Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Advancing APP Leadership and Team Based Care with Rhonda Hoyer & Britney Broyhill
Transcript
- 0:02- There's a small circle of people who truly
- 0:04- understand what it takes to lead a health
- 0:05- system right now. The decisions are enormous.
- 0:08- The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
- 0:11- of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
- 0:14- That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality.
- 0:17- And it's why the most effective c suite
- 0:19- leaders are deliberate about where they go to
- 0:21- pressure test their thinking.
- 0:22- Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
- 0:26- brings together more than 1,500
- 0:28- executive level attendees
- 0:30- and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
- 0:32- around growth, financial sustainability,
- 0:35- workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
- 0:38- have easy answers.
- 0:39- Join us November second through the fifth in
- 0:41- Chicago.
- 0:42- For the agenda and event details,
- 0:45- visit beckershospitalreview.com
- 0:47- and click on the events tab in the
- 0:49- upper right.
- 0:50- Welcome to the Becker's Clinical Leadership podcast. I'm
- 0:53- Mariah Taylor, assistant editor, and I'm thrilled to
- 0:56- be speaking with Rhonda Hoyer, vice president of
- 0:59- advanced practice, Wisconsin and Illinois division at Advocate
- 1:02- Health, and Britney Broyhill,
- 1:05- vice president of advanced practice, North Carolina and
- 1:07- Georgia division at Advocate Health. Thank you both
- 1:10- for joining me today. I'm so excited to
- 1:12- dive more into your strategic APP leadership. But
- 1:15- before we get into it, I would love
- 1:17- for you to introduce yourself and tell us
- 1:19- a little bit about your background.
- 1:21- Thanks so much. It's it's such a wonderful
- 1:23- opportunity to be here, with you.
- 1:26- I'm Rhonda Hoyer.
- 1:28- I am by background,
- 1:30- a nurse practitioner and practiced in primary care
- 1:33- for
- 1:34- about twenty years, and have been dually in
- 1:37- leadership for the last seventeen years
- 1:40- starting out in an academic medical center,
- 1:43- where I was responsible for growing and strategically
- 1:46- leading the advanced practice workforce there. And in
- 1:49- the last five years came to advocate health
- 1:52- prior to coming together,
- 1:54- as a much larger organization
- 1:56- today
- 1:57- and have had the wonderful opportunity to continue
- 2:00- leading at the senior
- 2:03- executive level again in a larger workforce. We
- 2:06- have over 2,700
- 2:09- here in the Wisconsin and Illinois divisions. And
- 2:11- so it's been an incredible opportunity,
- 2:14- to both
- 2:15- be a clinician
- 2:16- and lead clinicians
- 2:18- in two very different organizations,
- 2:21- but
- 2:22- leverage the,
- 2:24- skills and,
- 2:26- and talents that are needed,
- 2:28- in this space. So, that's a little bit
- 2:31- about,
- 2:32- me. I had been wanting to be a
- 2:33- nurse since I was
- 2:35- 13 years old. And so, this has been
- 2:37- a wonderful journey,
- 2:39- and I'm glad to be here.
- 2:41- So I can jump in and go ahead
- 2:43- and introduce myself.
- 2:44- Thanks so much for having us, especially as
- 2:47- we're recording this during national APP week. So
- 2:49- happy APP week to our fellow APPs.
- 2:53- I'm Britney Broyhill. I'm an acute care nurse
- 2:55- practitioner by background.
- 2:57- Clinically,
- 2:58- my practice has been in trauma and surgical
- 3:01- critical care. Care. I've been an NP since
- 3:05- 2008
- 3:06- and,
- 3:07- have spent my entire career
- 3:09- at then Carolinas Healthcare System to Atrium Health
- 3:13- to Advocate Health
- 3:14- and have been,
- 3:16- professionally
- 3:16- practicing and and helping in leadership
- 3:20- here within this organization with our,
- 3:23- with all of our growth.
- 3:24- And so my leadership journey really started as,
- 3:28- the first nurse practitioner fellowship director of our
- 3:31- organization.
- 3:33- That was my first,
- 3:35- official leadership
- 3:36- role,
- 3:38- and that started in 2013.
- 3:40- And we have since built the largest
- 3:43- APP fellowship program in in the country.
- 3:47- And, that really started my my journey on
- 3:50- on operations for advanced practice,
- 3:53- elevating the role,
- 3:55- and looking for innovative creative,
- 3:58- ways of utilizing APPs, which has been a
- 4:01- truly incredible
- 4:03- journey and,
- 4:05- has has grown since then.
- 4:07- Amazing. Well, thank you both again for being
- 4:10- here. I'm especially excited to talk with you
- 4:12- both because Advocate Health has had a senior
- 4:14- APB leadership role in place for many years
- 4:17- now. In fact, well before most other systems
- 4:20- had formalized this as a role. So I'd
- 4:22- love to kind of dive into
- 4:24- that past and how this got started. What
- 4:27- was the original case for creating a VP
- 4:30- of APP position,
- 4:32- and how has that justification
- 4:34- evolved as the system has grown?
- 4:36- I'll take that question to start and then
- 4:39- and then turn it over to Rhonda to
- 4:40- talk a little bit about,
- 4:42- legacy advocate Aurora.
- 4:44- So in the North Carolina Georgia division, which
- 4:47- is,
- 4:48- as we've mentioned, the legacy Atrium Health, our
- 4:51- center for advanced practice launched in 2013.
- 4:55- And, really,
- 4:56- the goal with this was to create an
- 4:58- infrastructure to support APPs
- 5:00- as well as build our fellowship program.
- 5:03- At the time, we were
- 5:06- a new medical group and really five disparate
- 5:09- medical groups were joining to form one.
- 5:13- And we knew we had several 100 APPs,
- 5:16- but there wasn't a centralized way
- 5:18- of even communicating,
- 5:20- orchestrating,
- 5:21- looking at rules and regulations.
- 5:23- And so
- 5:24- our senior leaders really realized that a strategic
- 5:27- investment was gonna be necessary to make sure
- 5:29- we were growing our APP workforce in the
- 5:31- right way. It seemed like every specialty, every
- 5:35- practice,
- 5:37- wanted to hire an APP, but not everyone
- 5:40- really knew what the role should be
- 5:43- and how,
- 5:44- to effectively utilize it. In fact,
- 5:47- it was around that time, maybe 2011, when
- 5:50- we got our first cut of engagement data
- 5:52- that had APP specific
- 5:54- feedback separated from the rest of our teammates.
- 5:58- And it revealed that our APPs really felt
- 6:01- significantly underutilized, which we know is the number
- 6:03- one reason for turnover for APPs is not
- 6:06- to be fully
- 6:07- optimized, utilized, toposcope of, practice in their positions.
- 6:11- And so that really led,
- 6:14- a team of leaders to get together and
- 6:16- start putting together a strategy
- 6:19- that event... Eventually evolved into our center for
- 6:21- advanced practice and realized that we needed a
- 6:24- formalized structure to support the optimization of the
- 6:27- workforce. And as our workforce continued to grow,
- 6:31- our formal leadership structure,
- 6:34- was,
- 6:35- operationalized
- 6:36- in order to help drive those outcomes.
- 6:38- And so what really started as
- 6:41- an engagement opportunity,
- 6:43- a centralized
- 6:44- regulatory
- 6:46- compliance opportunity,
- 6:48- and having an APP
- 6:49- to sort of serve on,
- 6:52- various committees as a representation
- 6:55- or as a representative of our our profession,
- 6:58- it truly has continued to evolve as we've
- 7:00- grown into orchestrating the strategic clinical workforce for
- 7:04- the organization.
- 7:05- And so,
- 7:06- really, the role
- 7:08- as we continue to grow
- 7:10- connects our clinical practice, our workforce, our operations,
- 7:13- finance, compliance, and strategy into one,
- 7:16- and
- 7:17- it's so necessary as we bring on more
- 7:20- and more APPs and as our organization
- 7:22- continues to grow and bring more and more
- 7:25- organizations
- 7:26- into the family.
- 7:28- Yeah. Thanks, Britney.
- 7:30- So a couple of things I'll add is
- 7:32- as Britney mentioned, we were two separate organizations
- 7:35- that have come together over the last few
- 7:36- years and legacy,
- 7:39- advocate, Aurora healthcare,
- 7:41- in the Wisconsin and Illinois divisions
- 7:44- have had a history of advanced practice leadership,
- 7:47- within their legacy organizations, Aurora and advocate.
- 7:51- Interestingly, at the time,
- 7:53- advanced practice professionals were positioned
- 7:56- most closely within the nursing organization structures. And,
- 8:01- over time there was. There was an opportunity
- 8:04- to better leverage,
- 8:07- both the skills talents and capabilities,
- 8:09- but really moving them to be, in the
- 8:12- same team and organizational structure as their physician
- 8:15- colleagues. And so that was the time,
- 8:17- when that change had occurred.
- 8:20- That the senior leaders of what was then
- 8:22- our medical groups,
- 8:24- during a time of,
- 8:26- merger
- 8:27- came together and identified a clear strategic need
- 8:31- for a senior leader of advanced practice. And
- 8:33- so I was fortunate,
- 8:35- to come,
- 8:36- here at the organization,
- 8:38- during that time
- 8:40- and really sit alongside my physician operations and
- 8:43- nursing partners
- 8:45- to really provide that strategic
- 8:47- lens that they all had identified
- 8:50- was needed. And, you know, some of the
- 8:51- driving factors, just as Britney has mentioned,
- 8:55- as
- 8:56- the workforce had grown and become more differentiated
- 8:59- by specialties,
- 9:01- and began to make up a larger portion
- 9:04- of the clinician workforce, the medical groups,
- 9:07- it was clear that someone needed to have
- 9:10- the unique lens provided,
- 9:12- to provide that expertise and strategic oversight
- 9:16- and really help shift and think differently about
- 9:18- how we were providing access,
- 9:21- meeting the needs of of complexity in patient
- 9:24- care
- 9:25- delivery, as well as the regulatory complexity and
- 9:27- financial pressures.
- 9:29- And those all really translated back to having
- 9:31- a clear,
- 9:33- workforce strategy that would help us do that
- 9:35- together.
- 9:37- Amazing.
- 9:38- Now as I said at the beginning, both
- 9:40- of you are VPs of advanced practice. What
- 9:43- are some of the advantages of having two
- 9:44- leaders at this level, especially at a large
- 9:47- organization?
- 9:48- Yeah. Thank you so much and really great
- 9:51- question. You know, at our scale, together, Britney
- 9:54- and I lead over 7,000
- 9:55- advanced practice professionals
- 9:58- across two,
- 9:59- very diverse geographies.
- 10:02- And we know advanced practice professionals also have
- 10:05- some regulatory complexity that, is different state by
- 10:08- state. And and so our organization has both
- 10:11- recognized and appreciated
- 10:13- that our scale,
- 10:14- has the opportunity to create an enterprise aligned
- 10:17- strategy,
- 10:18- but still be locally
- 10:20- relevant. And so Britney and I really bring
- 10:22- that shared strategy
- 10:24- through a trusted partnership
- 10:26- with to the ability to really translate our...
- 10:29- That larger enterprise strategy into divisional execution.
- 10:33- And I think, you know, really important about
- 10:34- that is
- 10:36- is we have... Interestingly, when our organizations came
- 10:38- together, I was very excited to know that
- 10:40- I would have Britney as a partner
- 10:42- as we
- 10:43- led advanced practice across African health. I have
- 10:45- known Britney back since,
- 10:47- around 2010,
- 10:49- I think, in the advanced practice leadership,
- 10:52- national networks, which has been around for a
- 10:54- while and started with a very small
- 10:57- group of advanced practice leaders. And so together,
- 11:00- we bring nearly thirty years of combined experience.
- 11:03- But again, that ability to really leverage our
- 11:06- expertise
- 11:07- to lead an enterprise strategy together, but still
- 11:10- be locally and divisionally,
- 11:12- relevant and execute in things that make sense
- 11:14- divisionally.
- 11:16- Britney, anything you'd add. Yeah. I agree, Rhonda.
- 11:18- You know, in in the North Carolina, Georgia
- 11:20- division, we have over 4,000 employed.
- 11:24- We also have,
- 11:25- I think, total,
- 11:26- you know, maybe 9,000
- 11:29- APPs both employed and affiliated. And I think
- 11:32- just to build on, not only are there
- 11:34- state nuances,
- 11:37- related to our our
- 11:39- rules and regulations. But each of our various
- 11:41- facilities
- 11:42- have their own bylaw regulations that we have
- 11:45- to keep up with too. So a huge,
- 11:48- compliance
- 11:49- regulatory
- 11:50- opportunity there that you really need centralized leadership
- 11:53- to
- 11:54- to have an awareness of and guide the
- 11:56- organization through, especially in an organization this size,
- 12:01- where we may be utilizing virtual technologies
- 12:04- to share care and really innovate on on
- 12:07- what is delivered where.
- 12:10- So that's really important.
- 12:12- And and as Rhonda mentioned, we're we're working
- 12:15- on,
- 12:16- an enterprise APP strategy for for the entirety
- 12:20- of Advocate Health. And I think what's gonna
- 12:22- be really important for us moving forward is
- 12:25- it's really difficult in organization this size for
- 12:28- one leader to be, driving all of the
- 12:31- things in the strategy. And so we're working
- 12:34- together to kind of identify each of our
- 12:36- individual
- 12:37- strengths and and divide and conquer that strategy
- 12:41- to be efficient and even go faster. So,
- 12:44- again, a really great partnership
- 12:46- in in leading through the third largest nonprofit
- 12:49- health care system in the country.
- 12:52- Absolutely.
- 12:53- And let's talk about that kind of leadership
- 12:55- structure a little bit more because
- 12:57- fairly recently, I did a roundup finding all
- 13:00- the chief APP roles across the country because
- 13:03- they are becoming more popular over time. But
- 13:06- even then, I think there was maybe 30,
- 13:09- 40 people total in the whole country who
- 13:11- have a similar title.
- 13:13- So for systems that don't yet have a
- 13:15- dedicated APP executive,
- 13:17- what's the risk of leaving APP leadership
- 13:19- folded into the physician or nursing leadership structures
- 13:22- instead of standing up... Standing it up on
- 13:24- its own?
- 13:26- Yeah. It's a great question. I think we've
- 13:28- mentioned,
- 13:29- what key partners our physician, nursing, and administrative
- 13:33- colleagues are within our organization. It's almost
- 13:37- as if we've sort of created a quad
- 13:39- leadership structure, if you will.
- 13:42- And and I think for health care clinicians
- 13:45- out there, we all understand that health care
- 13:46- is really a team sport.
- 13:49- We don't make decisions in isolation.
- 13:53- None of us do as clinicians at the
- 13:55- bedside,
- 13:56- and we certainly can't make, decisions in isolation
- 14:00- within our organization. And so
- 14:03- if you do not have a dedicated APP
- 14:05- executive, then you really do not have a
- 14:08- key member of the team
- 14:10- with a voice in decision making,
- 14:12- and and you're missing a key perspective in
- 14:15- those,
- 14:15- decisions on how care gets delivered.
- 14:18- We each have unique skill sets that bring
- 14:21- a different perspective to the care team, and
- 14:23- we have different roles.
- 14:25- They all work together symbiotically,
- 14:27- but we do have distinct
- 14:29- roles and scopes of practice.
- 14:32- And so the other thing that I've that
- 14:35- I've noticed is that it's really helpful to
- 14:38- have an executive
- 14:39- who's the key person accountable
- 14:42- for the workforce, that piece of the workforce
- 14:44- so that they can keep their finger on
- 14:46- the pulse of engagement,
- 14:48- financial and quality outcomes for that individual
- 14:51- workforce. And so if folded into physician and
- 14:54- folded into nursing leadership,
- 14:57- and and you don't have a single person
- 14:59- accountable for the strategy of, you know, a
- 15:02- significant member of the of the care team,
- 15:05- you may be missing some key,
- 15:08- pieces of information.
- 15:10- I know a lot of times
- 15:12- that the... We can look at the same
- 15:15- dataset and have a different interpretation of what
- 15:18- that data means and how,
- 15:20- and how to move it. And so often,
- 15:23- I hear from leaders, oh, I haven't seen
- 15:24- it through that APP lens yet. That makes
- 15:27- a lot of sense.
- 15:29- And I think important for everyone to know
- 15:30- is that APPs,
- 15:33- are gonna make up 50% of the employee
- 15:35- clinician workforce in this country by 2033.
- 15:38- We're on track faster than that in North
- 15:41- Carolina, Georgia division of Advocate Health. We're at
- 15:43- around 46%
- 15:45- of the clinician workforce. And so
- 15:48- if you don't have an executive sitting in
- 15:51- your senior leadership table, you don't have anyone
- 15:53- guiding the organization on about half of your
- 15:56- clinician's expertise and and unique skill sets that
- 16:00- they're bringing to your care delivery model. So
- 16:03- really vital, especially as the workforce continues to
- 16:06- grow at a at a significant pace
- 16:08- to have someone there
- 16:10- representing and and providing guidance on
- 16:14- and on how to best optimize this key
- 16:17- key team member.
- 16:18- Yeah. Thanks, Britney. I'm gonna double down on
- 16:21- on some of the points you made.
- 16:23- You know, I think the risk here is
- 16:25- that,
- 16:26- the organization misses that full strategic potential of
- 16:28- the workforce is Britney mentioned,
- 16:31- the growth on track for 50% of of
- 16:33- medical groups nationwide and the Wisconsin Illinois division.
- 16:36- We're sitting at around 40 of our clinician
- 16:39- workforce being
- 16:40- and so,
- 16:41- by not having that unique,
- 16:43- leader lens,
- 16:45- we are actually
- 16:47- trans... This is translating into some missed opportunities
- 16:50- for our patients
- 16:51- and our teams. And so I think there's,
- 16:53- there's a real both,
- 16:55- workforce growth,
- 16:57- strategic,
- 16:58- and leveraging the full potential of the care,
- 17:01- teams
- 17:02- that we've talked about
- 17:04- going into the future.
- 17:06- Amazing. Let's talk a little bit more about
- 17:08- that workforce growth growth because
- 17:11- as you said, APPs are the fastest growing
- 17:14- health care role in our country.
- 17:16- So what are your top strategic priorities for
- 17:19- ADP practice at Advocate Health right now, and
- 17:22- which are you most focused on in the
- 17:24- next twelve to eighteen months?
- 17:27- Yeah. Thank you. So our priorities are really,
- 17:29- anchored in that enterprise strategy that Britney had
- 17:32- talked about earlier, and we have a couple
- 17:35- of ways we're we're really thinking about that
- 17:37- and organizing that. But really our vision, kind
- 17:40- of our forward looking view here
- 17:42- is to leverage the full potential that APPs
- 17:45- really bring to improve patient
- 17:48- access, strengthen our care teams, ensure workforce sustainability,
- 17:51- and enable the future of healthcare delivery.
- 17:55- And four capabilities
- 17:56- we're structuring ourselves around
- 17:59- are really making sure that we have a
- 18:01- consistent enterprise foundation to work off of.
- 18:05- Standards,
- 18:06- governance,
- 18:07- the data we use, the benchmarks we're using.
- 18:10- Again, that's where our shared leadership really comes
- 18:13- into play in terms of having consistency across
- 18:15- the enterprise,
- 18:17- but then having divisional nuance where that makes
- 18:19- sense.
- 18:21- The next part of our capabilities to deliver
- 18:23- on this is really around workforce excellence. So
- 18:25- the ways we engage APPs in decisions that
- 18:28- impact their practice,
- 18:30- the ways we continue to professionally
- 18:32- develop, whether that's in leadership, scholarship,
- 18:35- clinical excellence, etcetera.
- 18:37- And then the ways we are really designing
- 18:40- that high performing care delivery team. And again,
- 18:43- that is really that team effort. So where
- 18:45- and how do we maximize the skills, talents,
- 18:47- and capabilities
- 18:49- to support patient access and deliver care in
- 18:52- ways that are the most timely and patient
- 18:55- sensitive that we can. And Britney mentioned a
- 18:57- few that we are already an APP,
- 19:00- forward,
- 19:02- model
- 19:03- already. And so we have a large virtual
- 19:05- care footprint.
- 19:06- We have hospital in the home,
- 19:09- the largest in the country and really
- 19:12- are are right at the front of that
- 19:14- care delivery,
- 19:15- model.
- 19:16- And then lastly, in the innovation
- 19:18- and being future ready. So what will it
- 19:21- take for us to really be thinking about
- 19:24- how we redesign care
- 19:25- that helps support our patient needs? So really
- 19:28- four capabilities that will help us execute against
- 19:30- that,
- 19:31- and
- 19:32- again, with the outcomes being that we're able
- 19:34- to deliver
- 19:35- on our access
- 19:37- sustainability of our workforce.
- 19:39- Having a safe, effective clinical outcomes
- 19:42- that our teams are working well and effectively
- 19:44- together and, of course, attending to that financial
- 19:47- performance. And so you ask how where we're
- 19:49- focused in the twelve to eighteen months,
- 19:51- really starting. We know that foundationally
- 19:54- having enterprise consistency is what's going to help
- 19:56- us go faster,
- 19:57- and farther together as unique,
- 20:00- geographies
- 20:01- across both of our divisions. And so we're
- 20:03- gonna focus on building our consistency at scale,
- 20:07- as really our first priority. So setting some
- 20:09- of those things
- 20:11- like our governance,
- 20:13- models. And when I say governance, really how
- 20:15- and where do we have advanced practice leadership?
- 20:18- How are we are we administering
- 20:21- our compensation
- 20:22- approaches?
- 20:23- And what data is helping inform how we
- 20:27- shift and evolve our practices. So that's where
- 20:29- we're gonna focus over the next twelve to
- 20:30- eighteen months. But,
- 20:32- we like to say that,
- 20:34- we are,
- 20:35- fearless and bold and so we're gonna, we're
- 20:37- gonna run it this pretty fast. But, having
- 20:39- a great partner to do it with, makes
- 20:41- it that much easier.
- 20:43- You can tell we're not gonna be busy
- 20:45- at all
- 20:46- over the next twelve to eighteen months, but
- 20:48- I think Rhonda covered it really well.
- 20:51- The only thing that I would,
- 20:53- perhaps
- 20:54- highlight
- 20:55- is this is really about access for our
- 20:57- patients
- 20:58- and creating convenience so that people can get
- 21:02- to us when they need care at the
- 21:04- right place that's the most convenient for them.
- 21:07- And the APP workforce is really uniquely poised
- 21:10- to do that.
- 21:11- We're working on setting up the foundational infrastructure
- 21:14- to help support that across the enterprise
- 21:18- and and aligning, but care transformation
- 21:21- is certainly gonna be at the forefront of
- 21:23- how do we utilize
- 21:25- APP models... Driven models of care,
- 21:28- to really transform the way care is delivered
- 21:30- in this really broad geography, which we're both
- 21:33- really excited about and have a unique opportunity
- 21:35- as APP leaders to impact.
- 21:38- Well, that's really great. You guys definitely have
- 21:41- a lot going on in the next year
- 21:43- or so.
- 21:43- Now I wanna kind of shift back to
- 21:47- the leadership structure because, like I said before,
- 21:50- there are, you know, a few dozen systems
- 21:52- that have started to create these kinds
- 21:55- of APP executive roles, and I'm sure there
- 21:57- are dozens more that are interested or at
- 21:59- least eyeing an APP executive role. So for
- 22:02- those systems,
- 22:03- what advice do you have as they try
- 22:06- to decide whether or not their organization is
- 22:08- ready for a dedicated chief or VP of
- 22:10- APP?
- 22:12- I'll start with this question.
- 22:14- I would say
- 22:16- when you're evaluating this, it's really... You start
- 22:19- with the problem and maybe,
- 22:21- not the title right away.
- 22:23- I think
- 22:24- the organization needs to see if they're experiencing
- 22:27- access constraints,
- 22:29- workforce instability,
- 22:31- engagement turnover
- 22:32- of their APP workforce,
- 22:34- perhaps inconsistent
- 22:36- practice, compliance risks,
- 22:38- and and unexplained
- 22:40- performance variation. So so many times and at
- 22:43- the beginning of my leadership journey, I remember
- 22:46- one of our administrators
- 22:47- sent me a report of
- 22:49- APP productivity and said, why does this look
- 22:52- so different in the same specialty?
- 22:55- And, of course, it was because our APPs
- 22:56- were being utilized in very different roles with
- 22:59- the... Even within the same,
- 23:01- specialty, sometimes within the same practice.
- 23:05- And so really
- 23:06- start with the problem and what you're trying
- 23:09- to design.
- 23:10- I would consider
- 23:12- the size of the workforce,
- 23:13- the geo... Geographical
- 23:15- spread,
- 23:16- the state regulatory
- 23:18- variation, which we talked about,
- 23:20- enterprise decisions requiring
- 23:22- coordination,
- 23:23- the service line diversity,
- 23:25- really assessing the scale and complexity
- 23:28- of of
- 23:29- the organization
- 23:30- that you're in the role you're trying to
- 23:32- fill.
- 23:34- The other piece
- 23:36- is if you have fragmented
- 23:38- ownership of some key
- 23:41- operational things like compensation,
- 23:44- credentialing,
- 23:45- workforce planning,
- 23:47- There's not a single leader really focused on
- 23:49- quality productivity
- 23:51- care,
- 23:52- model delivery for advanced practice.
- 23:55- You probably need a senior APP leader to
- 23:58- integrate all of those things.
- 24:01- I do think it's really important
- 24:03- that if you decide to move forward with
- 24:05- a dedicated
- 24:06- APP leader,
- 24:08- that that person truly
- 24:10- has a seat at the table and access
- 24:12- to all the things that they need to
- 24:14- be successful. That's, you know, clear authority,
- 24:17- access
- 24:18- to data,
- 24:19- the resources that they need,
- 24:22- a true physician and nursing leader champion.
- 24:26- Particularly for APPs,
- 24:28- having a physician champion to support us is
- 24:31- really important
- 24:32- in making some of these cultural changes.
- 24:36- A finance partner, an HR partner, a legal,
- 24:38- a compliance partner,
- 24:40- really building a team around that APP leader
- 24:43- to be successful
- 24:44- to pull all these things together.
- 24:47- And then, you know, having clear expectations on
- 24:50- what those KPIs may be. What is it
- 24:52- that you're wanting them to drive? Is it
- 24:54- engagement, quality, productivity cost? It's probably all of
- 24:58- those things.
- 24:59- And with elevating a senior APP leader to
- 25:02- be part of the team,
- 25:03- they can drive those things, and they will
- 25:06- produce.
- 25:07- And so I guess
- 25:09- the question you should ask yourself is this
- 25:11- if you're ready. I think you're likely ready
- 25:15- if the fragmented
- 25:17- accountability
- 25:18- and poor productivity
- 25:19- of your... And and lack of access
- 25:22- exceeds the investment of coordinated leadership. And I
- 25:25- think organizations that have already invested
- 25:28- in APP leaders have lots of outcomes and
- 25:31- data to tell you that
- 25:33- most likely
- 25:34- a dedicated APP leader and
- 25:37- coordinated advanced practice leadership structure pays for itself
- 25:40- in dividends
- 25:41- probably within the first quarter of putting an
- 25:44- APP leader in place.
- 25:46- Yeah. Gosh, Britney, I'd love to put just
- 25:48- an exclamation point, at the end of that
- 25:50- last sentence. And so, you know, really, the
- 25:52- only things I would add are,
- 25:55- really to augment what you've already said. If
- 25:58- APPs are really central to how your health
- 26:00- system is delivering care,
- 26:02- which the data nationally would suggest it is,
- 26:05- then APP leadership
- 26:07- should be central to how your system designs
- 26:09- that care. And
- 26:11- and I just also wanna add an emphasis
- 26:14- that
- 26:15- the success of that leader will be dependent
- 26:17- upon how they are positioned
- 26:20- as a strategic partner
- 26:22- at the appropriate level.
- 26:24- Well, positioned side by side and integrated
- 26:27- with the other members of the executive team
- 26:30- position,
- 26:31- executives, nurse, executive, operational,
- 26:34- executives and leaders,
- 26:36- not just as a profession, only advocate. And
- 26:38- I think that is crucial.
- 26:41- I would add the other way that organizations
- 26:44- have seen successes when that leader.
- 26:47- Is also
- 26:48- able to lead in partnership with those other
- 26:51- members of the team
- 26:52- and really be that strategic.
- 26:55- Leader who is attending to
- 26:58- not just the day to day of running
- 27:00- the trains,
- 27:01- but really
- 27:03- leading the trains.
- 27:04- So those are some just bullet points that
- 27:07- I would add, to Britney's excellent comments.
- 27:10- That is some great advice. And we're wrapping
- 27:13- up with just one more question.
- 27:15- If you could leave hospital and health system
- 27:17- executives with one lesson about the strategic value
- 27:20- of investing in APP leadership, what would it
- 27:23- be?
- 27:24- Yeah. I'll, I'll start with that. Well,
- 27:27- first,
- 27:29- I would say that
- 27:31- health system executives,
- 27:33- when they invest in advanced practice leadership, they're
- 27:35- not just investing
- 27:37- in a profession.
- 27:39- Really, it's about investing in access,
- 27:43- in a team based effective and efficient team
- 27:45- based care model,
- 27:47- in innovative ways to deliver care,
- 27:50- and then really what our future clinical workforce
- 27:53- is evolving to be,
- 27:55- which is all about team. It's leveraging skills
- 27:57- and abilities of everyone
- 27:59- who is there to put the patient at
- 28:01- the center.
- 28:03- And APPs are already shaping the future of
- 28:05- that health care.
- 28:06- And so I think, you know, for leaders
- 28:08- who are thinking about this,
- 28:10- the question is whether
- 28:12- organizations are intentionally leading that work
- 28:15- or going to simply react to it.
- 28:18- So I'll I'll close with that.
- 28:22- Yeah. I think, you know, when I look
- 28:25- over the next ten years and
- 28:29- I almost think that it's table stakes at
- 28:31- this point to have an executive senior
- 28:34- APP leader
- 28:36- as members of of medical group and health
- 28:39- care systems
- 28:40- senior senior leadership team.
- 28:43- And
- 28:44- it's because of the unique opportunity in the
- 28:47- way that health care transformation's
- 28:49- occurring.
- 28:51- We know that APPs are uniquely
- 28:54- poised to be central to
- 28:56- virtual,
- 28:57- digital,
- 28:58- home based, preventative,
- 29:00- acute, and longitudinal care, all the things that
- 29:03- health care systems are looking to invest in
- 29:06- and that health care payers are wanting us
- 29:08- to to innovate on.
- 29:11- And, again,
- 29:12- as Rhonda mentioned, working in these highly integrated
- 29:14- teams
- 29:15- where they're gonna be supported with data and
- 29:17- technology is gonna be really key.
- 29:21- And so looking ahead and knowing
- 29:23- that APPs are gonna be central to that
- 29:26- type of care,
- 29:28- knowing that an APP leader can invest and
- 29:31- shape
- 29:33- that strategy very intentionally
- 29:35- for the organization,
- 29:37- it's it's really critical to have someone
- 29:40- in that role.
- 29:42- Otherwise, you're missing out on a huge opportunity.
- 29:45- And so,
- 29:47- as you mentioned, I really think that the
- 29:49- future of care is team based. It's technology
- 29:52- enabled,
- 29:53- and it's delivered wherever patients need it. And
- 29:55- we know that APPs are gonna be central
- 29:58- to making that future possible.
- 30:01- Amazing. This has been such a great discussion.
- 30:03- I really appreciate you both being on the
- 30:05- podcast today and sharing your expertise.
- 30:08- Thank
- 30:10- you.
- 30:13- Having us.