It’s been an extremely busy time for the Rochester Regional Healthcare Association, which is in the midst of a rebrand to Pandion Optimization Alliance, to better reflect our mission and values. In the span of six weeks, we’ve hosted three large educational conferences for hospital leaders in the region. Our most recent conference, Healthcare Innovations, drew more than 250 hospital leaders from more than 60 hospitals across upstate New York. It was the first time that we’ve hosted a conference of this size, and it was a resounding success. The conference was completely sold out more than a week in advance.
Rochester Regional Healthcare Association has a rich history, dating back to 1926. Through the years, the Association has established the unique role as the convener of local hospitals – whether they’re part of large, urban hospital systems, or small, rural healthcare facilities – we have the ability to bring hospitals together to provide access to a wealth of information. We can convene healthcare leaders, lawmakers, and resources, and synthesize best practices through data analytics and surveys.
The Healthcare Innovations Conference took place on November 15 at the RIT Inn & Conference Center. It was a full-day conference that featured thought leaders from our own hospital association membership, as well as experts from throughout upstate New York. The topics were selected by our members, who identified common problems across their healthcare systems.
Our keynote speaker, John Nance, was an attorney, airline pilot, ABC news analyst and author, who flew in from Seattle to discuss his book, Why Hospitals Should Fly. Nance argued that hospitals can improve their quality of care and reduce medical mistakes if they adapt the same safety measures that were instituted in the airline industry. He said that we can’t expect everyone to be perfect all the time. However, we can encourage hospital employees (physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professions) to set goals, respect each other, work together as a team, establish redundant tiers, and create a culture that allows someone to speak up when something just doesn’t seem right.
The conference also included several breakout sessions, a speech about U.S. healthcare policy, and panel discussions. There were a total of 20 presenters, panelists and moderators from all over Rochester and upstate New York. The conference primarily focused on two subjects – the opioid crisis and transitions of care.
Jennifer Faringer and Dr. Timothy Wiegand discussed the opioid crisis. There were experts on the panel from both Rochester Regional Health and the University of Rochester Medical Center who addressed both the challenges which remain to get those with use disorders and addictions to treatment, along with the resources and providers we have access to here in Rochester and Finger Lakes region. The speakers presented a comprehensive view of the world of addiction. It can touch a wide spectrum of staff in a hospital setting, including behavioral health specialists treating substance abuse disorders, ED physicians who encounter overdoses, surgeons operating on a patient with an addiction, and even workers who encounter a visitor using the restroom to use illegal drugs. We were honored to have Senator Rich Funke, who sits on the NYS Senate Heroin Task Force, moderate a panel about the opioid epidemic.
The speakers who presented on Care Transition included Anu Banerjee, Dr. Walter Polashenski, Diane Nanno, and Kelly Mussi. They discussed a better system of transitioning between acute and post-care providers. One topic of interest was electronic health records and the challenges of not having a standardized approach to sharing information across the continuum of care. There were 5 esteemed leaders from post-acute and community service agencies within our region who contributed to the discussion. It was also a pleasure to have Trilby de Jung, CEO of Common Ground Health, moderate the panel.
Over the past few years RRHA has not only expanded its educational offerings through its not-for-profit organizations – it has expanded its group purchasing offerings as well. That’s why it made sense for us to change our name. Beginning in January, all four of our companies will fall under the new name, “Pandion Optimization Alliance.” With a presence in 30 states, we’ve expanded both geographically and into various classes of trades like business and industry, hospitality, and academia.
The genus of the osprey, a Pandion is proactive, adaptable, and watchful. We believe this reflects our unique ability to bring like-minded organizations together, tailor solutions to meet their specific needs, and proactively deliver new ideas and opportunities for our members to exceed their goals.
While our name will be different, our promise remains the same. We will continue to leverage the collective strength of our members—whether it's by providing healthcare education and advocacy to our members through our non-profits, leveraging billions in spending and negotiating competitively-priced contracts through group purchasing, or providing cost-cutting solutions through our expanded consulting services.
Pandion Healthcare: Education & Advocacy will continue to facilitate collaborations between hospitals in the region for the benefit of all, providing a forum for the discussion of shared challenges and best practices. We’re looking forward to continuing our mission in the new year.
Submitted by:
Travis Heider, President and CEO of Rochester Regional Healthcare Association. Effective on January 1, 2018, all companies under the RRHA Family of Companies Umbrella – Seagate Alliance LLC, RRHA Joint Ventures Corporation, Rochester Regional Healthcare Association, and Rochester Regional Healthcare Advocates – will change their names to Pandion Optimization Alliance to better reflect the organization’s overarching mission and shared values.