By: Yolanda Rivas
2 min read January 2020 — The increase in free-standing healthcare locations across the nation continues to be a great part of many healthcare institutions’ renovation efforts. Faith-based, nonprofit organization AdventHealth has been expanding its free-standing locations in response to this trend. AdventHealth is also re-designing its system to adjust to the diverse population moving to Florida. President and CEO of AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division Daryl Tol spoke with Invest: about the network’s efforts to respond to national and local trends.
What are the fastest-growing areas of service and care in Orlando?
There are several. One is the free-standing emergency room. We have added quite a number of free-standing locations with doctors and emergency services in areas of need, instead of having to build a whole hospital. We are growing our academic work around community cancer research. The cardiovascular institute is seeing high demand as well. We are also redefining our primary care model to include virtual care, which will allow patients to connect via video or text messages with their doctor.
What has been the impact of the healthcare industry as a dominant growth driver in the region?
If you look at Florida, and Central Florida in particular, growth is happening here in a significant way. We are managing a considerable line of growth in the senior and multicultural population. People from all kinds of backgrounds are moving into the state. We are responding to that in the way we design our system. We provide care for seniors and for people from all kinds of different backgrounds to communicate more clearly, enhance translation services and build locations in new communities, including communities of need that haven’t had healthcare historically. We believe our network should be accessible to everybody.
What are some of Advent Health’s strategies for innovation in providing quality care and patient experience?
The Center for Genomic Health is an important effort. It will focus on personalization around the patient’s personal profile. It will help us understand which medications and types of treatments work better for each person and identify risk factors. We can start really investing in each patient’s particular needs. A second effort is putting technology in the hands of consumers through our mobile app, which will launch its 2.0 version this year. It will alert people about care that is needed, help them in the scheduling of certain services and create price transparency. We have also launched a command center — the largest of its kind in the nation, both in size and scope of operations — where artificial intelligence will be used to provide the best care in how people get to our locations.
We’re a significant leader in robotic surgery. For a long time, our Nicholson Center has been a training center for robotic surgery. We have a number of robots there that surgeons use to perform surgery. In 2018, we were the first to purchase and perform a procedure with a new robot. We see robot technology improving, and we’re on the leading edge of that work as well.
To learn more about our interviewee, visit:
AdventHealth: https://www.adventhealth.com/hospital/adventhealth-orlando
