1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,199 Philips is a health tech leader focused on 2 00:00:03,199 --> 00:00:06,000 innovation that improves the health and well-being of 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:09,460 people. Our health care technology and informatics solutions 4 00:00:09,599 --> 00:00:12,559 help care teams diagnose, treat, and manage more 5 00:00:12,559 --> 00:00:16,244 patients with greater precision, speed, and confidence across 6 00:00:16,244 --> 00:00:19,225 the care journey. With Philips, clinicians are empowered 7 00:00:19,285 --> 00:00:21,765 with streamlined insights in the moments that matter 8 00:00:21,765 --> 00:00:24,904 for every patient. Better care for more people. 9 00:00:25,204 --> 00:00:25,704 Philips. 10 00:00:28,519 --> 00:00:30,519 This is Chanel Banger with the Becker's Healthcare 11 00:00:30,519 --> 00:00:32,920 Podcast, and I'm recording live at the 9th 12 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,280 annual Health IT Digital Health and RCM conference 13 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:36,940 in Chicago. 14 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,140 And sitting down right now with Anil Saldanha, 15 00:00:40,734 --> 00:00:43,295 the chief innovation officer at Rush. Anil, thank 16 00:00:43,295 --> 00:00:45,135 you so much for joining me today. Oh, 17 00:00:45,135 --> 00:00:46,274 thanks for the opportunity. 18 00:00:46,734 --> 00:00:48,255 Perfect. Well, to get us started, can you 19 00:00:48,255 --> 00:00:50,255 please share a bit about yourself, your background, 20 00:00:50,255 --> 00:00:51,554 and your role at your organization? 21 00:00:52,495 --> 00:00:52,975 Sure. 22 00:00:53,615 --> 00:00:57,679 So my role is, chief innovation officer. So 23 00:00:57,899 --> 00:01:00,240 I'm tasked with, bringing novel 24 00:01:00,700 --> 00:01:01,200 ideas, 25 00:01:02,060 --> 00:01:02,560 processes, 26 00:01:03,420 --> 00:01:04,880 partnerships, and also 27 00:01:05,260 --> 00:01:07,900 help out at the intersection of public health, 28 00:01:07,900 --> 00:01:09,359 community health, and delivery 29 00:01:09,814 --> 00:01:11,034 at, Rush. 30 00:01:11,734 --> 00:01:12,555 The organization, 31 00:01:13,255 --> 00:01:13,755 Rush, 32 00:01:14,295 --> 00:01:15,755 you know, we are a 3,500,000,000 33 00:01:16,935 --> 00:01:18,855 health care system here in Chicago as well 34 00:01:18,855 --> 00:01:21,115 as Northwest Indiana. We primarily, 35 00:01:21,575 --> 00:01:23,194 you know, 3 major hospitals, 36 00:01:23,655 --> 00:01:24,680 with outpatient, 37 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:25,620 centers 38 00:01:26,239 --> 00:01:26,739 across, 39 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:28,180 you know, the region. 40 00:01:28,719 --> 00:01:31,200 We are also on the US News, 41 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,640 hospitals on a row for many years, and, 42 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,379 we've been highly ranked by, Innoviscient 43 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:39,379 and, CMS star ratings. 44 00:01:39,775 --> 00:01:43,454 And multiple specialties at Rush are, the top 45 00:01:43,454 --> 00:01:43,954 50, 46 00:01:44,334 --> 00:01:45,954 for many specialties, basically. 47 00:01:46,415 --> 00:01:48,015 Got it. Thank you so much for the 48 00:01:48,015 --> 00:01:48,515 introduction. 49 00:01:49,134 --> 00:01:51,454 And as the chief innovation officer at such 50 00:01:51,454 --> 00:01:52,034 a prestigious 51 00:01:52,494 --> 00:01:52,994 institution, 52 00:01:53,454 --> 00:01:55,829 you're the perfect person to ask this. AI 53 00:01:55,829 --> 00:01:58,229 adoption is exploding in health care. In your 54 00:01:58,229 --> 00:02:00,489 view, what is the most significant or promising 55 00:02:01,030 --> 00:02:03,509 application of this technology right now, and how 56 00:02:03,509 --> 00:02:06,250 is this informing your organization's innovation strategy? 57 00:02:06,950 --> 00:02:09,269 So, in the last, at least 2 or 58 00:02:09,269 --> 00:02:10,009 3 years, 59 00:02:10,389 --> 00:02:13,025 you know, AI has has become the buzzword 60 00:02:13,324 --> 00:02:13,824 in 61 00:02:14,365 --> 00:02:16,525 whatever the industry is trying to do. In 62 00:02:16,525 --> 00:02:17,324 terms of, 63 00:02:17,645 --> 00:02:18,544 I think the key, 64 00:02:19,485 --> 00:02:20,625 applications or 65 00:02:21,004 --> 00:02:23,724 strategies is is scribing, and you might have 66 00:02:23,724 --> 00:02:25,185 heard this from many people. 67 00:02:25,610 --> 00:02:26,750 So, you know, 68 00:02:27,370 --> 00:02:30,409 physician, burnout and, you know, clinician burnout, it's 69 00:02:30,409 --> 00:02:31,530 it's a big issue in, 70 00:02:32,250 --> 00:02:35,310 in health care. And, Rush, just like any 71 00:02:35,689 --> 00:02:38,729 other health care system, is basically looking at, 72 00:02:38,969 --> 00:02:39,949 AI scribing 73 00:02:40,555 --> 00:02:43,694 capabilities that are provided by various products. 74 00:02:44,235 --> 00:02:44,634 And, 75 00:02:45,194 --> 00:02:45,694 so 76 00:02:46,235 --> 00:02:48,555 AI scribing, primarily AI has been pretty good 77 00:02:48,555 --> 00:02:49,775 in, summarization. 78 00:02:50,395 --> 00:02:53,250 So that's their, I would say, the key 79 00:02:53,310 --> 00:02:55,490 or strengths of AI right now. 80 00:02:55,950 --> 00:02:59,069 And, you know, definitely, like, Rush is looking 81 00:02:59,069 --> 00:03:00,110 at, scribing, 82 00:03:00,430 --> 00:03:00,930 partners, 83 00:03:01,710 --> 00:03:03,250 that we are basically piloting, 84 00:03:03,710 --> 00:03:06,185 at Rush. And, we've also, 85 00:03:06,504 --> 00:03:08,685 looked at, you know, AI, 86 00:03:09,384 --> 00:03:12,185 from a conversational AI perspective as part of 87 00:03:12,185 --> 00:03:14,444 our, what do you call, rush access center. 88 00:03:14,824 --> 00:03:18,125 And, we've introduced, like, Salesforce as a CRM, 89 00:03:18,185 --> 00:03:18,984 but we also, 90 00:03:19,305 --> 00:03:21,060 you know, brought in, like, 91 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,139 partners, doing conversational AI for IVR 92 00:03:25,439 --> 00:03:25,939 because, 93 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:27,139 still, 94 00:03:27,599 --> 00:03:29,759 when you look at, like, the first touch 95 00:03:29,759 --> 00:03:31,759 point for a lot of patients is is 96 00:03:31,759 --> 00:03:34,034 still through the telephone. And Rush gets a 97 00:03:34,034 --> 00:03:35,634 lot of phone calls from patients, 98 00:03:35,955 --> 00:03:37,735 looking for a doctor, 99 00:03:38,114 --> 00:03:40,694 looking for guidance, and, you know so 100 00:03:41,235 --> 00:03:42,294 to staff up, 101 00:03:42,754 --> 00:03:45,155 to cater to the volume of, you know, 102 00:03:45,155 --> 00:03:46,379 this touch point from 103 00:03:46,780 --> 00:03:49,099 patients through, like, the phone or, you know 104 00:03:49,659 --> 00:03:52,480 so we are looking at, AI based solutions 105 00:03:52,700 --> 00:03:55,340 to, you know, kind of help us, particularly 106 00:03:55,340 --> 00:03:57,819 in the rush access center, to help us, 107 00:03:57,819 --> 00:03:59,520 you know, automate some of this, 108 00:04:00,185 --> 00:04:02,745 you know, outreach from patients and better guide 109 00:04:02,745 --> 00:04:04,205 them and, you know, basically, 110 00:04:04,905 --> 00:04:05,485 you know, 111 00:04:05,944 --> 00:04:08,104 take care of the volume that you're seeing, 112 00:04:08,104 --> 00:04:08,604 basically. 113 00:04:09,224 --> 00:04:11,705 Thank you for that specific answer. And kind 114 00:04:11,705 --> 00:04:13,800 of going off of that a little bit, 115 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,439 On a daily basis, healthcare leaders are managing 116 00:04:16,439 --> 00:04:19,399 greater volumes of data and more devices across 117 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:21,980 a growing number of care settings and populations. 118 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,220 In this complex environment, what clinical data integration 119 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:28,779 tools or practices are you seeing drive improvements 120 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:29,944 in patient outcomes? 121 00:04:30,404 --> 00:04:32,904 And can you share another specific example? 122 00:04:33,365 --> 00:04:36,564 So definitely. And, so, you know, Rush has 123 00:04:36,564 --> 00:04:40,004 been, using the EMR, like, primarily Epic for 124 00:04:40,004 --> 00:04:41,625 the last, I would say, 125 00:04:42,330 --> 00:04:44,889 15 years, I would guess, roughly around that. 126 00:04:44,889 --> 00:04:46,509 So we've built a lot of capabilities, 127 00:04:47,449 --> 00:04:50,089 using EPYC and EPYC data warehouse. And our 128 00:04:50,089 --> 00:04:52,889 EPYC teams have built a lot of, data 129 00:04:52,889 --> 00:04:56,029 in clinical data integration tools over the years. 130 00:04:56,485 --> 00:04:58,824 And one of the products that we primarily 131 00:04:59,044 --> 00:04:59,444 use, 132 00:04:59,925 --> 00:05:01,944 on the warehouse side is is called 133 00:05:02,404 --> 00:05:02,985 the in InnoSystems, 134 00:05:03,845 --> 00:05:04,345 HealthConnect. 135 00:05:04,724 --> 00:05:06,024 And, that's been, 136 00:05:06,564 --> 00:05:09,125 a product that our EPIC teams primarily use 137 00:05:09,125 --> 00:05:10,425 in data integration. 138 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:12,339 But, also, we've seen, 139 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:14,419 a, I would say, 140 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:15,300 increasing, 141 00:05:15,759 --> 00:05:17,699 adoption of the FHIR APIs, 142 00:05:18,639 --> 00:05:22,159 in EPIC. And, you know, tools that help 143 00:05:22,159 --> 00:05:24,579 with FHIR, based, interactions 144 00:05:25,144 --> 00:05:27,004 are all are also on the rise. 145 00:05:27,384 --> 00:05:30,685 And, with, you know, cloud platforms from, 146 00:05:31,305 --> 00:05:31,805 Microsoft 147 00:05:32,105 --> 00:05:32,925 and Amazon, 148 00:05:33,384 --> 00:05:36,264 you know, they're very dedicated and focused FHIR 149 00:05:36,264 --> 00:05:39,029 API. So we've seen a lot of integration, 150 00:05:39,810 --> 00:05:42,149 needs using these cloud platforms, 151 00:05:42,610 --> 00:05:45,110 Microsoft and Amazon, basically, AWS. 152 00:05:45,730 --> 00:05:48,389 So these have been the primary or popular, 153 00:05:48,449 --> 00:05:50,545 you know, tools that we have seen in 154 00:05:50,545 --> 00:05:53,365 a clinical integration or data integration perspective. 155 00:05:54,225 --> 00:05:56,944 Got it. And moving forward, how can health 156 00:05:56,944 --> 00:05:57,685 care organizations 157 00:05:57,985 --> 00:06:00,464 better support IT and clinical teams as they 158 00:06:00,464 --> 00:06:02,625 carry out innovation efforts? And what are some 159 00:06:02,625 --> 00:06:04,004 common pitfalls here? 160 00:06:04,529 --> 00:06:06,949 So, basically, health care organizations 161 00:06:07,330 --> 00:06:09,430 have to be on the lookout for 162 00:06:09,810 --> 00:06:12,470 their business needs, which is in care delivery, 163 00:06:12,529 --> 00:06:14,689 but also, like, you know, they need to 164 00:06:14,689 --> 00:06:17,330 be patient centric. And, you know, the patient 165 00:06:17,330 --> 00:06:19,089 is at the center of everything a health 166 00:06:19,089 --> 00:06:19,830 care organization 167 00:06:20,365 --> 00:06:21,745 such as Rush does. 168 00:06:22,125 --> 00:06:24,044 So, you know, we have a lot of 169 00:06:24,044 --> 00:06:26,625 pain points for patients in terms of access. 170 00:06:27,084 --> 00:06:29,164 Health equity is is a big, you know, 171 00:06:29,164 --> 00:06:32,959 goal strategic goal for Rush. So equity, 172 00:06:33,339 --> 00:06:35,579 is is a driving force for, you know, 173 00:06:35,579 --> 00:06:37,980 Rush in terms of the way we do 174 00:06:37,980 --> 00:06:39,920 a lot of our clinical operations, 175 00:06:40,459 --> 00:06:43,040 across across the system. So 176 00:06:43,420 --> 00:06:46,764 in terms of IT and clinical team support, 177 00:06:46,824 --> 00:06:49,485 you know, we've built a lot of expertise 178 00:06:49,944 --> 00:06:51,785 over the years. I mean, I talked about, 179 00:06:51,785 --> 00:06:55,064 you know, Rush embracing EPYC as their EMR, 180 00:06:55,064 --> 00:06:57,939 like like, around 4 15 years ago. So 181 00:06:57,939 --> 00:07:00,600 we built a lot of expertise around that. 182 00:07:00,980 --> 00:07:03,300 But we're also seeing a lot of, like, 183 00:07:03,300 --> 00:07:05,300 I would say, shifts in the way the 184 00:07:05,300 --> 00:07:07,220 industry is moving. So there's a lot of 185 00:07:07,220 --> 00:07:07,720 consumer, 186 00:07:08,259 --> 00:07:11,319 you know, transition. You're moving from a inpatient 187 00:07:11,625 --> 00:07:13,324 setup to more of an ambulatory 188 00:07:13,944 --> 00:07:16,365 setup. We just had a pandemic. So that 189 00:07:16,425 --> 00:07:18,824 kind of, you know, made a big push 190 00:07:18,824 --> 00:07:20,845 towards digital health. Technologies 191 00:07:21,464 --> 00:07:21,964 are, 192 00:07:22,504 --> 00:07:25,245 things like, remote patient monitoring, telemedicine, 193 00:07:25,625 --> 00:07:26,125 telehealth, 194 00:07:26,810 --> 00:07:28,910 you know, think of survey capabilities. 195 00:07:29,529 --> 00:07:31,930 You know, they've all been, you know, available 196 00:07:31,930 --> 00:07:35,470 to health care organizations. So from my perspective, 197 00:07:35,610 --> 00:07:36,830 I think health care organizations 198 00:07:37,370 --> 00:07:41,154 have to be open to embracing, like, technologies, 199 00:07:41,615 --> 00:07:42,834 companies, startups, 200 00:07:43,454 --> 00:07:44,834 and just look around, 201 00:07:45,294 --> 00:07:48,095 what other, health systems around the nation are 202 00:07:48,095 --> 00:07:50,495 doing, and you don't have to reinvent the 203 00:07:50,495 --> 00:07:51,314 wheel. And, 204 00:07:51,694 --> 00:07:52,194 my, 205 00:07:52,814 --> 00:07:55,394 recommendation for health systems such as Russia's, 206 00:07:55,729 --> 00:07:57,970 lot of times it's easier to just partner 207 00:07:57,970 --> 00:08:00,290 with another health system that has solved a 208 00:08:00,290 --> 00:08:00,790 problem 209 00:08:01,250 --> 00:08:03,669 because it's easier to, collaborate 210 00:08:03,970 --> 00:08:06,930 and compete rather than just be working in 211 00:08:06,930 --> 00:08:09,169 silos and competing, you know. So because we 212 00:08:09,169 --> 00:08:11,715 are all work, facing the same problems and 213 00:08:11,715 --> 00:08:14,754 challenges, so sometimes it's much easier to collaborate 214 00:08:14,754 --> 00:08:16,915 with other health systems that have solved particular 215 00:08:16,915 --> 00:08:18,055 problems, you know? 216 00:08:18,514 --> 00:08:21,475 Absolutely. And kind of building up the advice 217 00:08:21,475 --> 00:08:22,134 for organizations 218 00:08:22,514 --> 00:08:24,490 and narrowing it down a little bit. Could 219 00:08:24,490 --> 00:08:26,329 you share one piece or your top piece 220 00:08:26,329 --> 00:08:28,250 of advice for health care leaders as they 221 00:08:28,250 --> 00:08:31,050 prepare for future advancements in technology and greater 222 00:08:31,050 --> 00:08:33,850 demands for care? So in terms of, health 223 00:08:33,850 --> 00:08:34,589 care leaders, 224 00:08:35,209 --> 00:08:37,529 the the big recommendation that I want to, 225 00:08:37,850 --> 00:08:38,350 give 226 00:08:38,914 --> 00:08:41,074 is is basically just be open, you know, 227 00:08:41,074 --> 00:08:42,294 and, you know, 228 00:08:42,834 --> 00:08:46,115 be, be open to new ideas, novel ideas. 229 00:08:46,115 --> 00:08:47,254 Innovation is 230 00:08:47,875 --> 00:08:50,615 is is is important, you know, and, like, 231 00:08:50,754 --> 00:08:51,735 you might have, 232 00:08:52,129 --> 00:08:54,370 you know, good times and bad times in 233 00:08:54,370 --> 00:08:56,549 terms of, you know, like finances 234 00:08:56,929 --> 00:08:57,429 or 235 00:08:57,809 --> 00:09:00,709 just, you know, things like epidemics or pandemics, 236 00:09:00,850 --> 00:09:01,830 you know, things 237 00:09:02,209 --> 00:09:03,909 do happen at times. But 238 00:09:04,774 --> 00:09:07,434 I would say technology and you know, innovation 239 00:09:07,654 --> 00:09:08,154 is 240 00:09:09,095 --> 00:09:11,035 something that you can embrace, 241 00:09:11,415 --> 00:09:13,675 to bring in new ideas and collaboration 242 00:09:14,295 --> 00:09:16,634 into the healthcare system. 243 00:09:17,159 --> 00:09:19,240 And, you know, so that's the way to 244 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:21,579 solve problems, collaboration and partnerships, 245 00:09:21,959 --> 00:09:22,459 and, 246 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,120 basically just experience that you have over the 247 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:27,899 years, you know. Yeah. 248 00:09:28,279 --> 00:09:32,440 Absolutely. So remain open and embrace technology. I 249 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,065 love it. Well, no, I wanna thank you 250 00:09:34,065 --> 00:09:35,424 for your time today. But before I let 251 00:09:35,424 --> 00:09:37,105 you go, is there anything else that listeners 252 00:09:37,105 --> 00:09:37,605 should 253 00:09:37,985 --> 00:09:39,845 know? Oh, thanks for this opportunity, 254 00:09:40,225 --> 00:09:41,825 you know? Love it. Well, thank you so 255 00:09:41,825 --> 00:09:43,504 much, like, yet again for your time today 256 00:09:43,504 --> 00:09:45,024 and for joining me on the Becker's Healthcare 257 00:09:45,024 --> 00:09:46,725 Podcast. Thank you so much.