1 00:00:00,719 --> 00:00:04,000 Exciting things are happening at Becker's Healthcare. Stay 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,240 ahead of industry trends with the new Becker's 3 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,419 CFO plus Revenue Cycle podcast, 4 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:11,119 your go to source for insights from top 5 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:14,154 healthcare finance leaders. Tune in wherever you get 6 00:00:14,154 --> 00:00:15,054 your podcasts. 7 00:00:15,914 --> 00:00:18,475 And don't miss the tenth annual health IT 8 00:00:18,475 --> 00:00:22,154 plus digital health plus RCM conference, happening September 9 00:00:22,154 --> 00:00:24,474 30 to 10/03/2025 10 00:00:24,474 --> 00:00:25,214 in Chicago. 11 00:00:25,755 --> 00:00:26,879 Join thousands of 12 00:00:27,279 --> 00:00:30,079 executives, engage with industry leaders, and explore the 13 00:00:30,079 --> 00:00:31,619 future of health care innovation. 14 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:36,719 Learn more about our upcoming events at beckershospitalreview.com. 15 00:00:36,719 --> 00:00:37,619 See you there. 16 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:40,879 This is Laura Derna with the Becker's Healthcare 17 00:00:40,879 --> 00:00:43,094 podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by 18 00:00:43,094 --> 00:00:44,155 Shaqueb Akhtar, 19 00:00:44,854 --> 00:00:47,655 senior vice president and chief digital and information 20 00:00:47,655 --> 00:00:50,295 officer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Shaqueb, it's 21 00:00:50,295 --> 00:00:51,814 a pleasure to have you on the podcast 22 00:00:51,814 --> 00:00:52,314 today. 23 00:00:52,854 --> 00:00:54,454 Hi, Laura. Great to be here. Thanks for 24 00:00:54,454 --> 00:00:55,195 having me. 25 00:00:55,509 --> 00:00:57,590 Now I'm excited for our conversation because I 26 00:00:57,590 --> 00:00:59,670 know you do some really amazing things at 27 00:00:59,670 --> 00:01:01,769 Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and, certainly, 28 00:01:02,149 --> 00:01:04,229 I'm looking forward to getting your perspective on 29 00:01:04,229 --> 00:01:05,989 how things are growing and evolving for the 30 00:01:05,989 --> 00:01:08,409 future. But before we dive into that discussion, 31 00:01:08,549 --> 00:01:09,989 can you tell us a little bit more 32 00:01:09,989 --> 00:01:12,715 about Children's Hospital Philadelphia and what makes it 33 00:01:12,715 --> 00:01:13,215 unique? 34 00:01:14,634 --> 00:01:15,134 Sure. 35 00:01:15,435 --> 00:01:17,515 You know, I think the Children's Hospital Philadelphia 36 00:01:17,515 --> 00:01:19,694 is a very unique place in the world. 37 00:01:20,234 --> 00:01:21,854 You know, our mission is to really 38 00:01:22,394 --> 00:01:25,034 bring life changing research to the communities that 39 00:01:25,177 --> 00:01:26,299 and the patients that we 40 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:28,359 serve and to drive breakthroughs. So I think 41 00:01:28,359 --> 00:01:30,780 what makes CHOP really unique is just the 42 00:01:31,479 --> 00:01:31,959 unbelievable, 43 00:01:33,799 --> 00:01:34,299 research, 44 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:36,299 clinic and clinical expertise 45 00:01:37,239 --> 00:01:37,739 that, 46 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:39,959 and and and the centering that we have 47 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:41,099 around patient care. 48 00:01:41,775 --> 00:01:44,415 Those three things together really drive a have 49 00:01:44,415 --> 00:01:46,034 driven a long history of 50 00:01:46,655 --> 00:01:50,015 strong clinical care outcomes and driving innovation and 51 00:01:50,015 --> 00:01:50,515 breakthroughs, 52 00:01:52,015 --> 00:01:54,674 in in in developing new research therapies 53 00:01:56,180 --> 00:01:57,479 or pediatric care. 54 00:01:57,859 --> 00:02:00,259 And so it's really special place to be. 55 00:02:00,259 --> 00:02:02,739 I'm surrounded by very intelligent people every day 56 00:02:02,739 --> 00:02:04,659 and do my work, and that inspires me 57 00:02:05,060 --> 00:02:06,840 continues to inspire me every day. 58 00:02:07,780 --> 00:02:09,459 That's great to hear. It definitely sounds like 59 00:02:09,459 --> 00:02:12,395 an amazing environment to be part of providing 60 00:02:12,395 --> 00:02:14,014 care for such an important community. 61 00:02:14,395 --> 00:02:16,314 Now I'm curious. From the last year or 62 00:02:16,314 --> 00:02:17,995 so, what are some of the accomplishments you're 63 00:02:17,995 --> 00:02:18,974 most proud of? 64 00:02:19,835 --> 00:02:21,034 Yeah. I'm glad you didn't ask me to 65 00:02:21,034 --> 00:02:22,655 just, stick to a singular. 66 00:02:23,115 --> 00:02:25,979 You know, the demand for what we call 67 00:02:25,979 --> 00:02:27,979 our team here, digital technology services, has just 68 00:02:27,979 --> 00:02:30,079 been, you know, exponentially increasing. 69 00:02:30,939 --> 00:02:32,299 And so there are a few things that 70 00:02:32,299 --> 00:02:34,379 I think, you know, I'm very proud of, 71 00:02:34,780 --> 00:02:36,219 with the work that the team has done 72 00:02:36,219 --> 00:02:38,159 and accomplished last year. One is, 73 00:02:38,834 --> 00:02:41,634 we completed our epic refuel. So this is, 74 00:02:42,034 --> 00:02:42,534 essentially, 75 00:02:43,955 --> 00:02:46,614 going back to foundation epic. We achieved 76 00:02:46,914 --> 00:02:47,894 honor roll, 77 00:02:48,594 --> 00:02:50,754 and then also goal stars level eight with 78 00:02:50,754 --> 00:02:52,514 that. So that's, you know, standardized a lot 79 00:02:52,514 --> 00:02:54,134 of our clinical operational workflows 80 00:02:54,650 --> 00:02:57,150 and helped folks save a ton of time. 81 00:02:57,449 --> 00:02:59,370 And the work that you're doing introduced new 82 00:02:59,370 --> 00:03:00,750 new automation features 83 00:03:01,210 --> 00:03:04,110 and, streamlined the workflows across the enterprise. 84 00:03:05,370 --> 00:03:07,849 Second is our digital care models work. So 85 00:03:07,849 --> 00:03:09,770 this is work in which we're essentially trying 86 00:03:09,770 --> 00:03:09,974 to 87 00:03:10,935 --> 00:03:13,495 provide, virtual care services to our to our 88 00:03:13,495 --> 00:03:14,555 patients. And so, 89 00:03:15,814 --> 00:03:17,575 we have a we have built a remote 90 00:03:17,575 --> 00:03:18,955 patient management program 91 00:03:19,575 --> 00:03:22,235 that now has close to 9,000, 92 00:03:22,810 --> 00:03:25,210 children enrolled. It allows them to essentially get 93 00:03:25,210 --> 00:03:26,510 discharged from the hospital 94 00:03:26,969 --> 00:03:28,590 earlier, go home earlier, 95 00:03:29,530 --> 00:03:32,090 have their care needs taken care from at 96 00:03:32,090 --> 00:03:34,889 home. We've seen some amazing results in terms 97 00:03:34,889 --> 00:03:36,750 of reduction in length of stay, 98 00:03:37,165 --> 00:03:39,165 reduction in readmission with that work, and a 99 00:03:39,165 --> 00:03:41,025 couple of even life saving catches, 100 00:03:41,405 --> 00:03:43,885 which is always just really satisfying to see 101 00:03:43,885 --> 00:03:45,504 that that work is making a difference. 102 00:03:45,805 --> 00:03:47,724 And now we're expanding that, you know, to 103 00:03:47,724 --> 00:03:50,525 be broader than just remote patient management, virtual 104 00:03:50,525 --> 00:03:51,905 care, virtual nursing. 105 00:03:52,250 --> 00:03:53,870 We launched that, program, 106 00:03:54,409 --> 00:03:56,169 this past year as well and and things 107 00:03:56,169 --> 00:03:57,689 of it, and now we're planning on scaling 108 00:03:57,689 --> 00:03:58,189 it. 109 00:03:59,050 --> 00:04:01,449 From a data analytics perspective, which if anybody 110 00:04:01,449 --> 00:04:03,289 knows me, that's, you know, always been close 111 00:04:03,289 --> 00:04:04,030 to my heart. 112 00:04:04,489 --> 00:04:06,650 We I'm very proud of our team. We 113 00:04:06,650 --> 00:04:09,674 just celebrated our complete or celebrating this week, 114 00:04:09,674 --> 00:04:10,894 actually, our completion 115 00:04:11,674 --> 00:04:13,754 of the mic the migration of our data 116 00:04:13,754 --> 00:04:17,675 analytics platform, which we affectionately call Helix to 117 00:04:17,675 --> 00:04:18,175 Snowflake. 118 00:04:19,035 --> 00:04:20,954 And so that was a incredible amount of 119 00:04:20,954 --> 00:04:22,475 work to essentially look at all of our 120 00:04:22,475 --> 00:04:23,375 data assets, 121 00:04:23,879 --> 00:04:24,379 validate 122 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,800 their quality, refactor them, and then migrate our 123 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,500 data warehouse as well as our, 124 00:04:30,199 --> 00:04:32,379 data assets to leverage this new platform, 125 00:04:33,319 --> 00:04:35,480 which we think it will now drive, you 126 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,454 know, faster data and analytics, data and better 127 00:04:38,454 --> 00:04:40,634 data driven decision making across the enterprise. 128 00:04:41,095 --> 00:04:42,694 And then last but not least is the 129 00:04:42,694 --> 00:04:45,095 progress that we made with AI. They, you 130 00:04:45,095 --> 00:04:46,694 know, we've done an incredible amount of work 131 00:04:46,694 --> 00:04:48,694 in that space over the last year. It's 132 00:04:48,694 --> 00:04:50,839 been enormous focus, like, for us, 133 00:04:51,139 --> 00:04:52,520 like, for so many others. 134 00:04:52,899 --> 00:04:55,720 We have rolled out what we call chop 135 00:04:55,860 --> 00:04:57,620 GPT, and it has now, 136 00:04:58,020 --> 00:04:59,939 a little over, I believe, 900 users. We 137 00:04:59,939 --> 00:05:02,740 may have, increased that a bit. But, essentially, 138 00:05:02,740 --> 00:05:05,000 it's our version of chat GPT that's compliant. 139 00:05:05,764 --> 00:05:08,404 We've also been on the kind of the 140 00:05:08,404 --> 00:05:10,564 forefront with Epic to release some of their 141 00:05:10,564 --> 00:05:11,625 generative AI, 142 00:05:12,324 --> 00:05:14,564 functionality. We were the first organization in the 143 00:05:14,564 --> 00:05:16,745 country to scale what's called ART 144 00:05:17,285 --> 00:05:18,745 by Epic, which is essentially 145 00:05:19,229 --> 00:05:22,669 generative AI drafting responses to patient messages, which 146 00:05:22,669 --> 00:05:23,970 is a huge source of 147 00:05:24,589 --> 00:05:25,089 administrative 148 00:05:26,189 --> 00:05:28,269 burden for our clinicians, and this allows them 149 00:05:28,269 --> 00:05:31,149 to just respond to those patient notes faster 150 00:05:31,149 --> 00:05:32,669 with a little bit less of a burden 151 00:05:32,669 --> 00:05:34,685 than them having to analyze the note. We're 152 00:05:34,685 --> 00:05:37,084 now we are also going live this week 153 00:05:37,084 --> 00:05:39,824 with something called note summarization, which allows 154 00:05:40,204 --> 00:05:41,104 is is generative 155 00:05:41,404 --> 00:05:43,084 AI summarizing many notes, 156 00:05:43,485 --> 00:05:46,204 for clinicians in Epic and allows them to 157 00:05:46,204 --> 00:05:48,444 to do their reviews of patient charts faster 158 00:05:48,444 --> 00:05:48,944 and, 159 00:05:49,500 --> 00:05:50,879 look through the patient history 160 00:05:51,259 --> 00:05:52,240 and potentially, 161 00:05:53,419 --> 00:05:55,740 discover things that are really helpful as they 162 00:05:55,740 --> 00:05:57,659 as they care for their patients. So a 163 00:05:57,659 --> 00:05:59,500 lot of progress that I'm really proud of 164 00:05:59,500 --> 00:06:00,879 across all of our teams. 165 00:06:02,264 --> 00:06:04,585 That's amazing to hear. You know, certainly awesome 166 00:06:04,585 --> 00:06:06,985 to have that kind of results with, the 167 00:06:06,985 --> 00:06:09,064 work you're doing with Epic in those clinical 168 00:06:09,064 --> 00:06:11,465 workflows and then some of the other digital 169 00:06:11,465 --> 00:06:13,465 care models as well as seeing really, really 170 00:06:13,465 --> 00:06:16,105 strong results on the clinical side as well 171 00:06:16,105 --> 00:06:16,589 as 172 00:06:17,470 --> 00:06:19,389 making things more efficient for the caregivers. And 173 00:06:19,389 --> 00:06:21,550 then I love your synopsis of everything you're 174 00:06:21,550 --> 00:06:23,149 doing with AI. I I know that's such 175 00:06:23,149 --> 00:06:23,810 a huge, 176 00:06:24,829 --> 00:06:26,589 huge priority for so many health systems right 177 00:06:26,589 --> 00:06:28,189 now is figuring out how to leverage it 178 00:06:28,189 --> 00:06:30,509 in the right way and incorporate it strongly 179 00:06:30,509 --> 00:06:31,490 within their broader 180 00:06:31,855 --> 00:06:34,415 teams. And so the idea of CHOP, GPT, 181 00:06:34,415 --> 00:06:36,175 and and everything you're doing there is is 182 00:06:36,175 --> 00:06:37,855 really cool. Thank you for sharing that with 183 00:06:37,855 --> 00:06:38,915 us. Now, 184 00:06:39,694 --> 00:06:41,774 amazing things you were able to accomplish in 185 00:06:41,774 --> 00:06:44,175 the last year. What is happening ahead? Like, 186 00:06:44,175 --> 00:06:45,214 where do you see some of the big 187 00:06:45,214 --> 00:06:46,814 growth opportunities for your team in the next 188 00:06:46,814 --> 00:06:47,670 twelve months or so? 189 00:06:49,189 --> 00:06:50,949 Yeah. I think it's a good question. I 190 00:06:50,949 --> 00:06:53,110 think that, there is going to be no 191 00:06:53,110 --> 00:06:55,210 shortage of opportunity. Our space, 192 00:06:55,590 --> 00:06:57,830 both in terms of technology and health care 193 00:06:57,830 --> 00:07:00,550 are evolving so quickly. You know, I see 194 00:07:00,550 --> 00:07:01,050 that, 195 00:07:01,875 --> 00:07:05,154 whether it's AI, automation, machine learning, other forms 196 00:07:05,154 --> 00:07:05,894 of AI, 197 00:07:06,274 --> 00:07:07,175 health care is, 198 00:07:07,794 --> 00:07:09,414 continues to be a, 199 00:07:09,954 --> 00:07:12,055 an industry that's really ripe for disruption, 200 00:07:12,914 --> 00:07:15,589 and can really benefit from these tools, and 201 00:07:15,589 --> 00:07:17,509 in our in our modern technology. So I 202 00:07:17,509 --> 00:07:18,009 think 203 00:07:18,389 --> 00:07:20,949 few things, three areas of focus, which I 204 00:07:20,949 --> 00:07:23,210 think, are big opportunities for the team. One 205 00:07:23,350 --> 00:07:24,569 is I think we're experiencing 206 00:07:24,949 --> 00:07:27,509 an AI and automation moment in health care 207 00:07:27,509 --> 00:07:28,009 where 208 00:07:28,764 --> 00:07:29,745 health care systems 209 00:07:30,125 --> 00:07:32,845 are now looking at AI and automation as 210 00:07:32,845 --> 00:07:34,545 a potential source to, 211 00:07:36,205 --> 00:07:38,525 solve some of the larger problems we're experiencing 212 00:07:38,525 --> 00:07:39,824 in the industry. For example, 213 00:07:40,205 --> 00:07:42,305 you know, decreased payer re reimbursement, 214 00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:45,919 decrease revenue. How do we use AI automation 215 00:07:45,979 --> 00:07:47,839 to capture more revenue, 216 00:07:48,699 --> 00:07:51,019 and drive efficiency across the teams to help 217 00:07:51,019 --> 00:07:52,620 reduce some of the labor costs that we 218 00:07:52,620 --> 00:07:53,360 see? So, 219 00:07:53,740 --> 00:07:55,659 I think that there is a large AI 220 00:07:55,659 --> 00:07:57,659 automation moment that our teams are gonna lean 221 00:07:57,659 --> 00:08:00,154 heavily into. How do we what is the 222 00:08:00,154 --> 00:08:02,154 state of AI? Where are the tools that 223 00:08:02,154 --> 00:08:04,014 are proven to to provide 224 00:08:04,314 --> 00:08:05,774 really strong ROI 225 00:08:06,794 --> 00:08:08,014 for our caregivers, 226 00:08:09,274 --> 00:08:10,095 our operations, 227 00:08:10,954 --> 00:08:13,615 operational folks in it across our entire workforce 228 00:08:14,329 --> 00:08:15,470 to really drive ROI. 229 00:08:16,089 --> 00:08:18,490 So that is an enormous opportunity for our 230 00:08:18,490 --> 00:08:19,709 team to lean into, 231 00:08:20,250 --> 00:08:21,470 learn those tools, 232 00:08:22,490 --> 00:08:25,050 expand and implement them in use cases that 233 00:08:25,050 --> 00:08:25,629 are really 234 00:08:26,745 --> 00:08:28,444 powerful for our health system. 235 00:08:28,985 --> 00:08:31,404 The second is, I think, the cloud opportunity. 236 00:08:32,345 --> 00:08:34,605 You know, we've seen many other health systems 237 00:08:34,664 --> 00:08:37,085 move to cloud over the last few years, 238 00:08:37,384 --> 00:08:39,725 but now even Epic, you know, providing 239 00:08:41,129 --> 00:08:44,090 their platform to be available in in, 240 00:08:45,129 --> 00:08:45,790 in multiple, 241 00:08:46,570 --> 00:08:48,649 cloud service providers. And so we're gonna have 242 00:08:48,649 --> 00:08:50,649 a large focus on migrating many of our 243 00:08:50,649 --> 00:08:51,149 workloads 244 00:08:51,610 --> 00:08:53,790 from our current data centers to the cloud, 245 00:08:54,415 --> 00:08:56,654 which is a significant shift and will help 246 00:08:56,654 --> 00:08:59,455 us reduce the cost of technology to the 247 00:08:59,455 --> 00:09:01,215 health system so those dollars can be deployed 248 00:09:01,215 --> 00:09:01,715 elsewhere, 249 00:09:02,335 --> 00:09:05,154 but also just increase our ability to scale 250 00:09:05,455 --> 00:09:07,855 and at the speed that we can deploy 251 00:09:07,855 --> 00:09:10,620 new technology. So we are very focused on 252 00:09:10,620 --> 00:09:13,100 a cloud migration without a very large cloud 253 00:09:13,100 --> 00:09:14,539 migration that'll take place over the next couple 254 00:09:14,539 --> 00:09:15,120 of years. 255 00:09:15,500 --> 00:09:17,820 And then last, I think this is applicable 256 00:09:17,820 --> 00:09:19,580 to my team, but almost, you know, every 257 00:09:19,580 --> 00:09:21,740 other tech team in the world right now, 258 00:09:21,740 --> 00:09:22,720 which is reskilling. 259 00:09:23,259 --> 00:09:24,159 You know, given 260 00:09:24,644 --> 00:09:26,725 the, new technologies and, 261 00:09:27,205 --> 00:09:28,665 you know, how fast 262 00:09:29,205 --> 00:09:31,065 technology is evolving, especially, 263 00:09:31,925 --> 00:09:32,825 the AI, 264 00:09:33,845 --> 00:09:34,345 space, 265 00:09:35,045 --> 00:09:37,125 there's a there's a large opportunity, I think, 266 00:09:37,125 --> 00:09:39,320 for all of us and to be continuous 267 00:09:39,379 --> 00:09:41,960 learners and to reskill ourselves to meet, 268 00:09:42,580 --> 00:09:44,180 to learn these tools so that we can 269 00:09:44,180 --> 00:09:47,700 be more effective and support our organizations better 270 00:09:47,700 --> 00:09:49,139 in the long term. So we have a 271 00:09:49,139 --> 00:09:50,680 very strong focus on 272 00:09:51,254 --> 00:09:53,975 creating a what we're calling a digital literacy 273 00:09:53,975 --> 00:09:57,014 curriculum across the enterprise. So give you one 274 00:09:57,014 --> 00:09:59,894 example. We released an intel intelligent automation course. 275 00:09:59,894 --> 00:10:02,695 It's available to all 20,000 people at shop 276 00:10:02,695 --> 00:10:04,855 today, and it covers, you know, the basics 277 00:10:04,855 --> 00:10:06,475 of AI, automation, etcetera. 278 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:09,519 We plan on expanding that to a number 279 00:10:09,519 --> 00:10:12,240 of different courses, and we're establishing a specific 280 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,220 reskilling program for the digital technology services team 281 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,360 to learn these technologies and and, 282 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,179 and be able to implement them safely, effectively, 283 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:21,139 and at speed. 284 00:10:21,985 --> 00:10:23,425 So there's a lot to do, but it's 285 00:10:23,425 --> 00:10:24,245 exciting work. 286 00:10:25,425 --> 00:10:26,565 Absolutely. Wow. 287 00:10:27,024 --> 00:10:29,684 Just really, really amazing to hear, especially 288 00:10:30,065 --> 00:10:31,985 thinking through, as you mentioned, AI moving so 289 00:10:31,985 --> 00:10:32,865 quickly. And, 290 00:10:33,345 --> 00:10:35,220 I love the structure you put around being 291 00:10:35,220 --> 00:10:38,440 able to provide those reskilling continuous learning opportunities 292 00:10:38,740 --> 00:10:41,540 for many folks across the board. I think 293 00:10:41,540 --> 00:10:43,379 that's so critical in being able to keep 294 00:10:43,379 --> 00:10:45,299 up with the pace of change and then, 295 00:10:45,620 --> 00:10:47,860 to giving folks the ability to grow their 296 00:10:47,860 --> 00:10:48,360 careers. 297 00:10:49,105 --> 00:10:51,105 I'm curious. What are some of the challenges 298 00:10:51,105 --> 00:10:53,665 that you're considering in navigating through right now 299 00:10:53,665 --> 00:10:54,325 as well? 300 00:10:55,184 --> 00:10:56,805 I think one of the biggest challenges 301 00:10:57,184 --> 00:10:59,024 is, and I think this is not unique 302 00:10:59,024 --> 00:11:01,205 to our teams, is the ability to prioritize. 303 00:11:02,144 --> 00:11:03,845 You know, the the demand 304 00:11:05,399 --> 00:11:06,940 for digital and technology 305 00:11:07,799 --> 00:11:09,019 services has just 306 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:09,980 increased 307 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:10,860 dramatically, 308 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:14,440 as we see how these technologies can be 309 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,695 applied to help us meet our strategic objectives, 310 00:11:16,695 --> 00:11:17,434 they're critical. 311 00:11:17,894 --> 00:11:19,575 And so I think the largest challenge we 312 00:11:19,575 --> 00:11:22,535 have is we're working across every layer of 313 00:11:22,535 --> 00:11:25,095 the stack, technology and infrastructure and the migration 314 00:11:25,095 --> 00:11:26,715 of the cloud I mentioned. You know, 315 00:11:27,254 --> 00:11:29,815 our applications, rationalizing them to make sure we're 316 00:11:29,815 --> 00:11:32,009 taking full advantage of any features that are 317 00:11:32,169 --> 00:11:33,470 available within our applications. 318 00:11:33,850 --> 00:11:35,210 And then, you know, kind of the top 319 00:11:35,210 --> 00:11:36,910 of the stack, which is analytics, 320 00:11:37,850 --> 00:11:40,649 really building analytics products that allow us to 321 00:11:40,649 --> 00:11:44,304 make very strong, trusted, data driven decisions. And 322 00:11:44,304 --> 00:11:46,065 the last is in this AI and automation 323 00:11:46,065 --> 00:11:47,904 space, you know, really taking these tools and 324 00:11:47,904 --> 00:11:50,785 applying them, which causes, you know, disruption across 325 00:11:50,785 --> 00:11:52,705 the enterprise, but there's an insatiable demand. And 326 00:11:52,705 --> 00:11:54,725 so I think our number one challenge is 327 00:11:55,184 --> 00:11:57,285 bandwidth on the teams and prioritizing 328 00:11:57,745 --> 00:11:58,884 what really matters, 329 00:11:59,909 --> 00:12:01,850 and will drive and move the needle, 330 00:12:02,710 --> 00:12:05,269 towards the goals that CHOP has broadly and 331 00:12:05,269 --> 00:12:07,669 is really critical to our strategy. I think 332 00:12:07,669 --> 00:12:10,309 that's one. The other the other large challenge 333 00:12:10,309 --> 00:12:12,169 I see is just the change management 334 00:12:12,710 --> 00:12:13,210 associated 335 00:12:13,589 --> 00:12:16,004 with implementing these technologies. You know, this is 336 00:12:16,004 --> 00:12:16,664 no longer 337 00:12:17,684 --> 00:12:18,184 IT 338 00:12:18,564 --> 00:12:19,064 implementing, 339 00:12:19,444 --> 00:12:20,504 you know, a new 340 00:12:21,044 --> 00:12:23,524 piece of infrastructure or a new piece of 341 00:12:23,524 --> 00:12:24,024 code. 342 00:12:24,644 --> 00:12:26,804 It is when you're talking about AI and 343 00:12:26,804 --> 00:12:29,779 automation, for example, we it is fundamentally going 344 00:12:29,779 --> 00:12:31,080 to change how 345 00:12:31,700 --> 00:12:34,019 clinical and operational teams are doing their work, 346 00:12:34,019 --> 00:12:35,720 and those folks are really busy 347 00:12:36,179 --> 00:12:37,940 doing what they do best, which is caring 348 00:12:37,940 --> 00:12:39,639 for patients. And so 349 00:12:39,995 --> 00:12:42,475 finding time in their schedules to help educate 350 00:12:42,475 --> 00:12:45,034 them, train them, work with them, and partner 351 00:12:45,034 --> 00:12:47,355 with them to say, what is the impact 352 00:12:47,355 --> 00:12:48,174 to your operation 353 00:12:48,794 --> 00:12:50,394 if we were to deploy this tool? And 354 00:12:50,394 --> 00:12:52,329 it has to happen early on. It has 355 00:12:52,329 --> 00:12:54,209 to happen during those projects, and it has 356 00:12:54,209 --> 00:12:55,730 to happen at the end to make sure 357 00:12:55,730 --> 00:12:58,470 that we've deployed those technologies safely and effectively. 358 00:12:58,529 --> 00:13:01,350 So I think operational readiness and change management 359 00:13:02,049 --> 00:13:03,809 is going to be a challenge and something 360 00:13:03,809 --> 00:13:05,029 we're preparing for 361 00:13:05,965 --> 00:13:08,524 by creating playbooks with our HR partners and 362 00:13:08,524 --> 00:13:09,024 others 363 00:13:09,485 --> 00:13:11,425 that utilize change management 364 00:13:12,205 --> 00:13:14,225 frameworks to help preplan, 365 00:13:15,165 --> 00:13:17,165 track how we're doing during, and then, you 366 00:13:17,165 --> 00:13:19,085 know, attract the impact of some of this 367 00:13:19,085 --> 00:13:19,585 technology 368 00:13:20,029 --> 00:13:22,029 on our staff and our workflows to make 369 00:13:22,029 --> 00:13:23,549 sure we're really going in with eyes wide 370 00:13:23,549 --> 00:13:25,470 open. But, you know, I think bandwidth on 371 00:13:25,470 --> 00:13:26,129 my teams, 372 00:13:26,750 --> 00:13:28,850 as well as bandwidth for operations and then 373 00:13:28,910 --> 00:13:31,230 really being strong in the change management space 374 00:13:31,230 --> 00:13:32,929 is gonna be a challenge in the next 375 00:13:33,149 --> 00:13:34,529 twelve to twenty four months. 376 00:13:35,465 --> 00:13:37,945 It makes a lot of sense especially given, 377 00:13:38,345 --> 00:13:40,425 what we've talked about in terms of all 378 00:13:40,425 --> 00:13:42,425 the different projects you have upcoming in in 379 00:13:42,425 --> 00:13:43,865 some of the cool things as well. I 380 00:13:43,865 --> 00:13:46,264 can imagine to continue to optimize and find 381 00:13:46,264 --> 00:13:47,039 ways to, 382 00:13:48,319 --> 00:13:50,240 to really make the best use out of 383 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:51,299 them throughout the organization. 384 00:13:51,839 --> 00:13:53,919 Now before we wrap up here, what is 385 00:13:53,919 --> 00:13:55,600 the number one thing that you're doing to 386 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,620 set CHOP up for long term success? 387 00:13:58,879 --> 00:14:00,579 I think one of the one of the 388 00:14:00,804 --> 00:14:03,125 the things that we're doing that's really important 389 00:14:03,125 --> 00:14:05,205 is making sure that all the work we 390 00:14:05,205 --> 00:14:08,404 do in DTS is value driven for the 391 00:14:08,404 --> 00:14:11,205 organization. It is directly linked to you know, 392 00:14:11,205 --> 00:14:14,105 this is something we've been, really focused on 393 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:16,960 to ensure that it's, the work that we 394 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:18,639 do in technology is not for the sake 395 00:14:18,639 --> 00:14:19,779 of implementing technology, 396 00:14:20,399 --> 00:14:22,820 but it is truly connected to our enterprise 397 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:23,460 strategy, 398 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:25,139 our strategic objectives, 399 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,960 and it and the outcomes that we, as 400 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:29,620 an organization, 401 00:14:30,664 --> 00:14:32,704 track and that are really important to us 402 00:14:32,704 --> 00:14:33,644 from a 403 00:14:34,024 --> 00:14:36,764 operational clinical performance standpoint. And so 404 00:14:37,144 --> 00:14:39,544 our work means, essentially, what we're doing, whether 405 00:14:39,544 --> 00:14:42,605 it's our AI strategy or automation center excellence 406 00:14:43,209 --> 00:14:46,009 or even digital literacy, which I mentioned, each 407 00:14:46,009 --> 00:14:48,330 one of those things maps directly to our 408 00:14:48,330 --> 00:14:49,309 enterprise strategy. 409 00:14:49,769 --> 00:14:52,909 And and we are now developing outcome metrics 410 00:14:53,129 --> 00:14:54,909 that would essentially reflect 411 00:14:55,450 --> 00:14:57,149 the impact of the work we're doing 412 00:14:57,450 --> 00:14:57,950 directly 413 00:14:58,795 --> 00:15:00,955 to the enterprise metrics that we care about 414 00:15:00,955 --> 00:15:03,355 most. So I think that's the best service 415 00:15:03,355 --> 00:15:05,934 we can provide to connect our work directly 416 00:15:05,995 --> 00:15:06,495 to 417 00:15:07,035 --> 00:15:09,615 our our mission, which is research, education, 418 00:15:09,995 --> 00:15:11,855 and providing the best clinical care, 419 00:15:12,620 --> 00:15:15,519 while also, you know, driving efficient and effective 420 00:15:15,580 --> 00:15:18,139 operations. And so we are highly focused on 421 00:15:18,139 --> 00:15:19,899 making sure our strategy is connected to that, 422 00:15:19,899 --> 00:15:21,820 and we're measuring the impact of the work. 423 00:15:21,820 --> 00:15:23,259 I think that's the number one thing we 424 00:15:23,259 --> 00:15:23,919 can do. 425 00:15:24,955 --> 00:15:26,634 Makes a lot of sense. Shaqib, thank you 426 00:15:26,634 --> 00:15:28,154 so much for joining us on the podcast 427 00:15:28,154 --> 00:15:29,915 today. This has been a really fun conversation, 428 00:15:29,915 --> 00:15:31,274 and we look forward to connecting with you 429 00:15:31,274 --> 00:15:33,615 again soon. Thanks for having me.