A registered nurse for nearly 20 years, Caroline Propst joined Tryon in 2023 after working for larger healthcare organizations in Charlotte. After several years in direct care, she transitioned to clinical training and informatics before joining Tryon’s value-based medicine team. Caroline currently lives in Wingate, NC, with her daughter, husband, and a few critters.
Why did you become a nurse?
My mom has been a registered nurse for nearly 55 years (and is still working!); she has always been my inspiration. When I was 12 years old, I began volunteering at Carolinas Medical Center where my mom worked. I have always had a love for healthcare and am happy to have followed in her footsteps.
How did you move from direct care to value-based medicine?
I began my nursing career in a large orthopedic practice as a clinic nurse. I really enjoyed working with elderly patients who had new knees and hips! I moved into teaching and onboarding new clinical staff, and was eventually promoted to be a clinical trainer across the entire organization. As the practice grew, I shared my knowledge with and developed workflows for recently acquired practices. This laid the foundation for my love of clinical informatics.
To further this new interest, I accepted a position with a large healthcare system in the area. There, I was able to home in on the informatics side of the house across multiple specialties, plugging into different care settings like inpatient, emergency, and ambulatory. When COVID hit, I was working with the infectious disease service line. We used our EMR to flag patients according to their symptoms, test results, and quarantine status. This work became exhausting, and I needed a break.
At the time, my mom was working in a role that she loved: Medicare Annual Wellness Nurse. I began doing Medicare Annual Wellness Visits in 2020 and eventually became the clinical lead. I enjoyed that a lot, but after 11 years in a large healthcare organization, I was looking for something different. I wanted a smaller organization with less noise and a more personal touch.
Is this when you found Tryon?
Yes! I joined the value-based medicine (VBM) team, and haven’t looked back. I am currently the clinical lead on the VBM team and get to work across all locations with each clinician and member of their care team. I enjoy every aspect of the work I do.
We have leaders we can see and talk to, and they are very hands-on and available. We also have the ability to make changes in real time based on what is best for the patient. I enjoy using my experience to offer feedback that supports thoughtful and high-quality decisions. Making changes based on available data and evidence is so much more fulfilling than submitting a plan for a change request and wondering what ever happened to it.
Tryon has also empowered me to do more. In smaller organizations, you have an opportunity to be involved in more initiatives and take on new challenges to learn and grow. There’s no tunnel vision. I love that.
What do you want team partners to know about VBM?
Like everyone at Tryon, we do what is best for the patient. In the VBM model, we have the flexibility to address all of a patient’s needs in one sitting rather than several different ones.
VBM is transitioning toward a focused approach where we reach out to eligible attributed patients to enroll in chronic care management or care coordination programs to help manage their chronic conditions, navigate care, and increase our baseline knowledge of their disease.
I want team partners to know that we are here to support you! If you’re not sure about something, check with us. Use the VBM Care Team box in Athena, or reach out to me or the onsite nurse. We are here and ready to help.