Dr. Ira Byock
Founder and chief medical officer
Institute for Human Caring, Providence For Byock, finding opportunities to innovate starts with “looking at the problems that are in front of us. … I challenge myself and our team with the question: What would success look like? This is an energizing question. It gives us permission to dream in color.” That energy propelled Byock and his team at the Institute for Human Caring to partner with digital health vendor Xealth and ACP Decisions to create a shared decisionmaking tool for patients around one of healthcare’s most sensitive issues— advance care planning. Patients age 65 or older who don’t have an advance directive are sent emails a week before their annual wellness visit that include links to view education materials and download an advance directive. The process was also built into ICU stays, Byock said. Within a year, more than 40% of ICU stays of five or more days had documented conversations around care goals. The coronavirus pandemic prompted further innovation. “For instance, we challenged the way advance healthcare directives have been completed and developed a trusted decisionmaker designation, which providers document in patients’ health records,” Byock said.
ADV I C E : N A I L I N G THE P I TCH
I always start from fundamentals. For us, those are the mission, vision and core values of Providence. Every written proposal and presentation to leadership answers the unasked question: How will this initiative advance our mission, the organization’s strategic plan? How will this move us toward Quadruple Aim goals? If you invest time, energy and resources in projects that you believe answer those questions affirmatively, you have little to lose. Even if an idea is not accepted, your efforts will be seen as a good faith effort to help the organization succeed.”