Hospitals and healthcare systems nationwide are grappling with significant challenges such as physician recruitment and retention, coupled with an alarming surge in clinician burnout. In response, organizations are exploring external assistance. In a recent conversation, Xsolis COO Chris Bayham engaged in a discussion with Kim Petram, Director of Case Management at Valley Medical Center, and Dr. Alan Balick, VP of Medical Affairs at Xsolis. Their conversation delved into the invaluable role of outsourced Physician Advisory Services to alleviate the strains placed on internal physicians involved in the Utilization Management process. Furthermore, they shared the noteworthy results that Valley Medical Center has achieved through their collaboration with Xsolis Physician Advisory Services.
Watch below to hear Dr. Balick describe the role of Physician Advisors in alleviating burnout:
Process Challenges Facing UR and PA Teams
Siloed data in disparate systems is needed to perform reviews, posing significant challenges for teams conducting concurrent status reviews. Manually gathering data – coupled with subjective screening tools and quality of documentation – leads to heavy administrative burden for clinicians to determine appropriate status. Xsolis’ platform, Dragonfly, formerly know as CORTEX, can alleviate the administrative burden of conducting reviews by automatically gathering relevant data into one system and streamlining workflows, getting it right up-front. Hospitals can then leverage Xsolis Physician Advisors to supplement or fully staff their Physican Advisor needs, allowing external PAs and internal employees to communicate seamlessly on one platform.
Making the Shift to Xsolis PA Services
Kim Petram is the Director of Case Management at Valley Medical Center, the largest nonprofit healthcare provider between Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, with 335 inpatient beds. As a seasoned healthcare leader, Kim recognized limitations with her current Physican Advisor vendor and their “inpatient all the time” model and knew there had to be a better way. Watch Kim describe what her previous relationship was like and what made her shift to a partnership with Xsoli’ Physician Advisory Services as part of their Dragonfly implementation journey.
Generating Better Outcomes
Kim says that the combination of Dragonfly Utilize and Physican Advisory Services has helped relationships between the nursing team and the physician advisors, creating a high level of trust and confidence when the nurse sends a case for review. Overall, they have reduced the number of cases sent to PAs by 20%. She also mentioned the “safety net,” knowing that the Xsolis team will support the PA decision by following through with appeal assistance and managing through the outcome when denials do occur. Watch below to learn how clinical rounds with the Xsolis PA team have continued to help Valley Medical Center improve their documentation and increase staff satisfaction.
Kim notes that the Xsolis Physician Advisory team has developed a very symbiotic relationship with not only her UR team, but her internal PAs as well. Her team has newfound confidence that they’re meeting their ultimate goal of getting the right patient in the right status at the right time.
“The results have been beyond our expectation. Since implementation in 2021, we have decreased our case escalations by 20%. The personal relationships between the nursing team and the physician advisors are fantastic, and they have a high level of trust and confidence when the nurse sends a case for review.”