Friday, March 9, 2:00 - 3:15 p.m.

Mitigating the Dark Side of an Integrated Practice: Park Nicollet’s Enhancements to the Consult Process

Park Nicollet Health Services benefits from being a comprehensive highly integrated group practice. With increasing size and geographic dispersion, however, interpersonal networks began to weaken. Some specialty physicians who considered themselves “entitled” to referrals began to demonstrate less service-oriented behaviors. Thus, the benefits of size, geographic dispersion, and integration were not translated into improved experience, timely access, or flow for patients who required specialty consultations. This presentation will explore both the technical and cultural challenges Park Nicollet is addressing to radically improve the consultation process and implement seamless patient communication and information flow.

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to be able to identify the challenges group practices face when leveraging their integration; identify how to use the benefits of integration to bridge the change gap; and describe the techniques Park Nicollet has used to mitigate these challenges.