Virtual Services working in a Collaborative Effort Across all Service Lines

1. As the virtual services director of Saint Francis Health System, how do you think technology in the Telehealth industry has evolved through the years in regard to improving access to quality healthcare?

While there has always been a thirst by healthcare to improve patient care and utilize the latest emerging technologies, hesitation accompanies this as well. There is always a slight fear of the new based on the unknown. Healthcare has the ultimate purpose to provide the best care with optimal outcomes to all patients. Once a method has been proven to work and improve, with change comes uncertainty of continued improvement. In virtual services, there was some hesitation in the industry to embrace this for many years on both the healthcare side and the patient side. Uncertainty of the quality, satisfaction, and user abilities were among the top concerns. Being in the telehealth management realm for several years now, I have seen this dramatically change. I would say this is one of the most positive things that COVID-19 emergency era produced for virtual care. Both providers and patients had no choice but to utilize in order to receive or provide care. This provided a great chance for all to practice and push through the concerns to realize the potential and benefits of virtual care.

2. What, according to you, are some of the challenges plaguing the telehealth landscape? From your perspective, what are some of the best technologies or methodologies that telehealth providers should adopt to mitigate those pain points?

I see three large challenges at this time to the telehealth landscape. The first one includes adoption and growth potential. With the uncertainty of what will continue to be reimbursable or allowed from regulatory perspectives, healthcare organizations have a challenge to find ways of sustainability in any telehealth services they provide. This is however improving with the legislation that continues to be passed. The best way for telehealth providers and healthcare organizations to mitigate this is to remain abreast of the current rules and regulations and to participate in local and national organizations which lead in these endeavors.

The second challenge I see is the ability to know which technology is the best for the scenario desired. At this time the market is saturated with many selections for each type of product an organization or provider would desire to utilize. Many are new and emerging and others proven with steady improvements over time. For any organization that has not been through this process before, or only experienced a handful of technology exposures, this is a real challenge. A great avenue to assist any organization or provider in selection would be to reach out to others who have led successful product implementations in their practice and request lessons learned. Another great way is to obtain a third party consultant who has large experience with multiple scenarios for guidance in any telehealth implementation or product selection process.

The last challenge presented here regards the availability or lack of technology specific to internet or data services. The rural population across our nation still faces many challenges for sufficient or even any services at all. The best virtual care services offered by any provider or organization will be ineffective without the patient’s ability to utilize. Just as in the first challenge presented, the best way for any organization to mitigate this is to assess the service availability in the areas they serve and apply this understanding in their virtual service line implementation plans. Understanding the gaps for the population they serve is crucial. Additionally, becoming active in local and national organizations that are working to improve this coverage will assist in their ability to improve the coverage for the areas they serve.

3. Are there any latest initiatives that you have been working on? What are some of the technological elements that you are leveraging to make the initiative successful?

Here at Saint Francis, our focus at this time is to find the sustainable options, virtual services working in a collaborative effort across all of our service lines. The end goal for everything we do here is to provide the most optimal outcomes to all we serve. This is not only a clinical outcome focus, but also a satisfaction and engagement focus. An initiative in every element includes obtaining input from the providers, bedside staff and the patients receiving the virtual services. Amazing technology with all the bells and whistles can only be optimal if the user experience and clinical outcomes are met in the best possible way. We do have a focus at this time to utilize out Virtual Urgent services 24/7 to improve wait times and provide an option for volume surges that produce an overall timeliness and care in appropriate settings. This season with surges in flu and COVID provide a great opportunity to reduce exposure and simplify the diagnostic and treatment processes. Another important part of this process includes the utilization of E-Visits. E-Visits can provide an easy way for providers to treat certain complaints efficiently and without the need of the patient to come into the office, just to receive a simple order or care plan.

4. As a thought leader, what are some of the innovations you would like to see industry leaders implement to steer ahead in the telehealth sector?

As virtual care is becoming a standard expectation for both providers and patients, healthcare organizations will need to make this a true focus in their strategic plans. Many organizations have turned to creating a department to focus on all things virtual. The most important part of this department function and development is collaboration across the full spectrum of care. The leaders or committees in which this department functions should include clinical, operational, and technical. All three of these play is a critical part in the successful leadership in order to provide the most optimal outcomes with sustainability. Following the goals of the organizations strategic plan under this collaborative leadership allows for the best sustainable realization of the goals. All ideas and requests should be steered through this initiative to provide the best potential for sustainability and optimal outcomes for the patients and providers of any service line.

5. On an ending note, do you have any words of advice for industry veterans or budding entrepreneurs working in the telehealth space?

The best leadership guidance that was provided to me early in my ventures of the virtual services arena was to network and be open to ideas. Through the proper research and advice of others that have been down the path you look, you have better potential than trying to create a new solution under your own understanding only. I remember in my year’s emergency room nurse every student or new nurse that came to work under my direction had the opportunity to flourish. The ones who were open direction and critique were able to grow at a much faster pace and in a more robust manner than the ones who wanted to learn on their own. It is the same philosophy for anyone in working in the virtual services space. A willingness to seek out and try the new, research successful initiatives and leaders, and welcome guidance from peers is the best way forward.