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- This is Laura Dedo with the
Becker's Healthcare Podcast.

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I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr.

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Ooni Daniel, vice President of Data

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and Analytics strategy at Highmark Health.

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Dr. Daniel, it's a pleasure

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to have you on the podcast today.

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- Thank you. I really
appreciate the opportunity.

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- Now, I'm looking forward to
talking with you deeper about

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what you're doing at
Highmark Health right now

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and how you're thinking about the future.

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I, I think you're such a
fascinating organization,

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and certainly a lot to learn
from what you're doing in, in

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how you're growing and
developing with the community.

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But before we dive into my questions,

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can you tell me a little bit more

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about yourself and your background?

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- Yeah, sure thing. So,
I'm <inaudible> Daniel.

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You can call me uni again,
vice President of Data

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and Analytics strategy and
partnership at Highmark.

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I've been at Highmark for
almost three years now.

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And, um, some of my areas
of accountability are data

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and AI governance, um, data

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and analytics, strategy development, um,

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DNA product commercialization.

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I also have accountability
for people, analytics

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and, um, data analytics,
uh, business operations.

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And then one other
interesting area that I,

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that I absolutely love, um,
in this role is, um, data

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and analytics research and
strategic partnerships.

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So some of our strategic partnerships

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with academic institutions,
really focusing on data

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and analytics and AI capabilities

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that may not necessarily be part

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of an existing business need,

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but things that we need to
consider should be on our radar

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to kind of push the
boundaries on innovation

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and how we can really start

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to deliver some value in the future.

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And so I think it's a
really great investment area

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for the, for the organization.

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So that's kind of, um,
backgrounds on, on, you know,

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my accountability at Highmark.

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Prior to that, I was at HCSC, um,

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leading data and analytic strategy.

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So been in the payer space,
been on the healthcare,

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the hospital side, then
also on the vendor side,

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and, um, just really love
healthcare. So <laugh>,

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- That's amazing to hear,

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and what a great holistic view

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of all aspects of the healthcare system.

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And now being at Highmark,

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I can imagine you can really
exercise that experience, um,

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to, to deliver better
care to the community.

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Now I'm wondering,

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can you tell me about your most successful

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projects in the last year or two?

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What did you do and how did
you measure the results?

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- Yeah, I mean, I would say that one

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of the most successful
projects, uh, that I've,

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I've worked on has been,
um, kind of operationalizing

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AI governance for the enterprise.

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Um, and that was a, a huge effort.

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I think, you know, we have,
we've always had a really,

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a pretty robust data
and AI ethics strategy.

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Um, and it's been something
that we've kind of been doing

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for a while, but given all
of the kind of the explosion

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of generative AI in 2023

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and just kind of this new
excitement over what's possible in

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the space, um, along with
just the, the sheer volume

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of legislative and regulatory
activities, um, even in 2023,

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I think there were over like
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or actions that were
taken, um, related to ai.

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It was just really
important to get ahead of

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what we would anticipate
as some of the requirements

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around evaluating

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and assessing risk, making sure

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that there was accountability

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and traceability for
the AI that's deployed,

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um, at Highmark.

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Um, making sure that the
enterprise itself was well

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positioned to handle, um, discussions

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and adjudication of AI use cases

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and submissions in a way that is

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trustworthy and that's stable.

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And that is, um, kind of,
you know, that ha having

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that strong infrastructure in place

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and then codifying everything,

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making sure we have a robust AI policy.

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Um, so many different components

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that required really strong partnerships

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with our information security teams.

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Of course, data and
analytics, legal privacy, um,

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social determinants of
health, diversity, equity

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and inclusion, um, our product areas.

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I mean, just having, you know,
needing all of those areas

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to really lean in.

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Just the cross-functional
nature of it, I think was one

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of our most successful projects or,

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or initiatives, um, from 2023.

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And it continues to be, it
continues to be a strong program.

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So I think that's probably one
of the most successful, uh,

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initiatives over the last year.

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- That's awesome to hear. And you know,

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really very timely when you talk about

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and think through how
much AI has evolved and,

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and really what gen AI can
mean for the healthcare system,

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um, when you're thinking
through these very high level

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and very important aspects
of implementing ai,

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thinking about the regulations

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and how you can, um, very, you know,

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mindfully incorporate into it, into

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what you're doing at Highmark, who's part

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of those discussions and
how do you really make sure

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that you've got, um, a
strong backbone to lean on?

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I, I know that's something
that you've mentioned is having

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that kind of expertise

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and being able to call upon people to,

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to make sure you're doing
things the right way.

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How do you really gather
that as an institution?

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- Yeah, well, I mean, Highmark is,

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has a really strong perspective.

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Our living health strategy.

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We are very, uh, focused on
making sure that we, you know,

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kind of reinventing the
healthcare experience,

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really delighting our members

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and patients, you know, our customers.

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And so that's always gonna be
the North Star, um, especially

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as a blended health organization.

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And I think because the
entire organization is totally

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bought in on that North Star, um,

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I think folks are just more receptive

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to strong cross-functional
collaboration on something

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as important as, you know, AI
governance and AI innovation.

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And so, you know, we always
say we don't necessarily want

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governance to drive the
pace of the business,

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and so it does require
those strong relationships

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and cross-functional collaboration.

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And so the people that
we have at the table, um,

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that are making a decision,
we have, you know,

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an actual voting body come
from across the organization.

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So N Engine, which is our kind of it, uh,

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technology organization,
um, I mentioned our, um,

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chief Data analytics officer, of course,

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our chief information security
officer, chief legal officer,

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chief privacy Officer,
chief HR officer, um,

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our Chief Diversity Equity

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and Inclusion officer,
our senior vice President

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for Social Determinants of health.

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Um, we also have our chief risk officer.

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Um, they're all sitting at the table

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and discussing adjudicating
and making decisions

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and voting on all of the ethical

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and large strategic issues
around data, the use of data,

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the use of AI for Highmark Health.

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And because they've, they're all committed

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and they, you know, they put in the time

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and they're committed, we
are able to make decisions

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as an organization that
can then proliferate

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through operations.

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And so we were very intentional
when setting up the kind of,

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um, impetus for that group to say, here,

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here's the imperative, you know,

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you're gonna weigh in
on these types of issues

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and this is gonna be a voting body.

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And because that group was
already kind of used to

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that structure and used to
having those discussions,

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even when Zen AI came onto
the scene, we were able

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to strategically kind of get
a head start in terms of, um,

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you know, being able to start
thinking through use cases

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and like kind of, you
know, looking at, you know,

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how do we source use cases

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and getting them through the
pipeline and adjudicating them.

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It gave, it gave us confidence
to move relatively quickly.

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And so ultimately, I think the, one

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of the larger lessons here is
when you do the foundational,

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when you invest in the
foundational capabilities

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and the foundational structure,
it enables that innovation

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and it enables you to move
faster as opposed to like,

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you know, if we just kind of rushed in

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and, you know, did not invest
in that infrastructure,

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then we'd have a lot more
downstream issues in terms of,

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you know, data leakage

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and confidence in moving
forward use cases, especially

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with the increased risks associated with,

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with generative ai.

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- That's such a good point.

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Thank you so much for going
through all that with us.

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Now, looking ahead, what
are your top priorities

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for the next 12 months or so?

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- So there, there are, we have a, uh,

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several key priorities.

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I mean, I think primarily
just making, being very, uh,

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customer focused, uh,
making sure that we're able

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to deliver care in a way
that is, you know, um, that

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optimizes our customer
experience and engagement.

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Really making sure that our
customers are empowered.

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You know, our living health
strategy has, it, it continues

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to evolve, but it's really, um,

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an anchor for the organization.

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And so a lot of the, the work

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that we do is centered
on, you know, around that.

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We're also, you know,
making sure that we have

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that community presence.

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I mean, ultimately everything
that we do, we need to have

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that community relationship,
that community presence.

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So, um, you know, we're
really focused on, you know,

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building those relationships
in some of our newer markets,

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uh, that we've entered into.

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Um, and then just making
sure that we are from a, uh,

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from a technology perspective,

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that we're making the right investments so

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that we are building the company,

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the organization of the future.

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And that means investing
in our people, making sure

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that we are fully, um,
aware of, you know, kind

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of the capabilities that
we need in the future,

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and adjusting our teams

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and making sure that we're,
you know, either upskilling

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training or providing
the resources for teams

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to really stretch and
engage in some of those, uh,

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future state, uh, capabilities so

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that they can be future ready.

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I, you know, things just move so fast.

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And so there we have a really
keen interest in making sure

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our teams are prepared

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to operate kind of in that future state.

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And that that's been a real area of focus.

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Um, and it'll be, it'll
be an increasing area

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of focus in the coming year.

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So,

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- Absolutely.

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That's amazing to hear.

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And definitely, you
know, having that eye of

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where things are headed,
where healthcare is headed,

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but then being able to, um,

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strengthen those relationships
within the community.

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Um, and I love how you put it
being very consumer focused.

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Um, is there any, I guess,
trends that you're seeing

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that's driving the consumer demand

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or the way that you're
thinking about how you want

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to deliver a, a different or,

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or better, um, consumer experience?

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- Well, you know, I think one thing

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that I've seen over
the past year, which I,

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which is a really positive
development is, you know,

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the way the dynamic

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between like the large
healthcare organization

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and the community, um,
there, you just have

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to have an element of kind
of humility when engaging

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with the community, because
it's really important

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to make sure that the voice, you know,

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that the community's voice is amplified.

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And so we're not doing activities too,

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but we are partnering
with and learning from.

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And so I think I've seen that, you know,

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not just at Highmark, but
across other organizations.

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And it kind of going back to
what are some of the benefits

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of like getting together
with other healthcare leaders

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and, you know, other leaders
in this space to really kind

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of make that paradigm shift
so that the interventions

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that are recommended

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and the things that we do are
fully aligned with what our

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consumers actually need, um,

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and not just kind of what we
think what we think is best.

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And so I, I, I'm starting
to see that shift,

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which is really exciting,

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and I think it's, it's, um, a significant

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step towards building trust,
um, in an increasingly,

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you know, volatile environment.

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And that, you know, that
trust is so important.

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And so that's been encouraging for me.

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- That's great to hear.
And, um, I, I love it.

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I, I appreciate you sharing that with us.

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Now, before we wrap up here,

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how do you anticipate your
role on teams will change

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over the next few years?

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- Yeah, that's a, that's a great question.

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Um, you know, sometimes when there's a lot

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of change happening, we
can just be, you know,

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you could spend time just
trying to get your bearings,

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but one of the principles
is you always have

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to be thinking about the future state,

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even in current volatile circumstances.

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And so I think there needs to be,

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and it's something that we're
already considering, um,

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an emphasis on, you know,
enhancing the competencies

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of your existing team

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and making sure that the
teams have increasing range.

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And so the days of like very
siloed roles where you kind

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of just do one thing and,

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and one thing only, those
are eventually gonna have to

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phase out over time.

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We need to be investing in the skills

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and competencies that, you know,

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can produce some range across larger

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chunks of the organization.

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And what that does is it
helps, um, individuals kind of

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with more experience, be able to move

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and navigate through organizations,

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but it also prepares us for the future.

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And so really investing in
exploring what the capabilities

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and competencies, you know, the one those

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that are gonna be important
in the coming years,

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and then saying, how best
do we get our teams engaged

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or trained or upskilled
to be able to, you know,

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become well versed in those capabilities

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and competencies is gonna be important.

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And one big thing

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that you've probably heard
a million times, um, by now,

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and I'm just gonna commit the
sin of saying it again, is

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that <laugh>, um, our like team members,

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like AI will not replace the team members,

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but team members

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that are well versed
in AI will replace the

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team members that are not.

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And so we really have to
like, take that, you know,

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seriously, um,

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because I, I do think that
that is gonna be the case.

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So

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- Absolutely.

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It definitely bears repeating.

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I, I, I think especially
in thinking through

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how quickly everything is moving with AI

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and certainly having that
human element behind it

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and being able to leverage,
um, leverage that, um,

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within the workforce, within any kind

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of mission driven organization,

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it seems like such a powerful
tool in way to move forward

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- Forward.

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Absolutely. Absolutely.

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- Dr. Daniel, thank you so much

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for joining us on the podcast today.

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This has been a
fascinating discussion, uh,

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00:14:50,745 --> 00:14:53,165
certainly talking through
so many different things

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that you're doing at Highmark

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and um, how you're thinking about AI

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and then the community
relationships piece of it too,

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which is fascinating.

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I appreciate your time here

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and looking forward to seeing you

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and April at our payer Roundtable.

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00:15:06,575 --> 00:15:08,415
- Absolutely. I'm definitely
looking forward to it

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and I really appreciate the opportunity.

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It's been a great conversation.