ASC Communications, Inc.

36 Executive Briefing www.ibss.net At IBSS, we help premier provider organizations get even better and do more with less - with Watershed™. Our unique process management services, powered by our patented automation technology, ensure sustainable continuous improvement in pa- tient satisfaction, physician engagement, and operational efficiency. Effortless, accurate per-case resource and cost information arms you for confident strategic planning in a changing healthcare landscape. communication issues in 57 percent of those cases. The average indemnity for cases involving provider-patient miscommunication was $381,000. Automating processes can help truncate these numbers significantly. Detroit neurosurgeon and IBSS Medical Advisor Mark Rosenblum, MD, has served on the provider and administrative side of healthcare for nearly 45 years and sees how Watershed can eliminate these issues. One Mid-Atlantic ASC he visited reported a 25 percent improvement in resource utilization after implementing Watershed process automation. "It was amazingly quiet and comfortable during turnover times when usually there is chaos," he says. "Watershed is non- disruptive and saves practices' both cost and time. That was pretty remarkable to me. As a consequence of a much more efficient setting which respected their time, a happier staff and a larger case volume, surgeon satisfaction improved more than I've ever seen. With providers, satisfaction translates to engagement. Engagement means providers will go out of their way to bring more cases to the ASC. In addition, with the availability of real-time cost analysis and aligned incentives, surgeons will usually assist in case standardization with supply chain offerings and thus dramatically enhance the ASC's bottom line." Increasing OR case throughput by 25%: An ASC's experience with Watershed OrthoVirginia, the largest group of orthopedic and sports medicine specialists in the state, had a major communication issue a few years ago. The group's Richmond-based ASC, OrthoVirginia Operatory, was unable to readily share patient information across OrthoVirginia's locations. "We implemented an EHR with the same company other OrthoVirginia practices used. But, the EHRs didn't communicate," says Ruth Vaiden, RN, the ASC's administrative director of perioperative services and the quality/risk management manager. "It was like we were reinventing the wheel every time a patient came from another practice to the ASC. We started looking for how we could make things smoother for the patient." In 2014, the surgery center started working with IBSS to automate many of its processes. When the ASC first employed Watershed, its primary goal was to better utilize its ORs. The ASC ultimately increased OR cases per hour by 25 percent using Watershed's automation capabilities. Staff members also had access to reports detailing information such as per-case cost analysis as well as resource utilization and process metrics that outlined major cost savings opportunities. "With the reports, I can see how the week is going in terms of the number of cases we have done and the types of cases. I can go into the system and see if we will meet or be over our benchmark," Ms. Vaiden says. Watershed has improved the surgery center's operations, thereby leading to more satisfied surgeons and staff members. The automation capabilities also play a crucial role in improving the patient experience and increasing patient and caregiver satisfaction through its dashboard notifying families about a patient's progress throughout their surgery. The dashboard will turn green when a patient enters the OR and has black dots showing a patient's status for colorblind family members. The dashboard will give updates continually, indicating when a procedure starts or when a patient is transferred to the recovery room. After implementing Watershed, the ASC's patient satisfaction scores increased significantly, Ms. Vaiden notes. The untapped potential in process management methodologies Satisfaction among healthcare's many stakeholders is crucial as a disengaged physician could translate to a poor patient satisfaction rate, thereby potentially detracting from a surgery center's bottom line. A 2017 study published in JAMA found physicians reporting burnout attributed their symptoms to increased clerical requirements and spending a large amount of time on EHR entry. The challenges to both implementing and successfully utilizing EHRs and other technological tools make many providers wary of other solutions. "EHR implementations continue to consume much of the available IT resources of so many organizations, and that is a barrier to implementing process management and automation systems," Mr. Massey says. "It's not surprising that a long legacy of unpleasant experiences with Healthcare IT solutions leave a bad taste for many." As detailed throughout this paper, process management methodologies can improve the healthcare experience for the patient and their care team through automating various tasks. "Process management methodologies help provider organizations to reduce costs while providing more care, and to focus on quality by better managing complexity," says Mr. Massey. "Provider organizations that do this well, that pay attention to lessons long since learned elsewhere, will be well equipped to respond to the shift to value, and in control of their own destiny as they confront whatever the future may hold." n

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