Phoebe Putney Health System Vice President and CIO Mike Elder and Director of Patient Care Kelsey Reed, DNP, FNP-Care were recently featured on a Healthcare IT Today podcast, led by Healthcare IT Founder and Chief Editor John Lynn. Throughout the podcast, they discussed Phoebe Putney’s implementation plans and strategies for combating the nursing shortage and improving patient care. Phoebe Putney piloted Expanse Ambulatory at five clinics, is building out to the rest of their physician groups, and is presently implementing hospice.
“Part of our strategy is system consolidation and MEDITECH is a huge part of that at Phoebe Putney,” shared Elder. He explains the reason for this decision, stating “for us it was patient first,” he continued to explain improving continuity of care through one patient record, noting “the quality, the safety, and the clinical reasons came first, and then the money followed that.”
Elder and Reed discuss efforts to improve recruitment and retention of nursing, including improvements to nursing workflow, such as implementing point-of-care devices to reduce burnout and improve patient care and the implementation of a virtual nursing program to retain staff. Reed also shared recruitment efforts through the recent opening of their Living and Learning Community, a collaborative effort with a local university.
“We formed a committee called the Future of Nursing, and in that committee, we came up with many strategies to impact recruitment and retention,” said Reed. “One that I am most proud of is the implementation of our virtual nurse program,” she continued by noting, “it has transformed the way we deliver care” and “retained staff and improved efficiency for our bedside team members, having our administrative tasks shifted to the virtual nurse”
Listen to the full Healthcare IT Today podcast: Phoebe Putney’s MEDITECH Expanse Go-Live and Efforts to Address the Nursing Shortage and Physician Satisfaction.
To access more great podcasts from MEDITECH Leadership and MEDITECH customers, visit meditech.com/podcasts.
