Recently, Cam Sexton, CEO and Co-Founder of RelayOne, had a conversation with Cynthia Lee, MBA, CRCST, CHL, System-Wide Director, Sterile Processing at Cone Health about her experience using RelayOne’s surgical care coordination platform. Here are some of the highlights of that talk.
Q: “Thanks for taking a couple of minutes out of your busy schedule to talk with me today, Cynthia. As the system-wide director of Sterile Processing for Cone Health, which is a not-for-profit health care network in North Carolina with four hospitals and three ASCs, I wanted to learn a little bit more about how RelayOne helps Cone Health to communicate, collaborate and coordinate surgical scheduling and staffing across all its operating rooms today. Can you briefly explain how it works, please? Who uses RelayOne? How did you operate, no pun intended, before using RelayOne?
A: Good one, Cam! Today, every one of my leaders and weekend staff use RelayOne. It’s really good for supervisors that take calls on the weekends and can access the surgical schedules without having to be on-site. Previously we had to call around to understand volumes and status, now we just get it all from RelayOne.
Q: So, RelayOne saves you time throughout your hectic workday by providing important information when, where, and how you want it?
A: With the real-time information we get from RelayOne, we use it as a staffing tool to understand what our facilities’ needs are currently, and for the next day, staffing wise. Staff can then focus on cases that aren’t canceled, allowing them to use their time and energy elsewhere, because we now have that information in real-time, within our workflow, with RelayOne.
Q: That’s great, Cynthia. You and your teams use RelayOne while you are “on-the-go” to get the latest updates on the schedule. I understand. Can you tell me more, please? For example, what is one of the best things about using RelayOne, in your opinion?
A: One of the best things about using RelayOne is that I don’t have to be in front of Epic or an OR board. I’m always walking around so mobility is absolutely critical to my team and logging into Epic on a computer is too time consuming. However, when we are doing huddles, huddle reports are important, this is where I let staff know how many cases are left, what needs to be done and what’s canceled. I use RelayOne in the huddles, as do our staff. And, I also always check RelayOne when I’m at home for the next day’s schedule so I know what staffing levels need to be.
Q: Thank you very much, Cynthia. I am really glad that we can help to make your life a little easier with our platform. Another question if I may, please? What are some of your other day-to-day challenges that RelayOne helps to solve, Cynthia?
A: Thank you, too, Cam. It was nice to have the opportunity to talk with you. To answer your question, I’d say that managing vendors is another one of our biggest challenges. Myself and my managers are continually using RelayOne throughout the day to check the status of add-ons, cases, and volumes.
Q: Last question. So, how much time do you think you save, per day, with RelayOne, Cynthia?
A: I am literally saving hours per day with RelayOne.”
About Cone Health
Cone Health is a not-for-profit health care network serving the citizens of Greensboro, NC and its surrounding counties. Our brand promise – We Are Right Here with You – is shared by our more than 13,000 employees, 1,800 physician partners and 1,000 volunteers. As one of the region’s largest and most comprehensive health networks, Cone Health has more than 100 locations, including four hospitals and three outpatient surgery centers.
About RelayOne
RelayOne provides software solutions accessible anytime, anywhere to healthcare providers for surgical care team collaboration. RelayOne reduces operational costs and increases margins with a quick-to-deploy and easy-to-use platform that is designed to optimize workflow through performance analytics, case readiness status updates, and real-time notification of surgical case changes, all without exposing protected health information (PHI). Some of the nation’s leading health systems rely on RelayOne to help them optimize the performance of their operating teams.