Improve Care With Evidence-Based Nursing Informatics
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
A recent webinar featuring White Plains Hospital explains how it implemented evidence-based interdisciplinary plans of care (IPOCs) that are having a positive impact on clinical and financial outcomes.
White Plains Hospital recently took part in a webinar - “Improving Patient Outcomes With Evidence-Based Nursing Informatics” - that illustrated their winning strategy for implementing evidence-based interdisciplinary plans of care (IPOCs). Presenting for White Plains Hospital were Romina Hipolito Elias, assistant nurse manager of the mother-baby unit and Clarissa Tojos, clinical nurse informaticist. Grant G. Campbell, senior director of nursing strategy and informatics from Zynx Health (White Plains’ evidence-based care coordination technology partner) also participated in the webinar.
Like many hospitals, White Plains wanted to transition to an evidence-based practice and provide clinical decision support for IPOCs at the point of care — all in an effort to improve care quality and patient safety. The webinar presentation detailed how White Plains Hospital integrated the ZynxCare plan of care platform into its MEDITECH EHR within a very strict (10-month) timeframe.
As it turns out, much of the success behind White Plains’ IPOC implementation was not due to technology alone, but also a strong organizational culture shift within the organization. For example, prior to implementing the new IPOC solution, only nurses owned the care plans. However, after the IPOC adaptation, it became clear that multidisciplinary teams needed to be involved and on the same page to provide the best ongoing care to patients. White Plains even held a two-day IPOC Boot Camp to get key stakeholders in the process familiar with the new IPOC technology and workflows.
Proper focus was also instrumental to the success of White Plains’ IPOC implementation. Specifically, White Plains placed emphasis on the evidence-based interventions that are proven to impact clinical and financial outcomes (e.g. mortality rates, readmission rates, etc.).
As a result of its carefully orchestrated IPOC strategy, White Plains Hospital was able to customize 55 IPOCs in less than three days and deployed them in under eight months. There was also a noticeable increase in collaboration between disciplines, and more meaningful documentation was captured on patient goals.
In addition, White Plains’ new team-based approach also clearly impacted plan of care utilization throughout the hospital. “Compliance and use of the care plans increased from 60 percent prior to our evidence-based IPOC solution to more than 95 percent following implementation,” said Tojos. “What’s more impressive is we were able to simultaneously increase staff satisfaction.”
The new evidence-based IPOC solution also helped White Plains Hospital decrease its average Length of Stay from 4.81 days to 4.75 days. Development and documentation time have also been reduced as a result of the implementation.
Finally, throughout the webinar, the presenters emphasized the critical role its nurse informaticists played in the IPOC process. “Our nurse informaticists served as team leaders for the IPOC implementation,” said Elias. “They bridged the gap between project and process, optimizing how the technology would be leveraged throughout the hospital. Furthermore, these leaders provide all stakeholders with the confidence that this platform will be used appropriately to achieve broader strategic initiatives, such as meeting Stage 2 Meaningful Use criteria.”