Latest / Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast / Mary Sisney, VP of Primary Care at Children's Medical Group & Urgent Care

Transcript

Mary Sisney, VP of Primary Care at Children's Medical Group & Urgent Care · Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast

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This is Chris Sosa with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
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I'm thrilled today to be joined by Mary Si,
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vice President of Primary Care at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Mary,
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thank you for joining us today.
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Oh, you're very welcome, Chris. Thank you for the opportunity.
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Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background?
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I'd be happy to. So, I'm Mary Si.
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I serve as Vice President for the primary care division at
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Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Um, my background, I,
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I have a bachelor's degree in nursing and an MBA and my
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career has been in pediatrics for over 30 years. Um,
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and also a life leadership coach. I started in my first leadership role,
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um, in operations, in ambulatory specialty,
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and then really have been very fortunate to,
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to be able to kind of move around the organization.
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I've worked inpatient care for a period of time,
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and then I shifted into leadership roles in strategic management
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and business development, and now for the last eight years,
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have been backing operations for our primary care division,
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and that includes, um,
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urgent care services and our children's medical group.
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And in round numbers we have about 150 pediatricians
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and around 500 employees that provide primary and urgent care
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services in over, uh, 20 locations across southeast Wisconsin.
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What do you think led to your shift to leadership?
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Oh, that's a good question. I think for me it was, um,
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recognizing I always had a, uh,
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desire to analyze things as they are and see how they could be better.
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And so as I shifted from nursing,
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I think my probably first foray that was, um,
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just looking at quality within healthcare and, um,
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starting out as a member of a quality committee and, um,
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recognizing the impact that happens when you step out of the
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business for a period of time to analyze what you're doing so that you can
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improve what you're doing in the business.
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And so I think that's how I would describe, um,
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how I think about leadership and how I navigated my way there.
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Terrific. Mary, what would you say are your top priorities today?
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Well, they really fall under,
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I would say two broad categories of attention and they're equally important.
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Uh,
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the first is really making sure our providers and teams have what they need
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to do and really be their best. Um, you know,
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I think workforce stabilization has been a big priority
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in healthcare, uh, over the last couple years.
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Our vacancy rates have stabilized and we've done that with some really novel
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pipeline programs for all our roles in the care team, uh,
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including front desk, our medical assistant and our nursing roles.
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And so now we're kind of really shifting to added
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attention in, in advancing professional growth and development.
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So things like redesigning orientation and onboarding
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and our preceptor program,
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really understanding our current workforce and
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supporting employees to be able to advance along that
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novice to expert continuum and reinforce the
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sense of purpose in the work and engagement in the organization.
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Um, so that's, that's one thing. And definitely wellbeing plays into that. Um,
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we've had significant attention in supporting wellbeing.
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We really, prior to the pandemic, um,
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children's has a very strong foundation of culture, um,
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called at our best and at our best together,
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and included in that is our value of health for ourselves and for
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each other. So, you know, post pan,
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fortunately we had that value and it was very strong.
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I think it helped us as an organization get through the pandemic and
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now post pandemic, we've really augmented that with, uh,
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on our team with a training in trauma-informed care.
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And the intent of that was not only to gain a greater understanding
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of the impact of trauma on families we serve,
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but also acknowledging how we support each other and enhance our own resiliency.
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So that's been part of it. Definitely. Um, you know,
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tied into that, uh, workforce strategy is leadership presence,
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rounding with our teams, and then additionally,
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um,
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recognizing that how important it is for our team
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members to have a sense of community and particularly within the roles
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that they fulfill in the clinics.
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So we've had opportunities for all of our different roles,
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the front desk role, our advanced practice nurses,
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um, and PAs, our, uh, MAs to come together,
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network share feedback,
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and generate ideas on where we can improve. And that has really,
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for a team that is spread out across 20 locations,
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it has broadened that sense of community within those specific roles
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and given them, uh, a place to network and learn.
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So that's the workforce piece of it.
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I think the second is really responding to the evolving needs that our
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families are having. So those needs are evolving,
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and we're really trying to look at how we do that in a way that's not only
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efficient for the care team,
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but also provides an efficient experience for families. So, you know,
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primary care is where caregivers go for guidance and reassurance
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as they kind of navigate the milestones of childhood.
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And so our parents really speak of their pediatrician as one of the most
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important relationships they've had. And, um,
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I always talk about the care that's provided by our pre pediatricians
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falls into three areas, preventive care, acute care,
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and then chronic conditions such as asthma and ADHD.
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And so when we're as committed as we are to providing the very best across all
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those areas, we have to look at multitude of things.
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So ease of access to care is one thing right now.
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I think convenience is such a significant factor in how families
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think about accessing care,
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enhancing the service and experience in the actual visits.
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One of the most significant investments we've made has
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been in providing mental health services.
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So our pediatricians we're seeing in increase in mental health
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concerns prior to the pandemic. And we at that time were, um,
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increasing existing services in response.
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And now with the exponential needs post pandemic,
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we have completely transitioned to an integrated preventive behavioral
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health healthcare model in all of our clinics.
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And this is with licensed therapists as part of the provider team. Um,
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the model is very intentional to not only address the
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current high demand for acute mental concerns,
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but also providing Prevental health across all age groups.
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So our therapists are introduced to families in our preventive well visits,
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and it's regardless of whether there's a mental health concern or not.
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And then I think secondly, the,
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the other demand that we we're definitely seeing a lot of growth
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in is the,
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what I would describe as the care that we provide after hours and between
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planned visits.
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So our urgent cares volumes have increased significantly,
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both for, um, in-person visits as well as virtual.
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Our virtual volumes are equal to that of our in-person locations.
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And so we're responding to the, uh,
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opportunities there for expansion in urgent care.
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And then secondly, in the pediatrician offices,
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we've seen significant increase in the requests for advice and support
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by phone and electronic health record. Um,
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our pediatricians and triage nurses are providing much more advice and support
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than ever before.
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So working on workflow redesign to optimize triage,
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respond to those requests for advice.
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This year we will be launching asynchronous visit through our electronic
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health records for some very defined acute conditions so that we can really
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expedite the care and provide it in a, in a convenient way.
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You certainly covered a lot of ground there, Mary, and that's, uh,
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very impressive what Children's of Wisconsin has in front of it.
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So what do you think you're most excited about right now?
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And to follow up with that, what makes you nervous?
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Well,
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I think probably what I'm most excited about is our updated strategy within the
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organization. Our, um,
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vision is that Wisconsin's kids will be the healthiest in the nation,
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and we've really taken that to a much more specific call to action to really
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look at addressing whole health, which is really what's needed right now, um,
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post pandemic.
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And it's really redefining the experience for
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pediatric healthcare,
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not only to address what we're currently doing for physical, mental, social,
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and even dental care. We do provide dental care in our clinics,
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but really stepping it up in a way that meets families and where they
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are right now and what they need.
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And so it's a much more intentional focus on not only what
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we're providing in terms of care, but how we're providing it.
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Um, I'm certainly, um,
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I guess excited or pleased to see a greater emphasis and attention
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in society as a whole on mental and emotional health.
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Um, you know, as difficult as the pandemic was, I,
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I guess that's one good thing I see is that the stigma has
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decreased around, um,
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talking about mental health and, uh,
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really looking at what we can do to improve outcome outcomes
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around mental, social, and the emotional needs of kids. Um,
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as far as what makes me nervous, I don't know that I'm necessarily nervous,
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I would say, you know,
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there are two challenges that we're really working on addressing.
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One is catching up on preventive care gaps and really
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trying to close those.
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I I do worry about long-term health outcomes and
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how much attention has been pulled away from preventive care.
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So we see our pediatricians addressing more questions
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from parents about vaccines,
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really helping them work through any hesitancy to vaccinate.
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And then, uh,
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we're really working on better identifying those children with preventive care
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gaps and taking every opportunity we can to address 'em.
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It's just so important right now. And then secondly,
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I think the other challenge is really balancing our
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improvement plans and keeping them on track while also
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responding to some of the post pandemic disrupt disruptors, like,
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you know, the last viral surge. Um, I,
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I talk about working in the business as well as on the business
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and, and,
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and really working with our leadership team to make sure they're taking time to
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step back and focus on reassessing
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things and what can we do better.
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And it's difficult to do that when you're also trying to support the
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care teams through a, a viral surge like we had last fall. So,
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um,
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we've learned to be very intentional about the pace and timing of improvement
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initiatives and then really trying to build in agility and, um,
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be prepared for what may come next.
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Uh, Mary, what do you think in pediatrics deserves a brighter spotlight?
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I know you mentioned mental healthcare and how it is getting more attention,
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same with dental care. Uh, what would you like to see more attention paid?
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You know, Chris, I, I don't know. I really think that the mental,
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social, emotional components,
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if we can figure out how to bring that bundle
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together in a, in a really strong way with, with the,
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with the physical care, um, I,
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I always talk about how,
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for me working in pediatrics has been about, um,
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the legacy we will leave in the,
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the kids today and what their health outcomes are in the future.
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And so, um,
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for me it's thinking about what am I doing today?
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And it's not necessarily my legacy as a healthcare leader, it's more, um,
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that legacy showing up in the health outcomes of our future adults
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and, and those, that's who we're taking care of right now. So, um,
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we've spent a lot of time over the years in the 30 years that I've been in
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pediatrics, it's strong emphasis on physical and,
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and, and the opportunity right now is broadening that. Um,
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so I think it's, I think we're, I think that is the bright spot for us.
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And then the other thing I'll say is, you know,
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one of the great things about working in pediatrics is kids are so much more
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resilient sometimes than we give them credit for and they bounce back.
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And, um, you know, that's where I've always, um,
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garnered my own, uh,
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hope and resiliency is working with those, uh,
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families and the children and seeing how they do come through the challenge.
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Uh, you spoke about the wonderful legacy of Children's,
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of Wisconsin and you've been able to see,
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take the long view of it as someone who's been there for 30 years.
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So what would you say to other leaders who,
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in your position and how to really promote the health of children moving
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forward over say the next 30 years?
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I think it is about stepping back and taking the long look.
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Um,
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it is so easy to get caught up in the immediate and the
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urgent that, uh, we face every day.
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And, um, you know,
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part of that is part of your own wellbeing as well as a leader, is to recognize,
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um, your thoughts and, um, how they, uh,
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are impacting your own results and then supporting yourself to,
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to, to think through that and giving yourself the time to do it. So I,
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I think it is about taking the long view.
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Mary, it was an absolute pleasure speaking with you today.
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Thank you so much for your insights,
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and we look forward to connecting with you soon. Thank.
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You, Chris. It's been a pleasure.