Immersion 3 took place in New York City, NY, various hospitals and organizations were covered during this visit.

Day 1, up very first, was The Studer Group, presented by Shivani Mohan. This presentation first introduced the organization and then covered the "Why" and what the culture of the organization means, also how to achieve a culture of excellence. The Studer Group mentioned the term Coach, which tied perfectly to our last visit at the Northwell health. Shivani further explained the importance of a coach, how it can help your organization and the employees within. For this session, we had to read a book by Quint Studer, A Culture of High Performance. The specific item that I still remember from the book, is when mother who had lost her son, met the nurse who had to tell her son would not make it. She was doing her grocery shopping while she recalled a familiar voice, which she hadn’t heard in years, and it was that moment that she felt an instant bond with the nurse. She then went over and spoke to her, asking her if she recalled whom she was. Studer in that moment made me realize the impact of any healthcare employee can have on patients and their families, thus creating that culture of excellence is crucial. Up next was our topic on population health, presented by Niyum Gandhi, Mount Sinai. Population Health seems to be the big discussion for healthcare organizations all around. Healthcare is going from primary fee for service to value based care. He explained the importance of his role from a patient point of view. One example that I still recall is when he asked, “how many of us know a Henry?” Henry was a patient who has health issues, however was unable to properly communicate with his doctor due to lack of time and also lack of patient education. Sadly the truth is that there are many patients who aren’t getting the proper treatment nor getting the right time to actually talk to his/her doctors.

Day 2, we took a trip to HealthFirst and William F. Ryan Community Health Center. HealthFirst, was amazing. I typically am not exposed to insurance companies, so that was a great experience. I was shocked to see how big HealthFirst was, and how they function. Although with certain questions we didn’t get the answers we were looking for, nonetheless, still amazing to how they far they have come. At the time the topic was repeal of ObamaCare, which had all of healthcare in a panic, as the next bill was not good enough, we were able to hear and see the effect that would take place if that bill was in place. Our next stop was William F. Ryan Community Health Center; I must say this organization’s leaders were beyond amazing. They showed the importance of change, and how it could help the organization. We learned that previously, the CEO had been the CEO for 20 or so years, and explained why their system was the way it was. They staff there was very transparent, they were very honest and explained the why they were in the position and most importantly, HOW they were going to address it. Of course change doesn’t happen overnight, but the staff is constantly working to make changes so that they can address the new needs of its’ patients.

Day 3, we visited Greater New York Hospital Association and Margaret Tietz LTAC. Both of these organizations again were amazing. I did not know of Greater New York Hospital Association prior to this session. As a matter of fact, I again have little exposure to supply chain. To see that the board members we met, were primarily female, just made me feel like empowered, however that is besides the main point, it was great to see how this company was able to help many different hospitals in New York. This site gave us a book, which I look forward to reading. In the afternoon, we visited Margaret Tietz LTAC. Very Often this part of healthcare is left out. Why does our healthcare system focus on acute settings, what about those who helped grow up, and are nearing the end of their lives? Why don’t more organizations focus on that and rehab? I got great insight via this visit, as it helped me developed some questions for myself. This site also provided a great tour of how their facility is a mock home for the elders, and how they want it to more family like and rooms are made to look similar to homes. I had a lot to take back from my visits, and was able to think about the full spectrum of care for a patient and at different stages of their lives.

Day 4 and 5, we visited Northwell Health. From the first presentation to the very last, this organization makes me want to work for them. I clearly saw the culture of excellence they had created from the organization. In addition, being one of the biggest health systems in the area, they were still expanding, and this process was beyond me. Usually when you hear this company got bought out by a bigger company, you think they are going to be uniform and use the bigger companies methods, well not with this organization, yes they buy out smaller hospitals but they let that system be themselves, in fact they learn from the community hospitals, which I thought was unique. Of course they help them but they do not control them like I’ve see with other companies. We visited various parts of the organizations, including the cancer research building, logistics center; call center, the telemedicine unit, and the EMT build. This organization reminded me of big companies such as CVS, Target, and how they start marketed their own products, buying from within like the distribution centers, making the flow much better for all of their hospitals.  When I call my doctors, there are many times I am on hold, and get annoyed, well this organization has an entire team to look at the booking. The call center employee answered the phone when a patient called any of the Northwell Hospitals; they were trained to assist the person on the line, thus making both ends happy. We also saw how they handle the EMT situation in New York, and they building and team they have on duty was very well trained. Lastly, the telemedicine unit, my jaw dropped when I stepped foot into it, and heard about how far they have come, I’ve only read about telemedicine but to see this team implement it was amazing. Overall I can say I learned so much within the week, I was able to see the good and bad and the amazing within each organization, how they are making their organization different and rising. I really enjoyed this immersion; I learned so much most importantly started forming the big picture in my head of what I want to do with my degree once I am done with it.