MedAxiom’s service line symposium reflects shift to value

Only a few years ago, many cardiovascular service lines focused on infrastructure and alignment. Some progressive programs now have taken it to next level, using those foundations to provide value. On June 10-12, they will share strategies at MedAxiom’s annual symposium.

“All of that work had to happen before we can really move into redesigning the health system and the way we deliver care,” said Suzette Jaskie, president and CEO of MedAxiom Consulting. “Now the work going on within service lines is much more clinically based and performance-outcomes based.”

MedAxiom will present its Cardiovascular Service Line Symposium June 10-12 in Atlanta. The annual event brings together cardiovascular physicians, administrators and business leaders to discuss challenges facing today’s cardiovascular service lines as well as innovative solutions. As in past years, speakers will focus on practical, real-world programs and not theoretical scenarios.

Past symposiums tackled topics such as breaking down silos between cardiologists and hospitals and between different medical specialties and subspecialties. The more advanced cardiovascular service lines now strive to treat the patient, not the disease.

“Instead of having a patient have to seek out opinions from a cardiologist, a cardiac surgeon and maybe an electrophysiologist, we are bringing these different perspectives into a single clinic where the patients can get the benefit of multiple perspectives and the collaboration between them,” Jaskie said. “Organizationally that is difficult to achieve. It is expensive if not coordinated well, but what a victory for patients.”

This year, for instance, Christopher White, MD, medical director of the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans, will discuss how their multispecialty group balances autonomy and collaboration; and Tom Sullivan, MD, surgical medical director at Minneapolis Heart Institute’s Vascular Center, will detail how they overcame obstacles to build a multidisciplinary program.

MedAxiom presenters will address some of the daunting issues in healthcare today, including new payment models, workforce challenges, how to apply Medicare’s value modifiers, readmission issues and patient management and access.

Heart surgeon Michael Mack, MD, of Baylor Scott & White Health in Plano, Texas, will kick off the regular program with a presentation on the pressures facing today’s service lines and how successful programs have evolved to meet those challenges. Another highlight on Jaskie’s “don’t miss” list is the use of Blue Ocean Strategy at Aurora Saint Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee as a way to transition into a value and population-based model of care. The innovative approach may be an inspiration for others.

“Every program is a piece of this pie,” she said. “There is really no one program doing everything well but almost every program is doing something well. It is motivating for folks to look at all these pieces and decide which thing they will go after next.”