Yesterday our Southern California Complete Care team and our Rancho Cucamonga leadership and staff hosted a rare knowledge exchange site visit with our Northern California counterparts. After a morning session of sharing technology, innovations, and future state ideas, we had an opportunity to take our NCAL partners on a tour of the Rancho clinic where they met staff members who were living the Complete Care - Proactive Care philosophy. There was not ONE person we spoke with from the clinic who did not mention POE as part of their workflow. (Yes... I was beaming with pride from ear to ear!) Their medical assistants walked us through a couple patient intakes in both Pediatric's and Adult Primary Care and as they did, they explained (with clear understanding the importance of their role) how important it was to try and close the care gaps at the point of care. During our walk through the staff showed us how they demonstrate to the patient how to use the FIT kit for colorectal cancer screening, prepare the patient for foot exams - remembering to set out the monofilament tool, and set up the room with any necessary equipment needed for that patient according to their chief complaint and care gaps. "Our goal," said Blood Pressure clinic Medical Assistant Clarivel Baltazar, "is to try and close each person's care gap BEFORE they leave our clinic." This sentiment was reiterated by each care team member we met; from nurse triage to primary care to pediatrics and optometry.
One of our NCAL visitors asked me if this response was normal. I can say from doing countless site visits, that while this isn't always perfectly executed, I can say comfortably that "yes, for the most part, this is the culture you would find at most of our clinics." Her next question was "How?" "How do you get everyone to live and breathe the same message?" That answer was easy. "Leadership" While the message begins with our regional leaders, it is internalized and shared by our local leadership teams from the Medical Directors and Medical Group Administrators, out to the clinic chief's and administrators.
Standing next to me, Dr. Nolan Chang, Family Medicine Chief at Rancho Cucamonga told us "If we all do POE at every visit, our patient's are healthier and the workload is lighter." "Honestly though" he said, "we couldn't do this without our support staff being engaged in improving our patient's lives." Dr. Chang and his Department Administrator, Beth Curry, were quick to highlight some of the workflow improvements that came from their UBT's, proving that the input from their staff was equally valued.
My take-away...
Each time I visit Rancho Cucamonga, or any outlying clinic in the Fontana service area for that matter, I always leave with the same impression. They truly are service oriented. They serve each other so that together they can serve the patient. They care about each other and together they care about our patients. I've talked about "leading where you stand" in other blogs and, to me, the Rancho Cucamonga team embodies that philosophy. From the security guard who starts up the mammography machine in the morning so the clinic doesn't fall behind on mammogram's waiting for the system to start up, to the retinal photo technician who grabs patient's before or after their appointment to complete their retinal photo when due, to the registration staff who schedule appointments for mammogram's or pap's, to the medical assistants and LVN's who take the time to prepare the room, the patient, and the computer for every visit, to the RN's who roll their cart up to the module to teach a new diabetic patient how to do an insulin start, to the physician's and PA's who will try their best to close each care gap without grumbling about falling behind, and to the leadership team, like Dr. Mark Bai, Nolan Chang, and Beth Curry, who remembers to not just share the message, but celebrate the successes of their team. This is the Complete Care philosophy taken to heart and put in to action for every patient, every place, every time.
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