Healthcare providers are receiving patient portal messages at large volumes, reshaping how care teams deliver and manage care between visits. As patient messaging grows from simple prescription questions to complex clinical concerns, this “invisible” work is placing a significant strain on provider workload. In this episode, Vizient Fellow Mathilde Hanchard talks to Dr. Ko, Director and Chief of Dermatology Service Line and Associate Chief Quality Officer at Stanford Health Care, about how his team uncovers the true scope of patient medical interactions.

Guest Speaker: Dr. Justin M. Ko, MD, MBA Director and Chief of Medical Dermatology Stanford Health Care (SHC)

Host: Mathilde Hanchard, MS-HSM Fellow, Performance Improvement Programs Vizient

Show Notes:

[00:52] Dr. Ko explains provider workload tied to patient portal messaging [02:12] Rapid growth of patient portal messages since 2020 [03:50] Making portal messaging more visible and measurable [05:27] The complexity of accurately quantifying the communication workload [07:47] Plans to publish and share data [11:19] Evaluating patient portal messages and trends [12:57] The future of patient portal messaging within care delivery

Links | Resources: Contacting Knowledge on the Go: picollaboratives@vizientinc.com

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Patient messaging has become more common across health systems, but few use it in a way that truly supports better health outcomes. Northwestern Medicine’s Smart Outreach for Better Health is taking patient communication a step further by using automation to identify specific populations and send personalized clinically relevant messages. Our host Myesha Williams and Northwestern’s Program Manager Dharmesh Patel share how this initiative bridges care gaps, boosts follow up rates and helps patients stay engaged in their own care.

Guest speaker:

Dharamesh Patel Program Manager, Quality and Patient Safety Northwestern Medicine

Host: Myesha Williams SN, RN Fellow, Performance Improvement Programs Vizient

Show notes:

[00:56] – Overview of the Better Health initiative and how patient messaging was deployed

[01:53] – Collaboration between data and quality leaders that launched automated patient outreach

[03:17] – Implementing a systemwide strategy to enhance outreach and care coordination

[04:19] – Timing messages to reach patients when they’re most likely to respond

[06:32] – Role of patient and family advisors in driving success and credibility

[07:40] – How the team increased follow-through rates, engaging 13% of patients

[09:12] – Tackling challenges and leveraging EMR analyst expertise

[09:54] – Addressing time constraints as a key project barrier

Links | Resources: Contacting Knowledge on the Go: picollaboratives@vizientinc.com

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Preference card management plays a critical role in improving accuracy, reducing costs, and driving efficiency across surgical services. Host LaTammy Marks, Senior Performance Improvement Program Director at Vizient, sits down with Carol Zelenkowski, System Operations Manager for Surgical Services at Main Line Health, to discuss their journey toward optimizing over 20,000 preference cards. Carol shares how her team used data to uncover cost variations, build surgeon buy-in, and achieve reduction in card volume. She also reflects on lessons learned and how these improvements are now expanding into other specialties, offering valuable insights for health systems nationwide.

Guest speaker:

Carol Zelenkowski, BSN, RN, CNOR System Operations Manager MLH Surgical Services, Main Line Corporate Center

Host: LaTammy Marks, MBA, BSN, RN Senior PI Program Director, Performance Improvement Programs Vizient

Show notes:

[01:01] – Main Line Health’s starting point and challenges with preference cards before joining the Vizient collaborative

[01:50] – Why Main Line Health chose to participate in the Vizient collaborative

[02:51] – How the team decided which preference cards to prioritize for review and optimization

[03:24] – Key insights uncovered in the data, including cost saving and variation trends

[04:33] – Gaining surgeon buy-in by presenting accurate preference card data

[05:35] – The measurable savings achieved and the positive impact on Main Line Health’s surgical services

[06:52] – Expanding preference card optimization to other specialties and the future of this work.

Links | Resources: Contacting Knowledge on the Go: picollaboratives@vizientinc.com

Unlocking savings through preference card management

Transform your perioperative supply chain

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