Nathan A. Merriman’s Post

As part of its series exploring 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗰𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀, CHIA has published its first-ever interactive dashboard on outpatient observation visits with data through December 2023, which updates previous reporting that covered the period FFY 2016-2019. Observation visits are classified as outpatient care and may serve a variety of functions, including the assessment of patients who may require additional diagnostic or therapeutic treatment beyond care in an emergency department, but do not require admission to the inpatient setting. The interactive dashboard will be updated quarterly to offer timely insights into utilization and visit characteristics at a statewide level and for select analyses at the hospital level. These data will be updated as more complete information becomes available. This update also includes a summary, accompanying databook, and technical appendix. 𝗦𝗲𝗲 https://lnkd.in/dAYwekdG

I recently came across an insightful article from Becker's Hospital Review discussing the inpatient and outpatient services that incur the most financial losses. It’s a thought-provoking read that underscores the critical challenges faced by healthcare providers today. https://lnkd.in/gZNnyyx4 One key issue highlighted is the significant financial burden posed by wound care management. As we navigate these complex times, it's clear that addressing workforce shortages is paramount to improving patient outcomes and reducing costs. This is where innovative tools and technologies come into play.  At Truss Health, we're dedicated to developing solutions that tackle these challenges head-on. #HealthcareInnovation #WoundCare #AI #HealthTech #PatientSafety #WorkforceSolutions #TrussHealth

Reflecting on Wait List Validation and some of the lessons learnt by UHL, changing how outpatient care is delivered. > Patients that were planned to have a opfu in 9m but it's 2 years later, can we review if that needs to be a face to face? > Making changes to pathways, testing it, with option to go back if it doesn't work or scaling the change. >Giving teams the power to innovate. >23% of patients didn't realise they were on a wait list for an appointment. > Keeping data simple: giving clinicians the data to show the impact of reducing patients coming to clinic that don't need to & what the impact would be on patients waiting for an outpatient appointment. Ie reducing number of weeks waiting. > Cultural shift in communication, embracing new ways of working with current challenges. > Collaboration - where are the opportunities on how patients interact with Healthcare services? > Aim high - review all ideas > Primary care and secondary care interface. Appropriate referrals and tools given to primary care. #hett23 #outpatient

Remote Patient Monitoring has proven to be a game-changer in the healthcare system. By harnessing this technology, we have witnessed a remarkable boost in patient engagement. The enhancement in the quality of patient care through evidence-based therapies, and a significant reduction in the workload of our dedicated clinicians. These developments are a clear step in the right direction for healthcare. Article: https://lnkd.in/d_-UmNHK #remotepatientmonitoring #patientexperience #patientcare #healthcare

The Australian healthcare system faces a growing challenge – the outpatient waitlist. Public hospitals and clinics are grappling with increasing wait times, impacting patient care and accessibility. The root causes are complex. The impact?  Extended wait times for critical outpatient services affecting patient outcomes and satisfaction. Digital patient pathways offer ways to:  ▶️ streamline scheduling  ▶️ reduce no-shows   ▶️ and improve patient engagement. Learn how Australian public hospitals are converting their outpatient waitlist coordination process into a seamless digital patient pathway. Join the webinar here ➡️ https://hubs.ly/Q02kDM1D0

Too many transformations stop at the operating model and business model, but the real magic happens when the way we work transforms. That requires a vital, engaged, and skills growth-mindset based workforce. As I read this Becker’s article with prominent CEOs talking about their transformations, health systems must focus on transforming “how employees and clinicians work” in addition to the changes in the business model and the physical bricks and mortar moving to ambulatory/outpatient settings. Health systems will need to shift their focus on “workforce vitality” instead of band-aid surface level solutions addressing shortages and scheduling burden if they want to accelerate their transformation. #transformationalleadership #healthcaretransformation #digitaltransformation

Big changes for health systems in the very near future. Outpatient surgeries will continue to increase; specifically in Ortho/ joints, Hospital At-Home is moving foreward and Technology/AI will play a big role in the future of healthcare. #healthcare #hospitals #valuebasedhealthcare #healthcareindustry #surgery #healthcareinnovation

The latest results of the Virtual Care Survey are out now. These results reflect patients’ experiences of phone or video appointments with NSW public hospital outpatient clinics and GPs in 2022. BHI undertook advanced analyses of the Virtual Care Survey 2022 data to see if there were any differences between how different patient groups responded to questions about their virtual care experiences. Our new short-form Insights report highlights key findings from these analyses, showing where there was variation in experiences across patient groups. https://bit.ly/44baXmn

Welcome to the latest hospital to go-live with a digitised patient pathway to audit their Outpatient waitlist. Congratulations to the team at the Prince Charles Hospital. What a year it has been as so many hospitals have chosen to partner with us to help them move away from costly (printing, postage, human resource, phone calls and SMS), inefficient manual processes to reduce waitlists, improve throughput/outcomes/experience for both patients and staff. Within weeks not months, our customers have full visibility of the patients who still require care need from their service (and the option is there to ask acuity based questions to check-in on their quality of life). Clinicians get to go back to doing what they love because loosening the admin shackles means they can see more patients and provide higher value care; the reason they because a clinician in the first place! 2023 has certainly been the year of Outpatient Department and Perioperative optimisation. I know you're not supposed to have favourites but these projects are definitely up there for me, so I hope these key themes carry into 2024 because the impact is huge (and it's slightly addictive being part of it) 😊

Patients’ care needs don’t always fall neatly into a practice’s 8am to 6pm schedule. Practices cannot be expected to remain open around the clock, and A&E departments are rarely the appropriate alternative for patients seeking urgent, non-emergency care. If your PCN is exploring how best to triage out-of-hours care requests, we can help. Klinik can be used to capture enquiries you receive outside of normal opening hours, with our structured patient-history helping on-call teams to triage patients and direct them to your out-of-hours GP service where necessary. This approach relieves pressure on other care services while ensuring patients receive the care they need, when they need it. Find out how our AI-assisted triage helps make care more accessible for those that need it ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/d7MgPrm #primarycare #NHS #triage #healthtech #digitalhealth #Klinik