A couple of years ago, my wife was in a bad car accident. It was a disorienting experience that became even more complicated when she was discharged from the hospital. I was given a thick stack of discharge paperwork and was wished the best of luck to figure out the rest of my wife’s outpatient care. That helpless feeling led me to a decision: I would do everything in my power to fix this broken healthcare industry.
You may have felt that frustrating fragmentation of healthcare when you’ve helped a loved one try to find the right doctor, coordinate follow-ups, decipher discharge documents, or navigate what is next, all while praying that nothing falls through the cracks.
The only two types of organizations that discharge people are the military and hospitals. I think we should leave that to the military. Healthcare systems should stay connected with their patients even after they leave the hospital. That’s why we are making a commitment to stay connected with those who entrust us with their care—to help them navigate the next steps and to encourage them along the way.
To do this, we must commit to a vision of being wholistic, exceptional, connected, affordable and viable. This vision is rooted in our Adventist legacy and poised for the future of healthcare.
A new name and a renewed commitment
Fundamentally transforming the way we deliver healthcare means getting closer to our consumers and staying connected with them. It means improving the quality of care we provide and finding ways to lower the cost of care to those we serve. It means developing a connected network of services that meets consumers’ needs in new and innovative ways.
To that end, in January 2019 we will become AdventHealth. That is how consumers will recognize us across our wholly owned and managed hospitals, physician practices, outpatient facilities and communities. This transformation will allow us to provide a world-class care experience that is comprehensive, connected and easy to navigate. For example, Shawnee Mission Health in Kansas will soon be AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. The unity of our company and culture will empower us more than ever to provide care as a team and amplify the ministry of Christ’s love and healing centered around His earthly ministry, and ultimately, His Advent.
Our history shapes our future
As we live in the time between the Garden and our Savior’s return, the promise of His Advent—the restoration of wholeness—is what inspires our mission of extending the healing ministry of Christ.
Our Adventist heritage of whole health began in 1866 with a bold and radical innovation: sanitariums. They were among the first institutions to recognize the benefits of clean water, a plant-based diet, sunshine, fresh air, exercise and adequate rest. While many people found these frivolous at the time, Adventists were first to pioneer this philosophy.
The interconnectivity of the mind, body and spirit tells us that treating one dimension of our being but ignoring the others will only lead to failure. This is where I believe the current state of healthcare is failing us.
While Christ walked this earth, He did not just “Band-Aid” people’s problems. He treated all individuals with compassion and helped them feel whole, no matter their status or background. This example of treating each person as a child of God with infinite value is something I believe can transform our fragmented healthcare industry.
Helping people achieve wholeness
In addition to unifying the system with a new name, we’re also unifying all of our team members. One of the ways we’re doing this is through a training called the Whole Care Experience. This training is the first time all 80,000 team members of our wholly owned facilities will be aligned to the same service standards. So whether you engage with AdventHealth Shawnee Mission or AdventHealth Durand, you can expect a consistent service experience.
We are also making spiritual health a bigger part of our outpatient care experience through our Clinical Mission Integration program. With 95 percent of our patient touchpoints taking place in our outpatient facilities, this is an opportunity for us to reach even farther into our communities to provide emotional and spiritual support. Consequently, we have added new questions to our patient’s medical questionnaire:
Do you have someone who loves you?
Do you have something that gives you joy?
Are you at peace?
To form these questions, we looked to the fruits of the spirit—how God defines spiritual wholeness: “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23, NIV). The first three fruits of the spirit listed serve as great spiritual health indicators. The following six fruits of the spirit are for our team members to express during their care experience from beginning to end.
There is a major struggle with whole health today evidenced by a staggering rise in depression, opioid abuse, suicide, violence and loneliness. If left unaddressed, these issues can ruin families and entire communities. We believe that infusing spiritual health into our outpatient care can make a difference. These questions give a rare chance for those who need spiritual or emotional help to open up in a confidential and safe environment. In our Central Florida Division alone, over 100 people per week are enlisting our support through this program.
Another way we are living our vision is through our Care Navigation pilot program, which we believe can transform healthcare by taking responsibility for guiding patients through their care continuum. This new program is being gradually rolled out to our facilities and has already yielded powerful stories.
At Florida Hospital Heartland, the team recently shared an experience that perfectly sums up the powerful impact of this program. A woman with blindness came into one of our emergency rooms. Overwhelmed by her health issues, she had lost hope. She had been dropped by Medicaid and had missed her last 18 doctor appointments because she had no transportation. She even stopped taking her life-saving medicine because it cost her $1,000 per month.
With our Care Navigation program, we were able to help her reclaim Medicaid funding, schedule follow-up appointments and get set up with a transportation program. Her out-of-pocket medication costs were eliminated, and she had a clear plan to take back control of her health. She said of the program, “I’ve never had someone help me so much in my life.”
It took teamwork, unity and compassion to put the pieces together for this patient. This story of hope and healing is what AdventHealth means to me: extending Christ’s healing ministry of wholeness until the day of His Advent that will bring restoration and healing.
Terry Shaw is president and CEO of Adventist Health System.
