Podcast Episode Summary

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Episode: Virtual Care and Improving Emergency Department Flow at Ochsner Health with Dr. Lisa Fort
Host: Laura Dearda (Becker's Healthcare)
Guest: Dr. Lisa Fort, Assistant Chief Medical Information Officer, System Medical Director of the Virtual Care Center at Ochsner Health
Date: February 15, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights Ochsner Health’s innovative adoption of virtual care, focusing on its impact on emergency department (ED) overcrowding and transitions in patient care. Dr. Lisa Fort discusses the strategy, execution, and outcomes of Ochsner’s virtual emergency department initiative, and explores broader priorities and challenges facing healthcare leaders seeking to improve quality, efficiency, and patient-centeredness through digital and systemic transformation.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Dr. Fort’s Dual Role and the Ochsner Health System

• Dr. Fort’s Background:
  • Emergency physician, practicing about one shift a week ("my living laboratory")
  • Assistant Chief Medical Information Officer for inpatient services
  • System Medical Director for Ochsner’s Virtual Care Center – a centralized "care traffic control center" focusing on virtual monitoring and resourcing, such as virtual nursing (01:11)

2. Tackling ED Overcrowding with Virtual Care (02:28)

Challenge:

• ED overcrowding fueled by limited access to preventative and routine care, especially in rural “health deserts” in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Solution – Virtual Emergency Department:

• Launched full-time in 2024
• Board-certified ED physician and a navigator team available 24/7, 365 days a year
• Receives escalations from nurse on-call, primary care, urgent care, and specialty clinics
• Assess patients remotely to determine if their needs can be safely met outside the ED
• Offers direct linkage to follow-up care within or outside the Ochsner system

Key Results (2025):

• 16,000+ patients seen through the program
• 65% were kept out of the ED, receiving care in alternative settings
• 82% achieved recommended follow-up care
• Patients "are really engaged with this. They believe that the advice we give them is the right advice and they're able to complete that." (04:22)

Memorable Quote:

"We were able to keep about 65% of them out of the emergency department and provide alternative care... and also able to link about 82% of those patients to care so that they got their follow up steps..."
— Dr. Lisa Fort (04:00)

3. Culture Change and Implementation (05:26)

• "It was a huge cultural shift."
• Heavy emphasis on making the process easy and valuable for clinicians
• Messaging and response routed through EHR; average response time tracked at about 40 seconds
• Success depended on demonstrating benefits for both staff and patients
• Core users: Ochsner’s nurse call line
• Exception protocols for true emergencies and very low-acuity issues

Quote:

"It has to be easier than what they were doing or people won't do it and they have to see the benefit for themselves and for their patients."
— Dr. Lisa Fort (05:45)

4. Broader Quality Initiatives and Next Steps (06:55)

2025 Success:

• Leveraging virtual care to reduce hospital-acquired complications: infections, falls, pressure injuries, etc.
• "We were able to really kind of blow away our targets and our goals."
• Focus for 2026: Integrating all touchpoints across the patient journey for seamless, patient-centric care

Key Reflection:

• Emphasizes the challenge of fragmented care and the importance of smooth, coordinated transitions.
• Framing change from the patient’s perspective to align teams and priorities.

Notable Quote:

"If you reframe it from a patient centric point of view, everyone has experienced a time where perhaps they or a loved one has gone through those different stages. And I think that frustration resonates with people."
— Dr. Lisa Fort (08:29)

5. Headwinds, Priorities, and Technological Acceleration (10:02)

• The toughest challenge: prioritization with limited resources
• Role of automation, AI, and digital tools: reducing "death by a thousand clicks" and administrative burdens
• Rapid pace of technology as a double-edged sword—requiring ongoing cultural adaptation
• Change is hard, but focusing on impact for patients and work-life balance for staff is motivating

Quote:

"We have to be able to enable our workforce of the future with the technology of today. But how to do that is challenging and it's going to be really different for different types of groups..."
— Dr. Lisa Fort (11:28)

6. Growth Opportunities: Orchestrating Patient Journeys (12:39)

• Vision: Applying population health models to proactively identify and triage patients
• Use of virtual and asynchronous care to support local clinicians and patients
• Shift from a reactive to a proactive system, orchestrating resources to match patients’ needs at the right moments along the continuum
• One size doesn’t fit all—need to tailor digital tools to different patient populations and comfort levels

Quote:

"Medicine's been incredibly reactive historically, and we need to be able to use these real assets... to create systems that... match patients to the resources they need the most at the right time."
— Dr. Lisa Fort (13:22)

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• ED Outcome Stats:
  "We saw more than 16,000 patients through that program and were able to keep about 65% of them out of the emergency department..."
  — Dr. Lisa Fort (04:00)

• On Cultural Change:
  "It has to be easier than what they were doing or people won't do it and they have to see the benefit..."
  — Dr. Lisa Fort (05:45)

• On Patient-Centric Reframing:
  "If you reframe it from a patient centric point of view, everyone has experienced a time where perhaps they or a loved one has gone through those different stages."
  — Dr. Lisa Fort (08:29)

• On Technology and Workforce Enablement:
  "We have to be able to enable our workforce of the future with the technology of today..."
  — Dr. Lisa Fort (11:28)

• On Proactive, Orchestrated Care:
  "Medicine's been incredibly reactive historically, and we need to be able to use these real assets... to match patients to the resources they need the most at the right time."
  — Dr. Lisa Fort (13:22)

Segment Timestamps

• Intro & Dr. Fort’s Background: 00:38–02:28
• Virtual ED Initiative & Results: 02:28–05:26
• Cultural Shift & Implementation: 05:26–06:55
• Quality, Continuum of Care Strategy: 06:55–10:02
• Headwinds & Prioritization: 10:02–12:39
• Growth & Future Opportunities: 12:39–14:32

Tone and Style

• Collaborative, candid, dedicated to patient experience
• Emphasis on pragmatism: “make it easier,” measurable impact
• Hopeful but realistic about the challenges of technology, change management, and scaling innovation
• Consistently reframes technical and systemic problems through the lens of patient and staff experience

Summary Takeaways

Ochsner Health has made major strides using virtual care to address ED overcrowding, optimize inpatient quality, and begin unifying the patient journey across care settings. Dr. Fort emphasizes that a combination of technology, agile design, cultural change and relentless focus on the patient experience is central to sustainable success—while acknowledging the ongoing challenges of prioritization and change management in a fast-moving environment. The future at Ochsner will focus on proactive care orchestration, workforce enablement, and patient-centered innovation.