Purpose-Driven: My Journey to Offering Patient’s Personable and Proactive Care

I started working in healthcare 15 years ago after a short career in banking. I found a purpose in my work, and I felt then as I feel now that I had the ability to impact a person’s life in a positive way through my work.

My first job in healthcare was with Humana and their slogan was “guiding people when they need it most.” That statement appealed to me. In my first years at the company, I sat across from hundreds of senior citizens at many kitchen tables. They reminded me of my grandparents, and they felt comfortable connecting with me. They thought of me as their granddaughter lending them a helping hand. Most of them were so vulnerable and felt alone in their healthcare decisions.

Today, many years later, I work as an executive at a clinically integrated network that serves more than 200,000 patients. Each of the members of our network face several healthcare decisions each day with very little support. They decide whether to pay for their prescriptions, go to the emergency room, or visit the doctor when they have a conflict in their schedule, limited transportation, or financial difficulties.

Our executive leadership works very hard each day to staff our teams with social workers, care managers, pharmacists, and other professionals who proactively reach out to our patients and go the extra mile. We anticipate patients’ questions and provide them with the information they need to make the best decisions for their health.

People often ask me: What do you do? What is population health management? Someone may think that it is about the fancy tools and technology or the data that we are able to receive from payers to find gaps in care, but it is much simpler than that. What I and my colleagues do is all about the basics. It is about the human touch—the friendly and personable care we offer our patients that goes far beyond their episodic treatment.

Luisa Hurtado, Executive Director of Atlantic Coast Health Network