Atlantic Health focusing on patient safety as it resumes elective procedures
Skip to main content
MDHC_Logotype_white
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • This Week's News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition
    • 'Little old West Virginia' sets pace on vaccine rollout
      4 cyberscams for hospitals to watch out for
      COVID-19 hastens hospitals' revenue cycle outsourcing moves
      Operation Warp Speed Dr. Moncef Slaoui, Pfizer Group President Angela Hwang, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, CVS Health Executive Vice President Karen Lynch and McKesson CEO Brian Tyler participate in a panel discussion on the COVID-19 vaccine.
      Hospitals, drug companies strive to stand out virtually at JPM
    • 'Little old West Virginia' sets pace on vaccine rollout
      Dr. Bruce Siegel
      By protecting the healthcare safety net, Biden can put us on the path to a stronger country
      Joe Biden
      Revamp of the nation's vaccination effort may not be enough
      COVID-19 hastens hospitals' revenue cycle outsourcing moves
    • The Check Up: Trenda Ray
      The Check Up: Trenda Ray of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
      Trenda Ray
      Q&A: Arkansas nursing leader looking for creative staffing solutions as COVID cases surge
      Cook Lydia 4x6_i.jpg
      Northeast Ohio health systems increase community benefit values in 2019
      Vaccine rollout hits snag as health workers balk at shots
    • CMS approves rule forcing insurers to ease prior authorization
      COVID-19 still a big uncertainty for insurers in 2021
      Health insurers' outlook boosted after Dems' Georgia win
      humana_i.jpg
      Humana supports Ohio not-for-profits with $500,000
    • 'Little old West Virginia' sets pace on vaccine rollout
      Joe Biden
      Revamp of the nation's vaccination effort may not be enough
      CMS will raise Medicare Advantage plan payments by 4.08% in 2022
    • Operation Warp Speed Dr. Moncef Slaoui, Pfizer Group President Angela Hwang, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, CVS Health Executive Vice President Karen Lynch and McKesson CEO Brian Tyler participate in a panel discussion on the COVID-19 vaccine.
      Hospitals, drug companies strive to stand out virtually at JPM
      Intermountain, Trinity, Memorial Hermann behind $300M private equity fund
      Operation Warp Speed to bump up McKesson's stock price
      Reporter's notebook: J.P. Morgan's 2021 health conference
    • A man in a room with servers.
      Momentum grows to outsource hospital tech functions in 2021
      5 things to know about Google's $2.1B Fitbit acquisition
      Providence bets on machine-learning, consolidating data centers
      Mental health treatment was most common telehealth service during COVID
    • Sticking to Mediterranean diet is good for the brain
      Chance of COVID-19 triage care looms over Arizona hospitals
      U.S. ramps up vaccinations to get doses to more Americans
      367146427.jpg
      Should businesses mandate that staff get the COVID vaccine?
    • Cone Health CEO, CFO to depart amid pending Sentara merger
      Tower Health's finance chief resigning after years of steep losses
      AHRQ director Gopal Khanna resigns in response to Capitol riot
      Brigham president stepping down after Moderna controversy
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • InDepth Special Reports
    • Innovations
    • The Affordable Care Act after 10 years
    • New care model helps primary-care practices treat obesity
      doctor with patient
      COVID-19 treatment protocol developed in the field helps patients recover
      Rachel Wyatt
      Project to curb pressure injuries in hospitals shows promise
      Yale New Haven's COVID-19 nurse-staffing model has long-term benefits
    • Dr. James Hildreth
      How medical education can help fight racism
      Modern Healthcare InDepth: Breaking the bias that impedes better healthcare
      Videos: Healthcare industry executives describe their encounters with racism
      Michellene Davis
      Healthcare leadership lacks the racial diversity needed to reduce health disparities
      Hospital divided into multiple pieces
      Health systems may be warming to offshoring, a mainstay practice for insurers
    • A woman with a wearable sensor talking to her provider.
      Wearable sensors help diagnose heart rhythm problems in West Virginia
      self service station
      COVID-19 pushes patient expectations toward self-service
      Targeting high-risk cancer patients with genetics
      A nurse holds up a phone with a message to a family member saying surgery has started.
      Texting, tablets help hospitals keep family updated on patient care
  • Transformation
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Highmark Health inks six-year cloud, tech deal with Google
      Study: 1 in 5 patients report discrimination when getting healthcare
      HHS proposes changing HIPAA privacy rules
      Android health records app launches at 230 health systems
    • California hospitals prepare ethical protocol to prioritize lifesaving care
      Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway disband Haven
      Digital pathways poised to reshape healthcare continuum in 2021
      Healthcare was the hardest hit by supply shortages across all U.S. industries
    • A woman with a wearable sensor talking to her provider.
      Wearable sensors help diagnose heart rhythm problems in West Virginia
      New care model helps primary-care practices treat obesity
      How hospitals are building on COVID-19 telehealth momentum
      Researchers: Hospital price variation exacerbates health inequities
    • MedPAC votes to boost hospital payments, freeze or cut other providers
      Most Next Gen ACOs achieved bonuses in 2019
      Congress recalibrates Medicare Physician Fee Schedule after lobbying
      CMS approves rule to encourage value-based drug pricing
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
    • Health Systems Financials
      Executive Compensation
      Physician Compensation
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
    • Wellstar CEO calls adapting for the pandemic her bold move
      Howard P. Kern
      Recognizing the value of telehealth in its infancy
      Dr. Stephen Markovich
      A bold move helped take him from family doctor to OhioHealth CEO
      Dr. Bruce Siegel
      Why taking a hospital not-for-profit was Dr. Bruce Siegel’s boldest move
    • Barry Ostrowsky
      Ending racism is a journey taken together; the starting point must be now
      Laura Lee Hall and Gary Puckrein
      Increased flu vaccination has never been more important for communities of color
      John Daniels Jr.
      Health equity: Making the journey from buzzword to reality
      Mark C. Clement and David Cook
      We all need to 'do something' to fight inequities and get healthcare right, for every patient, every time
    • Dr. Bruce Siegel
      By protecting the healthcare safety net, Biden can put us on the path to a stronger country
      Healing healthcare: some ideas for triage by the new Congress, administration
      Dr. Sachin H. Jain
      Medicare for All? The better route to universal coverage would be Medicare Advantage for All
      Connectivity: a social determinant of health that can exacerbate all the others
    • Letters: Eliminating bias in healthcare needs to be ‘deliberate and organic’
      Letters: Maybe dropping out of ACOs is a good thing for patients
      Letters: White House and Congress share blame for lack of national COVID strategy
      Letters: VA making strides to improve state veterans home inspections
    • Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      How blockchain could ease frustration with the payment process
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Three steps to better data-sharing for payer and provider CIOs
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Reduce total cost of care: 6 reasons why providers and payers should tackle the challenge together
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Why CIOs went from back-office operators to mission-critical innovators
  • Awards
    • Award Programs
    • Nominate
    • Previous Award Programs
    • Other Award Programs
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare Logo for Navigation
      Nominations Open - Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      Nominations Open - Health Care Hall of Fame
      Nominations Open - 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Top 25 Minority Leaders
    • Top 25 Women Leaders
    • Excellence in Nursing Awards
    • Design Awards
    • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
    • 100 Top Hospitals
    • ACHE Awards
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Webinars
    • COVID-19 Event Tracker
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Healthcare Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Workplace of the Future Conference
    • Strategic Marketing Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala (2022)
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Carter Dredge
      Next Up Podcast: Ready, set, innovate! Innovation and disruption in healthcare
      Next Up Podcast: COVID-19, social determinants highlight health inequities — what next?
      Ceci Connolly
      Next Up Podcast: How to navigate the murky post-election waters
      Next Up Podcast: Saving Rural Health
    • An older man wearing a mask receiving a vaccine.
      Beyond the Byline: Verifying information on the chaotic COVID-19 vaccine rollout
      doctor burnout
      Beyond the Byline: How healthcare supply chain struggles contribute to employee burnout
      Beyond the Byline: Covering race and diversity in the healthcare industry
      Beyond the Byline: How telehealth utilization has impacted investor-owned company earnings
    • Leading intention promote diversity and inclusion
      Introducing Healthcare Insider Podcast
    • The Check Up: Trenda Ray
      The Check Up: Trenda Ray of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
      The Check Up: Dr. Kenneth Davis
      The Check Up: Dr. Kenneth Davis of Mount Sinai Health System
      The Check Up: Dr. Thomas McGinn
      The Check Up: Dr. Thomas McGinn of CommonSpirit Health
      The Check Up: Mark Ganz
      The Check Up: Mark Ganz of Cambia Health Solutions
    • Video: Ivana Naeymi Rad of Intelligent Medical Objects
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Providers
May 18, 2020 12:30 PM

Q&A: 'Time-to-impact' guides Atlantic Health's plan to resume non-COVID procedures

Matthew Weinstock
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Amy Perry, senior vice president of integrated care delivery and CEO of the hospital division at Atlantic Health System

    Amy Perry, senior vice president of integrated care delivery and CEO of the hospital division at Atlantic Health System.

    Health systems across the nation, reeling financially from the coronavirus pandemic, are assessing how and when to resume elective and other non-COVID procedures. Having seen a significant drop in COVID-19 cases, Atlantic Health System in Morristown, N.J., developed a five-tier ranking for how it will bring cases back to its hospitals. Amy Perry, senior vice president of integrated care delivery and CEO of the hospital division, discussed Atlantic Health’s strategy with Modern Healthcare Managing Editor Matthew Weinstock. The following is an edited transcript.

    MH: What is the status of Atlantic Health’s coronavirus caseload?

    Perry: We’ve had a significant decline from our peak. We have seen almost 5,000 admissions for COVID and additionally, 5,000 emergency room treat-and-release COVID patients, so this has been a very significant part of our patient population over the last eight weeks. But now we have, significantly, a little bit less than 200 patients across our health system with COVID, and our non-COVID patient population is a majority of the patients that we have in-house.

    MH: As you think about that eight-week period, what kind of financial strain did that put on Atlantic Health, where you’ve had to postpone elective procedures?

    Perry: It’s had a significant financial impact because of what we had to do to handle the surge. It’s not very easy to quadruple your critical-care beds within a week. I would say that’s an incredible feat, and the amount of resources that it takes from facilities, for equipment, supplies, team member deployment, is really quite beyond your wildest imagination. Those expenses, coupled with the fact that the elective procedure volume dropped significantly, had a dramatic impact over the last couple of months. We are working through that 
right now.

    MH: Can you put a number to that in terms of a drop in revenue?

    Perry: It’s definitely more than $100 million.

    MH: Let’s talk about bringing some of those cases back. You have a five-tier ranking system, right?

    Perry: It’s a ranking system that we’ve used throughout this crisis. Over the last eight weeks, at no time did we shut our emergency department down. I have to … emphasize that as a health system, this isn’t a reopening; we never had the luxury of closing. We have focused on taking care of our sickest patients. We have a trauma center, so we took care of trauma patients throughout this ordeal. We took care of brain tumors. We had stroke, (neurological) procedures. We had heart surgeries. And on the happy side of things, we delivered more than 1,000 healthy babies during the last eight weeks. We have continuously cared for a non-COVID population this entire time.

    MH: But as you bring back cases that weren’t coming in, how did you decide to do a ranking?

    Perry: In the surgeries that continued throughout, we would categorize lifesaving as No. 1—those procedures, if we had to intercede in 72 hours, we called that time-to-impact. Our second level, we called urgent—again, with a time-to-impact score—essentially if somebody’s health could be irreversibly impacted if we didn’t intervene.

    We want to make sure that none of our patients suffer short-term or long-term because we’re not taking care of their issues. Now we’re dealing with the third level, which are things that had maybe a 30-day or a 60-day time to impact. So we’re putting all of those patients on the schedule. Our key goal is to ensure that nobody’s health is negatively impacted because of a delay. Our decisionmaking revolves around the time-to-impact for our patients.

    MH: What impact did this have on readmissions, where a patient may have had to come back for an infection?

    Perry: We handled all of our readmissions as necessary for somebody who had an unforeseen condition after they left our walls. But of course, like many other hospitals, we have accelerated our telehealth capabilities dramatically. We went from essentially 50 telehealth visits a day to more than 3,500 televisits a day in a couple of weeks.

    The hotlines, the outreach, and what we’ve done to try to help people stay at home and stay healthier has had a dramatic impact. Our home health agency has been a key driver of keeping people home as well. Also, we put in a new program that’s working extraordinarily well called observation at home. We have more than 100 patients who have taken advantage of this program, which has remote vital monitoring capability along with home oxygen supplies. We’ve allowed our patients to really convalesce in the comfort of their homes where it’s appropriate.

    MH: Are you being reimbursed for that?

    Perry: No. The reimbursement has not caught up to anything that we’re doing. There’s some understanding of that; there’s no playbook for anyone right now. There’s no playbook for us, and there’s no playbook for the federal government in terms of how they’re trying to distribute reimbursement for the various things that we’re taking care of. What’s happening are these kind of large, blanket approaches and hopefully, over time and seeing what’s been effective, we’ll be able to keep in place the things that work, and help us keep our patients safe, stronger and more independent in their homes.

    MH: You are only bringing back procedures at hospitals, not outpatient settings, right?

    Perry: That’s true, for the most part. And that’s really to protect our personal protective equipment. We still have a resource balancing that we have to do to make sure that we are ready at all times for any hot spots or any surges that might occur.

    MH: What are you doing 
in terms of testing patients and staff?

    Perry: We have a program where we test our patients for active virus, whether they are antigen-positive or not. We do that within three days of the time of their procedure to make sure that we are working with people who are COVID-free. The reason for that is when someone has COVID, they might have more complications. We try to reduce the complications where we can. But we have operated on people with COVID because their condition needed immediate care. So it’s not a straight line. We try to wait when we can, because it’s safer. And we want to know, to the extent we can, if somebody is asymptomatic so that we can take extra precautions for us and our team members.

    MH: What’s the struggle in convincing patients that it’s safe to come back to the hospital now?

    Perry: I think people generally trust their care providers. To the extent that they’re talking to their physicians about the urgency of their healthcare issue, we find that people are comforted by that and they feel confidence in that. The other thing that we’re trying to convey is what it’s like at Atlantic Health System. We want to talk about safety. One of the very interesting things is when I would go home from work and watch the news, I would be scared. I would see chaos. And it created fear for me. And then the next day I would go back to any one of our hospitals, and I would see a calm, confident, competent, coordinated approach to care.

    Patients see that, physicians see that we’re not just safe for one moment in time. I do think that there’s an interesting narrative that is happening now in our field, where it’s like, “Well, we’re going to certify this unit safe.” Well, that’s certified for about five minutes.

    What we need, and what we have deployed at Atlantic Health, is we are always safe. We have checklists. We are cleaning hourly. We are cleaning daily. We are treating our surfaces, our air handlers, our filters. We have this continuous commitment to safety. 

    As I mentioned to many people, when you get on an airplane, you assume that your pilot doesn’t want to die and that they’re doing their checklist. That’s the way we look at it at Atlantic Health. No one here … wants to get sick, and they’re protecting themselves as much as they’re protecting everyone who comes in the door.

    That messaging, I believe, is getting through to our patients because we’re seeing significantly less resistance to doing the kinds of things they need to do to protect their health. They tell their friends and that is building our momentum for safety, which is really the future for our continuous readiness that we need to all be in this next phase. 

    Related Article
    The Check Up: Amy Perry of Atlantic Health System
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    The Check Up: Trenda Ray of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
    The Check Up: Trenda Ray of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
    Q&A: Arkansas nursing leader looking for creative staffing solutions as COVID cases surge
    Q&A: Arkansas nursing leader looking for creative staffing solutions as COVID cases surge
    Sponsored Content
    Get Free Newsletters

    Sign up for free enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today

    The weekly magazine, websites, research and databases provide a powerful and all-encompassing industry presence. We help you make informed business decisions and lead your organizations to success.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Instagram

    Stay Connected

    Join the conversation with Modern Healthcare through our social media pages

    MDHC_Logotype_white
    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • This Week's News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • InDepth Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Transformation
      • Patients
      • Operations
      • Care Delivery
      • Payment
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Award Programs
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Top 25 Minority Leaders
        • Top 25 Women Leaders
      • Nominate
      • Previous Award Programs
        • Excellence in Nursing Awards
        • Design Awards
        • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
      • Other Award Programs
        • 100 Top Hospitals
        • ACHE Awards
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Healthcare Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Workplace of the Future Conference
        • Strategic Marketing Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala (2022)
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Webinars
      • COVID-19 Event Tracker
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing