This is Rosie Talaga with the Becker's Healthcare
podcast.
I'm thrilled today to be joined by doctor
Cole Zanetti, chief health informatics officer at Ralph
h Johnson VA Healthcare System.
Doctor Zanetti, it's a pleasure to have you
on the podcast today.
It's a pleasure to be on. Happy Valentine's
Day.
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone listening.
We have a great conversation in store diving
into the key opportunities and challenges shaping health
care. But before we get into it, I'd
love for our listeners to get to know
you a bit better. So could you please
start by sharing a little bit about your
background and your journey to your current role?
Sure.
So I'm,
originally from a small town in,
Upstate New York,
called Otisville, New York.
My parents didn't go to college. We come
from a line of jazz musicians.
So I grew up going to gigs, on
the weekends and
end up going into into health care because
I was fascinated with
science and and people
and
ended up going into informatics,
primary care, and preventive medicine
because I wanted to help with systems change
to have broader impact on the lives that
we are responsible for.
And working in the VA is,
the internal mission
for me, to serve those that have served
our country, and I can't think of
a better organization to work for,
with our our mission,
vision, and values targeted towards that population.
That's amazing. Thank you so much for the
introduction. And I have to say jazz musicians
sounds very cool,
but it's really inspiring to see your fascination
with
science and people. And then it just seems
like
the VA health care system is a perfect
match for you. So I'd love to talk
more about your organization.
And if you could please let us know
what makes your health system so unique.
Yeah. VA is the largest integrated health system
in the country.
We care for,
over 9,000,000 veterans
throughout Continental
US and in certain US territories,
and we have the largest,
dataset
to follow track support and provision care to
our veterans
from all backgrounds,
ethnicities, socioeconomic
statuses,
and
we have,
an incredible,
support and resources
to
provide the unique care that veterans need that
are
often not,
taught about in medical schools, residencies, or in
a private sector
that that really is a unique demand for
our our country and and and honor that
we,
get to serve in in in the way
that's actually needed for those that have gone
through what they've gone through.
So it's a it's the largest health system
in the country that has that level of
integration and
really think it also
positions itself
to be an innovation laboratory for the nation,
to be on the cutting edge of where
health care should be.
Absolutely. That's that's
very inspiring to hear about you being the
largest integrated health system and all that you're
doing to give back to that veteran population
that has given us so much.
So thank you so much for sharing that,
and I'd like to look more closely into
some of the milestones you've hit more recently.
So looking back at the past year, what's
the accomplishment that you're most proud of?
Yeah.
To to me, the VA has really stepped
up around
its focus on
partnering with artificial intelligence,
to
ensure that we are at the bleeding edge
of effective
and efficient care for our veterans.
So the work
that's been done to look at what currently
exists across the system, making sure that we're
considering privacy and security
and ethical approaches to its implementation
is really critical.
In addition,
the aspect that we want to reduce administrative
burden for the care teams that are provisioning
care
and return
as much humanity
to the experience of care interaction that we
can by
focusing on the veterans in front of us
instead of the computer.
So I think we've made incredible strides
to execute on those efforts,
and we'll continue to do so across the
nation.
That's great. And it makes me think of
how you mentioned that you have the largest
dataset to follow and track support care to
veterans,
which absolutely can be used to leverage AI
and make everything more efficient. So that sounds
great.
And then it's great to acknowledge this win
and
how the steps you've been taking to really
focus on artificial intelligence. And looking at where
you can continue to grow and evolve,
where do you see the biggest growth opportunities
for your team in the next twelve months?
It's integration
within workflow
so that we don't inadvertently
create additional burden on teams.
And we're leveraging
AI in such a way that is really
gonna help,
the the care processes,
that exist
to amplify their their impact.
So we constantly have to look at how
things are integrated, not just that there's a
artificial intelligence tool that can help, but how
does it fit in, and how do we
make sure it's connected to the right systems?
How do we make sure that it's actually
reducing
check boxes and
and steps
in our care workflow
so that as much time as possible spent
with the human beings that we're here in
charge to care for.
So I I think the challenge
is that in
across health care,
we
have not done a good job of auditing
the amount of time spent
to do all of those administrative things as
a part of our processes and rollouts,
to meet certain standards.
And it's important that
these aren't looked at as
insignificant
effects.
The more time that it takes care teams
to do things, the more time it takes
for patients and veterans to do things,
the the less chance that we're gonna be
successful
in those efforts. So our challenge is
looking at our system,
authentically
and and accurately and objectively
to really assess the prioritization
of reducing the burden so that we can
focus on the on the people first.
Absolutely. Focusing
on that integration within
the workflow, really optimizing everyone's time so that
they can make the most impact.
I think it's really important to not just
think that you have to reinvent the wheel,
but really enhancing and fine tuning what you
have in front of you to make
the most out of what you have.
So it sounds like there's some exciting opportunities
on the horizon.
And I'm curious when you look at
really focusing on this integration within the workflow,
what are some of the big challenges that
you're anticipating,
and how are you preparing to tackle them?
Yeah. I I think that the challenges that
we face when we're partnering with
artificial intelligence
and trying to improve,
the solutions so that they're most effective,
for example,
is how do we do so in a
way that doesn't increase that that burden. Right?
So when someone is
getting a soap note, for example,
that is created by an Ambient scribe,
there still needs to be edits. There still
needs to be adjustments and changes, and that
takes time. Right?
It's less time than having to write the
full note, but,
who who gets the most benefit by those
edits and adjustments,
and how is that benefit to improving a
solution,
an algorithm,
you know, shared
across the industry. And and
those are things that are, being looked into.
The other aspect is
challenges of having to figure out what to
to prioritize and focus on to give access
to these tools because these tools aren't free.
Right?
You have to pay for them in trying
to make business decisions around who, you know,
who do we have to prioritize access to
them,
how do we account for
these tools as a part of our infrastructure
when they've not been there in the past,
and and make sure that we're increasing
the impact
strategically as much as possible while weighing these,
these important components.
Absolutely. I think it's
very important to know how
crucial it is to not just understand which
are the smartest investments, but for whom these
are the smartest investments. Like you said, they're
not cheap, so to making sure that
it's really making an impact in the most
effective way.
So now I'd like to talk a little
bit about the importance of staying proactive.
What's the number one thing that you're doing
right now to set your organization up for
long term success aside from
really focusing on this AI integration?
Yeah. It's it's prioritizing the people, the staff,
the veterans,
and the the human connection in health care
that
acknowledges that we have people coming to us
or we're going to them
in an incredibly vulnerable state.
These are
individuals that are struggling,
or looking for assistance to to sustain health
and be there for their families and loved
ones.
And our job, our number one focus is
how do we,
disentangle,
the
elements that we have to accomplish
to properly
document the care
to,
to
provide people what they need
in the treatment or the care plan to
make sure that people understand what's actually going
on, not just the veteran or the patient,
but the caregivers and the family that is
also charged with the support after they they
leave our walls. Right?
It's
that human connection and understanding that the the
team is broader than
just the health care team. It's the it's
the the care
team for the the veterans as well in
the home that
we wanna unburden,
with
as many things as possible so they can
they can execute on their mission,
and and,
their love and care,
for for those around them. So our our
long term success is dependent on always reminding
ourselves that that is the center,
and we have to create environments, workflows,
and,
invest in technology
that really unburdens
that that center to to to to be,
you know, what everybody went into health care
for, which is supporting those that need it
most.
Absolutely.
That I think that's a great great takeaway
to always going back to the human connection
in health care. These people are, like you
said, at a vulnerable state, and I think
that it's great to recognize that the team
is broader than the health care team, and
it's also the team at home.
Thank you so much for joining us on
the podcast today, doctor Zanetti. It's been great
hearing your insights on integration with AI to
unburden your team, but your overall long term
goal to unburden the team at home. It's
very inspiring,
and thank you again. We look forward to
collaborating with you soon.
Thank you.