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Today in Health IT, we are discussing virtual family centered rounds, Boost NICU family engagement, reduce disparities.

Today's episode is brought to you by SureTest, revolutionizing healthcare IT with automated testing solutions. Learn more at thisweekhealth. com slash SureTest. My name is Sarah Richardson, and I'm a former CIO for several healthcare systems, most notably within HCA and Optum, and now president of This Week Health 229.

Executive Development Community, where we host a set of channels and events dedicated to transforming healthcare, one connection at a time. And I am joined by Kate Gamble, Managing Editor here at This Week Health. Kate, welcome to the show. Thank you, Sarah. I look forward to it. I always look forward to our time together, especially since we get to talk about these topics throughout the week.

And then we say, Hey, this one's really risen to the top. Let's make sure that our listeners get a chance to hear it as well. And I love that you pulled this one, because truly this article discusses a study from UC Davis Children's Hospital, demonstrating how virtual family centered rounds significantly improve parental participation in their child's care.

Particularly for racial minorities and families facing socioeconomic challenges. And by allowing parents to join medical rounds remotely, the initiative increases engagement and helps overcome barriers. such as distance, work, or other responsibilities. Tell us a bit about your choice in this article this week.

Sure. So this one hits very close to home for me. I have 12 year old twins who were born prematurely and had to spend a month in the NICU because I was healthy. I was discharged after five days. So I could spend all day in the NICU, but I had to rely on people to drive me back and forth to the hospital because I'd had a C section.

And so I would wake up in the middle of the night, call the NICU to get updates. And, even then I knew I was fortunate because There are parents who, can't even get to the hospital because of transportation issues. They have other children or so many other issues. So having this virtual option, it gives parents the opportunity to engage with their child's care from anywhere.

And even , letting you see what's going on. It's something that makes a big difference. And yeah, so I'm really hopeful seeing things like this that make it. easier for just not just the parents, but families to get engaged with that care. I can imagine it's a scary time as a parent, especially when you, as a first time parent, are leaving the hospital and your babies are still there.

Yeah. And just the opportunity to stay connected to them and to stay connected to the caregivers and realize that they truly are in great hands and not having to worry about The backend systems working or anything else because the expectation for you as a parent is that they will make sure that your babies get to come home with you as soon as possible.

The thing I also liked about it too, was how it does allow other family members to engage, which is really important because we're not just dealing with babies born to two parents. And there was actually a teen mom in the NICU with me whose mother helped a lot. But then you have a lot of cultures where the families are really involved.

And something like this just makes a big difference and it, Gives that, it increases the focus on maternal health, which is really a problem and something that doesn't really get a lot of focus. And so I like a lot of angles to this and that it is also taking into consideration families who don't have the resources necessarily.

And I think that's also another important part of this. Yes, I was a CIO in one of the facilities. Probably about 10 years ago. And we put in a product that allowed the parents to view, especially in the NICU, their babies when they were away from the facility. And I remember thinking at that time, even the integration.

And security protocols, we needed to make sure were in place so that camera could not be inappropriately accessed and a couple of the things that I love about this, especially from that CIO perspective, is that it does highlight the importance of telehealth and patient care and involving families.

But then also, you and I talk often about equity in healthcare and how digital tools can reduce disparities. But then separately, that scalability and having solutions like this in the facility, it creates a space where tech solutions with family and patient interactions can be something that is more mainstream.

I feel like it does close gaps in care from the other side of the equation. We often talk about closure and care gaps specific to outreach for things like your annual wellness visit. And now you've got it on the other side where you can't be by the bedside with your baby, but at least you can be looking in on what's happening and then reach out proactively to those nurses and doctors to make sure that when you're not there, you still feel like you are.

Yeah. And you just mentioned nurses and doctors, and I would think that this is also a staff satisfier. They have to spend less time on these calls, , giving out updates, but then they're, involved as well with the family. And I would think that it helps in a lot of different ways, but yeah, I think that To me, that seems like that would be a good, a nice win for staff satisfaction.

And it also touches on the ability for the reinforcement of the cyber aspect. So cyber is another thing we talk about every single day and we should be because of our reliance and dependencies on technology, but this does things like ensures virtual rounds adhere to HIPAA guidelines and data protection measures.

That way you feel like. Patient information is safer. It's also addressing digital divide concerns. So we think about people may lack access to stable internet or devices, and you're working through those challenges with those families. You're constantly training both the user as a patient and the users within the facility.

And. Knowing, again, as a parent or a family that has group care for that individual, that integration with the EHR that you can get data back and forth and people can have access to the information. And I feel like most importantly, Kate, if you had this technology when your kids were in the hospital, getting the feedback from families to make sure the virtual care experience is one That you would be willing to repeat if you had to, that it's not something that's looming out there as Oh my gosh, I don't ever want to have to do that again.

You don't ever want to have to leave your kids in the hospital when you're not with them. And yet if there's one thing that could ease that stress, anxiety, or burden, could it be a solution like this? Yeah, that's a really good way of putting it. This would have been an absolute game changer for me. I love seeing this type of progress.

I hope we keep seeing it and keep making this. a better experience for first time parents, anytime parents, and families. Yeah, totally agree. And you think about the workflows within the organization as well, and them also feeling like they have another way to connect with families. Because I imagine the relationships you built during that time with the providers taking care of the kids must have been something pretty special and significant during that period of your life.

Oh, yeah, sure. I still send Christmas cards to to Karen and Jennifer. Yeah, the nurses that took care of the kids, and now here, the kids are almost 13 years old, and you still have a rapport with the nurses who took care of them when they were in the NICU.

Yeah, absolutely. And I, want as many people as possible to have that experience, but then also this added benefit of being able to engage virtually. Which I find so fascinating is that the more reliance we have upon technology, at the same time, here we are from an analog perspective, Sending cards or reaching out to people in a way that is most meaningful from the human to human connection.

And so you see all of these things continue to come together. And thank you so much for sharing your story, because. Number one, listeners may be going through something similar in their lives and they realize they don't have to be alone. They can reach out to Kate and have that conversation. More importantly, you're paying attention to these things throughout the journey of the advancement of technologies because you know how important it is to still have that human connection.

I'm glad to talk about it. I think this is such a great step in the right direction and hope to see more going forward. Absolutely. And we will keep an eye on this and other emerging technologies that allow families to be closer to their family members when they can't be at their bedside.

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