The Passion to Lead
Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world, Overlook stands
tall as a leader in the region’s healthcare environment and secures
its position for managing future challenges..

The feeling is almost palpable: As we exit the earliest years of the twenty-first century and step forward into a new decade, the nation stands poised at the intersection of moderate change and total reform. The ongoing healthcare debate has attracted the eyes of a watchful world. Close to home, Overlook is charting its own course for continued success—as measured by patient outcomes, the statistic that matters most—and the hospital has realized its vision as a regional healthcare leader today and for the future.

“Our medical staff continues to grow and we’ve seen an increase in quality applicants applying for privileges at Overlook Hospital,” says Medical Director of Clinical Affairs Norman Luka, MD. “Physicians are electing to join the Overlook medical staff because the patient experience at Overlook is excellent and the access to state-of-the-art services is, too.”

As the scope of services at Overlook has expanded and as other area healthcare facilities have closed, more people than ever are turning to Overlook to meet their health needs. “There is an increased demand for services,” Luka says, “and we have the capacity to provide those services.”

A Sea of Change

Atlantic Health has secured a top-tier A1 rating from Moody’s Investors Service analysts, and its financial position is secure. But in light of debate and the challenges facing health reform, a key mandate is to spend healthcare dollars more efficiently. Earlier this year, Overlook joined a demonstration project with the New Jersey Hospital Association to address options pertaining to gain sharing. “This is an opportunity for the hospital and volunteer physicians to look at how we perform, with respect to the drivers of quality and cost,” explains Luka. “Open dialogue and cooperation are at the core of this initiative; there is an exchange of information that will improve quality, patient safety, and efficiency.”

“Doctors are lifelong learners,” he continues. “Give us good feedback and we can adapt and change and learn to improve. We’re asking ourselves, ‘How can we change the system to make it more efficient and drive the value proposition of quality and patient safety? How can we be efficient and still be a safe and nurturing environment for the patient?’ This is a key aspect of the healthcare debate, and Overlook Hospital is rising to the challenge.”

Hospital-wide, Overlook has risen to the challenge of advancing hospital services to meet the needs of the community, keep pace with cutting-edge technologies, and make care better and safer to enhance patient outcomes. Relay Health, a secure, Web-based communication service, allows physicians to check on the clinical status of patients safely and securely, so that even those physicians who are away from the hospital can be aware of what is going on with their patients, explains Linda Reed, RN, vice president of Information Systems and chief information officer for Atlantic Health.

A barcoding system—similar to that seen in retail stores—was introduced to eliminate the potential for errors. With the hospital’s automated medication administration system, patient identifications are barcoded, as are all medications. “The administering nurse receives an indication if the medication is not the right dose, or if it’s not the right time, or if it’s not the right patient,” says Reed. “The system raises red flags so a mistake is stopped before it’s made. There are checks and balances right up to the point of administration.”

Other patient-centric technologies include a tracking board in the Emergency Department to monitor treatment status, lab work, and radiology needs, as well as a system for monitoring available beds on inpatient floors. “Any time you automate something, it speeds up care,” Reed says. “And when you can execute procedures faster, patients get better faster.”

The Continuum of Care—and Communication

As healthcare advances and the access to care evolves, healthcare professionals are increasingly aware of the importance of prevention—that’s where healthcare really begins. “Overlook has done an outstanding job of promoting disease prevention through its Community Health department,” says Jane Rubin, Director of Neuroscience at Overlook Hospital. “The more we can keep people in good health, the less they need emergency hospitalizations. But we work aggressively to stay on top of advances in care so that we can meet emergent care needs as they arise.”

To that end, the hospital is focusing on the entire continuum of care: prevention, early detection, emergency and in-hospital treatment, as well as post-hospital needs.

“We are turning a big corner,” says Rubin. “In the next ten years, I think we’ll see a big change in how we communicate between hospitals when time is of the essence. Technology will drive the sharing of important healthcare information. Hospitals are being challenged with making sure they have high-quality services without redundancy of programs from institution to institution, and Overlook has made great investments to distinguish itself as a regional tertiary-care healthcare leader—particularly in the neurosciences.”

To reinforce the premium on increased communication and improved outcomes, Atlantic Health has joined the North Central New Jersey Health Information Exchange—a group of ten hospitals, including St. Peter’s, St. Barnabas, Robert Wood Johnson, and Holy Name—to share data and create a regional integration of care. “When you visit an

emergency room,” says Reed, “one issue is that the emergency doctor doesn’t have a record of everything that has happened to you. When you’re receiving care in multiple places, your records are all over the place. The Information Exchange supports patient safety and the continuum of care by defragmenting care.”

In making healthcare decisions, it is especially important for consumers to be their own advocates. “People must ask the right questions—about mortality rates, infection rates, patient outcomes—and they deserve the right answers,” Rubin says. Overlook uses universally accepted benchmarks to provide patients with those answers and ensure quality services.

Supporting the hospital in all of its endeavors—and supporting the patients it cares for—is the Overlook Hospital Foundation. “Generous people in our communities have always been crucial as the hospital has sought to add the latest technologies, up-to-date facilities, physician experts, and the latest training for nurses,” says Ann Oliva, executive director of the Foundation. “In the first four years of our current Next Century of Healing Campaign, they’ve made possible the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center, the new Breast Center at Overlook, an endowed chair of medicine, a new effort in geriatric medicine, expanded integrative medicine treatments, various navigators to assist patients through their treatments, and the new Thomas Glasser Caregivers Center to be built. They’ve seen the vision for Overlook’s future, and they have invested enthusiastically in it.”