How Bon Secours Mercy Health Supports Clinician Well-being Using Objective Data
When clinician well-being and engagement are supported, better patient care and outcomes typically follow. Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH), the fifth largest Catholic health system in the United States, with headquarters in Ohio, is committed to the wellness of its trainees and clinicians.
Leaders within BSMH’s Lima, Ohio market were in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when they first learned of Atalan’s well-being analytics and platform. The strain and fatigue on the faces of clinicians made it clear they were under great stress. BSMH leaders were excited at the prospect of using objective data insights from the Atalan platform to understand where their clinicians might need further support even if they weren’t speaking up.
BSMH
PROFILE
Moving Towards a Data-Driven Approach to Clinician Support
"I believe strongly that if you’re setting up an environment culturally in which clinicians want to practice, they’ll give you the best version of themselves. And I think the Atalan platform helps us understand what that environment might look like."
Prior to their partnership with Atalan, the BSMH Lima market—which has 300 physicians and advanced practice clinicians—relied mainly on a clinician engagement survey to measure well-being in its medical staff. While questions were carefully selected and the engagement scores they calculated were valuable, leaders recognized that the survey had limitations.
“Experience surveys are only as good as the swath of the group that elects to take the survey,” said Dr. Matt Owens, Chief Clinical Officer for the BSMH Lima market. “So I knew we were missing voices of our constituents that would be of great value.”
BSMH prioritized the holistic well-being of clinicians and its retention rate was already significantly better than regional and national averages, yet pressures on clinicians to achieve quality metrics alongside daily operations had been increasing, as they had across the health industry. Leaders at BSMH wanted to go further by using objective data to support their medical teams and turned to Atalan.
Highlighting Risk Areas In Real Time To Support Well-being
The Atalan platform, backed by an evidence-based machine learning model, gives BSMH Lima market’s operational directors and regional practice administrators a tool to predict the retention and well-being of their clinicians.
“Atalan sets us up to have positive conversations with those folks who are at the most risk by being able to bring that data to the table”
Data that BSMH already collects in their Electronic Healthcare Records (EHR) system and Human Resources Information System (HRIS) is interpreted by Atalan’s machine learning model. Clinicians and departments with a higher than average turnover risk are highlighted in Atalan’s software in near real time for leaders, so they can take a closer look and take action. Leaders can also tap into resources that provide relevant tips and research-backed action steps. Before Atalan, BSMH did not have a prediction tool for clinicians. Tara Miller, Chief Operating Officer of BSMH’s Lima market, said, “I was really excited about the opportunity to have all the information on the dashboard at our fingertips in real time and the layers of data points that Atalan pulls in for accuracy.”
“The access to that unbiased objective data is really valuable,” Owens said. At times, clinicians might feel uncomfortable sharing open feedback on workload or other well-being factors. Being able to see insights can help BSMH operations leaders to bridge the gaps and support their clinician team further.
Giving Operations Insights to Transform Their Organization
BSMH’s Lima market found that the Atalan platform validated many of their survey findings and risk areas with objective data. “Atalan sets us up to have positive conversations with those folks that are at the most risk by being able to bring that data to the table,” Owens noted.
By transparently using data-driven insights to support clinicians’ well-being, BSMH’s operational leadership aims to make all its clinicians feel deeply valued.
The organization sees the platform as a tool that could be transformative to their organization in the future. “To have an observation tool really helps us out, not only at the team level, but also in the overall health of the organization level,” Owens remarked. “I believe strongly that if you’re setting up an environment culturally in which clinicians want to practice, they’ll give you the best version of themselves. And I think the Atalan platform helps us understand what that environment might look like.”
Atalan’s platform and analytics are objective, evidence-based tools for health systems. With an emphasis on transparency and rigor, Atalan empowers operational leaders to implement data-driven, effective well-being interventions on the ground.
“I was really excited about the opportunity to have all the information on the dashboard at our fingertips in real time and the layers of data points that Atalan pulls in for accuracy"
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