Helping hospitals scale new technologies

It’s the type of program Dr. Chris DeRienzo says he wishes that he had when he was serving as the chief medical officer of a health system.

The American Hospital Association and the West Health Institute are partnering on a three-year initiative that is designed to help hospitals and health systems adopt proven technologies. West Health has provided a $12 million commitment to support The West Health Accelerator at AHA’s Health Research & Educational Trust.

DeRienzo, the chief physician executive and senior vice president of the American Hospital Association, tells Chief Healthcare Executive® that the accelerator is aimed at solving a tricky problem for hospitals and health systems. Even if there is a technology or digital tool that is effective in solving problems, it’s not always easy to implement and adopt the new solutions across the organization.

“I think there's a real gap between great technology that's proven to work and getting it implemented in people's process and workflow,” DeRienzo says. “And that's not a gap that exists because we aren't trying hard to close it, and people are working really hard, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's a gap that exists because implementation is hard. Redesigning people's workflows, redesigning process … that is really challenging work.”

“That's the grounding in this accelerator: helping close this gap between a proven, technology-enabled solution that can help improve patient outcomes, and trying to scale adoption to as many places as it can be helpful,” he says.

The accelerator is focusing on three primary areas to help health systems take advantage of tech solutions that can make a difference: artificial intelligence utilization; getting the most out of electronic health records; and virtual care.

DeRienzo points to the encouraging results from AI technologies, including ambient documentation tools that record physician-patient conversations and provide a summary of the visit almost instantly. Hospitals are increasingly adopting AI documentation tools to reduce stress on staff, save time and improve employee retention.

He also points to digital tools that can screen for disease and detect them earlier. But DeRienzo says even tools that have a good track record can falter if not implemented properly.

“You've got to do all of the surrounding improvement cycle work in order for the tool to be used at its maximum level,” he says.

Hospitals that participate will have access to a digital hub to evaluate tech solutions that have been used with success and support from experts with the hospital association and West Health on implementation.

DeRienzo says he’s also optimistic about the accelerator’s potential to help health systems expand their capabilities with virtual care.

“It's important for rural hospitals,” he says. “It's also a technology that we've seen lots of hospitals use in order to extend the reach of different kinds of clinicians and different kinds of clinicians.”

Hospitals are also using virtual tools to help support patients and families during a hospital stay and in preparation for discharge.

“There is an incredible amount of opportunity that our members are seeing in deploying virtual care to support patients in urban areas and rural areas,” DeRienzo says.

He also sees potential for hospitals to find ways to use digital tools to help improve patient safety.

To illustrate the point, DeRienzo cites an episode of “The West Wing” where Leo, the White House chief of staff, comforts his deputy, Josh, who is dealing with trauma after he was shot and nearly killed.

Leo tells Josh the story of a man who falls in a hole and can’t get out. A friend sees the man in the hole and jumps in. Confused, the man who fell into the hole said he didn’t understand why his friend joined him in the hole. The friend replies, “I've been in this hole before, and I know the way out.”

DeRienzo says the same scenario applies to hospitals. He says one of his most difficult challenges as a chief medical officer was getting the input from others to find out how they solved certain problems. With the accelerator, health systems may be able to find the tools and the strategies they need to find a better path.

“That kind of fabric is what this accelerator is designed to build for our members,” DeRienzo says. “And I literally could not be more excited about it. It's exactly what I wish existed in the world four years ago, when I was the CMO of a health system.”