Hamid R. Abbasi
Sue Abderholden
Partner/Surgeon Tristate Brain and Spine Institute
Executive Director NAMI Minnesota
Changes: Over the last four years, we established ourselves as a world leader in minimally invasive spine surgery. We fine-tuned and made Oblique Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion (OLLIF) a routine procedure. Spine surgery that once took four hours to complete is now done in only 40 minutes with tremendous success and benefits to our patients.
Changes: We have been working hard to increase the mental health literacy of families; people who work in health care or with youth and older adults; employers; and first responders. We have also greatly increased our work on suicide prevention and safe messaging.
MD, PhD, FACS, FAANS
Challenges: Our biggest challenges are related to bringing the OLLIF procedure and related technology to more patients. Currently, additional surgeons are needed to perform this cutting-edge procedure. We’ve had national and international surgeons come to our facilities so we can train them. We have also published in peer-reviewed journals to highlight the superiority of OLLIF.
Craig Acomb
100 Influential Minnesota Health Care Leaders In preparing this feature, we asked each of the nominated health care leaders to answer two questions: 1
What are the biggest changes your organization has made in the past four years?
2 What are the biggest challenges these changes will face in the next four years?
We invite you to read their responses.
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MINNESOTA PHYSICIAN AUGUST 2016
MPH
Challenges: Our mental health system isn’t broken—it has never been built. Increased awareness has led to more people seeking treatment and the realization that we are not meeting their needs. How we build on what we know works in the community, while at the same time ensuring access to acute care, is our biggest challenge.
Brian Amdahl
Interim President and CEO Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement
MD, MMM
Changes: We have continued to pursue our collaborative focus on the Triple Aim goals of better care, smarter spending, and healthier people. Our accomplishments include leadership on integrating behavioral health into primary care, award-winning work to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions, and pioneering efforts to help medical groups forge partnerships with their communities to accelerate improvements in health.
Changes: We have transitioned from siloed care delivery areas to a systematized care continuum approach, integrating acute hospitals, clinics, postacute care programs, and community services into a single care delivery business unit. Unified operational and medical director oversight, as well as shared clinical care pathways and personnel, has improved patient safety and overall experience during care transitions. Streamlined electronic medical records support seamless delivery of critical medical data. These changes align with customers’ expectations for fully integrated care.
Challenges: We know that health care will continue to evolve rapidly, and the need for a coordinated community approach to robust measurement, clinical care innovation, aligned payment models, and consumer engagement will be critical to achieving our collective goal of better value for our investments in health.
VP and Executive Medical Director Post-Acute Care, Medical Specialties HealthEast
Challenges: We need to be aware of our customers’ continually evolving expectations, and be nimble enough to quickly change processes to deliver care when, where, and how it is desired.