Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / Advancing Pediatric Care Through Smarter Informatics with Diane Constantine of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Transcript

Advancing Pediatric Care Through Smarter Informatics with Diane Constantine of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

• 0:02
  At athenahealth,
• 0:03
  we know your ambulatory practice wants healthier, a
• 0:06
  healthier business, healthier care teams, and healthier patients.
• 0:10
  But the complexities of modern health care tech
• 0:12
  make it hard for you and your care
• 0:14
  teams to focus on what matters
• 0:16
  most? That's where athenahealth can help. Our AI
• 0:19
  native all in one solutions reduce administrative burdens,
• 0:22
  streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights
• 0:25
  when clinicians need it most. That means fewer
• 0:28
  clicks, more time for patients, and stronger bottom
• 0:31
  lines.
• 0:32
  Practicing medicine is complex, but running a practice
• 0:35
  can be that much simpler with athenahealth.
• 0:38
  See how simpler is healthier@athenahealth.com.
• 0:43
  This is Laura Dierdo with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:45
  podcast.
• 0:46
  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Diane
• 0:48
  Constantine,
• 0:49
  senior director of enterprise health informatics at Children's
• 0:52
  Hospital of Philadelphia. Diane, it's a pleasure to
• 0:54
  have you on the podcast today. Thank you.
• 0:57
  Yeah. I'm glad to be here.
• 0:59
  Absolutely. Now I'm excited to learn a little
• 1:01
  bit more about, some of the cool things
• 1:04
  that you're doing there at CHOP and then,
• 1:06
  you know, your perspective on the future. But
• 1:08
  before we dive in, can you tell us
• 1:09
  a little bit more about yourself and your
• 1:10
  background?
• 1:12
  Yeah. Of course. So,
• 1:13
  I'm currently the senior director of enterprise health
• 1:16
  informatics as as you, shared.
• 1:19
  I've literally been in this position for four
• 1:22
  weeks, so brand new to to the children's
• 1:24
  hospital.
• 1:26
  But my background spans more than three decades
• 1:28
  in health care.
• 1:29
  I began as a critical care transplant pediatric
• 1:33
  nurse
• 1:34
  and really evolved into leadership roles,
• 1:37
  in informatics,
• 1:38
  you know, those roles that bridge technology operations
• 1:41
  and patient care.
• 1:43
  Before joining
• 1:45
  CHOP,
• 1:45
  I served as director of clinical informatics and
• 1:48
  interim chief of informatics at the University of
• 1:51
  Maryland,
• 1:51
  medical system.
• 1:53
  And in those roles, I oversaw,
• 1:57
  enterprise epic implementations at 11 different hospitals.
• 2:01
  We did a lot of,
• 2:04
  work through advancing efficiency per for providers and
• 2:07
  nurses,
• 2:08
  and then also led a lot of well-being,
• 2:12
  initiatives there.
• 2:13
  I'm board certified in nursing informatics
• 2:16
  as well as,
• 2:17
  nurse executive advance
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  and have served as adjunct faculty for the
• 2:22
  University of Maryland School of Nursing. So my
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  career is really centered around
• 2:27
  creating a bridge between people, process, and technology.
• 2:31
  Well, that's great to hear. And it's an
• 2:32
  important place to sit in because I I
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  know it sounds simple,
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  to integrate those altogether, but very much easier
• 2:38
  said than done.
• 2:40
  So from your vantage point, what are some
• 2:42
  of the opportunities and headwinds you have your
• 2:43
  eye on right now?
• 2:45
  So I think informatics sits at a fascinating
• 2:48
  crossroads right now.
• 2:49
  One major opportunity,
• 2:52
  and I think probably everyone mentions this,
• 2:54
  is the evolution of artificial intelligence or augmented
• 2:58
  intelligence and ambient technologies.
• 3:01
  You know, the the tools that truly give
• 3:03
  back time to clinicians and,
• 3:06
  you know, we are looking at really how
• 3:08
  to integrate those solutions
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  safely and responsibly,
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  because ultimately, we wanna reduce cognitive load. We
• 3:16
  wanna improve documentation.
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  And, ultimately, I think strengthen clinician and patient
• 3:23
  connection.
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  But with that, with those opportunities, I think
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  there are some headwinds.
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  We, you know, we need to ensure that
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  we maintain strong data governance,
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  interoperability,
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  and really trust
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  in how the data and AI are used.
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  You know, I think for health care,
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  those considerations
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  are really magnified
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  because, you know, we have to protect
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  privacy. We have to ensure ethical use of
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  of the data
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  and then
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  maintain transparency
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  really with every digital decision we make.
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  I think the other thing that I would
• 4:00
  add
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  is I see a continued need to,
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  to address digital fatigue.
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  It's that growing sense among the clinicians that
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  technology is adding more friction than it removes.
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  And,
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  you know, we have,
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  health care has, in general, given care teams
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  an incredible amount of digital tools,
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  but too often they operate in silos or
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  they add steps.
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  And I think the goal right now isn't
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  necessarily more technology. I think it's better technology,
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  like integrating it more seamlessly into the natural
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  rhythm of care.
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  And that means designing workflows that truly fit
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  how clinicians
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  think and work,
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  you know, whether it's documentation
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  or alerts or
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  trying to surface information
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  when it's needed most.
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  I think it's,
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  you know, we have to pay close attention
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  to the relationship
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  between how we're designing the technology
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  and then clinician well-being.
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  And,
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  I know at, the children's hospital,
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  you know, we're tracking usability, time and chart,
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  you know, cognitive load along with safety and
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  quality outcomes.
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  So I think informatics leaders have a unique
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  role in balancing that innovation with empathy. Right?
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  Making sure that
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  we are advancing,
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  digitally, but that it's enhancing,
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  the human side of care, not encumbering it.
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  So
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  I I'd like to think that,
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  when technology becomes a true partner in care,
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  not a obstacle,
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  we can improve efficiency, but also bring still
• 5:40
  that sense of purpose and joy back to
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  practice. It's why people go into health care,
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  and I think that's where informatics can have
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  its greatest and really most lasting impact.
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  I love that. I think it makes a
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  lot of sense and certainly has a very,
• 5:55
  very important role in maintaining that, provider satisfaction
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  given time back in the day and, having
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  that ability,
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  to work wonders within the documentation
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  space.
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  Now how are you looking at growth and
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  adding value to the organization overall in the
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  future? I think hearing very strongly, obviously, that
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  AI,
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  augmented,
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  intelligence as well as some of the ambient
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  technologies,
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  you know, will be super important for providers
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  heading into the future. But what else do
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  you see as being top of mind or
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  or exciting opportunities,
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  going forward?
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  Yeah. For me,
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  growth and value are, I think, are really
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  around measurable impact,
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  improving outcomes for patients, efficiency
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  for our health care providers and clinicians,
• 6:42
  and then sustainability
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  for the organization.
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  So that means, using informatics as a strategic
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  enabler,
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  you know, for operational performance.
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  I think we really need to and we,
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  as in health care, we need to align
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  our digital strategies directly with the clinical and
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  operational priorities.
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  I think every initiative, whether you're redesigning a
• 7:06
  workflow,
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  creating data visualization, or optimizing epic or the
• 7:10
  EHR, it should be grounded in a clear
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  purpose and outcome.
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  For example,
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  where I had worked previously, we had
• 7:20
  implemented
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  a workload scoring tool
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  with, assignment nursing assignment functionality.
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  And, you know, we were able to demonstrate
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  that we could balance,
• 7:32
  you know, the the nurses' workload really effectively.
• 7:35
  And at the same time, the tools gave
• 7:38
  leaders better insight into, like, workload trends and
• 7:41
  into capacity.
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  So I think
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  by marrying those things together,
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  I think that really
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  adds value to the organization.
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  The other thing and maybe even more important
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  is, the about growth is developing our people.
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  So,
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  informatics
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  thrives on collaboration, whether it's between nurses, physicians,
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  you have your technology
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  team, you have your vendors.
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  You know, I'm really invested in building teams
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  that are high performing and purpose driven.
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  And that means mentoring, like, that next generation
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  of informatics leader, really promoting learning and fostering
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  a culture where
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  people have the opportunity to be curious and
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  be innovative,
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  like, where we can encourage that.
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  So,
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  so in the end, I guess, I think
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  value comes from the impact.
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  And I think anytime we can help the
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  clinicians work more efficiently,
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  patients and families can have smoother care.
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  You know, I think that's where the value
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  comes in. I think growth,
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  should be defined not only by the projects
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  we complete,
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  but by the difference that we make
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  in implementing them.
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  Absolutely.
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  You know, and that value is so critical
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  right now, especially
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  thinking through some of the challenges that are
• 9:00
  coming ahead, for health care and hospitals and
• 9:03
  systems across the country. I think one of
• 9:05
  the things we hear often from leaders is
• 9:08
  talking through just the financial stress that many
• 9:10
  organizations are under right now. Even if they
• 9:13
  their balance sheet looks good now, they foresee
• 9:15
  with some of the policy changes coming up,
• 9:17
  just a little bit more margin compression than
• 9:19
  they had anticipated out in the beginning of
• 9:22
  the year. So, you know, when you think
• 9:24
  about resources and health care, especially financial resources
• 9:27
  being precious,
• 9:28
  what are some of the best,
• 9:30
  investments or risks that are still worth making
• 9:33
  over the next twelve months or so, even
• 9:35
  knowing, you know, just how challenging it could
• 9:37
  be for some organizations to prioritize the right
• 9:40
  things for their dollars and cents?
• 9:43
  Yeah. So I think
• 9:45
  from from my standpoint in informatics, I think
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  one of the most worthwhile investments right now
• 9:51
  is is really focusing on people centered innovation,
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  you know, specifically
• 9:57
  investing in clinical clinician engagement
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  and workflow
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  redesign, like, along with the technology
• 10:04
  adoption.
• 10:06
  I think it's easy to focus on software
• 10:09
  and platform,
• 10:11
  but the real transformation
• 10:12
  happens
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  when clinicians are are part of the design
• 10:16
  and in the decision making.
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  So I think investing time and resources and
• 10:20
  change management and
• 10:22
  usability
• 10:23
  and training, I think it that ensures that
• 10:26
  technology becomes an enabler and not a barrier.
• 10:29
  I think we, need to be really intentional
• 10:32
  about piloting technologies
• 10:35
  that support,
• 10:36
  clinical decision making and documentation reduction
• 10:40
  while measuring that impact on burnout and satisfaction.
• 10:43
  I think,
• 10:44
  those investments in both technology and the people
• 10:47
  who use it are the ones I think
• 10:48
  that are gonna pay off in the long
• 10:50
  run.
• 10:51
  Absolutely. I I I love that, and I
• 10:53
  think having that type of critical eye in
• 10:56
  terms of selecting the right technologies to invest
• 10:58
  in and then bringing the team on board
• 11:01
  to make that change, and have it be
• 11:03
  easy and simple for the, clinicians who are
• 11:05
  using it makes a lot of sense. Now
• 11:07
  before we wrap up here, I'm curious, where
• 11:09
  do you see some of the best opportunities
• 11:11
  for growth in the future?
• 11:13
  So looking ahead, I see the greatest opportunity
• 11:17
  in technology adoption and optimization,
• 11:19
  like, ensuring that what we've invested in,
• 11:23
  that we are full fully realizing it and
• 11:26
  continuously improving it, like, within our digital ecosystem.
• 11:30
  I think the focus needs to be on
• 11:31
  maximizing
• 11:32
  adoption,
• 11:34
  really across all disciplines,
• 11:36
  helping teams to leverage the tools to their
• 11:39
  fullest potential,
• 11:40
  and then creating a feedback loop between users
• 11:43
  and the developers, right, so you can drive
• 11:45
  meaningful change.
• 11:47
  I I just don't think growth is
• 11:50
  all about introducing new tech.
• 11:52
  I think it's ensuring that the existing systems
• 11:55
  that we're using are refined, that people are
• 11:58
  embracing them, and that they're embedded in in
• 12:00
  daily practice.
• 12:02
  The other opportunity,
• 12:05
  we are really looking at, our cross organizational
• 12:08
  collaboration,
• 12:09
  partnering with other pediatric
• 12:11
  academic centers to share best practices,
• 12:15
  design standards, and innovation, you know, frameworks, and,
• 12:19
  even the technology that we use.
• 12:21
  So I think when we work collectively,
• 12:24
  we can move faster and achieve better outcomes
• 12:27
  for the the communities that we serve.
• 12:29
  I think the,
• 12:31
  future of informatics really lies in sustainable adoption.
• 12:35
  You know, when the technology becomes intuitive, supportive,
• 12:38
  it's integrated,
• 12:40
  we're not just modernizing,
• 12:42
  you know, health care. We can transform it
• 12:45
  and we can elevate it.
• 12:47
  I love it. Diane, thank you so much
• 12:48
  for joining us on the podcast today. This
• 12:50
  has been a really fun conversation,
• 12:52
  inspirational to see what you're really looking at
• 12:55
  in the future, and I am excited to
• 12:56
  connect with you again in the next year.
• 12:58
  Yeah. Thank you for having me.
• 13:02
  At athenahealth,
• 13:03
  we know your ambulatory practice wants healthier,
• 13:06
  a healthier business, healthier care teams, and healthier
• 13:09
  patients.
• 13:10
  But the complexities of modern health care tech
• 13:12
  make it hard for you and your care
• 13:14
  teams to focus on what matters
• 13:16
  most? That's where athenahealth can help.
• 13:19
  Our AI native all in one solutions reduce
• 13:21
  administrative burdens, streamline billing and payments, and deliver
• 13:25
  critical insights when clinicians need it most. That
• 13:28
  means fewer clicks, more time for patients, and
• 13:31
  stronger bottom lines.
• 13:33
  Practicing medicine is complex, but running a practice
• 13:36
  can be that much simpler with athenahealth.
• 13:39
  See how simpler is healthier at athenahealth.com.