Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1421339
ENSURING CONTINUUM OF CARE While telemedicine was not used by many depa r tments pre-pa ndemic, Upstate rapidly deployed telemedicine in many ambulatory settings, improving access to care when many patients were afraid or unable to leave their homes. Mark Zeman, Chief Information Officer at Upstate, says t hat ver y soon a f ter launching the COVID-era telemedicine program, the hospita l was caring for thousands of patients via the technolog y. Within two weeks, the number of telemedicine visits grew from 10 to over 6,000 vis- its — a phenomenal increase of 59,900%. Additiona lly, without transportation issues or other ba rriers, such a s the need to ta ke significant time off from work, more patients were able to keep their appointments. "Comparing May 2019, when almost all visits were completed in the clinic, to May 2020, when most visits were conducted via telemedicine, the no-show rate decreased by 59%," Zeman notes. He added that the hospital also bol- stered its cybersecurity to protect it from ransomware threats and phishing attacks. "Recognizing the need to be even more diligent in securing our network, we accelerated multi-factor authentica- tion, worked extensively with an expert cybersecurity consulting group to test our defenses and focused on enhancing our endpoint protection." NURSING ADVANCES NEW TECHNOLOGY D e s pit e u npr e c e dent e d pa ndem ic - related cha llenges, Upstate achieved Magnet designation this year. "Achieving and maintaining Magnet designations r e q u i r e s u s t o i n n o v a t e a n d p u s h bounda ries," says Scott Jessie, MSN, R N, NE A-BC, Chief Nursing Of f icer a t U p s t a t e U n i v e r s i t y H o s p i t a l . "Regardless of current cha llenges, we will meet patients' needs and continue to provide comfort and support," Jessie says. "It 's our mission, and it 's why we chose this field." Using a collaborative approach, the nursing staff implemented technologies and practices, such as TeleTracking, which manages bed capacity and tracks patient progression through discharge a nd into post-acute ca re. Additiona l daily patient care technologies include Vocera for communication, vital signs alarms, and remote video monitoring for patient safety. Nursing also is playing a key role in developing a new Throughput Operations Center to manage all patient movement into and out of the Upstate system, and a "Hospital at Home" model for acute care patients to be treated using telemedicine, the EMR , a nd workf low intelligence developed by Upstate's IMT team. The "Meds to Beds" program allows Upstate patients to get their prescriptions filled at Upstate's outpatient retail pharmacies, making it easier for hospitalized patients to get their prescriptions promptly upon discharge and more likely to take needed medications once they are home. 0 8