- This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr.
Ooni Daniel, vice President of Data
and Analytics strategy at Highmark Health.
Dr. Daniel, it's a pleasure
to have you on the podcast today.
- Thank you. I really appreciate the opportunity.
- Now, I'm looking forward to talking with you deeper about
what you're doing at Highmark Health right now
and how you're thinking about the future.
I, I think you're such a fascinating organization,
and certainly a lot to learn from what you're doing in, in
how you're growing and developing with the community.
But before we dive into my questions,
can you tell me a little bit more
about yourself and your background?
- Yeah, sure thing. So, I'm Daniel.
You can call me uni again, vice President of Data
and Analytics strategy and partnership at Highmark.
I've been at Highmark for almost three years now.
And, um, some of my areas of accountability are data
and AI governance, um, data
and analytics, strategy development, um,
DNA product commercialization.
I also have accountability for people, analytics
and, um, data analytics, uh, business operations.
And then one other interesting area that I,
that I absolutely love, um, in this role is, um, data
and analytics research and strategic partnerships.
So some of our strategic partnerships
with academic institutions, really focusing on data
and analytics and AI capabilities
that may not necessarily be part
of an existing business need,
but things that we need to consider should be on our radar
to kind of push the boundaries on innovation
and how we can really start
to deliver some value in the future.
And so I think it's a really great investment area
for the, for the organization.
So that's kind of, um, backgrounds on, on, you know,
my accountability at Highmark.
Prior to that, I was at HCSC, um,
leading data and analytic strategy.
So been in the payer space, been on the healthcare,
the hospital side, then also on the vendor side,
and, um, just really love healthcare. So ,
- That's amazing to hear,
and what a great holistic view
of all aspects of the healthcare system.
And now being at Highmark,
I can imagine you can really exercise that experience, um,
to, to deliver better care to the community.
Now I'm wondering,
can you tell me about your most successful
projects in the last year or two?
What did you do and how did you measure the results?
- Yeah, I mean, I would say that one
of the most successful projects, uh, that I've,
I've worked on has been, um, kind of operationalizing
AI governance for the enterprise.
Um, and that was a, a huge effort.
I think, you know, we have, we've always had a really,
a pretty robust data and AI ethics strategy.
Um, and it's been something that we've kind of been doing
for a while, but given all of the kind of the explosion
of generative AI in 2023
and just kind of this new excitement over what's possible in
the space, um, along with just the, the sheer volume
of legislative and regulatory activities, um, even in 2023,
I think there were over like 65 regulatory activities
or actions that were taken, um, related to ai.
It was just really important to get ahead of
what we would anticipate as some of the requirements
around evaluating
and assessing risk, making sure
that there was accountability
and traceability for the AI that's deployed,
um, at Highmark.
Um, making sure that the enterprise itself was well
positioned to handle, um, discussions
and adjudication of AI use cases
and submissions in a way that is
trustworthy and that's stable.
And that is, um, kind of, you know, that ha having
that strong infrastructure in place
and then codifying everything,
making sure we have a robust AI policy.
Um, so many different components
that required really strong partnerships
with our information security teams.
Of course, data and analytics, legal privacy, um,
social determinants of health, diversity, equity
and inclusion, um, our product areas.
I mean, just having, you know, needing all of those areas
to really lean in.
Just the cross-functional nature of it, I think was one
of our most successful projects or,
or initiatives, um, from 2023.
And it continues to be, it continues to be a strong program.
So I think that's probably one of the most successful, uh,
initiatives over the last year.
- That's awesome to hear. And you know,
really very timely when you talk about
and think through how much AI has evolved and,
and really what gen AI can mean for the healthcare system,
um, when you're thinking through these very high level
and very important aspects of implementing ai,
thinking about the regulations
and how you can, um, very, you know,
mindfully incorporate into it, into
what you're doing at Highmark, who's part
of those discussions and how do you really make sure
that you've got, um, a strong backbone to lean on?
I, I know that's something that you've mentioned is having
that kind of expertise
and being able to call upon people to,
to make sure you're doing things the right way.
How do you really gather that as an institution?
- Yeah, well, I mean, Highmark is,
has a really strong perspective.
Our living health strategy.
We are very, uh, focused on making sure that we, you know,
kind of reinventing the healthcare experience,
really delighting our members
and patients, you know, our customers.
And so that's always gonna be the North Star, um, especially
as a blended health organization.
And I think because the entire organization is totally
bought in on that North Star, um,
I think folks are just more receptive
to strong cross-functional collaboration on something
as important as, you know, AI governance and AI innovation.
And so, you know, we always say we don't necessarily want
governance to drive the pace of the business,
and so it does require those strong relationships
and cross-functional collaboration.
And so the people that we have at the table, um,
that are making a decision, we have, you know,
an actual voting body come from across the organization.
So N Engine, which is our kind of it, uh,
technology organization, um, I mentioned our, um,
chief Data analytics officer, of course,
our chief information security officer, chief legal officer,
chief privacy Officer, chief HR officer, um,
our Chief Diversity Equity
and Inclusion officer, our senior vice President
for Social Determinants of health.
Um, we also have our chief risk officer.
Um, they're all sitting at the table
and discussing adjudicating and making decisions
and voting on all of the ethical
and large strategic issues around data, the use of data,
the use of AI for Highmark Health.
And because they've, they're all committed
and they, you know, they put in the time
and they're committed, we are able to make decisions
as an organization that can then proliferate
through operations.
And so we were very intentional when setting up the kind of,
um, impetus for that group to say, here,
here's the imperative, you know,
you're gonna weigh in on these types of issues
and this is gonna be a voting body.
And because that group was already kind of used to
that structure and used to having those discussions,
even when Zen AI came onto the scene, we were able
to strategically kind of get a head start in terms of, um,
you know, being able to start thinking through use cases
and like kind of, you know, looking at, you know,
how do we source use cases
and getting them through the pipeline and adjudicating them.
It gave, it gave us confidence to move relatively quickly.
And so ultimately, I think the, one
of the larger lessons here is when you do the foundational,
when you invest in the foundational capabilities
and the foundational structure, it enables that innovation
and it enables you to move faster as opposed to like,
you know, if we just kind of rushed in
and, you know, did not invest in that infrastructure,
then we'd have a lot more downstream issues in terms of,
you know, data leakage
and confidence in moving forward use cases, especially
with the increased risks associated with,
with generative ai.
- That's such a good point.
Thank you so much for going through all that with us.
Now, looking ahead, what are your top priorities
for the next 12 months or so?
- So there, there are, we have a, uh,
several key priorities.
I mean, I think primarily just making, being very, uh,
customer focused, uh, making sure that we're able
to deliver care in a way that is, you know, um, that
optimizes our customer experience and engagement.
Really making sure that our customers are empowered.
You know, our living health strategy has, it, it continues
to evolve, but it's really, um,
an anchor for the organization.
And so a lot of the, the work
that we do is centered on, you know, around that.
We're also, you know, making sure that we have
that community presence.
I mean, ultimately everything that we do, we need to have
that community relationship, that community presence.
So, um, you know, we're really focused on, you know,
building those relationships in some of our newer markets,
uh, that we've entered into.
Um, and then just making sure that we are from a, uh,
from a technology perspective,
that we're making the right investments so
that we are building the company,
the organization of the future.
And that means investing in our people, making sure
that we are fully, um, aware of, you know, kind
of the capabilities that we need in the future,
and adjusting our teams
and making sure that we're, you know, either upskilling
training or providing the resources for teams
to really stretch and engage in some of those, uh,
future state, uh, capabilities so
that they can be future ready.
I, you know, things just move so fast.
And so there we have a really keen interest in making sure
our teams are prepared
to operate kind of in that future state.
And that that's been a real area of focus.
Um, and it'll be, it'll be an increasing area
of focus in the coming year.
So,
- Absolutely.
That's amazing to hear.
And definitely, you know, having that eye of
where things are headed, where healthcare is headed,
but then being able to, um,
strengthen those relationships within the community.
Um, and I love how you put it being very consumer focused.
Um, is there any, I guess, trends that you're seeing
that's driving the consumer demand
or the way that you're thinking about how you want
to deliver a, a different or,
or better, um, consumer experience?
- Well, you know, I think one thing
that I've seen over the past year, which I,
which is a really positive development is, you know,
the way the dynamic
between like the large healthcare organization
and the community, um, there, you just have
to have an element of kind of humility when engaging
with the community, because it's really important
to make sure that the voice, you know,
that the community's voice is amplified.
And so we're not doing activities too,
but we are partnering with and learning from.
And so I think I've seen that, you know,
not just at Highmark, but across other organizations.
And it kind of going back to what are some of the benefits
of like getting together with other healthcare leaders
and, you know, other leaders in this space to really kind
of make that paradigm shift so that the interventions
that are recommended
and the things that we do are fully aligned with what our
consumers actually need, um,
and not just kind of what we think what we think is best.
And so I, I, I'm starting to see that shift,
which is really exciting,
and I think it's, it's, um, a significant
step towards building trust, um, in an increasingly,
you know, volatile environment.
And that, you know, that trust is so important.
And so that's been encouraging for me.
- That's great to hear. And, um, I, I love it.
I, I appreciate you sharing that with us.
Now, before we wrap up here,
how do you anticipate your role on teams will change
over the next few years?
- Yeah, that's a, that's a great question.
Um, you know, sometimes when there's a lot
of change happening, we can just be, you know,
you could spend time just trying to get your bearings,
but one of the principles is you always have
to be thinking about the future state,
even in current volatile circumstances.
And so I think there needs to be,
and it's something that we're already considering, um,
an emphasis on, you know, enhancing the competencies
of your existing team
and making sure that the teams have increasing range.
And so the days of like very siloed roles where you kind
of just do one thing and,
and one thing only, those are eventually gonna have to
phase out over time.
We need to be investing in the skills
and competencies that, you know,
can produce some range across larger
chunks of the organization.
And what that does is it helps, um, individuals kind of
with more experience, be able to move
and navigate through organizations,
but it also prepares us for the future.
And so really investing in exploring what the capabilities
and competencies, you know, the one those
that are gonna be important in the coming years,
and then saying, how best do we get our teams engaged
or trained or upskilled to be able to, you know,
become well versed in those capabilities
and competencies is gonna be important.
And one big thing
that you've probably heard a million times, um, by now,
and I'm just gonna commit the sin of saying it again, is
that , um, our like team members,
like AI will not replace the team members,
but team members
that are well versed in AI will replace the
team members that are not.
And so we really have to like, take that, you know,
seriously, um,
because I, I do think that that is gonna be the case.
So
- Absolutely.
It definitely bears repeating.
I, I, I think especially in thinking through
how quickly everything is moving with AI
and certainly having that human element behind it
and being able to leverage, um, leverage that, um,
within the workforce, within any kind
of mission driven organization,
it seems like such a powerful tool in way to move forward
- Forward.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
- Dr. Daniel, thank you so much
for joining us on the podcast today.
This has been a fascinating discussion, uh,
certainly talking through so many different things
that you're doing at Highmark
and um, how you're thinking about AI
and then the community relationships piece of it too,
which is fascinating.
I appreciate your time here
and looking forward to seeing you
and April at our payer Roundtable.
- Absolutely. I'm definitely looking forward to it
and I really appreciate the opportunity.
It's been a great conversation.