Providea Blog Manage a Sprawling Provider Network

Posted by:: Theresa GoodreauHealthcarePrevious:Blog 1: Communication Solutions for Healthcare SeriesBlog 2: Quality Care, EverywhereThe healthcare client use cases described in this document are real. Fictional client and patient names are used to protect confidentiality. Enjoy!As Emma's generation ages into retirement, their healthcare needs increase through end of life - and many medical practices don't have enough doctors to handle their numbers. While medical schools scramble to educate new doctors, existing practices struggle to do more with less.The Tri-State Medical Center (TSMC) healthcare network responded to this challenge through growth, merging with another large urban hospital and several more specialized practices over recent years. This challenged TSMC to combine diverse organizations into a single well-managed, well-functioning healthcare organization, united by a consistent culture and operational processes focused on driving quality medical care.For Emma, these dynamics show up in two ways: quality of care and patient experience.Business Need: Be Effective, Efficient and ProfitableEmma's previous provider responded to high demand by cutting the time spent with patients, increasing the amount of time that Emma spent waiting alone in an exam room. The provider was attempting to control spiraling healthcare costs with austerity measures, limiting investment in personnel - but this only aggravated coverage problems in a provider network that was already spread too thin.Emma became even more dissatisfied with her previous medical provider when routine administrative tasks were handled poorly - things like setting appointments, checking lab results, submitting payments and making account inquiries. Phone calls were bounced from one voice mailbox to another, and no one in the sprawling organization seemed to play from the same handbook, or have access to all the data. Lack of communication led to inconsistency, and ultimately gave Emma the impression that her doctor didn't care about her, thus losing her trust.Industry Solution: Video CollaborationTo help teams work together effectively across multiple facilities, many provider networks rely upon video conferencing and collaboration tools for medical consultations, organizational meetings and staff training.Video capabilities range from ad-hoc video calling on desktop or mobile devices, to room-based systems and full telepresence capabilities - all running on a common technology backbone that's easy to use, with a similar interface and experience across all devices. From large systems to small, each of these capabilities can play an important role in healthcare operations:Video Rooms: Designating a video-enabled conference room at every location enables large practices to coordinate management, communication and staff-training events across the organization. Optimized with easy-to-use technology that's identical from site to site, video rooms enable administrators and other employees to connect quickly and use advanced features with minimal effort.The sweet spot for this configuration is small-group discussions and one-to-many events. Administrators at TCMS quickly learned the value of meeting frequently with administrative leaders from newly-merged practices and sites, where face recognition and regular contact helped them to quickly build trust and develop engagement among teams and locations. Now Video Rooms are used throughout the day to keep communication flowing freely.Telepresence: A step up from Video Rooms, Telepresence facilities take additional steps to erase the distance between sites. Consistent room design, high-definition video and audio, and life-size displays combine, making it possible for executives to read subtle nonverbal cues of expression, body language and nuance in situations where trust and a higher level of engagement are essential.This capability enabled TSMC senior administrators and doctors to strategically merge, manage and integrate all operations from core to edge.Desktop: Using a single backbone for all conferencing enables individual users to join conferences from their desk - for convenience, or when they are the only participant at their site.Mobility: Extending the conference experience securely to mobile devices enables employees to participate in important discussions and events while travelling, working from home, or attending a call outside of their normal work hours. Business Value: Facilitate Management Across LocationsFortunately for Emma, the management team at TSMC had implemented video conferencing the previous year, intentionally driving a change culture across the expanded provider network to ensure adoption. She knew nothing about the video-based conferences taking place - from team meetings to executive engagement events, "grand round" diagnostic discussions, formal training and informal lunch-and-learn sessions. But Emma saw the result: doctors, nurses and administrators all working together to present a consistent patient experience, handling her requests and concerns quickly and effectively.In addition, TSMC benefits financially from reduced travel, administration and training costs, which helps counter the problem of spiraling healthcare costs without sacrificing quality of care in any way. But from the patient perspective, the biggest benefit is the peace of mind that results from watching the pieces of their healthcare network function smoothly in the patient's interest.Check back soon for our third use case: "The Administrative Patient Experience"!