In this Clinical Dashboard Series interview, Julie Britton, Chief Clinical Officer at Genesis Healthcare, joins Skilled Nursing News to discuss her views and hopes for her ideal clinical dashboard. Britton holds multiple degrees and certifications in nursing, has over 30 years of health care experience, and takes part in many committees and programs dedicated to nursing and the healthcare industry. When it comes to the clinical dashboard, Britton talks about the importance of faster and more accurate data, as well as the artificially intelligent tools of today and the future that will increase ease of use.
What are the three most important data points that you would want to see each day on your ideal clinical dashboard and why?
The top three most important data points for a high level multi-center view would include occurrences of sentinel or reportable events. This allows high level review for deployment of multi-center audits. Also, rehospitalization or emergency department (ED) utilization data. This trends the center’s ability to manage or identify changes in condition as well as the ability to gauge support for items such as strengthening physical assessments, etc. And, finally, patient satisfaction. This will allow interdisciplinary team deployment of service recovery items.
How would the ideal clinical dashboard drive patient care decisions?
Evidence tells us that data informs decisions. With a dashboard that provides leadership with performance data such as length of stay (LOS), rehospitalization, in-house acquired (IHA) pressure ulcer rates, and prioritizes where the focus of QAPI needs to be, would be helpful.
How would the ideal clinical dashboard help optimize reimbursement?
A dashboard that extrapolates patient-level detail including payor, LOS and metrics, allows for oversight and prioritization for documentation. It also allows for retrospective reviews and audits to determine where gaps might exist for future patients.
How can the clinical dashboard improve staffing efficiency?
When looking at the dashboard, one can easily glean acuity and allow for up-staffing as appropriate. In addition, stable units can mobilize staff to units that have patients with more acute needs.
How would you like to see the clinical dashboard integrated with predictive analytics tools?
It would be great to have AI tools that can take clinical information and provide predictive analytics around rehospitalization or patients at risk for decompensation, and provide center leaders with tools for mobilizing additional interventions. It could also provide a gauge of “decreasing risk” to allow centers to confirm whether changes in plan of care were effective. The clinical dashboard should allow for these AI tools to populate patients at risk for use in clinical morning daily meetings and allow for plans for weekend strategy to be developed.
Besides yourself, what are the most important roles in your organization to also have access to the clinical dashboard?
Clinical operation leaders are the most important, which is inclusive of Clinical Educators, Clinical Reimbursement, Dementia Care, Infection Control, Business Development, Care Transitions, Operations, Chief Medical Officer,and Population Health.
What would you do to improve the collection of patient health data?
Although the information is readily available and mostly in real time, most of the data has a 24-hour lag, which could be improved to real time.
Can the ideal clinical dashboard help with value-based care?
The clinical dashboard will allow centers to gauge their performance by contributing to their Value-Based Care (VBC) metrics through LOS and rehospitalization rates, for example. The data can be grouped by payor, providing center leaders with insights for potential opportunities.
Can the clinical dashboard improve care denials from managed care?
A clinical dashboard that supports the provision of care based on the trending needs of the patient can improve denials as the care team is able to implement plans that meet the changing needs of the patient and allow for strengthening of any needed documentation of care delivered.
