IR back to 24/7 as Interventional Services takes shape

Earlier this month, Good Samaritan returned to providing 24/7 staffed coverage for interventional radiology after a staffing shift caused the hospital to temporarily suspend after-hours and weekend procedures for about two months.

Long walk to explain what happened: The hospital is combining the Interventional Radiology department and the Cath Lab to form Interventional Services, which is expected to be a win-win-win for patients, clinicians and the hospital. The new model will:

• Enhance the safety and quality of care for patients by offering a comprehensive service in which every tech has expertise in every procedure.

• Improve care efficiency, which benefits scheduling, access, patient flow and workflow.

• Provide much-needed flexibility for techs, whose heavy on-call burden in the siloed model caused high rates of reported burnout.

• Raise job satisfaction and reduce turnover in a united and more collaborative work environment.

Here’s why that’s relevant to the staffing issue: To realize the goals of this new department, all techs and nurses are receiving cross-training and skills development to be able to respond to any patient need. Not everyone on the IR team was interested, and their abrupt departure created a temporary staffing void.

After a focused effort, that’s turned around.

“In the last two months we’ve added great new hires to the superior techs already here who believe in the vision for this new department and welcome the opportunity to advance and expand their skills,” said Shana Bolliger, MHA, BSN, RN, director of GSH Interventional Services, “skills that we already can see are translating well between specialties,” she said.

Some infrequent, high-risk IR procedures remain on hold until the team can gain more exposure to them. For that, they’re headed to Lutheran and Saint Joseph for up-close observation of advanced neurology and cardiac cases.

“It still will take several months until we are where we need to be: in a department in which every person has expertise in every procedure,” Bolliger said. “But we’re now back on track and headed quickly in that direction, building a comprehensive service that will provide the safest, highest-quality care for our patients, within a department where our exceptional people will want to work.”

Bolliger is proud of her team and appreciates the support of physician and hospital leaders during the new department’s rocky start. She calls out Rajan Gupta, MD, and Amit Sudan, MD, both Interventional Radiology, “for their partnership and willingness to educate the staff, and for maintaining such a positive outlook for the entire team.”

She also said that support from CMO Liz Withers, MD, and COO Steve Hankins “has been phenomenal. Their willingness to meet with us at any time and support us with whatever we need to cover shifts and meet patient needs during these last two months has made all the difference.”

Physicians with questions about the new Interventional Services at Good Samaritan can email Bolliger by clicking here.