Julie Kennedy Oehlert, DNP, RN

VP, Patient Experience
University of Arizona Medical Center

Julie is the Vice President of Patient Experience for the University of Arizona Health Network, Tucson, Arizona and faculty for the University of Arizona's Interpersonal Education and Practice Program. She has strategic responsibility for patient experience outcomes across the health system. Her expertise includes healthcare leadership coaching, focusing on achievement of organizational goals in safety, quality, and employee and patient experience, and the "how to" of organizational culture with concentration on interprofessional education and practice.
Her nursing background has provided her with the understanding and skills to make a difference by helping organizations improve patient quality, safety and experience, as well as employee and physician engagement. In addition, prior to her current role, she was with the Studer Group for over 12 years with responsibilities that included designer of emergency department service line and medical practice service line (tools, strategies and evaluative measures), leadership development for all levels of leadership, coaching to for managing teams, running effective meetings, critical conversations, implementing leadership development institutes, and interdepartmental collaboration.
Julie graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Carroll Columbia College of Nursing, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is currently completing her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from the University of Minnesota in Health Innovations and Leadership.

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Julie.

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Day One: Interactive Workshop Day: Implementing A Patient Experience Strategy For Your Organization

Wednesday, February 12th, 2014

16:00 Keynote: Interprofessionality: Patients As Team Members (Open To All Attendees)

The depersonalizing and stressful hospital environment discussed in the article Reducing the

Trauma of Hospitalization (Detsky & Krumholtz) is a grim observation that our current healthcare delivery model may be negligent in both health and caring. Now is the time for patients to be encouraged to take their place as informed and active members of their own interprofessional healthcare teams.

Interprofessionality was defined by D’Amour and Oandasan in 2011 (as cited in Institute of Medicine (IOM) as “the process by which professionals develop ways of practicing that provides an integrated and cohesive answer to the needs of the client/family/ population. It involves continuous interaction and knowledge sharing between professionals, organized to solve or explore a variety of education and care issues all the while seeking to optimize the patient’s participation.” The reality is that “optimizing patient participation” is not a strong enough statement to place the patient not only in the center of their care but as an active team member who is respected and can assist the healthcare team in planning the best course for their care.

There is an outcry from all members of the healthcare team that the composition and dynamics of their teams must change. Patients voice concerns over paternalistic treatment from providers and not receiving enough information about their condition and care plans. Health care providers beg for more participation and engagement from patients. However, patients will not be able to become engaged in their care until providers work to educate, inform and include them. The perfect place for patient engagement to be fostered is in the dynamics of their own health care team.

This presentation explores strategies and innovations that will start healthcare organizations on the journey to true interprofessionality by including the most important member of the team – the patient.