1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:03,279 The Becker's team is excited to announce the 2 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:06,160 launch of our new CFO and Revenue Cycle 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:06,660 podcast. 4 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,240 Tune in for conversations with finance experts from 5 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,119 the top hospitals and health systems. We'll discuss 6 00:00:13,119 --> 00:00:15,679 key trends and ideas to drive meaningful change 7 00:00:15,679 --> 00:00:18,855 in the industry. Look for Becker's CFO and 8 00:00:18,855 --> 00:00:21,995 Revenue Cycle podcast wherever you listen to episodes. 9 00:00:24,935 --> 00:00:27,095 This is Laura Duda with the Becker's Healthcare 10 00:00:27,095 --> 00:00:29,175 podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by 11 00:00:29,175 --> 00:00:32,799 Amit Patel, chief nursing informatics officer at Tampa 12 00:00:32,799 --> 00:00:34,880 General Hospital. Amit, it's a pleasure to have 13 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:36,100 you on the podcast today. 14 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:37,780 Thanks for having me. 15 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:40,159 Now I'm looking forward to our conversation because 16 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:42,640 I know, Tampa General is such a innovative 17 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:44,854 health system and really cool things that you've 18 00:00:44,854 --> 00:00:46,454 been able to accomplish over the last few 19 00:00:46,454 --> 00:00:48,534 years and then some big things ahead as 20 00:00:48,534 --> 00:00:50,454 well. But before we dive in there, I 21 00:00:50,454 --> 00:00:51,734 was wondering, could you tell me a little 22 00:00:51,734 --> 00:00:53,574 bit more about Tampa General Hospital and what 23 00:00:53,574 --> 00:00:54,475 makes it unique? 24 00:00:55,350 --> 00:00:58,149 Yeah. Tampa General Hospital is a private, not 25 00:00:58,149 --> 00:00:59,289 for profit hospital, 26 00:00:59,829 --> 00:01:02,549 here in Central Florida on the West Coast. 27 00:01:03,269 --> 00:01:05,590 The main hospital is almost a thousand bed 28 00:01:05,590 --> 00:01:08,894 facility, level one trauma center. We're an academic 29 00:01:08,894 --> 00:01:11,634 health system partnering with USF Health. And 30 00:01:12,015 --> 00:01:14,734 we really pride ourselves on the quality and 31 00:01:14,734 --> 00:01:16,914 innovation that we do here. 32 00:01:17,935 --> 00:01:20,094 And some of the good accomplishments as we've 33 00:01:20,094 --> 00:01:22,174 had over the last year was we just 34 00:01:22,174 --> 00:01:24,920 got to number one status in transplant volume 35 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:25,700 in the country, 36 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:27,140 doing 37 00:01:27,519 --> 00:01:28,719 a little over 900, 38 00:01:29,359 --> 00:01:32,239 transplants in in total. And we also just 39 00:01:32,239 --> 00:01:35,359 got our fifth, consecutive magnet designation for nursing. 40 00:01:35,359 --> 00:01:37,724 So we're truly proud of of that, 41 00:01:38,284 --> 00:01:38,784 accomplishments. 42 00:01:40,204 --> 00:01:42,364 Well, that's amazing to hear what great accomplishments 43 00:01:42,364 --> 00:01:44,604 you've been able to achieve at the recognitions 44 00:01:44,604 --> 00:01:46,765 in the last few years. Now I'm wondering 45 00:01:46,765 --> 00:01:48,525 if you think back last twelve months or 46 00:01:48,525 --> 00:01:50,765 so, for you in particular, what accomplishment are 47 00:01:50,765 --> 00:01:51,825 you most proud of? 48 00:01:52,879 --> 00:01:54,959 Yeah. You know, we we've done a lot 49 00:01:54,959 --> 00:01:56,400 of work over the last year. You know, 50 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:57,920 we have a lot of projects going. But 51 00:01:57,920 --> 00:01:59,760 the the big one that stands out for 52 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,400 me and my team is, we acquired three, 53 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:04,814 hospitals just north of us in the in 54 00:02:04,895 --> 00:02:06,435 north of the Tampa Bay area 55 00:02:06,895 --> 00:02:08,175 community sites. And, 56 00:02:08,814 --> 00:02:10,895 we spent the last ten to eleven months 57 00:02:10,895 --> 00:02:11,875 converting them 58 00:02:12,175 --> 00:02:14,335 to our our EMR and and the rest 59 00:02:14,335 --> 00:02:16,675 of the systems that we we handle. So 60 00:02:17,020 --> 00:02:19,979 in total, we converted almost 70 plus systems, 61 00:02:19,979 --> 00:02:21,520 including an EPYC integration. 62 00:02:22,379 --> 00:02:23,120 And so 63 00:02:23,419 --> 00:02:24,960 the team's really worked hard 64 00:02:25,500 --> 00:02:27,740 and to get them onto our platform so 65 00:02:27,740 --> 00:02:30,460 we can really start to transform care in 66 00:02:30,460 --> 00:02:31,199 our area 67 00:02:31,580 --> 00:02:32,479 and really become 68 00:02:33,395 --> 00:02:35,474 more more of a health system than we 69 00:02:35,474 --> 00:02:38,115 were previously with some of just the main 70 00:02:38,115 --> 00:02:38,935 main hospital. 71 00:02:40,115 --> 00:02:42,514 I know that's no small feat and and 72 00:02:42,514 --> 00:02:43,254 really to 73 00:02:43,715 --> 00:02:46,349 to bring those hospitals that have been acquired 74 00:02:46,430 --> 00:02:49,010 onto that IT system and the EHR, 75 00:02:49,550 --> 00:02:51,389 it requires a lot on the technology side, 76 00:02:51,389 --> 00:02:53,389 but I know also on the people side 77 00:02:53,389 --> 00:02:55,550 as well. What have you learned or that 78 00:02:55,550 --> 00:02:56,290 worked well, 79 00:02:56,830 --> 00:03:00,125 in really integrating that change management and and, 80 00:03:00,365 --> 00:03:03,165 bringing Tampa general culture to to three new 81 00:03:03,165 --> 00:03:03,665 hospitals? 82 00:03:04,685 --> 00:03:06,925 Yeah. It's it's really getting out there and 83 00:03:06,925 --> 00:03:09,004 and and getting to know those people up 84 00:03:09,004 --> 00:03:10,064 in the new hospitals. 85 00:03:10,605 --> 00:03:12,610 You know, they they already had a great 86 00:03:12,610 --> 00:03:14,210 sense of culture and we're just kind of 87 00:03:14,210 --> 00:03:15,569 adding to it. 88 00:03:15,889 --> 00:03:17,889 That, you know, we all have one one 89 00:03:17,889 --> 00:03:19,409 goal and that's, you know, to make sure 90 00:03:19,409 --> 00:03:21,590 the patients get what they need and and, 91 00:03:21,969 --> 00:03:23,650 you know, get in, get out as as 92 00:03:23,650 --> 00:03:25,730 best as they can and and have great 93 00:03:25,730 --> 00:03:28,069 quality care and experience. So 94 00:03:28,425 --> 00:03:31,405 having that common goal and and really integrating 95 00:03:31,465 --> 00:03:32,525 them into 96 00:03:33,224 --> 00:03:36,125 our system has been a a great experience. 97 00:03:36,185 --> 00:03:37,405 I I'd say that 98 00:03:37,944 --> 00:03:40,025 they were more than glad to have some 99 00:03:40,025 --> 00:03:42,209 some upgrades with their technology. So that made 100 00:03:42,209 --> 00:03:43,830 the transition a little bit easier, 101 00:03:44,129 --> 00:03:45,990 from what they were coming from. So 102 00:03:46,449 --> 00:03:48,930 they they were really engaged in in the 103 00:03:48,930 --> 00:03:49,430 projects 104 00:03:49,729 --> 00:03:51,650 and and helped us kind of achieve our 105 00:03:51,650 --> 00:03:53,650 goals of of getting them up on our 106 00:03:53,650 --> 00:03:54,150 systems. 107 00:03:55,115 --> 00:03:57,194 That's so helpful to know. Thank you for 108 00:03:57,194 --> 00:03:59,134 digging a little bit deeper there. Now 109 00:03:59,594 --> 00:04:01,034 looking ahead, where do you see some of 110 00:04:01,034 --> 00:04:03,034 the big growth opportunities for your team in 111 00:04:03,034 --> 00:04:04,574 the next twelve months or so? 112 00:04:04,955 --> 00:04:07,354 Yeah. So the organization is just growing at 113 00:04:07,354 --> 00:04:09,120 a rapid pace. You know, over the last 114 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:11,120 six years, we we we started with our 115 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:12,979 one main hospital site and, 116 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,879 about 15 or so clinic outpatient clinics. And 117 00:04:16,879 --> 00:04:19,759 and now we're almost at six hospital sites 118 00:04:19,759 --> 00:04:20,959 in over 150 119 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:21,915 locations. So 120 00:04:22,475 --> 00:04:23,754 as you know, IT is kind of the 121 00:04:23,754 --> 00:04:25,375 glue that keeps everything together. 122 00:04:25,915 --> 00:04:26,654 And so 123 00:04:27,355 --> 00:04:29,355 in our on our shop, we're really trying 124 00:04:29,355 --> 00:04:31,194 to meet the demands of the organization as 125 00:04:31,194 --> 00:04:34,495 we as we grow internally and even externally. 126 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:35,339 So 127 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:37,319 making sure the team has the tools and 128 00:04:37,319 --> 00:04:39,479 things that they need to to help support 129 00:04:39,479 --> 00:04:41,660 our operational partners and clinical partners. 130 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:44,199 So in terms of that, we're we're really 131 00:04:44,199 --> 00:04:47,419 looking to help standardize some of our workflows, 132 00:04:48,495 --> 00:04:50,975 establish some governance committees that, you know, need 133 00:04:50,975 --> 00:04:53,055 to expand out past the main hospital now 134 00:04:53,055 --> 00:04:55,615 that we've got up to six hospitals now 135 00:04:55,615 --> 00:04:56,514 under our belt. 136 00:04:57,055 --> 00:04:59,295 So it's really kind of create that health 137 00:04:59,295 --> 00:05:00,675 system and the cohesiveness 138 00:05:01,490 --> 00:05:03,569 that needs to happen between all of that. 139 00:05:03,569 --> 00:05:04,470 You know, the 140 00:05:05,009 --> 00:05:06,689 the challenge is is we have one big 141 00:05:06,689 --> 00:05:08,949 academic medical center, which we've kind of 142 00:05:09,490 --> 00:05:10,930 modeled everything under, 143 00:05:11,250 --> 00:05:12,769 because that was what we had at that 144 00:05:12,769 --> 00:05:14,550 point in time. But now that we have 145 00:05:15,134 --> 00:05:17,694 community hospitals now and we have a behavioral 146 00:05:17,694 --> 00:05:19,694 health hospital standing up here the next month 147 00:05:19,694 --> 00:05:21,154 and we have a rehab hospital, 148 00:05:21,774 --> 00:05:23,794 it's really about how do we make 149 00:05:24,334 --> 00:05:26,814 the standardization really work for all the different 150 00:05:26,814 --> 00:05:28,574 sites because they all have different needs. And 151 00:05:28,574 --> 00:05:30,900 so that's really the challenge that we're we're 152 00:05:30,900 --> 00:05:33,400 looking to to keep moving on. 153 00:05:34,259 --> 00:05:36,259 That's helpful to understand. And, you know, I 154 00:05:36,259 --> 00:05:37,139 I think really, 155 00:05:37,540 --> 00:05:38,759 cool to have the opportunity 156 00:05:39,220 --> 00:05:41,620 to then bring everybody together, standardize as where 157 00:05:41,620 --> 00:05:43,939 it shows us workflows, establish what you need, 158 00:05:43,939 --> 00:05:44,180 and, 159 00:05:44,884 --> 00:05:45,625 move forward. 160 00:05:46,004 --> 00:05:47,685 I know there's a lot of opportunity there, 161 00:05:47,685 --> 00:05:48,904 but also challenges. 162 00:05:49,205 --> 00:05:50,644 What are some of the things that you're 163 00:05:50,644 --> 00:05:51,144 anticipating 164 00:05:51,444 --> 00:05:53,205 and planning for over the next year or 165 00:05:53,205 --> 00:05:55,305 so, that you have to navigate through? 166 00:05:56,004 --> 00:05:58,560 Yeah. It's it's really about the technology and 167 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,199 pace of change right now, especially within the 168 00:06:01,199 --> 00:06:04,160 AI space. You know, things are are rapidly 169 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,100 changing. But just overall with 170 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:07,939 with all of the cybersecurity 171 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,500 concerns and and kind of the infrastructure 172 00:06:10,879 --> 00:06:12,865 pieces that a lot of our platforms 173 00:06:13,245 --> 00:06:14,064 depend on. 174 00:06:14,685 --> 00:06:16,444 Really just try to keep up with that 175 00:06:16,444 --> 00:06:19,164 and and making sure we're agile enough to 176 00:06:19,164 --> 00:06:21,644 change when we need to. We're we're gonna 177 00:06:21,644 --> 00:06:23,485 continue to grow and move at a at 178 00:06:23,485 --> 00:06:26,144 a rapid pace. So we as an organization 179 00:06:26,204 --> 00:06:28,050 and as an IT shop have to keep 180 00:06:28,050 --> 00:06:30,129 up with that pace and and and make 181 00:06:30,129 --> 00:06:32,290 sure our end users understand that because I 182 00:06:32,290 --> 00:06:32,790 think 183 00:06:33,250 --> 00:06:34,770 a lot of that is dependent on them 184 00:06:34,770 --> 00:06:37,410 and understanding why we're doing what we're doing. 185 00:06:37,410 --> 00:06:40,290 And sometimes, you know, not everyone loves change, 186 00:06:40,290 --> 00:06:42,370 but it's it's a necessary evil in this 187 00:06:42,370 --> 00:06:44,814 day and age, especially with our IT infrastructure 188 00:06:45,274 --> 00:06:45,774 pieces. 189 00:06:46,714 --> 00:06:48,394 That makes a lot of sense. And, you 190 00:06:48,394 --> 00:06:51,055 know, you, for the pace of change piece, 191 00:06:51,274 --> 00:06:53,995 I think it it definitely takes, a specific 192 00:06:53,995 --> 00:06:56,394 approach, as you said, being nimble in order 193 00:06:56,394 --> 00:06:57,269 to keep up. 194 00:06:58,069 --> 00:07:00,629 How do you build that into the larger 195 00:07:00,629 --> 00:07:03,189 organizational culture as well as the IT team 196 00:07:03,189 --> 00:07:03,849 in general, 197 00:07:04,389 --> 00:07:06,629 in knowing and understanding that things are changing 198 00:07:06,629 --> 00:07:09,029 quickly and it's not slowing down anytime soon 199 00:07:09,029 --> 00:07:10,649 and potentially could get quicker? 200 00:07:11,485 --> 00:07:13,425 Yeah. Yeah. I think it's really about education 201 00:07:13,485 --> 00:07:15,584 and and understanding the why. Right? 202 00:07:15,964 --> 00:07:18,204 If you if you communicate with your team 203 00:07:18,204 --> 00:07:20,365 members even down to the lowest levels, and 204 00:07:20,365 --> 00:07:23,157 they understand the the vision, the the strategy, 205 00:07:23,157 --> 00:07:23,310 and 206 00:07:26,589 --> 00:07:28,449 communication channel open. They'll understand 207 00:07:29,069 --> 00:07:31,629 the reason for for the change, and and 208 00:07:31,629 --> 00:07:33,230 it won't be as much of a pushback 209 00:07:33,230 --> 00:07:36,064 necessarily if if we have to rapidly, 210 00:07:36,845 --> 00:07:38,865 move from one technologies to the other. 211 00:07:39,725 --> 00:07:41,324 One good example of that right now is 212 00:07:41,324 --> 00:07:44,064 we're we're really looking at our telehealth infrastructure 213 00:07:44,285 --> 00:07:44,785 and 214 00:07:45,165 --> 00:07:46,845 and seeing what can really kind of set 215 00:07:46,845 --> 00:07:49,165 us up for the future. We've got some 216 00:07:49,165 --> 00:07:50,944 disparate systems at the moment. 217 00:07:51,379 --> 00:07:53,379 And really, how do we how do we 218 00:07:53,379 --> 00:07:55,379 set ourselves up for the future so that 219 00:07:55,379 --> 00:07:58,180 as the technology and the environment changes, we 220 00:07:58,180 --> 00:08:00,819 can we can transform with it without having 221 00:08:00,819 --> 00:08:03,220 to to rip everything out and start over 222 00:08:03,220 --> 00:08:03,720 again. 223 00:08:04,555 --> 00:08:07,514 You know, our main campus is almost 100 224 00:08:07,514 --> 00:08:09,995 years old. And so if you have to 225 00:08:09,995 --> 00:08:11,834 rewire rooms and things like that, it's just 226 00:08:11,834 --> 00:08:14,794 not economical or or, you know, time wise, 227 00:08:14,794 --> 00:08:16,314 you don't have the time to do that. 228 00:08:16,314 --> 00:08:16,814 So 229 00:08:17,279 --> 00:08:19,459 we're really trying to make sure we set 230 00:08:19,519 --> 00:08:21,060 ourselves up for the future. 231 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:23,680 That's helpful to understand. And, you know, and 232 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:24,500 really, really 233 00:08:24,959 --> 00:08:26,959 smart, I think, in terms of having the 234 00:08:26,959 --> 00:08:28,740 strong communications and understanding 235 00:08:29,279 --> 00:08:31,444 what it takes, to be transformative and and 236 00:08:31,444 --> 00:08:32,084 think through, 237 00:08:32,725 --> 00:08:34,245 what's gonna be best for the future. So 238 00:08:34,245 --> 00:08:36,325 I appreciate your time there. Before we wrap 239 00:08:36,325 --> 00:08:38,245 up, I'm wondering, if you could talk about 240 00:08:38,245 --> 00:08:39,764 what the number one thing is you're doing 241 00:08:39,764 --> 00:08:41,684 right now in order to set yourself up 242 00:08:41,684 --> 00:08:42,904 for long term success. 243 00:08:43,889 --> 00:08:45,589 Yeah. We're really trying to maximize, 244 00:08:46,370 --> 00:08:48,610 our use of of technology and especially in 245 00:08:48,610 --> 00:08:49,649 the AI space. 246 00:08:50,289 --> 00:08:51,970 We wanna make sure our our team members 247 00:08:51,970 --> 00:08:53,809 are are working at the top of their 248 00:08:53,809 --> 00:08:54,870 licenses. So 249 00:08:55,329 --> 00:08:57,570 using things like ambient technology on the clinical 250 00:08:57,570 --> 00:08:59,455 side for for the doctors, but we're, you 251 00:08:59,455 --> 00:09:02,014 know, looking at other disciplines to to roll 252 00:09:02,014 --> 00:09:04,014 that out in because it can really take 253 00:09:04,014 --> 00:09:05,774 away some of the non value added work 254 00:09:05,774 --> 00:09:06,835 that they do today 255 00:09:07,294 --> 00:09:09,934 and really focus them in on patient patient 256 00:09:09,934 --> 00:09:10,434 care. 257 00:09:10,879 --> 00:09:12,720 And then also setting our team members up 258 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:14,339 for kind of a digital transformation. 259 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:15,700 So, 260 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,120 you know, digital transformation is really the the 261 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:20,799 look of the future. And and how do 262 00:09:20,799 --> 00:09:22,980 we set our team members up from a 263 00:09:23,039 --> 00:09:25,539 educational standpoint to make sure that they know 264 00:09:26,004 --> 00:09:26,745 what's coming, 265 00:09:27,125 --> 00:09:29,845 why it's coming, and and really let us 266 00:09:29,845 --> 00:09:30,584 be nimble, 267 00:09:31,044 --> 00:09:33,445 to to take that technology to the next 268 00:09:33,445 --> 00:09:36,565 level. You know, we we wanna make sure 269 00:09:36,565 --> 00:09:38,799 our team members are not scared of things 270 00:09:38,799 --> 00:09:41,460 like AI not gonna replace their jobs or 271 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:44,320 take away duties that that they feel that 272 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,120 they're important to the to themselves. So it's 273 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:49,519 really about making sure that they feel comfortable 274 00:09:49,519 --> 00:09:51,600 with the technology that they're gonna be using 275 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:52,820 on an everyday basis. 276 00:09:53,644 --> 00:09:55,085 That's amazing to hear. 277 00:09:55,485 --> 00:09:56,684 Thank you so much for joining us on 278 00:09:56,684 --> 00:09:58,365 the podcast today. This has been a really 279 00:09:58,365 --> 00:10:00,524 fascinating discussion, and I look forward to connecting 280 00:10:00,524 --> 00:10:01,585 with you again soon. 281 00:10:02,205 --> 00:10:03,904 Thank you. Appreciate it being on.