Unlocking Virtual Care: A Collaborative Approach to Expansion and Success
Introduction
Many health systems’ journeys into wide-scale virtual care really began with the urgent need to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some health systems have been able to streamline and standardize processes across their extensive networks, even extending care to such locations as rural schools. Success lies in strategic collaboration between leaders who prioritize new virtual care areas, demonstrate value, and ensure seamless integration with staff, patients, and stakeholders.
Transitioning to a Unified Framework
Transitioning from decentralized efforts to a unified framework is one way a health system can achieve notable milestones such as significant time savings for nursing staff and securing grants for community-based care initiatives. Such a unified approach can ensure sustainable growth and technological integration, delivering effective virtual care experiences to diverse communities.
HIMSS25 Session: Unlocking Virtual Care
Scott Wilson, senior director, HHS enterprise growth strategy, at Teladoc Health, will address this subject along with two co-speakers from Valley Health System at a HIMSS25 educational session entitled "Unlocking Virtual Care: A Collaborative Approach to Expansion and Success."
Exclusive Interview with Scott Wilson
We spoke with Scott to get a sneak preview of this timely HIMSS25 session.
Q: You’ll be talking about realizing value from telehealth programs. How can this be done?
A: For many health systems, their first foray with virtual care came during the pandemic. While telehealth offers immense value during times of crisis – whether global pandemic, natural disaster or staffing emergency – health systems are quickly learning the staying power of these programs within their organizations to help achieve clinical, operational, and business goals.
The Importance of an Enterprise Approach
However, disjointed approaches to implementing virtual care – including the technologies, workflows, protocols, governance, and clinical and business objectives involved – may actually lead to increased costs and often can lead to poor patient and care team experiences, making it difficult to realize value.
By taking an enterprise systems approach to virtual care planning, implementation, and expansion, leaders at Valley Health were able to avoid this pitfall and maximize the benefits of virtual care for their patients, care teams, and their health system in general.
Lessons Learned from Valley Health’s Journey
At HIMSS25, we’ll be joined by Carmen Clipper, vice president, planning and growth, at Valley Health System, and Delores A. Gehr, RN, chief nursing officer and director, patient care services, at Valley Health System, to discuss how their approach to virtual care allowed them to streamline and standardize processes across their extensive network.
Key Takeaways
The lessons they’ve learned through this approach to virtual care planning and implementation offer valuable takeaways for others embarking on similar health IT initiatives, as health systems should prioritize the following:
- Understand how the needs of individual clinical/business groups are tied to the needs of others, and to the enterprise as a whole.
- Identify key stakeholders who will be critical to overall success, and their definitions of "value."
- Identify the best places to start to get results that speak directly to the value needs.
- Build clinical and business champions and momentum for the next steps.
- Ensure the best potential to address organizational workforce, clinical, business, and IT needs while improving access to care, patient experience, and quality outcomes.
Technology and Virtual Care
Our discussion will focus on an enterprise approach to virtual care that predominantly uses Teladoc Health’s Solo enterprise virtual care ecosystem. At Valley Health, this offers the care team a consistent access point for delivering virtual care. Care teams also can leverage this interface to access more advanced capabilities that enhance care delivery.
Conclusion
The overarching takeaway is that a collaborative, enterprise approach to virtual care planning and expansion can ensure holistic, scalable, and patient-centered results to achieve maximum value – aligning technology, workflows, and people for sustainable, high-quality care across the health system. However, the learnings we’ll cover are applicable across any process improvement initiatives that require an enterprise approach or new approaches to governance to ensure success.
