Getting Out of a Rut: Why Old School Medicine Needs to Change
Let's face it--medicine in changing but traditional hierarchies in medicine aren't as quick to catch up.
Craig Saylor, CEO of Somerset Hospital in Somerset, Pennsylvania shares his take on why old forms of care delivery need to change. And do you know what a patient/family counsel model is? If not, you should.
Transcript
Saylor: It should be all about the outcome. It's not a process of care any longer, it's the care delivered and the end point of the care delivered which is important for family and the patient.
Announcer: Asking questions, seeking perspectives, searching for answers. Algorithms for Innovation presents "Impossible Problems in Academic Medicine."
Saylor: Hi, my name is Craig Saylor and I am the CEO of Somerset Hospital in Somerset, Pennsylvania.
Interviewer: So tell me a little bit about some of the themes that have been resonating with you at this conference.
Saylor: I believe the chief theme that's been resonating is the patient-family council involving the patient, the family, and care delivery, designing the system and creating a culture that really involves the patient, the family, to create a positive outcome for patient care.
Interviewer: Do you have a system set up at your hospital where family members are involved, say for instance, in discharge information, that sort of thing?
Saylor: We involve the patient and the family with discharge information, but we've not entirely involved the patient-family council concept, which I think is important because getting the opinion of the patient and the family and what is important with quality metrics is something that we need to integrate into our system so there's something they can compare us, our care delivery, to an outcome. So I think that the information received here today and yesterday has been valuable in helping us create that council.
Interviewer: What do you think is the biggest obstacle facing a healthcare system like yours today?
Saylor: The biggest obstacle, I believe, is really stuck in the system that we've been in for so many years where the physician's in charge, the care delivery system appears to know what's best for the patient, but we've not inquired with the patient and the family what is best for them.
Announcer: Sparking conversations to transform the future of academic medicine. Listen in at AlgorithmsForInnovation.org.
Kathy Wilets is the Associate Director for Public Affairs at University of Utah Health Sciences.
