Navigating the Future of Healthcare

What are your roles and responsibilities in your current organization? Could you kindly provide a brief overview of what a typical day entail?

Since the age of five, I have held a deep-seated desire to pursue a career in nursing. My journey began at the bedside, like many other nurses, where I gained valuable experience. Over time, I transitioned from clinical roles to leadership positions, progressing from a manager to a director and eventually assuming the role of chief nursing and chief operating officer at Chesapeake Regional Healthcare. Before relocating here five years ago, I served as the chief nursing officer in the Pittsburgh area. This progression has taken me from the frontline of patient care to the strategic decision-making processes within the boardroom. Throughout my journey, I've been fortunate to have exceptional mentors who have guided me and facilitated my growth as a clinical nurse and a nursing leader.

With over 30 years of experience in healthcare, I have witnessed various challenges and trends throughout my career. Undoubtedly, the pandemic presented unprecedented obstacles and numerous opportunities for learning. On a daily basis, my responsibilities encompass overseeing patient care within the organization, as well as providing operational guidance for service lines. This involves spearheading the development of essential programs like our new open heart program, trauma program, and cancer program, all aimed at meeting the evolving needs of our community. My tasks range from strategizing on recruiting and retaining top healthcare talent to overseeing the construction of critical care facilities, cancer centers, and mother-baby units. Additionally, I focus on implementing evidence-based practices that enable us to lead with innovation while collaborating on the development of pharmacy and imaging programs that cater to our community's requirements.

My role entails various responsibilities encompassing operational and nursing perspectives, from ensuring optimal patient care to facilitating access to cutting-edge imaging and diagnostic testing for our community.

According to you, what are some of the recent trends and challenges reshaping the primary care space?

One of the most significant challenges the healthcare industry has faced is the need to reinvent healthcare and care delivery systems, particularly in light of the lessons learned from the pandemic. As we navigate this post-pandemic landscape, we face new challenges that call for innovative approaches and technology to advance healthcare and improve outcomes.

Investing in technology and staying at the forefront of innovation is crucial for providing healthcare teams with the best tools to deliver care in innovative ways. Emphasizing care development beyond the confines of hospitals is another significant trend. This includes expanding primary care, implementing remote monitoring at home, and exploring cost-effective alternatives like surgical centers and care-at-home models. By focusing on care in the community, we can address health equity issues and provide accessible and affordable care to all individuals, regardless of their transportation or access limitations.

To promote health equity, healthcare organizations, including ours, will continue to prioritize initiatives such as providing access to pharmacy services in the home or community and establishing imaging and diagnostic centers in areas where access may be a challenge. The goal is to bring healthcare services closer to the communities we serve, ensuring that everyone has equal opportunities for quality care. This commitment to health equity will remain a prominent trend as we strive to create simple and readily available access points for all members of the community.

In the healthcare industry, as well as in other sectors, staffing shortages have reached unprecedented levels. We must address these challenges, particularly with the projection of nursing shortages nationwide until 2030. This calls for innovative approaches to care team models and hospital delivery systems. We must embrace new ways of doing things, as our current healthcare model could be more sustainable given the existing shortages, especially in nursing.

Continuing with the same care delivery models and relying solely on our current resources is not feasible. There needs to be more than the influx of new professionals entering the field within the next seven years to bridge the gap in our current delivery system. 

Therefore, organizations nationwide, including ours, are actively exploring and experimenting with new care models, alternative delivery approaches, and different skill mixes. The goal is to enhance efficiency and ensure the provision of the best possible care to our communities.

How do you adapt to changes in staffing and care models in primary care?

We are exploring various care models, including implementing hospital admission discharge nurses. This approach aims to alleviate the workload of frontline nurses by allowing dedicated admission discharge nurses to focus solely on patients' admission and discharge processes. By implementing this model, we aim to enhance the overall patient experience while easing the burden on nurses caring for other patients within the organization.

To alleviate the workload of frontline staff, we have introduced an additional team consisting of admission discharge nurses. They assist in managing the admission and discharge processes, effectively lightening the load for the frontline staff. Furthermore, we have established a vascular access team dedicated explicitly to handling vascular devices, enhancing the bedside care model. Additionally, our organization has implemented a rapid response team that promptly responds to patients, providing extra hands and support to the frontline units.

The care models we are currently implementing can be categorized as service support models, encompassing the teams mentioned earlier. These models aim to provide additional support and assistance to enhance service delivery. Our home health supportive care division has also introduced a remote monitoring program for heart failure patients. This initiative addresses access and readmission issues in the community by offering remote monitoring services from the comfort of patients' homes.

What trends and technological advancements do you anticipate in the healthcare industry that will have a transformative impact in the next few years?

Certainly, I anticipate a rise in the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnosing and treating patients. In addition, I expect to introduce innovative tools that will streamline surgical procedures, improve efficiency in hospital care, and facilitate home-based healthcare. By integrating AI with electronic health records, we can expect advancements in monitoring tools and enhanced efficiency in delivering care. These technologies are likely to become more prevalent in hospitals and healthcare organizations, shaping the future of healthcare. The focus will be developing tools that make care providers more efficient while leveraging AI for improved diagnostics, treatment, and preventive healthcare measures.

There will be significant advancements in the field of genetics and genetic testing. We can expect to see earlier and more extensive testing for genetic predispositions in patients, even in their 20s and 30s. This shift will enable the provision of preventive medicine at an earlier stage, rather than waiting until the 40s and 50s when traditional screening exams are usually conducted. The progress in genetics and genetic testing will profoundly impact the overall health and mortality rates of our communities, allowing us to make significant strides in improving healthcare outcomes.

What advice would you give your peers on navigating this ever-changing healthcare landscape? 

If I were to offer advice to my peers and colleagues, I would emphasize the importance of embracing a continuous learning cycle and prioritizing personal growth and development. Investing in leadership development is crucial to effectively leading change in the healthcare industry. As leaders, we must be proactive in embracing and driving change. This means being willing to take the lead, trying new approaches, and facing the challenges that lie ahead. By doing so, we can contribute to improving healthcare for future generations and positively impact the industry.