Advocate Health

This week, we are thrilled to shine the spotlight on our amazing teammates who are simply the best. Thank you for your passion for what you do and for making every day an exciting new day to work together to provide the best care for our patients. Happy Teammate Appreciation Week!

We are honored to have dedicated teammates who not only take care of our patients, but support, encourage and uplift each other. Thank you for your unwavering enthusiasm and commitment. You are simply the best. This Teammate Appreciation Week, we celebrate you!

We are honored to have dedicated teammates who not only take care of our patients, but support, encourage and uplift each other. Thank you for your unwavering enthusiasm and commitment. You are simply the best. This Teammate Appreciation Week, we celebrate you!

Virtual nursing developed during the COVID-19 pandemic as a solution to a problem: more patients, fewer staff and the stress of treating a new disease meant nurses needed support. Since then, it’s become a clear road to the future of nursing, improving efficiency, nurse well-being and patient safety and Advocate Health is paving the way. “We started four years ago using baby monitors on a few units and now 22 hospitals in the Advocate Health network use virtual nurses to manage admissions and discharges,” says Patricia Mook, senior vice president, enterprise nursing operations, education and professional development for Advocate Health. “We’ve already assisted more than 31 thousand patients across the six states where we practice and any new hospital construction will include the capacity to implement virtual care technology because we know it helps our teams be more efficient and ensures our patients receive the safest care possible.” But it’s not about having the right technology. It’s about how you use it. That’s why Advocate Health nurse leaders like Mook are sharing their expertise on what to do and what not to do when deploying virtual nursing programs. Their knowledge ensures that we utilize these tools to their fullest potential, improving both the quality and safety of patient care. Read more: https://bit.ly/4dOdIzd

Congratulations to Brandi Newman for being named one of Modern Healthcare’s 2024 Diversity Leaders! As senior vice president of strategic operations for community and social impact at Advocate Health, Brandi promotes diversity, equity and inclusion internally at Advocate Health and externally within the community. And she has the results to prove it. "Brandi Newman is a champion for diversity, equity and inclusion in health care. She has been instrumental in creating a culture of belonging and empowerment at Advocate Health, where everyone can thrive and contribute to our mission of improving health and well-being,” said Kinneil Coltman, executive vice president and chief community and social impact officer for Advocate Health. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3Awnt6J

Advocate Health is aligning pharmacy practice standards that promote patient-centered care across its six-state footprint. The health enterprise is focused on three pillars: innovative models of clinical care delivery, transitions in care and clinical decision support. “We are really speaking about creating the best practice standards of care for all of our patients everywhere,” said Kersten Weber Tatarelis, vice president of enterprise clinical pharmacy operations at Advocate Health. “Which allows us to move to a transformative pharmacy practice — how we can do things differently than we do today.” Read more: https://bit.ly/3AogJru

An Advocate Health multiyear clinical study, called D-CARE, played an instrumental role in the formation of a recently launched Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) GUIDE model. Many of the study’s components are now required by the CMS program, including 24-hour on-call lines, an interdisciplinary care team and proactive management of patients based on disease severity and caregiver burden. "We're translating pragmatic research into innovative care management and a payment model, with CMS recognizing its value,” said Jennifer Houlihan, vice president of policy and research application and enterprise population health at Advocate Health. Learn more: https://bit.ly/46vTmsl

Our nurses aren’t just setting the standard for virtual nursing – they’re helping create it. Six nurse leaders from Advocate Health helped write and review certification questions that will validate a nurse’s competency in a virtual setting for the new Certified Acute-Care Virtual Registered Nurse (CAVRN) credential, literally helping set the standard for the future of nursing. The development of a new nursing certification does not happen often and can take months to accomplish. “This group of Advocate Health nurses has been identified as being on the forefront of the development of virtual nursing and their expertise is continuedly relied upon, including to help create the first-ever virtual nursing advanced certification,” said Patricia Mook, senior vice president of nursing operations, education and professional development for Advocate Health. “Virtual nursing is the future of our profession as we know it and we are so excited our teams are helping write the book on it, both figuratively and literally.” Currently, only 65 registered nurses across the country carry the CAVRN certification. Among them are 10 nurses from Advocate Health, including the six nurse leaders who assisted with the exam and were granted the certification for their participation. In Advocate Health’s settings, a virtual nurse cares for about 10 patients and can monitor vital signs, conduct admissions and discharges, and summon a nurse or doctor to the room, if needed. They’re also effective at helping prevent patient slip and falls, with a continuous vantage point, and patients typically appreciate that that nurse is “in the room” with them at all times. New hospitals and redeveloped space at Atrium Health are being equipped with virtual nursing capabilities, because we know the future is now. More: https://bit.ly/3LLD0SL

Brad Kruger, Vice President of Patient Experience at Advocate Health, shares on the Becker’s Healthcare Podcast how patients’ individual voices make a difference in how we deliver care. “So what we've seen, especially in populations of people that may not have trusted health care in the past, is that listening shows respect,” explained Brad. “And through respect, we build trust. And trust then leads to improved loyalty, improved engagement, improved quality and safety.” Hear how one patient’s feedback on the availability of disposable hijabs benefitted many: https://bit.ly/3zUNpZz

More than a dozen Advocate Health hospitals have received Energy to Care Sustainability Champion awards from the American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) for their commitment to energy, water and emissions reduction efforts. This prestigious award was given to just 21 health care facilities nationwide. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4fkCHMq