Putting CareOps into action at a large healthcare system

Yesterday I had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Sakumoto (CMIO, West Bay Area) and Melody (Manager Pop Health) from Sutter Health to discuss how they put CareOps into practice.

I know what you're thinking: "Why should I care about how a multibillion healthcare org does CareOps? Our team is way smaller!" But those big players face the same challenges, just scaled up. Learning from them will spark unexpected ideas. 

Here are the main takeaways: 

(1) You can't force standardization. IInstead, pick a key metric aligned with clinical guidelines, and give each location the freedom to achieve it in their own way. "Variation is okay as long as it's safe and efficient," they said. Matt emphasized agreeing on core elements while allowing local flexibility, applying the 80/20 rule for flexible standardization.‍

(2) A key challenge is getting doctors to agree on that crucial 80% of standardization. To overcome this, reframe it as continuous improvement instead of standardization. When approached with a continuous improvement mindset, people are more willing to start because they understand it will evolve and improve over time.

‍(3) When implementing new care flows, focus on training the staff around the doctors, not the doctors themselves. Doctors often skip training materials, so build a "halo of support" by empowering nurses, MAs, and other staff who interact with them daily.

‍(4) Shift the focus from teaching individual features to training entire workflows. Instead of showing doctors which buttons to click in order, demonstrate how the whole process flows seamlessly—from the MA rooming a patient to the doctor's view.

‍(5) Continuous improvement takes time and patience. The mindset shift won't happen overnight, but with persistence, trust and a safety net meaningful progress will happen.

There's much more insight packed into the full recording. I highly recommend watching the replay to learn from Sutter's approach to blending healthcare evidence with agile principles.Watch the replay here.

Quick intro: we’re Thomas and Rik, building Awell - a low-code platform allowing care teams to design, implement and optimize care flows in days, not months. CareOps grew out of our years spent improving CareOps at innovative providers.