While hesitancy to enter a nursing home during the COVID-19 pandemic was expected given the challenges the industry faced in 2020, patients expressed a growing preference for home over nursing care even pre-pandemic. This meant that the industry’s focus had to expand into home health agencies, infusion providers, non-emergency transportation, durable medical equipment and home medical equipment providers, and more.

In a healthcare setting, processes may be interdependent and overlap in various areas of responsibility, potentially impacting patient experience and outcome. Process management, especially for clinical approaches, is typically articulated in a set of repeatable algorithms, or protocols. In a hospital setting, for example, the ED and ICU teams may be involved in the same patient care continuum but have very different roles and responsibilities.

COVID-19 has made it more difficult to bring assistance into the home, so much of the hands-on care for patients falls on untrained family or friends. To make matters worse, economic disparity means those with the least resources during the pandemic are often suffering the most.

In 2018, Banner brought together a data analyst, nurse communicator, OR specialist, and supply chain contracts lead to form the Surgical and Procedural Value and Alignment Program (SPVAP). In a little more than three years, SPVAP has successfully taken on tough challenges and delivered millions in documented savings—all while helping surgeons improve the level of patient care.

Patient experience is defined by CAHPS surveys—regardless of size, each Medicare Advantage plan will have 800 members surveyed about their experience with the plan, the providers, and the prescription drug program. All eight survey measures that count toward the patient experience rating have quadrupled in weight.

Amid a changing PICC clinical and reimbursement landscape, there is a need to identify best practices for PICC placement that promote widely held patient safety goals, clinical efficiency, and hospital financial health. Even small changes in clinical and/or reimbursement practices can have a significant impact given the high-volume nature of PICC procedures. Through literature review and interviews with key clinical and nonclinical stakeholders, this report seeks to illuminate features of the current PICC landscape with an eye toward determining the best practices for preserving a safe and high-functioning clinical system.