Chamber Partners With Willets Point Development Group

EXPERT ADVICE CONCERNS & TRENDS IN WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE

BY MATT NIEMCZYK

In a trend that has only accelerated during the past few decades, the needs and perspectives of women in regard to health and well-being have come into heightened focus within the healthcare industry.

Historically, disease and treatment research focused on the male body. In the latter half of the 20th century when researching specific medical conditions, professionals began to notice that the physiological and behavioral differences that exist between sexes affect the health and outcomes of each differently.

It is now clear, for instance, that a woman’s unique hormonal characteristics affect disease progression and the reactions they have to certain drug treatment regimens.

Heart disease symptoms might present through chest pain in men but cause nausea, back or jaw pain in women. Even women of different races have unique and varied healthcare needs and concerns.

In essence, we’ve come to understand that only by viewing the issues pertaining to well-being and a person’s health condition through their individual sex, gender and ethnic perspective can we properly prevent, diagnose and treat their condition to produce the best outcomes.

For women, this is leading to improved overall well-being, more focused and appropriate health care treatments and an enhanced potential to save lives.

Top Concerns for Women Today

For women, the COVID-19 pandemic has only served to heighten and add to their growing list of health care concerns. Finding safe and affordable methods of contraception during this time remains a priority for women today.

Mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, exhibit more frequently among women than men and have traditionally been found to be exasperated by a woman’s hormonal fluctuations.

More recently, however, COVID induced realities have compounded this growing concern as stresses for those women already juggling a multitude of work and home responsibilities have increased with their role as teacher for any children at home in virtual learning environments.

Adding further pressure for these mothers during the current pandemic has been the need to find safe, accessible and affordable childcare and health care services for their children. And researchers remain baffled at why even prior to the pandemic, autoimmune diseases have continued to escalate in frequency and affect more women than men.

Trending Women’s Issues

Additionally, as a result of changes that have been developing over many years, the following trends are shaping women’s health care today and having an impact on insurance services, healthcare premiums and the workplace environment: • Women are having fewer babies and often delay giving birth until later in life. • Later-age pregnancies carry increased complexities, driving up costs and putting both mother and baby at risk. • Fertility services continue to increase, with many employers expanding benefits in this area. • Women are working longer as their life expectancy continues to increase. • An aging women’s population has driven an increased demand for midlife services.

As funding for research in these areas continues to accelerate, the evolution of women’s health trends and medical care continues. Information acquired through research has filtered down among all aspects of the healthcare industry, changing the way doctors, hospitals and insurance carriers service and care for women patients.

Technology by means of connected devices and mobile applications will continue to expand the healthcare solutions available to women.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, at-home testing devices, tele-health integration, remote monitoring platforms and other

The Queens Chamber of Commerce offers its members access to My Benefit Advisor as a solution for employee benefits, including voluntary offerings. For more information, visit qcc.mybenefitadvisor. com or contact Matt Niemczyk at (201) 815-2384.

innovative care models have become more widely accepted and will play a critical role in providing women with access to necessary healthcare.

Employers too have begun to focus more on women-specific needs by incorporating targeted benefits into their wellness programs and plan offerings.

Additionally, business leaders have recognized that women, both as employees and spouses of employees, are key to the maintenance of a healthy family, as they tend to be the decision makers regarding all health-related matters for themselves and their families.

As such, communications and enrollment processes have been more effectively designed to better accommodate these female perspectives, interests and personal needs.

Today, there are many opportunities for a variety of concerned entities to address the unique health care challenges facing women. With continued research, increases in funding and other critical resources committed to this task, much more will be accomplished to improve the overall health of women in the years ahead.

CHAMBER PARTNERS WITH FWPC

The Queens Chamber of Commerce and the Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation (FWPC LDC) entered into an agreement that will see the two organizations partner on several projects, events and initiatives in north Queens.

Founded in 2007 by former Queens borough president Claire Shulman, the FWPC LDC is composed of private and public sector stakeholders promoting economic development in the Flushing, Willets Point and Corona neighborhoods to help revitalize and stabilize the neighborhoods.

“Because of borough president Shulman’s vision and the FWPC LDC’s hard work, there is a plan in place to develop a thriving community in Flushing and Willets Point creating jobs and economic opportunity for residents throughout northern Queens,” said Tom Grech, president and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce. “We look forward to completing this work in a way that both benefits the businesses and residents of Flushing, Willets Point and Corona, and pays tribute to Shulman, who did so much for Queens.”

In 2017, FWPC LDC completed a revitalization plan for the Flushing waterfront. Today, the group is focused on a variety of issues facing the community, including the expansion of affordable housing, infrastructure improvement, mass transit, open space and streetscape issues.

“Founding and leading the LDC

EXPERT ADVICE WHEN THE IMAGE IS EVERYTHING

HOW CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL APPLIED LEAN TO IMPROVE MRI

BY RALPH SMITH

Ever been in a situation where the numbers just don’t seem to add up?

The MRI unit at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas found themselves in just such a situation. The main operating room had three MRI machines that were running at an average monthly capacity of 58 percent, yet there was a six-week backlog to get scheduled for an image.

Since the cost of performing an MRI and the subsequent revenue generated are both substantial, this paradox caught the attention of the management team. They launched a Lean process improvement team to analyze and fix the problems.

“There are so many opportunities to save money and serve more patients,” said Paul King, founding partner of Orion Development Group. “It’s just hard to focus the effort when your staff is busy saving lives or fighting off a pandemic.”

The Lean imaging team included front-line employees that had direct, hands-on expertise, two senior managers from Radiology, the chief of Anesthesiology, and the director of Nursing.

By blending the leadership team with the operators within the process, the team was able to act upon recommendations quickly and with guaranteed management buy-in. This commitment laid a solid foundation for eventual success.

The team began by studying the current situation, which consisted of answering two basic questions: How do we do it now? How well or how badly do we do it now?

The first question called for process analysis. The team recognized four major internal customers for the MRI process: Neurosurgery, Heart Center, Hematology/Oncology, and ICU. Representatives of the team met with each unit to identify process breakdowns from the customer perspective. They identified the high-level flow (Figure 1).

Each major step of the process was defined and potential problem causes listed - 55 in all. The problems were analyzed using traditional cause-and-effect techniques, and several interesting root causes were found.

For example, lack of ownership of the transport process resulted in a significant portion of the utilization inefficiency. Another root cause that led to multiple process problems was the lack of specificity by doctors when an MRI was ordered “just in case.”

The question of how well or how badly the process was currently performing could only be answered with data. The baseline for measurement was the 16-week period leading up to the formation of the team, in which the average number of studies

performed per day was about 25. The no-show rate was 10.8 percent. The aforementioned inefficiency in the transport process resulted in an average of 38 minutes between patients, wheels out to wheels in. The scheduling process across facilities was another major factor. The data and cause analysis led to the identification and successful implementation of several process solutions. There wasn’t one silver bullet or one department that was dropping the ball. Small changes in transportation, communication, FIGURE 2 screening, EPIC, scheduling and protocol added 35 up to better performance across the value chain. 30 How well did it work? 25 Recall that the utiliza20 tion before had been at 58 percent, which equated to 25 studies per day. The team computed that if they could increase their number of studies to 29 per day, it would generate over $2 million net per year for the hospital. Within a year, the average number of studies was 32 per day (Figure 2). But revenue enhancement was not the only result the team was proud of. The wait time to get an appointment shrunk dramatically (Figure 3).

Total Studies Pre-Changes Total Studies Post-Changes

FIGURE 3

FIGURE 1 Ralph Smith is executive vice president of Strategic Services for Orion Development Group, which is located in Rockaway Park. Learn more at businessprocessmgmt.com or reach them at info@odgroup.com.

Patients can now get an appointment anywhere in the system in under a week, as opposed to six weeks before. At the onset of the project, the team was contemplating whether buying another MRI machine would be necessary to reduce the backlog, so the process improvements helped avoid a large capital outlay.

Finally, the no show rate

dropped from 10.8 to 7.6 percent.

The team met or exceeded the initial project goals, and is now exploring how to get more MRI business to the hospital. This is a large change in mindset from the days in which the unit was swamped and simply trying to keep up. The unit has, without a doubt, redefined its image.