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Aligned Clinician Network
Section 1 Our Strategic Imperatives
A l i g n e d N e t w o r k C l i n i c i a n
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At SCL Health, providers play a critical role in the success of our ministry, and ensuring that we have a strong, aligned network of caregivers is imperative. We remain focused on delivering the best experience for our physicians and advanced practice providers, growing our network of primary care and priority specialists, implementing systems, and enhancing our continuity T r a n s f o r m a t i o n C l i n i c a l & O p e r a t i o n a l and coordination of care. We’re doing this by giving our care providers tools to increase resiliency, reduce burnout, build their leadership skills, make stronger connections to our culture and mission, and improve their workflow.
Inspiring connection, collaboration and leadership
We know that when our providers are connected to their purpose, they perform at their best. In turn, their patients are healthier and happier. We want providers to see our clinics as their home for their careers, as a place where they can realize their professional goals and feel the satisfaction of dedicating their lives to caring for others.
SCL Health is devoted to the growth of providers as clinicians and leaders, and we value their satisfaction and experience. Last year, SCL Health Medical Scott Sears, MD, Medical Director,
Group introduced three new programs dedicated to helping our providers “We know that happy providers equal happy patients, and that’s been shown over and over and over again.”
grow in all areas of their practice: Primary Care, SCL Health Medical Group in Billings, Montana
Clinician Experience Project
The Clinician Experience Project is an app-based, interactive, multimedia learning platform that was made available to providers across SCL Health. The app promotes clinician education, resiliency and connection to joy and purpose.
“SCL Health is invested in providers. We recognize that the patient is really the reason we all go into healthcare, because we want to help people. However, those who are delivering that healthcare also need to be cared for,” says Scott Sears, MD, Medical Director, Primary Care, SCL Health Medical Group in Billings, Montana. “The Clinician Experience Project helps reconnect you with purpose, and the little things that you do every single day can bring you joy in that day’s work.”
The app offers coaching on skills that include: • Clinical leadership development to bring out the best in others and facilitate impactful change. • Connecting with patients to improve their experiences. • Team collaboration with the goal of improving patient outcomes.
Leadership Development for Physicians/Clinicians
SCL Health clinical leaders play a key role in influencing the engagement of staff, colleagues and team members, and actively help define our culture. To support the continued growth of their leadership skills, the Leadership Development for Physicians/Clinicians Program was introduced in 2019.
Across the system, 48 providers were nominated to participate in the eight-session program, with 29 providers beginning in 2019. The course work helps develop additional skills needed to lead compassionately and effectively. Simply put, there are benefits for everyone involved: Patients are more satisfied because they receive better care from happier doctors who find greater meaning in their work.
The Conscious Physician Leadership Program was created as the next step to build on the learnings shared in the Leadership Development for Physicians/ Clinicians Program, with the ultimate goal of helping providers gain skills in four key areas: • Leading self • Leading others • Leading change • Leading the organization
At the end of the six-month program, participants will have tools to help them navigate the demands of healthcare and foster better self-care and resiliency. Most important, these tools will help providers continue to deliver exceptional patient care.
Innovative clinic design benefits providers and patients
In 2019, we opened three new primary care clinics and a sports medicine clinic along the Front Range, all featuring a new, standardized design that is centered on the patient and provider experience.
In designing the new clinics, clinic space was rebuilt and optimized to produce the highest-quality patient experience and promote teamwork and efficiency across the care teams. How patients enter the clinics and how the clinical teams interact with patients – and each other – within the care environment was also redesigned. The clinics feature flat-screen monitors in all exam rooms, exam room recliners and a more modern look that still feels comfortable and welcoming.
“The new design brings the patient and the clinical team together, and we all know that really great communication allows for better care,” says Marcela Serrano, MD, family medicine provider at SCL Health Medical Group – Superior. “I enjoy how quickly I have access to my staff, because it really makes it a more cohesive group and it’s easy to find each other. Patients have responded extremely favorably.”
New clinics and expanded services
As we continue to increase capacity at SCL Health to better serve communities, several new primary care and family medicine clinics opened in 2019 in Colorado and Montana, while some clinics in the Denver area relocated and expanded their services:
New clinics • SCL Health Medical Group – Superior (Family
Medicine & OB-Gyn)
Relocated, expanded clinics • SCL Health Medical Group – Cherry Creek • SCL Health Medical Group – Denver West • SCL Health Medical Group – Denver Sports
Medicine
When convenience and choice is just a click away: Technology helps expand our reach
To better serve our patients, we consider each new project with one question in mind: “Will this innovation benefit our patients and providers?” From this perspective, we thoughtfully adopt innovations designed to expand access to care, deliver safe and effective outcomes, foster a positive experience and make care more affordable.
MyChart SCL Health’s MyChart online patient portal helps patients take an active role in their healthcare by providing a range of patient resources, including access to personal medical records and the ability to email and communicate with a provider straight from the tool.
Online Scheduling and eCheck-in Offered through MyChart, online scheduling and eCheck in tools provide a convenient time-saving way for patients to schedule appointments and check in for their appointments – anywhere, anytime. This also cuts down on paperwork and waiting room lines.
Electronic Reminders SCL Health sends email or text reminders to patients three days before appointments to decrease missed visits.
Virtual Visits Virtual visits allow a patient to receive non-emergency medical care with an SCL Health doctor through video chat – even after hours. Patients who use this service will receive a quick diagnosis, care instructions, and even a prescription when appropriate.
Epic SCL Health utilizes the Epic electronic medical records platform to streamline recordkeeping system-wide and ensure that vital medical history records follow patients to all appointments.
OpenNotes As part of an international movement to make healthcare more open and transparent, OpenNotes enables doctors to share progress notes with their patients, empowering patients to take control of their health and ensuring that both are in agreement with the plan of care.
Innovative Pharmacy Programs & Tools SCL Health Medical Group has redefined where and how we offer our pharmacy services. In moving beyond the traditional dispensing pharmacy, our pharmacists and advanced practice technicians now offer personalized services and advocacy directly within our clinics. Pharmacists and Technician Integration Pharmacists and technicians are embedded into primary and specialty clinics, allowing them to offer onsite consultations and medication monitoring to expand patient education and improve medication compliance.
MyChart Electronic Prescription Refills Patient portal allows patients to send a secure prescription renewal request to their provider from a variety of online devices anytime, anywhere.
Pill Planner Home Delivery Medications are sorted by dose, prepackaged for each day and delivered every month directly to patients’ homes in convenient packaging to help patients who have transportation challenges and those needing extra assistance.
Pill Planner, Colorado’s first health-system-based compliance packaging program, ships dailydose medication packs to Colorado patients’ homes.
