Early on in the pandemic, the University of Washington struggled with a problem faced by many of its peers. In racing to keep up with the explosion of COVID-19 cases, its UW Medicine division was hard-pressed to support clinicians as their needs evolved during the pandemic.
While the challenge was great, the IT team managed to change its request system practically overnight to support making time-sensitive changes within hours. It did so, at least in part, by creating a new governance structure allowing the IT department to tackle emerging problems quickly.
Another major shift arose from in medical practices, which were forced to change how they did business at breakneck speed. Without a doubt, physicians struggled to roll out telemedicine services, sometimes for the first time in the history of their practice. However, they got the job done. During 2020, virtually all medical practices showed up to meet the telehealth responsibilities they now had to embrace.
The changes in telemedicine uptake patterns were absolutely head-turning. According to 2019 data from the CDC, 43% of health centers were capable of providing telemedicine at the time. As infection rates climbed during 2020, however, 95% of health centers reported using telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yet another issue that emerged from the COVID crisis was the need to handle overflow patients who simply could not be cared for within brick-and-mortar facilities during peak demand periods.
However, resourceful IT managers found a way to get it done. With the help of U. S. military experts, some hospitals set up temporary field operations — sometimes rolling them out within hours. These field hospitals offered care on par with that found in traditional hospital settings.
Use lessons learned from crises
At this point, it would be easy to shrug off the progress these organizations made and attribute that progress to unique circumstances which made it acceptable to break usual processes.
However, that wouldn’t be wise. Clearly, the extent to which the healthcare system adapted to the COVID crisis suggests that some of the problems we have can be addressed leaders are willing to rethink how they do things.
It’s time to break some existing rules, including the following:
- No, clinicians shouldn’t have to wait months or years to get the changes they need made to systems. In fact, it’s more than time that health leaders rethink this process from top to bottom to see that it’s optimized for actual care rather than meeting administrative goals.
- Yes, medical groups may have resisted making the financial investment and workflow changes necessary to deliver telehealth effectively. And it’s understandable why they might be reluctant to invest heavily in technologies with which they don’t truly feel comfortable. But that’s no excuse for sidestepping the opportunities telehealth offers for improving patient care.
- No, it’s not okay to treat telemedicine and other technologies boosted by COVID as nice to have or exotic. Clearly, technologies like these are bringing on the next wave of healthcare as we know it.
When confronted by a disaster like the COVID pandemic, we are reminded of what we can do if we’re willing to lean in and do things differently. Countless organizations –and in this case the fate of thousands of patients – were at risk of collapse. When these threats force us to confront our weaknesses, it’s remarkable how quickly things can change.
