Healthcare is a dynamic landscape. Opportunities to improve processes, address concerns and deliver exceptional care experiences are a patient expectation, a regulatory metric and at the heart of the reason many professionals choose to work in healthcare.
THE CHALLENGE
Oftentimes, when people encounter healthcare, this includes a surgical visit in an inpatient or outpatient setting. A recent cross-sectional study found more than 11% of respondents reporting that they’d had surgery in the past year.
For many in healthcare and especially in the operative setting, surgery is an everyday event – it’s their job, their expertise. But that is surely not the case for the patients.
“The genesis of our process improvement work and the focus and goal of our process improvement is to improve the patient experience, reduce anxiety and fear, and ultimately improve psychological readiness for surgery,” said Anita H. Becker, DNP, RN, chief nursing officer at Steamboat Springs, Colorado-based UC Health Yampa Valley Medical Center.
“Process improvement in the surgical setting often is focused on the efficiency and effectiveness of patient throughput from the time of scheduling until discharge to home or inpatient,” she continued. “In conversations with our patients and their families, certain themes around surgical readiness kept coming up with increasing frequency.”
Specifically, while conducting routine pre- and post-operative follow-up phone calls and visits, many patients and their caregivers expressed fears and anxieties related to their readiness for surgery. This feedback struck a chord with the organization’s pre-operative and post-anesthesia care teams.
The feedback became the impetus for identifying a need for change and process improvement that was focused on the patient experience apart from the efficiency of time as a metric in a surgical encounter.
“Lastly, addressing psychological readiness for surgery became a strategic priority for our hospital,” Becker explained. “The challenge arose in defining ‘readiness’ and collecting data to analyze, support and foster meaningful change for the patient experience. We knew we wanted to hear the voice of the patient and realized each demographic would offer a different viewpoint.
“In an effort to duplicate best practices, a literature review was conducted by our team,” she added. “What they found was a paucity of literature available to address psychological readiness for surgery, and most of what was found addressed fear and anxiety. We knew we were on the right track, but we also knew we were in new territory.”
PROPOSAL
Initially this work was independent of work being done by Chris Whelchel. Whelchel is founder and CEO of Boulder, Colorado-based HealthTok, a healthcare consulting firm. He completed his doctoral practicum work at UC Health Yampa Valley Medical Center and shared his passion for technology and innovation, demonstrating exceptional analytical skills and a deep understanding of complex healthcare systems, Becker said.
“Prior to the process improvement project, we had not considered leveraging AI tools or ambient technology in our workspace for tackling these types of large data collections or analysis,” she explained.
“With the tools Chris recommended, we were able to capture not only the data but the tone and themes of the conversations in our focus groups beyond just the dialogue. Chris’ understanding and sharing of these tools offered the team a solution for the collection and analysis of the data we needed to find a workable solution to the challenge before us.
“The promise of AI, and the hope of its integration into this project, was to alleviate the burden of sifting through large data sets and patient narrative,” she continued. “Within minutes of the conclusion of our focus groups, we had first-pass workflows and work plans, including themes, key trends and strategies, generated through AI tools.”
Staff also found that through this technology, they were able to remove their initial bias toward planned solutions such as aromatherapy, healing touch, pamphlets, videos and music therapy, and really focus on what the focus groups said they needed to be better prepared for surgery.
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
Focus group participants provided candid feedback that helped staff define what “readiness” meant and outline a process for better preparing patients for surgery and beyond. The AI and ambient tools helped put actions in place that will address patients’ needs moving forward.
“For example, two very strong themes identified during our focus groups were increased caregiver involvement in pre- and post-operative care and instructions; and, surprisingly, pet care during the surgical period and while in recovery,” Becker noted. “These were two themes that were not on our radar but were filtered and identified through the ambient technology tool.
“We were very excited by the speed in which this data was quickly pulled together as many of us were first-time users of this innovative approach to tackling complex and data-heavy information,” she continued. “What we gained was very valuable information and endless possibilities from AI-generated flowcharts, GPT-combined summaries, task lists and deeper insights without user bias – and it was accomplished in minutes versus hours.”
RESULTS
In the first quarter following implementation of new workflows and tools, the Quarter 3 patient experience (patient experience is measured quarterly) moved to 100%, Becker reported.
“We feel certain this was accomplished by implementing tools and processes that came directly from identified trends, themes and suggested AI workflows,” she said.
“These include a new communication protocol, evaluation and renewed utilization of available EHR tools that were not being optimized, and significant change in workflows across the peri-operative departments driven by trends identified during our focus groups,” she added. “We are a work in progress and cautiously optimistic this improvement in patient experience will continue and become standard practice.”
ADVICE FOR OTHERS
Important considerations when choosing experts in this emerging field are many, Becker advised.
“First and foremost, it is important to choose an expert with healthcare experience,” she said. “A background in our industry allows for a deep understanding of healthcare’s mission while also having the ability to navigate the complexities of our environment specific to regulatory compliance, patient privacy and data security.
“Other considerations when leveraging AI would be to: clearly define project goals; ensure data quality; evaluate the ability to adapt, scale and monitor any project implementation; and prioritize regulatory compliance,” she added.
It’s also important to factor in patient trust and experience, she advised.
“Prior to implementation of AI tools in this project, all focus group participants were informed of the plan, collection of data, and use and retention of all information gathered during each session,” she explained. “Participants were able to ask questions, determine their level of participation, view the AI output, and provide feedback on the session. All participants elected to continue to participate in our focus groups and were curious and awed by what the tools produced.
“Finally, I would strongly encourage users to seek guidance from their organization’s policy and procedures specific to the use and integration of AI into their workspace,” she continued. “Be open to the possibilities of AI. These tools can and have increased productivity and efficiency, not just with this process improvement project, but in my everyday work. Truthfully, all team members involved in this project have integrated the use of AI tools into their work at some level.”
By using a strategic and patient-focused approach, organizations now have the ability to leverage AI responsibly, effectively and ethically to achieve operational efficiency and improve patient experience – and this applies to projects both big and small, she concluded.
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Email him: bsiwicki@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
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