At a conference last week, AdventHealth CEO Terry Shaw discussed how his organization fosters a culture in which its workers feel heard and supported. Some of his advice included making necessary changes based on employee feedback and providing ample opportunities for career advancement.
Knowing that many tech solutions end up being not as effective as health systems would have hoped, two health system executives gave examples of tools they believe have made a significant impact on staffing issues at their organizations. One is a wearable patch that continuously monitors inpatients’ vital signs, and one is a platform that allows providers to fill open shifts with local nurses.
Providers must abandon paternalism and treat patients like partners in the decision-making process when drawing up care plans, according to Chris Waugh, Sutter Health's chief design and innovation officer. Instead of prescribing a major lifestyle overhaul without considering a patient's unique life circumstances, providers should "recognize that it's about the tiny things and the accumulation of marginal gains,” he said.
Walgreens is seeing “an enormous amount of demand” for injectable weight loss drugs, its president of U.S. healthcare said during the Reuters Total Health conference in Chicago. He declared that the healthcare industry needs to come up with a reimbursement model “that correctly compensates pharmacists and others” to administer these drugs. In his view, reimbursement hasn't caught up with the demand.
Brian Gragnolati, CEO of Atlantic Health System, said that "there's a war going on between providers and payers right now." In his view, payers “are doing everything they can” not to pay providers for the care they deliver. He said insurers have greatly increased their rate of denials and are extremely reluctant to take on risk in value-based contracts.