Healthcare providers like Advocate Health, Ochsner Health and Inspira Health are focusing on long-term, innovative and cost-effective investments to support employee mental health.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates existing challenges around labor shortages and employee burnout. The scramble to accommodate healthcare workers suffering the crisis has taught employers important lessons that help deliver new approaches, executives say for the mental health and well-being of employees.
“I think, for a lot of people, it’s business as usual. Like, this is part of what is expected with a healthcare career, that we need to meet the needs of our patients,” said Dr. Erin Ney, expert partner in healthcare practice. health at consulting firm Bain & Co. that way of thinking.
With greater attention to employee satisfaction and mental health, health system leaders are stepping up pre-pandemic programs, investing in new initiatives and implement organizational changes to reduce mental illness. Executives say they rely on employee feedback to determine which strategies work best.
“During the pandemic, to be honest, we don’t have time to breathe. This is really, post-pandemic, ‘How do we support people and move forward? Amy Mansue, president and chief executive officer of Mullica Hill, New Jersey-based Inspira Health.
Why now?
The pressure on healthcare workers has been growing for years, and the COVID-19 outbreak has made matters worse, said Dr. Gail Gazelle, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. “The pandemic has really accelerated levels of burnout and, sadly, levels of depression, anxiety, and suicide among doctors and doctors leaving the workforce prematurely,” she said.
According to a survey by Bain, as of July, a quarter of clinicians are considering switching careers, with nearly 90% of them reporting burnout. “As health system leadership is committed to patient safety and quality of patient care, it is imperative that they make it the top and center of their mission that they will ensure that they are prioritizing the health and well-being of their workforce,” said Ney, co-author of the report.
In addition to the ethical issue of investing in employee mental health, there is a business case for this, said Dr Nigel Girgrah, chief healthcare officer at Ochsner Health. “Employee health is linked to better quality and safety as well as financial performance,” he said.
However, health systems must carefully consider how to allocate resources during difficult times. Last year’s financials showed that profits for health systems fell sharply, operating costs rose and labor challenges continued. “We just have to think hard about what we’re offering,” Girgrah said.
One size doesn’t fit all
Health systems are testing different services to determine which services to expand and which to eliminate.
Ochsner’s Professional Experience Program launched in 2019 and accelerated during the pandemic. Voluntary benefit for physicians and advanced practice providers at the New Orleans-based nonprofit health system who may be experiencing burnout.
Girgrah says Professional Experience Program staff look for the root causes of burnout—from the way workers use electronic health records to their motivation to work as a team—and create a plan. 90-day plan with possible solutions. He said the health system had achieved positive results based on employee surveys. As part of the initiative, Ochsner also created short resilience videos and developed a 4-hour virtual recovery course and now offers an 8-hour live version.
At Inspira Health, leaders are encouraging open dialogue about mental health after the worst phases of the pandemic, Mansue said. “I don’t think we’ve done those things the same way or had conversations like this before,” she said.
A staff committee at the nonprofit health system is creating a toolkit to help managers facilitate department-level discussions about physical, mental, and social health society and spirit. Inspira is also arranging wellness days at its facilities this year, the first taking place last month when employees get health checks and stress relief with the help of massage chairs and pet therapy.
Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health is looking to help clinicians apply what they do to patients to themselves. “How can we help from an organizational perspective shift that attention from internally to our employees, and how can we support them throughout?” Melissa Reeves, director of welfare systems at CommonSpirit.
Reeves said the Catholic, nonprofit health system is directing programs based on employee feedback. Throughout the pandemic, workers have used employee assistance programs and mental health services, she said, but have not always received prompt care.
In an effort to make its services more accessible, CommonSpirit launched a MyWellness hub last year, which offers its wellness initiatives in one place. Employees earn points for activities completed throughout the year and receive financial rewards, such as gift cards or health account contributions.
Low cost and make a difference
Health systems can also invest in inexpensive changes. Defining mental health in the way health systems communicate with employees is one of those low-cost initiatives.
Atrium Health, now part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, is more focused on existing programs, such as the Code Lavender initiative, during the pandemic. Employees can call code when they are experiencing mental or emotional stress and need a break.
“We suggest [that at Atrium Health] “We don’t intentionally make sure leaders are available and let employees know you’re struggling,” said Jim Dunn, executive vice president and director of people and culture at Advocate. in some way. Health.
CommonSpirit is piloting a similar program called Code Kindness in one of its hospitals, through which colleagues call on trained professionals, including mental health workers, to help their colleagues. industry in crisis. The health system is looking to expand it across the company.
The general struggles with mental health increased by the pandemic, he said, have led Girgrah to write candid quarterly messages to Ochsner employees about his own depression and his frustrations. with COVID-19 being politicized, he said. He said Girgrah has received hundreds of responses from employees with similar stories.
Continuing to transform employee wellness and wellness culture and overcoming challenges associated with care programs, says Marlene Fisher, director of employee health and wellness at Inspira Health Employee wellness is essential to providing the best patient care. “It is the realization that we must prioritize ourselves. Otherwise, we cannot continue to do business. We can’t continue to care about our community if we’re not okay—all of us,” she said.
