Jo K. Quetsch
Perioperative Nurse Consultant | Nurse Executive, Patient Safety.
As nurse executives, we have an obligation to develop strategies and tactics to transform the delivery of care. Transformation demands bold ideas that are dynamic in nature. This requires us to assess, adapt, and redirect the work continually. We are forced to take risks and challenge how things are done. These are not unique concepts found working in an operating room environment. Every day, the surgical team must adapt to unplanned circumstances and seek sustainable and safe solutions. It is a never-ending challenge for a care team preoccupied with failure to anticipate the needs of the patient and the operating room environment.
It is well known that a surgical operation is a high-risk event. As nurse executives, it is our mission to find new ways to reduce variability to ensure that the care delivered is highly reliable and sustainable. There are many strategies that ensure process improvement, such as lean methodology. But in today’s healthcare environment, we are faced with heavy resource limitations: time, labor, patient acuity, and complexity. These challenges demand innovative and urgent healthcare solutions, so executives are judiciously seeking technology solutions to improve care delivery. Of course, finding the right technology solution for your organization is overwhelming, to say the least. The healthcare technology market is robust, exciting, and transforming how care is delivered, but how do we prioritize which solutions fit the problems we are trying to solve?
The Power of Connectivity
Recently, I had the opportunity to engage with a company called DocSpera, a series B Technology company well on its way to growth and expansion within the surgery environment. One of the things that stood out to me right away was the DocSpera team and their eagerness to seek external perioperative perspectives in developing their product strategy within health systems.
They were seeking a new lens in how they prove their value to organizations in a heavily competitive technology environment. At first glimpse, I was not easily convinced because so many technology solutions are making similar claims, but I remained curious. I kept asking questions and thinking about the messaging around how their automation can improve care coordination to ensure patient readiness. The key performance metrics were well proven, and based on performance initiatives, surgical executives care about reducing case cancellation rates, reducing backlogs, reduction in surgery setup, and reduction in implant inventory. However, the more I evaluated DocSpera’s messaging, the more I sought a compelling differentiator to surgical care delivery. The answer was there, but not emphasized. In short, the value of this product is communication and connectivity to the entire surgical team from the time of case booking to the day of surgery.
Imagine a world where when booking a surgical case into your electronic medical record, the whole care team is involved in planning the care without using phones, faxes, or in-person consultations. This newfound transparency in how needs are communicated on the day of surgery creates hardwired reliability in care coordination by improving how we connect the whole care team. The days of relying on the surgeon or their office to coordinate necessary implants, equipment, and medical clearance now become a team effort from the start, not a few days prior to surgery or last-minute coordination. I heard from DocSpera surgeon users who were confident enough with this automation to reduce the number of implants shipped to the hospital comfortably.
For those of us in the surgery specialty, we know that just one surgical case, just one patient, can easily lead to many bins of possibly needed implants. These implants crowd operating room hallways, causing workflow challenges for the care team and safety concerns with infection control practices, fire hazards, and misplaced or lost implants. Automation promotes better planning of implant inventory. The ability to connect the care team early boldly reduces risks and the potential for errors.
The Power of Partnerships
Another key success factor in considering a technology solution is vendor orientation to the healthcare organization. The days of signing a contract and receiving a product or solution without customization are past. Technology companies should be looking to partner with your internal organization’s champions to adapt and problem-solve together continually. As nurse executives, we should seek out companies dedicated to continually solving the problems at the forefront. At the same time, we are responsible for ensuring that our care teams (internal champions) are given the time and resources to shape how care is delivered. The beauty of this partnership is bold and dynamic, ensuring productive collaboration that will ultimately improve healthcare. I found this to be true with DocSpera.
DocSpera’s product is customizable to providers and to patient needs. Each surgeon has a profile unique to his/her practice and the types of procedures they perform. The pre-operative protocols are detailed, relevant, and truly care for the patient from a holistic approach. As a care team member, you can easily visualize the patient’s fall risk, functionality, pain level, and co- morbidities. Firsthand, I observed DocSpera’s approach to real-world problem solving through a recent proposal to pilot a small portion of their product as a proof of concept. The proof of concept will give the organization time to test the design and functionality of the DocSpera product without a significant capital investment. At the same time, a smaller-scale implementation will assist the healthcare organization with quick gains that are more manageable from a change perspective and create shared risk-taking. The ability for DocSpera to pivot to a pilot is a true partnership between technology and the healthcare organization.
In closing, nurse executives cannot function in silos and walk alone. We are called to action with our technology partners to solve real problems, identify common objectives, and be dynamic in a fast-paced, changing care coordination world. Our communities and the populations we serve rely on us to be innovative, bold and find new ways to shape the future of care delivery.