Telehealth found wide adoption and acceptance during the pandemic, accompanied with loosened government restrictions on its use. On this episode, two experts examine the current state of telehealth, bolstered by findings from the project Effective Strategies for Sustaining and Optimizing Telehealth in Primary Care conducted by Vizient and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Guest speaker:

Danielle Carder, MSc

Senior Program Specialist

Access and Clinical Innovations

Association of American Medical Colleges

Host:

Courtney Furrow-White, MPM, RN

Senior PI Program Director

Vizient

Show Notes:

[00:26] The project

[00:37] The surge of telehealth

[02:15] Vizient-AAMC partnership: survey and resulting video interviews

[03:37] Foundational investments: technology, work force, care services

[05:25] Effective strategies to incorporate telehealth

[07:05] Provider and staff engagement – physicians as drivers

[08:25] A seamless patient encounter

[09:36] Use of metrics

[10:34] Challenges and barriers

[14:16] Use will continue into the future

Links | Resources:

Contacting Knowledge on the Go: [email protected]

Joint Telehealth Report: Click here

Courtney’s email: [email protected]

Danielle’s email: [email protected]

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Since its development over 50 years ago, the stethoscope hasn’t changed much – until now. Enter artificial intelligence (AI). On this episode, we discuss how AI, working with robust datasets, promises to enhance the newest generation of stethoscopes, maybe in the very near future.

Guest speaker:

Moderator:

Show Notes:

[01:36] Deep learning AI algorithms for heart sounds

[03:04] Need for a large data set to train an AI neural network – machine learning

[04:08] Electronic stethoscopes

[05:21] Public databases: the key to development of alternative technologies

[05:33] Phonocardiogram

[07:30] Does it work?

[08:35] Adjunct tool

[09:42] “Hospitals should be buying outcomes, not technologies”

[10:15] Publications and studies to come

[10:53] Improving diagnostic accuracy over time

[12:57] Detecting heart failure (Mayo)

Links | Resources:

Contacting Knowledge on the Go:

[email protected]

Marilyn’s email: [email protected]

Joe’s email: [email protected]

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In the wake of COVID, the nation’s health care organizations are experiencing staffing shortages, burnout and other workforce challenges.  Health leaders are turning to innovation, technology and alternative staffing models to address these challenges. Vizient’s Principal of Clinical Workforce Strategy, Dr. Jacqueline Herd, joins us to discuss ways health organizations can improve efficiency, workforce optimization and redesign their models of care.

Guest speaker:

Moderator:

Show Notes:

[01:24] Dr. Jacqueline Herd’s background

[02:47] The need for new models of care to handle shortages and to compete with retail

[04:55] Reimagining workflow involves redesigning how work is done and how to make it more efficient so we stop burnout and exhaustion

[05:27] Models of care that make work more efficient  

[08:05] Working top of license and certification

[10:21] Integrating the community care worker into the care team

[12:16] Understanding what a licensed practical nurse (LPN) can do helps them work at top of license   

[14:52] Virtual nursing

Links | Resources:

Vizient Nursing Workforce Intelligence Report: Click Here

Contact Knowledge on the Go: [email protected]

Jackie Herd’s email:  [email protected]

Amber Hanser’s email: [email protected]

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Patient length of stay (LOS) is a crucial measurement for health care organizations since longer patient stays increase patient risk for complications while reducing patient satisfaction. They also represent higher costs for the hospital. At the University of Kentucky, using a model of short-term improvement actions called “sprints,” along with participation in a Vizient performance improvement collaborative and the commitment of senior leaders, a clinical performance team has led an initiative to reduce LOS that has produced strong, ongoing results.

Guest speakers:

Jennifer Rose, MBA

Associate Vice President

Core Clinical and Performance Services

UK HealthCare

Lauren Miller, MBA

Senior Quality Improvement Specialist

Core Clinical and Performance Services

UK HealthCare

Moderator:

Margaret Rudisill, MS-HQS, RN

Performance Improvement Program Director

Vizient

Show Notes:

[02:54] Working on reducing LOS at UK HealthCare

[04:00] Joining the Vizient Performance Improvement Collaborative

[04:32] Leadership involvement, participant accountability, process transparency

[06:39] Linking with the stakeholders

[07:46] The Sprint Model and the Forcefield Analysis

[08:51] Three themes

[09:56] How the Sprint brings testing to a quick resolution

[11:09] Sprint example

Links | Resources:

Contacting Knowledge on the Go: [email protected]

Margaret’s email: [email protected]

Jennifer’s email: [email protected]

Lauren’s email: [email protected]

Sample Forcefield Analysis: Forcefield Analysis Template

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The mental health of our children is important to our society. Unfortunately, the state of mental wellness for our nation’s children and adolescents is declining. Twenty percent were diagnosed with a mental disorder before COVID-19, and only a fraction of that is receiving professional help. Vizient’s Technology Program Director, Joe Cummings joins us to discuss innovative digital technologies to help our young people who are getting mental health treatment.

Guest speaker:

Joe Cummings, PhD

Technology Program Director

Vizient

Moderator:

Laura Hoffman, DNP, MSN, RN, CPHQ

Program Director

Performance Improvement Programs

Vizient

Show Notes:

[01:30] Digital technology used in healthcare

[02:20] Prescriptive digital therapeutics

[04:05] Innovative digital technologies that appeal to children

[07:40] Game playing improving ADHD outcomes

[09:12] Virtual reality to improve adolescent stress

[09:50] Family engagement important for successful outcomes in pediatric behavioral health

[11:40] Digital therapy is one tool for cognitive care, may still need in-person care

[13:10] Technology for diagnosing pediatric conditions

Links | Resources:

Contact Knowledge on the Go: [email protected]

Joe’s email: [email protected]

Laura’s email: [email protected]

Addressing the Pediatric Mental Health Crisis with Integrated Behavioral Health blog: Click Here

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In healthcare today, with care shifting from hospitals and clinics to the home, remote patient monitoring (RPM) provides a key foundational element to the success of that transition. Health care organizations need to fully implement RPM as a vital strategy to promote health and improve patient management and care. Through RPM, providers capture disease-related and physiological data on the patient and digitally transmit that data via telephone, internet, or video conferencing from the patient's home to a healthcare center, providing clinical feedback. Nowadays, RPM devices such as intelligence sensors, wearables, or handheld devices, internet-connected cellphones, and implanted monitoring devices are widely available. This podcast episode explores the latest RPM innovations with a leading expert in health technology.

Guest speaker:

Joe Cummings, PhD

Moderator:

Courtney Furrow-White, MPM, RN

Show Notes:

[01:32] Ramping up digital technologies

[02:12] Shortening the hospital learning curve of tech adoption

[03:21] Making captured physiologic info part of the care paradigm

[04:06] Solving several healthcare challenges

[05:13] Impact of consumerism on RPM: wireless, patches, expanding vitals collection

[08:50] Contactless sensors: how they work

[10:04] AI is here: chatbots, disruption, deep-learning algorithms, decision support

[12:14] Challenges to RPM

Links | Resources:

Contact Knowledge on the Go: [email protected]

Joe’s email: [email protected]

Courtney’s email: [email protected]

“If you still aren’t sure what ChatGPT is” (Business Insider): Click here

Innovative Technology for Remote Monitoring (Vizient): Click here

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Revenue and margins, deferred surgeries, preventive care, rising patient acuity, a maturing inpatient to outpatient shift and the persistent pressure of health inequality impact surgery volumes.

In the second part of this two-part program, Dr Jay Prystowski and Rosanne Zagone join host Marilyn Sherrill to discuss the effects of first case, on time starts and how important staying on time is for a surgical facility.

Guests:

Jay Prystowski, MD

Principal

Vizient

Rosanne Zagone, MS

Associate Principal

Vizient

Moderator:

Marilyn Sherrill

Senior PI Program Director

Vizient

Show Notes:

[01:32 – 03:07]  Why first case, on time starts are so important

[03:08 – 04:12]  Standard definition of on time starts

[04:13 – 06:34]  Grace periods for on time starts

[06:35 – 07:41]  Cutoff times for on time starts

[07:42 – 12:33]  Impacts of first case delays

[12:34 – 16:15]  Getting schedules back on track

[16:16 – 19:47]  Benefits of on time starts

For more information, email [email protected]

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Revenue and margins, deferred surgeries, preventive care, rising patient acuity, a maturing inpatient to outpatient shift and the persistent pressure of health inequality impact surgery volumes.

In the first part of this two-part program, Dr Jay Prystowski and Rosanne Zagone join host Marilyn Sherrill to discuss the effects on surgical services throughput as it relates to operating room utilization and how it impact a hospital’s mission.

Guests:

Rosanne Zagone, MS

Moderator:

Show Notes:

[01:32 – 02:39]  Why operating room utilization is so important

[02:40 – 05:42]  How operating room utilization is calculated

[05:43 – 07:44]  The item that most impacts optimal utilization

[07:45 – 10:00]  Open room blocks and how they help with operating room utilization [10:01 – 13:24]  Is there a standard calculation of operating room utilization

[13:25 – 16:09]  Typical utilization rates on average

[16:10 – 19:05]  Other thoughts

For more information, email [email protected]

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This episode continues examining insights gained from the Optimization of Biosimilars Medications Collaborative.

Chelsee Jensen and Scott Soefje from Mayo Clinic discuss their participation in the project, key takeaways and what's on the horizon in the Biosimilar market. 

Speakers:

Chelsee J. Jensen, Pharm.D., BCPS, R.Ph.

Senior Pharmacy Specialist, Pharmaceutical Formulary Manager

Supply Chain Management

Mayo Clinic

Scott Soefje, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA

Director, Pharmacy Cancer Care

Assistant Professor of Pharmacy

Mayo Clinic

Moderator:

Jim Lichauer, PharmD, BCPS, FASHP

Sr PI Program Director, Pharmacy

Vizient

Show Notes:

[00:42] Current state of the Biosimilar market

[01:58] The financial opportunity available and what that opportunity might look like

[03:56] Key strategies and impactful strategies utilized during the collaborative

[07:07] Key takeaways from the collaborative project

[08:25] Moving Biosimilars into the retail space and what that might mean

[10:48] Navigating the complexities of medications covered under the pharmacy benefit

[11:46] Other Biosimilar products on the way

[12:30] Final thoughts and advice for organizations considering Biosimilars

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With a potential savings of over $100 million over the next five years, spend on biologics continues to outpace the total market by a two-to-one margin. However, utilization rates in the United States have been slowed by numerous issues.

Wendy Biese and Carmen Gust join this episode to discuss the strategies ThedaCare Regional Medical Center has adopted to optimize biosimilars, and some of the barriers they’ve had to overcome in order to achieve their successful results.

Speakers:

Wendy Biese, PharmD, DPLA

System Director – Pharmacy Services

ThedaCare Regional Medical Center

Carmen Gust, PharmD, BCPS

System Clinical Pharmacy Coordinator

ThedaCare Regional Medical Center

Moderator

Jim Lichauer, PharmD, BCPS, FASHP

Sr PI Program Director, Pharmacy

Vizient

Show Notes:

[00.05] Background information on biosimilars and the history of biologics spend.

[01:40] Background information about ThedaCare.

[03:42] ThedaCare’s initial work with biosimilar conversion, from 2018 to early 2022.

[05:57] How ThedaCare’s game-changer initiative began, in the cancer center, and how key stakeholders were engaged.

[09:37] ThedaCare’s best practices for actively converting patients to biosimilars.

[12:04] Results so far, including outcomes and projected savings.

[13:01] Advice for organizations planning to implement similar biosimilar strategies.

[15:21] How ThedaCare is moving into the next phase of biosimilar conversion, and strategies for overcoming challenges.

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