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This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
podcast.
I'm thrilled today to be joined by Patty
Cuentes,
executive director and associate CMIO at Mount Sinai
Health System. Patty, it's a pleasure to have
you on the podcast today.
Thank you so much, Laura. I'm happy to
be here.
Now I'm excited for our conversation because I
know Mount Sinai is doing some really amazing
things in technology,
in bridging out with some of the clinical,
care and care delivery as well as, you
know, a lot is happening within the,
physician assistant space and really excited to learn
more from your perspective about how that role
has evolved over time. But before we dive
into that, those questions, I was wondering, could
you tell me a little bit more about
yourself and your background?
Sure. Absolutely. Thank you for asking. So I
have been at Mount Sinai now for almost
9 years,
as an executive director and an associate CMIO
where
I'm responsible for
a lot of different
sometimes,
initiatives that are so different that it's very
difficult to see the thread. But I will
tell you what the thread is. But I
am I help support,
our Mount Sinai international team. So get to
travel to different countries and help the technology
work
in some of the hospitals and government systems
in different countries.
I work within
the,
health system
improving interoperability, which is what I'd like to
get into a little bit later.
I help support the emergency departments,
our social determinants of health
screening,
and,
I also
work
with a lot of our diversity initiatives and
health equity,
for from the technology
aspect, which,
you know, sometimes
it's easy to forget
that, really the the automation and and especially
now with a lot of the different AI
tools
create some bias if we're not really
paying attention,
to our health equity initiatives.
So that's a little bit of, what I
do at Mount Sinai.
I've been in the technology space for the
last 17 years
and I've been a PA for the last
24 years. And as a PA,
like a lot of PAs,
we are trained in a very general
broad sense
and I certainly have taken advantage of that.
I've worked in the emergency department for many
years. I worked in the surgical ICU and
the surgery department for many years. I worked
in oncology for many years
and I worked in,
running clinics in homeless shelters,
and even in small community health centers focused
on LGBTQ,
health care. So I've had a very diverse,
clinical
experience, and I try to bring some of
that to the technology space as well.
That's amazing to hear. And and certainly so
many aspects of the health care system that
you are able to touch on a regular
basis is just impressive to,
get a full understanding of everything you do
and all the accountabilities that you'll hold within
your role. That's really amazing. Thank you so
much for sharing with us. Now
what opportunities and headwinds do you have your
eye on right now and specifically through some
of these lenses that you talked about, whether
it be the technology
working with hospitals and teams even abroad to
implement that or,
diversity, equity, inclusion from the technology roles, social
determinants of health screening, and all of these
other areas,
What is really top of mind for you,
and what do you have your eye on,
over the next couple months here?
Well, thank you for for asking that. So
the I mentioned that there's a recurring theme
among the many initiatives,
and many projects
that I work on. And
that is really
it's almost like the, you know, all things
are new again, which is
the need for improved coordination
of patient care
through the use
of
data and data exchange and interoperability.
And because I'm involved in those multiple projects,
this is a recurrent theme
that keeps coming to the forefront.
You know, we we've had an increased focus,
for example, in the last couple of years
of
providing
patients access to their own data with the
21st Century Cures Act.
You know, where now patients get access to
their lab results and notes in real time
and improvements in the EMR's ability to allow
that access for for the patients,
and access to the patient's providers as well
via text messages and emails.
And, of course, you know, as I mentioned,
the realities of AI tools to automate some
administrative tasks,
there is definitely an increased interest in the
ways that we can exchange data on behalf
of patients.
And then, of course, now with the TEFCA
and the QHINDS,
conversation now in the forefront,
that's where, you know,
we kind of leave it to the IT
nerds to to figure it out, but it's
in the public eye. And we to me,
that is an opportunity
to invest more in using some of these
networks that exist already
and,
to allow for
a better understanding
from their our clinical and operational leaders within
health care,
because, you it's not just the IT folks
in this case. We need to be able
to educate and message to our clinical and
operational leaders
the way that we can serve patients
through technology.
So to me, the biggest opportunity and headwinds
that I have, at least in in my
eye, is
interoperability.
That's really fascinating to hear, you know, and
certainly interoperability.
You know, there's a lot of challenges still
within that space, but,
boy, to think about what it could do
once it's optimized and fully,
in a,
I guess, in a future where we are
interoperable, it seems like,
just a lot of possibilities
could open up. So, it's just really interesting
to to hear that as being a top
priority.
What within when you're thinking about what you
do at Mount Sinai, how are you moving
forward or moving closer to that reality where
you're able to be more interoperable and what
challenges or or lessons learned have you had?
Well,
a few,
challenges and opportunities.
There is obviously the challenge of making sure
that our infrastructure and our IT systems
are ready
for the different multiple ways that we have
to exchange data for patients,
and obviously to improve quality outcomes, improve the
way that we're able to have that data
accessible by by our patients and our community,
our community practices, our community of providers.
That is one piece that is a challenge
and an opportunity on the IT front, the
technical front.
The other is
related to,
and I mentioned it a little bit ago,
but just to expand on it, just education
and communication that's needed in this space.
And for myself and others in kind of
my field, it's the opportunity to be a
bit of a translator
to help simplify some of the language that
is typically used in the way that data
is a change, the standards. You know, everybody
says fire, but they, you know, don't really
understand what it is or, you know, what
does API even stand for or h l
seven? Like, all of that, we need to
be better
at educating,
communicating, and translating
for
our, again, clinical and operational leaders and just,
you know, decision makers because,
you know, we will need to continue to
invest
more time, effort and resources
into the ability to exchange data so that
we can, again,
serve our patients and our community better and
know that, you know, our patients travel and
we are trying to be more global just
like a lot of other industries
are are not local anymore. We're we're very
much global.
Oh, that's fantastic to hear, and I, you
know, can imagine there's a lot that goes
into
expanding your reach and thinking of yourselves more
as a global institution versus just the local,
communities that you serve. Now
from your perspective, how are you thinking about
growth and adding value to the health system
overall?
What what really is meaningful for you in
the work that you're doing?
I think, you know, again, being that translator,
being that educator, and,
you know, systems,
a lot of health care systems and organizations
are are limited in
where they can invest. Right? You know, you
you need to make choices.
And I do think that,
a way to grow a system and add
value
is
to help organizations
invest more in interoperability
because it's just a way to improve care
by coordination.
You know, you can cut costs, you can
improve outcomes, you can share in best practices.
You know, you can again get,
get and allow access to real time referrals
to grow a business and reports to better
serve communities and just improve
connections even with payers, you know, to improve
revenue collection.
And then
always thinking of the patient at the center
of care.
Again, just by broadening that definition
and bringing in,
as I mentioned in the beginning, the social
screening and the social data and bringing that
in
to the whole,
of the patient.
I love that. I think it's such an
important aspect of any health care delivery system,
as you said, just being intentional about,
how you're building out that network and connecting
smartly with,
patients
in in providing those services. And then 2,
I think it's interesting having that work dovetail
into some of the things you're doing on,
with payers
in in in that world as well.
It seems like it's a really ripe for
kind of innovation within that space, and so
that that's really, interesting to hear you talk
about that.
I'm wondering I I know for health systems
across the country, finances are tight for most
organizations
and margins are thin, but
what's really a risk or investment that's still
worth making this year over the or over
the next 12 months that could be really
meaningful in making progress towards some of the
goals you've laid out?
Well, I I think that, you know, we
we,
and a lot of other organizations
in the US,
experienced,
you know, the outage with change.
And, you know, I think a lot of
organizations are are looking to not make those
mistakes again or
be a little bit more self reliant or,
you know, look at other ways to exchange
data with payers, sometimes directly, sometimes through the
EMR.
And, you know, coming back to the theme
of
interoperability,
but also
making the best decision
for your organization in your system
means that you really have to understand what
are your options
and
where are your skills
in the technology,
department. Do you have the right set of
skills? Do you have the right people? Do
you have the right resources?
And
what is your growth in the business? What
are you looking to do? Right? So I
think that all of that is,
really
the work that needs to happen to create
the best opportunities for growth in the future
is is not
go back and rely on just one mechanism
of again, if we're talking about just, you
know, the the the bottom line, but also
try to diversify by understanding
the infrastructure
that you either have built or need to
build.
Does that make sense?
Yes. I I think so. You know, certainly,
as you mentioned,
I I really kinda gravitate toward that idea
of making sure you have the right skills,
people, and resources in place. And, you know,
that infrastructure to support all of it is
really important. And,
I think, especially when you're looking at what
happened with Change Healthcare and how I know
a lot of systems and, hospitals and and
practices are trying to figure out what they
can do,
to make sure they don't have all their
eggs in one basket in the future with
any big vendor like that and especially if
it's tied to the revenue cycle. So,
that's exactly right. That's exactly right, Laura. And,
you know, the other,
side to this is,
you know, every state is slightly different.
The regulations
around how we can share data is slightly
different.
Some states need patient consent,
some don't,
and some states are working on,
you know, again, the the waiver,
to be able to
screen more patients, for example, for social
social data. And I really do encourage
organizations
to take, you know, take a look inward
as to
who in their IT department,
understands this this space of interoperability.
You know, what decisions are being made, who
is making the decisions,
and what is the short term and long
term plan.
Because what I've seen in my own experience
working in different,
organizations over the last couple of decades
is there's
there's always a shortfall in the amount of
resources
that are placed
and the amount of investment that is placed
in the way that organizations can share data.
And, again, that makes sense because of our
evolution
from the fee for fee for service
to now really looking at outcomes and quality
and value based care. We're not fully there
yet, so I do think that organizations need
to look a little bit more at the
way that data is exchanged.
That makes a lot of sense and definitely,
really ties back nicely to some of the
things you mentioned earlier in our conversation about
interoperability and about,
really securing that type of
back and forth between organizations
to have that right type of patient experience,
but also just really efficiently get things done.
Now I'm wondering where do you see the
best opportunities for growth in the future?
Well, you know, there isn't one size fits
all. Right? And, again, it's it's
a bit individual
in the way that you know, where an
organization sits,
you know, again, which state
or and even within their state, you know,
what kind of care do they provide.
So I do think that again, the way
that organizations need to grow depending on the
system that you are.
If you need if you wanna grow by
receiving referrals, for example, because you have some
specialty care that you wanna bring patients to,
well, you need to invest again in those
systems. Right? That is the biggest opportunity for
growth. Right? You need to be able to
not just say, you know, come to us
because we provide
the best care,
but come to us because we also make
it easy.
We make it easy for you to send
our patients. For example, we make it easy
to see the data about your patients. We
make it easy in that we communicate with
your patients and the referring providers. Let's say,
you know, the technology
allows it to be easy.
Sometimes
I've seen organizations not pay enough attention to
that. You know, they again make decisions
clinically and operationally, but they don't always understand
the backbone of technology that is needed for
that. So where I see the best opportunities
for growth in the future,
there's many and there it's individual,
but part of it is to understand the
technology that,
lays underneath
the ways to bring in referrals and data
and expand your business that way.
I love that. What a what a great
point and, you know, really, really cool to
think about how technology can support,
so many different
connecting points and really provide us a better
future of health care delivery. Patty, thank you
so much for joining us on the podcast
today. This has been a really fun and
fascinating conversation, and I look forward to connecting
with you again soon.
Thank you so much, Laura. Thank you for
nerding out with me.