The Center for Health Care Innovation at LG Health (CHCI-LGH) hosts the Innovation Accelerator, an annual program that encourages staff across the health system to develop, test and implement novel ideas for improving health care delivery and patient outcomes. Working closely with mentors from CHCI-LGH, teams move through three phases of work with the ultimate goal of bringing successful innovations to scale.
The Innovation Accelerator 2021 class was recently announced, with selected teams to be awarded the funding, mentorship and staff allocation to implement their new approaches.
The 2021 projects focus on better understanding consumer expectations and addressing emerging community health care needs, which aligns with LG Health’s strategic plan.
The first team was sponsored by John C. Wood, MD, MBA, FAAFP, medical director, LG Health Physicians (LGHP), and championed by Michael Bredin, PA-C, Urgent Care provider and EPIC provider builder, and Zachary Bricker, manager of Clinical Quality. To help address hypertension rates, the team proposed patient intervention and behavior modification.
“By 2022, LGHP aims to have 80 percent of hypertensive patients controlled,” said Wood. “As lower blood pressure reduces risk for stroke, heart attack and kidney disease, our project aims to engage patients in their care and alert providers when patients are not at goal.”
The second team was sponsored by Paul Conslato, MD, director of Clinical Affairs, and championed by Joseph Del Castillo, MD, hospitalist, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital. Their project utilizes a standardized format to discuss advance care planning, as language, ethnicity or social barriers can impact decision making. Their technology will simultaneously incorporate end-of-life planning information into the EPIC electronic medical record system.
“It is important to recognize and respect the voice of the patient, as it is an integral part of patient-centered care,” said Del Castillo. “As providers, we help guide and counsel health literacy so that our patients can make appropriate, informed medical decisions — this development in advance care planning will help all patients with various backgrounds make those informed decisions.”