traditional brick-and-mortar hospital as well as in an increasingly virtual world. Today's patient is demanding an omnichannel experience with superior outcomes. Although long discussed in healthcare, such a comprehensive, seamless patient experience is only possible when all four channels of care delivery-hospital, ambulatory, home, and virtual-are sustainably integrated to improve the health of the population through digital innovation and analytics.The COVID-19 pandemic forced healthcare systems around the world to pour resources into telemedicine and other telehealth tools. This shift is fueling a dramatic shift from a piecemeal digital strategy to a comprehensive approach to the digital world where increased communication among clinicians, caregivers, and patients can lead to improved outcomes at a lower cost.In this article, we present an illustrative case study focusing on two of four channels of care: the Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where the latest in digital innovation has been built into the walls of our most ambitious capital project to date, and Penn Medicine at Home, which provides home care services, home infusion, and hospice care to patients throughout the region. The new $1.6 billion Pavilion and its technological updates have been seamlessly woven into the longstanding Penn Medicine at Home program. As a system, we did this by learning from both the victories and the setbacks to design for a future of healthcare we could once only imagine.

Summary: Digital innovations are arriving in healthcare at an increasing rate. Electronic medical records provided the foundation for this growth, and now thousands of technology companies are servicing every aspect of healthcare. Since 2018, Houston Methodist has been cultivating digital disruption, working to speed up the development of new initiatives. As our digital innovation has grown exponentially over the past few years, we have kept the patient at the center of all activities. We hold the philosophy that patient empowerment should be a process whereby patients understand their role and have access to knowledge that enables them to engage with their providers in a bidirectional relationship. Patient empowerment in the patient room, in care pathways, and in opioid reduction demonstrate the success of our approach with strongly positive outcomes. Importantly, the efforts are not only appreciated by our patients, but also widely embraced by our clinicians.

Summary: Hospitals have been facing an epic crisis, with the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelming emergency departments and forcing the implementation of surge protocols to manage care delivery and treatment. These realities have affected both inpatient care delivery and caregiver effectiveness. The need to reevaluate clinical operations is challenging the healthcare delivery structure and its leadership to think differently-digitally. Supporting care for patients in the home has played an important role in mitigating many safety and access issues, accelerating telehealth adoption and solidifying its place in the ongoing transformation of healthcare delivery. As this shift continues to unfold, it is also bringing an opportunity to improve clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and cost reduction efforts as well as advance access and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the US healthcare delivery system.