Contributor: Michael J. Charlton
To learn more about Michael, click here.
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When I stepped into the role of president and CEO of AtlantiCare, a healthcare system serving the Southeastern New Jersey region for over 125 years, one of the first questions I asked the team was not if we had the right systems in place, but rather, ‘How will we drive transformation in the delivery of care? And what does that mean to our industry, community, and patients?’
The traditional healthcare model, designed to manage care and the flow of operations within the four walls of its facilities, is outdated and no longer sustainable. It is not designed to keep our patients and community healthy and cared for at home. If today’s consumers expect ease of access in all aspects of their lives — from one-click shopping to streaming entertainment to the simplicity of paying bills — then healthcare should be meeting them where they are in their lives, when it is most convenient for them.
At AtlantiCare, we are committed to leading the change that healthcare needs through Vision 2030, our ambitious six-year strategy plan that reimagines how healthcare is delivered — prioritizing patients’ well-being and community wellness first. These elevated expectations require bold, swift actions, which is why we partnered with Oracle Health, a leader in the health technology space, to launch a digital overhaul of our entire healthcare system. This will enable us to tailor our approach to meet the needs of our patients and deliver the seamless, connected healthcare experience they deserve.
Supporting a Patient’s Journey
The integration of advanced technology in healthcare is often perceived as a move toward automation, raising concerns about losing the personal, human touch. However, at AtlantiCare, we view healthcare technology as a means to humanize the healthcare experience by strengthening connections between providers, clinical staff, and patients. By enhancing communication, personalizing care, and freeing up time for more meaningful interactions, technology becomes a powerful tool to foster deeper relationships.
An essential component of our digital transformation is the launch of a comprehensive Command Center, which provides our team with a broader, more transparent view of operations across the entire healthcare system. This perspective enables us to support patients, and our providers, through their entire care journey, making the experience frictionless and seamless. More importantly, it allows us to intervene in real time - whether patients are inside or outside of the four walls of our healthcare setting.
For example, the Command Center capabilities will allow our team to monitor patient flow and address transport delays across our hospitals. At the same time, it will alert us to critical changes in a diabetic patient’s status through their glucose monitoring device. This early intervention, monitored and initiated outside our facility, enables us to respond quickly and often prevent more serious health issues from developing.
This is exactly the change that healthcare needs, providing proactive, not reactive care, supported through 24/7 remote monitoring, that can detect and manage issues before they become acute or emergent.
Alleviating Administrative Burdens
With the integration of AI, we can accomplish even more. AI is enabling us to reduce team member burnout by alleviating the burdens that often take them away from focusing on high-touch patient experiences. During my early days as CEO, I spent time walking the hospital floors and saw firsthand how our care providers were overwhelmed by administrative tasks. While necessary, the documentation was keeping providers on the computer instead of at the bedside with patients.
As one of the first-named innovation partners for Oracle Health’s generative AI-based Clinical Digital Assistant (OCDA), we are introducing solutions that allow providers to focus on patient interactions as a priority. As a participant in the pilot program, we were able to provide valuable feedback to the Oracle Health team and help to shape the evolution of the OCDA to better meet the needs of our caregivers and patients.
The mobile OCDA offering combines generative AI, clinical intelligence, multimodal voice and screen-driven assistance, and simplified workflows into a single, unified solution. The tool is activated during patient-provider interactions, capturing key details needed to populate the electronic medical record (EMR) without requiring the provider to manually input patient information. It is smart enough to filter out unrelated conversations, such as last night’s football game. Early results have been very promising. AtlantiCare doctors have reported better patient engagement and greater professional satisfaction, thanks to the significant reduction in manual documentation.
By leveraging the OCDA tool, we aim to improve the quality of the visit summary, providing a more comprehensive view of each patient encounter which the care provider then reviews and signs off on. This helps ensure everyone involved with a patient’s care — both clinical and administrative teams — have the same information, reducing the need for patients to repeat themselves and improving overall experience.
Elevating Human Connection and Innovation in Healthcare
As the pace of technological advancement accelerates, we will continue to leverage its remarkable capabilities to enhance the patient’s experience. However, it is important to remember that AI is not a replacement for the human element of healthcare. People will always be the most critical component of how, when, and where AtlantiCare achieves healthcare excellence in serving our communities. These tools are designed to enhance our ability to deliver compassionate, personalized care by reducing workflow redundancies and administrative burdens on team members so they can be fully present with their patients and their families.
Together with Oracle Health, we are reimagining every aspect of healthcare operations, from staffing and supply chain efficiency to leveraging generative AI. Our ultimate goal is to make AtlantiCare a model of connected, effective care.
Throughout this journey, one principle will always guide us: putting patients first.
Contact Michael at his LinkedIn profile.