When it comes to population health initiatives, nurses and other non-physician frontline caregivers are helping lead the way. It’s these team members who often excel at engaging patients and implementing new treatment models or tools to drive better outcomes and experiences.

As care moves from episodic to proactive, new opportunities and roles arise for these team members to help improve patient throughput and access across an integrated health care system, according to Jennifer Skinner, MSN, BSN, RN, senior vice president and chief nurse executive for TriHealth, in this episode of Getting Health Care Right.

One such role is the care manager. “Typically, this role is filled by a registered nurse. They help patients navigate along the continuum of their care. That’s particularly helpful when a patient is seeing a number of providers, crossing different care settings, and if they have any socioeconomic or other barriers preventing them from their care journey or achieving health or wellness,” says Skinner.

Listen to the episode, hosted by Cincinnati Business Courier Publisher Jamie Smith, to hear about:

· Staffing challenges in health systems today — and how TriHealth is able to retain its most valuable team members.

· How motivations for entering a nursing career have changed over the years.

· Skinner’s experience with implementing the TriHealth Way, a journey she calls “one of the highlights of my career.”

· The evolving role of nurses in the future of population health.