Caring for Our Caregivers
Physicians and other caregivers within the UH family are far better at looking after their patients than themselves. Creating and maintaining a work environment that allows our caregivers to perform at their best while also making sure that their work lives are rewarding and balanced is a major goal of health systems nationwide, UH included.
In a 2018 UH engagement survey, physicians shared opinions about their work experience. UH has worked hard to address concerns and build on strengths. “We want to be transparent, inclusive and collaborative,” said Nicole Maronian, MD, Chair, Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, UH Cleveland Medical Center, and Co-Lead, Clinician Engagement Core Committee.
Now, instead of waiting for survey results, leaders can keep their fingers on the pulse of how UH physicians are feeling about their jobs – in real time. In 2018, Goutham Rao, MD, UH Chief Clinician Experience Officer, created a smartphone-based UH Wellness Meter for healthcare providers. Every week, a sample of physicians and advanced practice providers are asked to convey from a scale of 1 to 10, “How rewarding or challenging has your day been?” They are also asked about specific positive and negative aspects of their day. Over time, the Wellness Meter will generate meaningful and actionable trend information.
Soon, UH will provide clinicians another tool: an application designed for communication among providers. The UH Innovates application was developed by UH Ventures under the leadership of Krystal Tomei, MD, MPH, and will combine problem-solving with crowdsourcing, said Dr. Maronian. Dr. Tomei is a pediatric neurosurgeon at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and the Reinberger Endowed Director in Pediatric Neurological Surgery.
“Physicians like to fix things,” Dr. Maronian said. “Now they are able to post a concern that we can make sure is forwarded to the right person. Also, this will allow other physicians to post with solutions they offer, or to say, ‘I agree, I’d also like to see this happen.’
“We can communicate with each other virtually, and collaborate in solving problems.”
Caring for caregivers at UH, she added, occurs “when we improve communication among all providers, from senior leaders to junior faculty to advanced practice providers.” And, by ensuring our commitment to the needs of healthcare providers, we excel in our care delivery to patients.