This week on Mark Wallace’s blog, he shares a story from Texas Children’s past exemplifying that the smallest acts of kindness can often make the greatest impact. Read more
March 7, 2023
With each pass of the baton, Magnet appraisers were impressed by our nursing teams during their virtual site visit. Click to read the recap from Jackie Ward. Read More
Texas Children’s is thrilled about the return of Baylor MedCare (Baylor) and CommonSprit Health/St. Luke’s to Cigna Healthcare networks. As a premiere employer focused on prioritizing your health and well-being, we work, diligently, to ensure that you have access to resources that will positively impact your lives.
Strong bonds with trusted providers are invaluable.
The agreement between Cigna and Baylor, and Cigna and St. Luke’s, allows you to partner with doctors and health care professionals within these provider networks that you feel are a best fit for you and your family. With that in mind, please note that Baylor rejoined the Cigna network, effective January 9, 2023. Please also be aware that CHI St Luke’s Health System rejoined the Cigna network, effective March 1, 2023.
Baylor and CHI St Luke’s Health staff are prepared for the change. While Cigna anticipates no challenges with your providers rejoining its network, the organization does have a support team in place to help you navigate through the re-engagement. You can reach a Cigna One Guide Advocate at 1-800-342-6664, by chat on myCigna.com or through the myCigna App.
Thank you, Texas Children’s employees, for your dedicated service to women and children. We are honored to support you with the highest quality care and services available.
March 2, 2023
The more we know, the more we understand, the more we connect. Click to read this month’s DEI update and stay in the know! Read More
In partnership with Texas Children’s Workforce Well-Being team, the Clinical Nutrition Services and Food and Nutrition Services departments will be providing education and sponsoring several exciting events throughout the month of March to showcase ways to nurture your body while shopping on a budget.
Celebrating National Nutrition Month at Texas Children’s
Food prices are on the rise, but nourishing foods are still ultimately more cost effective. Now is a great time to pick up or brush off those smart-shopping and meal-planning skills. Use the Grocery Shopping Guide and Meal Cost Comparison Breakdown in the Nutrition Toolkit to kick off the month strong. Be sure to also register for the webinar on Navigating the Grocery Store, hosted by Registered Dietitian, Staci Tobolowsky Astrein.
Week 1: Meal Planning
Week 2: Resourceful Grocery Shopping
Week 3: Learn How to Cook Healthy Meals
Week 4: Taste
We encourage you to attend the webinar and the sponsored events each week so you can take these skills and cook at least one healthy and low-cost meal this month. For each healthy meal you prepare and share, email the recipe to Wellbeing@texaschildrens.org to be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a Ninja Blender.
For more information on all the Workforce Well-Being team will be doing in the month of March, visit the National Nutrition Month site on their Sharepoint page.
March 1, 2023
Send in your pictures to hrcommunications@texaschildrens.org and use the hashtag #OneAmazingTeam on social media all rodeo season long to be featured internally!
February 28, 2023
With the increasing adoption of immersive technologies in the industry, Texas Children’s AR/VR Best Practices Committee was recently formed to bring people from across the organization together to share, learn and advance responsible XR technology practices. The group is comprised of collaborators from Information Services, Nursing, Quality, Child Life, Texas Children’s Innovation Hub, Baylor College of Medicine’s CRIS (Center for Research, Innovation and Scholarship in Medical Education) and more.
What is XR?
Extended Reality (XR) is an umbrella term that covers virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). XR solutions have the potential to enable a variety of new modalities in health care – ranging from how physicians and other medical professionals are trained, to alleviating the pain and anxiety that patients experience in unfamiliar hospital settings.
Demo Day samples AR/VR technology
The committee hosted its first XR Demo Day last month on The Auxiliary Bridge, welcoming all to stop by to interact with VR headsets and learn how AR works. The event lasted several hours and saw participation from patients, clinicians and non-clinicians alike, many of which had never used AR or VR before.
“The goal of the event was to inspire and help facilitate innovation within the organization,” said Innovation Partner Sahreesh Ismail from the Entrepreneurship & Innovation department. “By bringing in different solutions to sample, we’re hoping to demonstrate just how widespread and transformative XR is going to be across all aspects of health care.”
There were five different solutions on display, including a VR application called MultiBrush used for physical therapy, art therapy and distraction therapy, and a demo of the Cisco Hologram that creates an AR experience to close the gap between virtual and in-person collaboration. Nursing Professional Development also provided demos of the central line dressing and sterile cap change modules they are piloting with the Oculus headset.
Participants had an opportunity to use voice commands using the Meta Quest 2 headset, virtually treating obstetric patients with hemorrhaging, shoulder dystocia, and other obstetric emergencies. They were also able to shoot basketball hoops and create fireworks behind the Statue of Liberty using AR.
“The XR technology being showcased provides a great overview for AR/VR applications in health care. I’m intrigued by these ongoing efforts to promote innovation and delighted to see people get so energized with the potentials of XR applications that optimize care and enhance patient experiences,” said Dr. Satid Thammasitboon. “This was such a great turnout and a big win for research, innovation and scholarship at Texas Children’s.”
The AR/VR Best Practices Committee will continue to forge a pathway for all XR use cases at Texas Children’s by promoting enterprise-wide adoptions and utilization of XR technologies that leapfrog existing methodologies for education, training and other use cases. The team plans to host another Demo Day for West Campus and The Woodlands later this year, and is set participate in the upcoming Professional Day Summit at Duncan NRI on Wednesday, April 19.
If you would like to participate in the committee or have an idea for AR/VR solutions, click here to reach the Entrepreneurship & Innovation team.
