With nurse burnout on the rise, health care organizations need fresh strategies to support and retain these essential workers.
In urgent medical situations like stroke, fast and efficient patient transfers can be the difference between life and lasting disability. Conduit Health Partners,
Focus on timely transfer for acute behavioral health patients improves patient safety and outcomes
A recent collaboration between Conduit Health Partners and Mercy Health — Springfield Regional Medical Center has significantly streamlined care transfers of behavioral health patients from the emergency department (ED) to appropriate care settings.
Health care is changing. Fast. But one constant remains — the challenge of managing the flow of patients in and out of your hospital or health system.
Even before COVID-19, patient transfers were problematic for most hospitals and health systems. Then, the pandemic added more strain. Finding the best way to handle patient flow has become increasingly difficult, with higher patient volumes and staff shortages.
Collaboration with CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic brings after-hours nurse triage to CTC communities
CINCINNATI, Ohio and IRVING, TX (Oct. 9, 2023) — CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic, the medical provider group of CHRISTUS Health, is collaborating with Conduit Health Partners to bring after-hours telephonic nurse triage care to their patients through Conduit’s nurse-first model where callers have immediate,
Every member of a health system’s team, often comprising hundreds of highly trained professionals, is enabled by the competency of their colleagues, and the effectiveness of operational staff who carry out their specific functions to the best of their ability. Beyond safeguarding profitability, maintaining operational dexterity and efficiency is crucial to assuring every patient has the best possible outcome as they navigate their way through your health system.
The high volume of Americans who have quit their jobs since last year has been popularly coined as “the Great Resignation,” and the health care industry has been hit especially hard. According to Morning Consult, 18% of health care workers have quit their jobs during the pandemic, and 19% of those who have kept their jobs have considered leaving.
Nurses make up a large bulk of those leaving due to extreme stress and burnout, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Turnover is higher than ever, particularly for those nurses in the first year on the job. Though the outlook seems bleak, it doesn’t have to be. More and more health care organizations are seeking solutions to increase the sense of belonging and job satisfaction that are the building blocks of retaining valuable and talented nurses and attracting new ones to the field.
Patient transfers were challenging before COVID-19, but the pandemic has put more strain on hospitals and managing patient flow has become increasingly difficult given higher patient volume and staff shortages. Even before COVID-19, staff shortages prevented health systems and hospitals from dedicating the appropriate staff to the transfer process. COVID-19 has exacerbated this problem, resulting in multiple staff members spending precious time making dozens of calls within and outside of their hospitals and health systems to find the right placement for a patient needing to be transferred.
Every minute counts when it comes to patient transfers. A safe and seamless transfer depends on a timely and efficient process from the moment a transfer is initiated until a patient is located at the right place to get the right level of care. Effective communication is the foundation to a successful patient transfer, especially if a patient is being transferred between different hospitals or health systems. Unfortunately, communication breakdowns — especially between different hospitals or health systems — may result in laborious patient transfers that can jeopardize safety and quality.
COVID-19 has exacerbated already strained processes for transferring patients in and out of hospitals. Given a higher volume of patients needing specialized care coupled with ongoing staffing issues plaguing health systems nationwide, the lack of standardization for transferring patients has serious consequences.
Transfers are initiated when a hospital does not have the capacity or capability to treat a patient. However, without a standardized transfer process within and outside health systems and hospitals, the risk of moving a patient may outweigh the risk of caring for them at the originating hospital, even in a setting that lacks the ideal space, equipment or personnel.
Patient transfer troubles are not new, yet the pandemic has overwhelmed hospitals like never before. Patient volume poses increasingly significant transfer challenges and hospitals and health systems should prioritize standardization now before the next crisis hits.
Conduit Health has always been ahead of the curve on business needs. Looking back to January of 2020, we were operating as a traditional in-person health call center. We could see the value of having a remote work option and wanted to offer that to our associates, so we began working on policies, procedures, and developing technologies to make that goal a reality. We expected to have our first fully remote associate position in May of 2020.
The pandemic has changed many aspects of how we look at patient transfer service processes. Listen to this recent Becker’s Healthcare podcast featuring Conduit’s President Cheryl Dalton-Norman and Jeffrey DiLisi, MD, President and CEO of Roper St. Francis Healthcare, who discuss how Conduit’s unique service offerings transformed care at Roper St. Francis Healthcare.
When it comes to patient transfers, effective communication and timely care coordination are important to ensure patients receive the care they need, when and where they need it. However, many hospitals and hospital systems lack the inhouse resources, operational capacity, and expertise to implement an optimal patient transfer process. This can result in precious time and resources spent contacting dozens of providers to find the most appropriate place for a patient’s care.
Too many people face the unfortunate scenario of getting sick outside their doctor’s office hours. Lacking other options, some may head to the emergency department before their situation gets worse.
Health concerns don’t stick to a 9-to-5 schedule. For employers, physician practices, health systems, and other organizations, a 24/7 Nurse Access Line is an important solution that can help many of your members avoid costly visits to the ED.
Making it easier for patients to manage their own care has become increasingly important for hospitals and health systems. Patients expect and demand convenient solutions to get the care they need when they need it, which often starts with a phone call to a health care call center. There are many benefits to having a robust system that is both responsive to calls and proactive in engaging patients.
A comprehensive employee benefits package — including one that offers convenient health care services — plays a big role in recruitment, retention and workforce satisfaction. There’s one service in particular that you should include in your employee benefits package: a 24/7 Nurse Access Line.
Virtual care — while not new prior to the pandemic — significantly increased in popularity as providers turned to safe alternatives for delivering health care amidst COVID-19. Virtual care is a broad term that encompasses many ways that health care providers and patients interact real-time through digital tools. Examples include care delivered via video, audio, remote monitoring, instant messaging, and more.
We are proud to announce that Cheryl Dalton-Norman, President Conduit Health Partners, is a finalist for the Cincinnati Business Courier’s Health Care Hero Award in the Health Entrepreneur category. This recognition honors individuals who have improved the quality of health care in Greater Cincinnati through their expertise, research and innovation, management skills, entrepreneurial efforts, community work, and patient care.
Health concerns don’t stick to a 9-to-5 schedule. Medical Mutual sought a better solution to provide its members quick access to reliable clinical advice, any time of the day.
Brandon Burt, a Nurse Triage Specialist with Conduit, was working overnight on the 24/7 Nurse Access Line, when a man called at 2 a.m. because his wife was in labor and they were on their way to the hospital. He wanted to make sure his wife’s doctor was notified to meet them there. Normally, Burt would have messaged the on-call provider who would have called the man back within about 30 minutes. However, Burt quickly realized that wouldn’t be soon enough.
Enjoy this short video we created to celebrate all the fabulous nurses out there. We appreciate the work you do to improve the health care and lives of the people we serve.
Heather Kelsey is the Director of Triage and Virtual Care at Conduit Health Partners. In her role, Heather is responsible for strategic and operational leadership, day-to-day management, and oversight of Conduit Health Partners’ Nurse Triage and Virtual Care Center teams. She also collaborates with other Conduit leaders to develop new strategic services and process improvement strategies.
In honor of International Women’s Month, we are proud to honor Sr. Doris Gottemoeller.
Sr. Doris is a member of the Conduit Health Partners and Bon Secours Mercy Health board of directors and vice-chair of Bon Secours Mercy Ministries. In her 61 years of religious life, she has served universities, health systems, seminaries and high schools.