In December’s Patient Access Forum senior leaders participated in a fireside chat to discuss pertinent issues affecting access and how we can create capacity and opportunity to get our patients in the door quicker, all while delivering exceptional patient care.
This year’s event not only featured some lively discussion, but also included plenty of holiday festivities with Christmas music, refreshments, a facility dog and pictures with Santa.
Charla Bassey, assistant director of the Patient Contact Center, facilitated the fireside chat. Panel participants included:
- Dan Gollins, President TCP/TCUC
- Dr. Robert Ball, Medical Director, eHealth
- Laura Hardy, Vice President
- Denise Tanner-Brown, Associate Chief Nurse Executive and Vice President
- Trent Johnson, Vice President
While each panelist brought their own expertise and perspective to the discussion, they all agreed, we can’t stop and must keep looking forward to provide better solutions to fit the changing landscape. Below are highlights from the discussion.
How do we stay embedded in the community and customer obsessed?
“The great thing about Texas Children’s is that we have such a large primary care structure. We have 69 locations across Houston, Austin, and College Station. We’re the largest pediatric group in the country. It is really important to be able to pick up the phone, you have a concern, and get in the door. The work Dr. Ball and Grace [Karon] and team have done around e-consults has us really thinking differently. It doesn’t have to be a face-to-face contact, but how do we get pediatricians the right answers so they can give the family the answers? For us we’re looking at how we stay engaged with community. So we have a lot of work that goes on around sponsorships. We have a lot of staff, physicians that live in the community. We look to them to ask, what’s important to you? What sponsorships? What programs? How do you engage with your community? It’s really important you engage your families in the communities they live; respect the differences that happen in those communities. Houston is so big you can drive an hour or so and still be in Houston, and it’s still very, very different.” – Dan Gollins
Can you share insights into any specific initiatives or investments made by the organization to optimize accessibility for patients and positively impact their journey within the healthcare system?
“We are doing so much and I really want to thank everyone in this room because there are so many different projects that are going on from how we connect with our patients to how we schedule an appointment, and how we get referrals through the door. There’s been a lot of work done on the behavioral health front in getting clinicians embedded into our TCP practices. So those of you who have tried to get a psychiatry appointment or psychology appointment over the last several years, that is very difficult to do in the Houston area. There are just not a lot of providers, but in partnership with TCP we have masters level clinicians embedded in 19 practices serving about 4,000 patients right now, so it’s a huge undertaking and really trying to get the right care at the right time at the right location for these families.” – Laura Hardy
What major technology or industry evolutions do you think we need to start considering today for major landscape changes in the future?
“I think the keyword is one size doesn’t fit all. There’s nothing more frustrating for families than spending an hour traveling three miles in Houston in traffic and fighting their way through parking and then they see their provider for three minutes. And so that choice (telemedicine) has to be driven and TCP has shown this over and over, families and parents are really good judges of what they need. We need to give them super-sized menu options of how to connect with us and then they will become very good at choosing what the right thing is for them and we don’t have to tell them, you can only schedule this online if it fits in this tiny box. Also, some of the big transitions we’re going to see over the next few years is really having the ability to monitor patients at home so they don’t have to come in for their blood pressure check, etc. I think virtual nursing is going to be a big impact.” – Dr. Robert Ball
How is our organization enhancing patient engagement strategies? In light of increasing options for patients beyond Texas Children’s, what initiatives are in place to ensure we are the preferred and consistent choice for their healthcare needs?
“It’s about the human experience and the personal connections. When I think about patient experience, I bracket it into four categories. First of all pre engagement. We are all ambassadors of Texas Children’s right, so we are wearing that brand either literally or figuratively. Next is the engagement opportunity and that’s when they call us. They need our services. They’re looking for someone to connect with them. The next category is the actual interaction. So you’ve engaged with them. Now they’re coming into the clinic. We do a lot of training for leaders and staff just to make sure we can make those intentional connections and solidify those moments for them, right, because they’re not going to forget those moments. Finally it is about the follow up, so when they’re getting ready to leave. Do we have the right tools and infrastructure in place so they can care for their child post experience. We’ve already talked about telemedicine and those options to increase access, but the one thing I want to drive home about the work we’re doing here at Texas Children’s that can’t be replicated, it’s about those personal connections. – Denise Tanner-Brown
As a leader at Texas Children’s, where do you identify the greatest opportunity for enhancing patient access? Recognizing the sustained demand for Inpatient Rehab services, could you elaborate on the organization’s plans to expand access for patients, both within our main facility and across community locations?
“We run consistently full all the time in that unit because there’s not a lot of IRU beds for pediatric patients. Back in November on the 13th, we actually did a ribbon cutting for an expansion. We expanded four beds, and as you all have guessed, those instantly were filled. There’s a lot of work that goes as we restack the buildings we have here. Certainly, we have to be thoughtful of critical care and acute care as well. They all have to be looked at together, but there is a desire to continue to expand the IRU. Before we rush into that, we need to assess and make sure the best decision based on looking at not only IRU demand but acute and critical care as well. And that’s what we’re carefully thinking through before we ultimately go into that bigger expansion.” – Trent Johnson
The number one question the audience wanted to know: Are you a Beyoncé fan or a Swifty? The majority of our panelists said they were Team Taylor! Denise Tanner-Brown did share with the forum that she is the President of the Beehive!
Many thanks to the Patient Access Forum Steering Team for creating and organizing the Access and Patient Experience forum. Members include, Bryan Samp, Kathleen Wood, Grace Karon, Leroy Thomas, Jr., Jennie Maldonado, Luke Horton, Michael Potter, and Enrique Gonzalez. Leaders: Charla Bassey & Kimberly Troupe.
