A Dyad Leadership Model
Casey Schwartz shares the strategies she implemented to create a strong, successful leadership model for a patient-oriented device clinic.
Casey Schwartz was a bit hesitant when asked to take over management of the Wake Forest Device Clinic in 2017. She had little experience with device clinics, so taking on the role of Ambulatory Practice Manager was daunting. Despite her hesitancy, Casey took on the challenge with enthusiasm and immediately began to work on learning anything and everything pertaining to the device clinic. She met with vendors, learned workflows and reviewed process deficiencies. Casey learned that there are many misconceptions about device clinic operations and revenues. She also learned that her clinic was not alone when it came to the need of maximizing efficiencies.
Not long into her device clinic management role, she realized that while she was handling the work to implement change, there was still something lacking in the department - clinical expertise. In November of 2017, Casey was joined by Brian Nordgren, a PA. She recalls that bringing Brian to the team was “When everything began to come together.”
Almost immediately, Casey and Brian were able to create what Casey refers to as “a dyad leadership model.” She states that this model was able to support every aspect of the clinic while focusing on their strengths. Brian took over the clinical leadership actions so Casey was able to focus on the administrative portion. They developed a 4 stage plan to increase staffing, improve patient care, implement efficient workflow and increase revenue. After phase one of this plan, they were able to increase the device clinic staffing from 1 device tech and 1 RN to 3 device techs, 1 RN and 1 Administrative support. Once the final stage is complete, they will have a total of 14 device clinic employees. Even with the initial phase completed, they have seen a 100% increase in revenue since 2017.
When asked what some of the clinic’s greatest achievements are, without hesitation, Casey states that it is the strong support structure they have built within the clinic from the Medical Director down. "Our staff is top notch. This dedicated team has worked hard to achieve success and continues to make all the difference.” She also mentions that without the collaboration, guidance and support from areas outside the clinic, including her hospital’s IT department and vendor representatives, such as ScottCare, this type of success would not have been possible. “Scottcare gave us the ability to make our processes electronic with OneView CRM. Our reports interface with EPIC, which has been tremendous in improving our efficiencies and ability to communicate across multiple locations.”
And without caregiving and leadership from people like Casey, wonderful patient care would not be possible. ScottCare thanks you for your tireless work and dedication to patients, every day.
