The Future Hospital: Elevating Patient Care through Innovation
January 2024 | Episode 7
Producer’s Note: The following is an AI-generated transcript of The Wellness Conversation, an OhioHealth Podcast
SPEAKERS: Missy Gleason, Marcus Thorpe, Mia Lingafelter, Erica Thomas
Marcus Thorpe 0:14
Welcome back to the wellness conversation an OhioHealth Podcast where we explore health and wellness right here in Ohio. I'm Marcus Thorpe
Missy Gleason 0:21
And I'm Missy Gleason. Today we're diving into the future of inpatient care, and more specifically, the innovations and advancements at the brand new OhioHealth Pickerington Methodist Hospital.
Marcus Thorpe 0:31
It's an exciting time Missy and we are honored to be joined by two incredible leaders spearheading this initiative. Erica Thomas is the director of nursing for inpatient care, and be a Mia Lingafelter, the director of nursing for women's health, it's good to see you both. Thanks for joining us.
Unknown Speaker 0:45
Thanks for having us. Oh,
Missy Gleason 0:49
that's exciting. So it's going to be a very insightful conversation. We're really excited. We're going to explore how this new hospital is not just revolutionising care through its services, but also how technology is enhancing patient experiences and staff efficiency. So let's go. So
Marcus Thorpe 1:06
we want to know a little bit about both of your journeys. Could you share a little bit about that professional journey and maybe what led you to being part of this new OhioHealth Pickerington Methodist Hospital? Erica, let's start with you.
Erica 1:17
Okay, cool. So I actually started with OhioHealth. About 13 years ago, I was a brand new nurse here. hospital setting was not my passion. At first, I wanted to work in a nursing home and be a director there. And during my time here, I just kind of fell into leadership. This is actually my third time opening a hospital for OhioHealth. So I was part of the neuroscience tower, then OhioHealth Grove City, Methodist, and now Pickerington. So here I am. This is old hat for
Marcus Thorpe 1:47
you that right? Yeah. Mia, how about for you? Well, you know,
Mia 1:51
my journey is not as exciting as Erica's with the three hospital builds. But I have been a nurse now for 24 years. And I got into leadership because I wanted to be a change agent. I got tired of being that nurse that heard everybody complaining at the bedside but didn't do anything to make differences or improve processes. So I was like, I could do this. And I had great leadership and mentors that kind of helped me and get me on this path.
Missy Gleason 2:21
So talk about change. You're really making changes that Pickerington nothing is really exciting, too. Very cool. Well, Erica, can you shed some light on how technology is shaping the future of inpatient care? Yeah, so
Erica 2:32
we are really looking at how can we be more efficient? How can we provide the personal experience? And then how can we get rid of those what we call those time time vampires, you know, just things that kind of suck the time out of you? Where you could be using that time to really connect with a patient. Yeah.
Marcus Thorpe 2:50
So important. You're right. I mean, that there's so many things going on in a daily shift that you're right, it can take you away and, and I know that that's something that we're going to be working hard on. But Mia, we also know that women's health maternity services going to be so pivotal at Pickerington, Methodist? How do you see technology really making a difference in some of those areas, especially when it comes to the birthing experience for families?
Mia 3:13
Yeah, well, first, we're really excited to be offering women's health services in the Pickerington area in the community, with the addition of technology is going to allow patients to be part of their care. Sometimes there's challenges with family involvement during the birthing experience or during labor after we have the ability to connect with families now on and we give control to the patient. I
Marcus Thorpe 3:40
think it's awesome to think it's so rare, I think that hospitals start from scratch and open. So I'm thinking about that first family that comes in to have a baby inside of your new facility. I mean, what a special experience that would be to go hey, you were the first baby, you know, when that child gets to be older and say you were the first baby that was born here. I mean, what a special moment.
Mia 4:02
I know, we're trying to really figure out how we're going to capitalize and make that moment memorable for our staff, and that family is gonna be awesome. The one thing
Missy Gleason 4:11
that blows me away is that I can remember when I started OhioHealth in like 2009 And I can remember that there were families who were giving birth and it was a really big deal if they had like the husband was overseas serving in the military and they had like, we had to really work to get two way communication set up so they could see their baby being born and now it's just like yeah, we're gonna have this and it's gonna be like, flip a switch and you're gonna get to see family click away. Yeah.
Mia 4:38
So yeah, we're really excited to be able to offer that so although we won't have video for during the birth, we will have extenuating circumstances where we are able to get the father who's overseas available and then they're not on that shaky, you know, phone that's all over the place that we're trying to keep track of, and they can really enjoy the moment
Missy Gleason 4:59
that It's wonderful. So Erica, how does the new technology like tablets and digital whiteboards help enhance the communication and collaboration with your team and your patients.
Erica 5:08
So we really worked hard at looking at making sure that each program were used to talk to each other. So the healthcare team now doesn't have to go to three different things to look up something specific regarding the patient. It's all feeding into one thing. So our Care Connect, which we use to chart talks to the, in our smart room talks to the tablet that's outside the room. It also speaks to the electronic whiteboard, which will be on that television will have in the room. It's a 65 inch television. So everything that as far as diet orders, how we emulate them, family members, who's caring for them, all of that information feeds into their
Marcus Thorpe 5:50
thinking about schools, how schools have completely changed the way that my kids walk into a classroom now, and they see all of this technology, I think back. Now, I'm not that old. But I think back to when I was in school, and it was literally the chalkboard and the desk and those kinds of things. Erica, do you think this is kind of the expectation now when folks start to come into hospital settings, and and people come to work that this is kind of the new gonna be the new standard for what people expect for an experience level?
Erica 6:17
Absolutely. I think our consumers want to feel like they're in a hotel, even though this is a hospital. And that's what we really tried to focus on. And we even learned that from our focus groups that we did, they want things to be easy, accessible, quick, they really want that experience to where they can even control the outcome to Yeah, I
Marcus Thorpe 6:40
think zooms changed a lot of our lives as well. So Mia with the inclusion of those video visits and virtual nurses and women's health, talk about how the smart room technology really aids and delivering more of holistic care, and maybe ensuring that Mother Child well being is at the top of the line of what people need and what people deserve.
Mia 6:59
Yeah, so the ability to use the Smart room is similar to the technology that a lot of people are using at home currently. So to be able to integrate some of that technology at Pickerington is really amazing. We'll be able to, the patient will be able to control the lighting, be able to control the temperature, have different methods of entertainment, we'll have videos that like movie videos that will be available, there'll be some home apps that they get into like Netflix and HBO Max, if they have accounts, they can link directly into that without having to pack 900 things to come and give birth. And they can control the environment in their room, they want to adjust the temperature, they want to feel more comfortable. All that all that is in their hands. Now,
Marcus Thorpe 7:48
that sounds like the hotel thing that you're talking about. I mean, that's the way it needs to be. It's neat.
Missy Gleason 7:53
And Erica, you mentioned that everything is going to be connected all these different apps and the ways that we keep tabs on patients and patients communicate with us with the digital whiteboard in the video visits, like how do those actually like improve in patient engagement with your caregivers? Um, can you explain a little bit more.
Erica 8:12
So like one of the greatest things that I love about our smart room and our in room technology is that when I walk in the room for caring for that patient, they're going to know Hey, this is Erica, your nurse. And it's not just my name, it's my face. So I think those little soft touches that we've added to that is going to help enhance that patient's experience all the way up into ordering meals, the patients can order their meals through that technology. If you have a loved one who is unable to order from the sales, a family member can even order for them. Because you know, I always think about when my mom was in the hospital and she is a very, very picky eater, and I couldn't be there with her all the time, I would have to write things down for her, for them to order for her what she would like. So, as a family member, I appreciate I would appreciate that. Yeah, and
Mia 8:59
I think like the coolest thing about that is if you have a video consult, And you know for for us Gen X's who are trying to take care of our parents. We have the ability to not actually be present, but be involved in the healthcare because we can directly video in with the consult and we can all be present hearing the same thing at the same time. What
Missy Gleason 9:21
a relief because it's true. being somebody who cares for your parent, wanting to be there in the space with the doctor is so important. And just because when you are the patient, you're overwhelmed with feelings and expectations, and sometimes so many times you get done and you're like, I didn't know what they said to me because I was focused on the first thing they said to me so being able to have a family member listen in and not necessarily have to be in that space is just wonderful. It's key. Erica, I want to go back to the smart room technology and the screen in the room because we've seen it ourselves. But can you explain for our listeners when you said you'll see my face like how does that look compared to like what is in traditional hospitals today? So
Erica 10:00
traditionally, in our inpatient rooms, we have a standard whiteboard. And what's on that whiteboard is like the patient's name, the date, who's caring for them. So the nurse or the Patient Support Assistant, usually the provider for the day is on there as well. And then any pertinent information that could be to the patient. So one of the biggest things is like pain, and what they're getting for their pain meds. And that's all done on this just whiteboard with a dry erase. Some of the challenges with that is our teams are busy, and they can't always update update those in a timely fashion. Sometimes the patient from in the bed can't even really see it, because it's a standard size. With our electronic whiteboards, we were very intentional with the size of the television. So it is a huge TV, like I don't even have a 65 inch of my room, okay. So it's on a 65 inch television and on that you will, again will see who's caring for you. With pictures, you will see what their diet is, you will also see how we ambulate them, you will also see if they're getting any pain medications, what pain meds they are when they can have them again,
Marcus Thorpe 11:15
I love that idea of just connecting everyone. And I also obviously with OhioHealth, and you're opening a new hospital, you want the patient to be at the center of everything you do. But secondarily, you want your staff to really lean into it and embrace it and be efficient and that great care that people have come to expect from OhioHealth. Can you talk about how smart room technology mia as somebody who's been at the bedside for an awful long time in your career? How do you anticipate seeing the smart room technology increase some of those efficiencies and improved patient care when it comes to dealing with patient and nursing team?
Mia 11:52
Well, there's some really nice features with the smart room technology. One being that it involves the patient and their plan of care. So we like in women's health will be able to have like their birth plan, or what their discharge planning aspects are that we need to address, as well as they can do their education at their own pace. So it's not when it's convenient for a nurse per se, it allows the patient to take control of that and be like, alright, you know, I'm this is a good place for me now, versus is trying to teach them when they're completely exhausted. Yeah,
Marcus Thorpe 12:27
that's awesome. Again, it's, it's thoughtfulness. But it's also like these, there's gonna be a lot of patients that are coming to this hospital, and we need to be efficient while we're taking care of them and making sure that everybody's getting what they need. So I think that that's super smart. And
Mia 12:42
the really cool thing is our postpartum boards have the ability to put up moms information and babies information. So we can see them conjoined and together, and they can see where we're at with both plans of care.
Missy Gleason 12:55
That's amazing. And I, I really want to dive into what you guys are excited about. So this is a question for both of you. When we're talking about this focus on personalized experiences, and these features in the patient rooms. What are you most looking forward to seeing your patients use? And I'm saying this now, because in full transparency, we're recording this in the fall, but you'll be sharing, we'll be sharing it after Pickerington, Methodist open. So what are you like excited to see your patients take use of? Would you like to kick it off?
Erica 13:25
I think for me, I think the biggest thing is being able to have that loved one there who who can't be present in the moment. That's what I would be excited to see.
Mia 13:38
For me, I'm really excited that our patients for the most part are very healthy. So the ability for their them to have autonomy in the room and control some of the features, along with the pace that they're doing various like education modules is really what is making me really excited along with the ability to bring the family in through the video conferencing ability. But
Marcus Thorpe 14:02
what's really neat is when you're opening a new hospital and and you're doing it from the ground up, I'm imagining that people are going to be coming to you all and saying, how's it going or what could we implement? Do you anticipate you kind of being I wouldn't say a test case, but certainly kind of a standard bearer. And then everybody says, what's working, what's not what have you found? That's got to be an exciting thing for you and your team to really take on?
Erica 14:29
Absolutely. I feel like Pickerington has become like this innovative place not only just with the technology, but utilizing the technology and how we give care. So we're even changing our model of care within our inpatient areas. So for example, traditionally, you will come to a unit and a nurse will be assigned five patients then they'll have a patient support associate. And then you have like your traditional charge nurses. We're looking at Pickerington. We're incorporating Our virtual nurse program that we have here within OhioHealth as a part of that care team, and who's really operating at their top of the license to help leading that care. And then at the bedside of Pickerington, we're going to have what we call our couplets. So it'll be a registered nurse, a licensed practical nurse, and a PSA. And the three of them will be responsible for eight patients, and really diving into their care. And then where the technology piece comes into that is, with that virtual nurse, what can a virtual nurse do to kind of take away those tasky things? So the bedside nurse could really focus on meeting those patients needs, getting to know them, those soft touches, things that sometimes as a nurse, we don't have time for, and it's upsetting sometimes.
Marcus Thorpe 15:44
Do you find that I mean, you would love to spend more time,
Mia 15:48
oh my gosh, if I could take a fraction of the time I spend computer charting, and actually dive in and take care of my patient, my heart would be fulfilled.
Marcus Thorpe 15:59
this is a huge change. I mean, it's, it's a new, it's a new way of thinking, but probably the right way to be thinking about patient care, which is really, I think, awesome, ultimately, for families,
Mia 16:09
as nurses, yeah, as a nurse's like we want to be spending more time at the bedside, we want to be giving those personal touches, we want to help patients get through whatever they're going through at that time. And, and there are challenges. So we're hoping this bridge to technology will allow us to be at the bedside more and more interactive and encouraging our patients to that next health journey, we're
Erica 16:37
not going to say hope we're going to say will . I think to the other thing with the smart room and the in room technology stuff we have is also with using our rover device. So rover is actually within a cell phone, and we can give meds through this we can chart so the nurse doesn't the nurse or the PSA, or any one part of that healthcare team doesn't always have to be charting, to charting in the room and have their back to the patient, so to speak to where computers are sometimes set up in the rooms, but they can actually be interacting with the patient and charting at the same time.
Missy Gleason 17:12
So you mentioned the virtual nursing program, and how that helps the nurses at the bedside focus more on the patient? What are some of the things that a virtual nurse can do? So
Erica 17:23
great question. So it's actually very long list, but it does kind of sum it up, the virtual nurse is really going to focus on that care coordination. And with an acute care coordination is the missions, the discharges, the patient education, the the meeting at our multidisciplinary rounds, really understanding what what do we need to happen for this patient to be discharged or what needs to be follow up? One of the things that our bedside nurses are sometimes tasked with is they're always kind of like the gatekeeper. Oh, well, let me talk to the physician to find out what else we need to do here so they can be discharged. Let me talk to case management, oh, I need to call social worker, that virtual nurse will kind of help drive that piece, which will, in theory, allow give the bedside team time to do that. The other stuff.
Marcus Thorpe 18:13
I know anytime you put a camera, these days, you're thinking to yourself, oh my gosh, somebody's watching me at all times. When it comes to the cameras inside of the rooms here, that's not the case that these cameras you will know, when you are talking to someone can you explain how that technology works and why that was an important component as you started to think through this because we want people comfortable in the rooms. At the same time. We want to be able to connect with them
Erica 18:40
we we went through me and I and our teams really sat down with a vendor and really looked at what is that? What does that signage look like on our our tablets that are outside of the rooms and even within the room. So we wanted to be very purposeful of everyone knowing where it's clear to not just to the healthcare team. But if I'm coming to visit my mom, and I see oh, she has a Virtual consult going in progress right now. I should probably be in here. So we wanted things to be very clear and consistent.
Mia 19:11
Yeah. And there's a green light that will turn on if the cameras on and the patient has to okay it. So you can't just conference into a room or spy into a room to see what's going on. The patient has to welcome it. And so once again, giving them that control.
Erica 19:30
And I think the other thing that I love to which we have learned through this process is there they have to virtually knock before entering to Yeah. So
Missy Gleason 19:39
we have a lot of awesome technology that's launching with Pickerington, Methodists, but I'm imagining there are things that are down the road that you're still hoping to implement. Can you touch on those? Yeah, some
Mia 19:49
of our phase two initiatives. Are is being able to connect the mom and baby so if a baby has to go to special care nursery, we want the mom to be able to see the baby typically what happens is mom has a section she can't get out of bed. We someone goes and takes a picture and shows her a picture. But we're hoping actually, we're not hoping we know we're going to do this, we're going to have the technology that will allow the mom to see her baby in the special care nursery anytime she wants.
Marcus Thorpe 20:19
and so special because you want that bond, you want to see pictures, one thing but video and and that's very different. So I love that idea. Alright, so before we wrap things up, we'd love to get to know a little bit more about you both. With some more lighthearted questions. We're super excited about the hospital opening. But we also want to get to know you too. Are you ready for some quickfire questions? Sure.
Missy Gleason 20:45
and work well together, So these are all in good fun, and just a chance for our listeners to see a side of you beyond the professional realms. So take that with you. Well, I'll start with you, Erica, if you weren't in the medical field, what profession do you think you'd be pursuing?
Erica 21:01
You know, I'm happy you asked that because we've actually kind of joked about this as a team. So one of our peers her. I'm in love with her last name is Kimmy. And it goes with everything. So if I was not to be a nurse, I will be a professional organizer, or a professional stylist and it would be called Kimmy consultants.
Marcus Thorpe 21:29
It's got a nice ring to it. Yeah,
Erica 21:30
it rolls off the tongue for everything really? I already told her like, this is gonna be my business. And I'll pay you to use your name.
Marcus Thorpe 21:37
Mia, How about a hobby or activity that you love that might surprise those who might know you professionally?
Mia 21:43
Okay, well, other than the typical loving to be outdoors and being active, actually. Kind of nerd out and read books. But what's really interesting is I like to play video games.
Marcus Thorpe 22:01
what video games do you play? It's almost
Mia 22:02
embarrassing to say, but my husband and I right now are playing Diablo. Oh, that's awesome. It's an RPG game.
Marcus Thorpe 22:10
Role Playing Game, right? You were living your best life?
Missy Gleason 22:21
the Gen X and you like we grew up on the go. I had a Colico
Marcus Thorpe 22:30
Colico two are aging yourself.
Missy Gleason 22:34
Bad. Oh, so you kind of started to answer this than me. But both of you have really demanding roles. So how do you unwind after a challenging day?
Erica 22:44
Um, you know, it really just depends, but I really love spending time with my families. Me and my husband. We have a good time we laugh we call our he finished our basement we call it club Thomas. So we hang out there. Yeah, we hang out on club Tomas is I love hanging out with my friends. You know?
Mia 23:05
Yeah, I would. I would definitely did a lot of that family time socializing. And sometimes I like to just be a homebody and maybe like binge on some Netflix.
Marcus Thorpe 23:16
Yeah. Nothing wrong with that you got to hospital do it now. Well, we want to thank both of you for being so open. So sharing about yourselves. It is great to remember that behind every professional is really a person with unique experiences and stories. And we couldn't be more proud of, of the work you're doing and the excitement that's building with Pickerington, Methodist, it's going to be awesome. And we know that you're the right leaders to kind of push us in, in the perfect direction for families. So thank you both.
Both
Well, thank you. Thanks.
Missy Gleason 23:45
We really appreciate you being here and sharing not just your professional work, but your personal lives as well. And these stories and experiences, I think are what makes our conversation so special on the wellness conversation, so we appreciate you. Thank you.
Marcus Thorpe 23:59
And we'd like to thank you for joining us for this episode of the wellness conversation and OhioHealth podcast. Before we wrap up, we do invite you to follow us on all major social channels to stay up to date on new episodes, other health and wellness topics. And if you're looking for more information, OhioHealth services and locations, be sure to visit ohiohealth.com
Missy Gleason 24:18
and the information in this episode will also be available in written form on the OhioHealth wellness blog and you can find that@blog.ohiohealth.com So thanks for joining us and be sure to subscribe as we continue our exploration of important health and wellness topics with OhioHealth experts