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we know your ambulatory practice wants healthier, a
healthier business, healthier care teams, and healthier patients.
But the complexities of modern health care tech
make it hard for you and your care
teams to focus on what matters
most? That's where athenahealth can help. Our AI
native all in one solutions reduce administrative burdens,
streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights
when clinicians need it most. That means fewer
clicks, more time for patients, and stronger bottom
lines.
Practicing medicine is complex, but running a practice
can be that much simpler with athenahealth.
See how simpler is healthier at athenahealth.com.
This is Laura Dierdo with the Becker's Healthcare
podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
doctor Ryan Cameron, vice president of technology and
innovation at Childress Nebraska. Ryan, it's a pleasure
to have you on the podcast today. Thanks
so much for having me. Now I'm looking
forward to our conversation because I know technology
is moving so quickly, and it's certainly a
unique time to be in health care, and
just really special to see some of the
cool things you're doing at Children's Nebraska. So
I'm looking forward to diving in. But before
we do, can you introduce yourself and tell
us just a little bit about your background?
I'd be happy to. So I'm Ryan Cameron,
VP of technology and innovation at Children's Nebraska.
We are the only full service pediatric hospital
in the state. We have more than 50
specialties,
and we even provide care at some of
our neighboring states as well. So, very busy
place.
My background spans,
a little bit of a unique background.
Health care is relatively new to me. I've
been in health care for about four years.
But previous to that,
worked for some AI startups,
and I also worked in higher education
on creating business incubators,
accelerators, think tanks,
really cool organizations
that focus on technology transfer,
intellectual property,
and how to kind of advance things from
an idea
to something that's very actionable. So I've spent
really the last few years
being focused on building things that are not
only scalable,
but very empathy driven. And I I feel
really strongly about having the balance of those
two things,
in mission driven organizations helps you be really
successful.
That's great to hear. And, you know, certainly
important to have that mission in mind and
focus on the patients and everything you do
on the technology side and more. So when
you think about where you're at today, what
are some of the opportunities and headwinds that
you have your eye on right now?
You know,
they're plentiful.
It's it's a really interesting time to be
in health care and in particular, pediatrics.
We're starting to see an uptick
in how many startups
are really focusing on pediatrics,
which is super important.
Historically,
less than 2% of venture capital dollars and
healthcare startups alike
are focused on pediatrics, but more than 22%
of the patient population in The US depends
on pediatric care.
So it's it's really needed to see this
tremendous uptick in activity and innovation
and,
new startups.
You know, one major opportunity that a lot
of people are watching, certainly we're watching it,
is this whole notion of agentic AI and
and what that can do in the health
care space. It's kind of
a a perfect,
maturity pathway for AI,
and I think that's where we're really gonna
start to see both clinical
and operational value. And and we're deeply exploring
how those agents can do things like reduce
administrative burden, improve access,
and ultimately that, you know, leans into affordability
and accessibility of care.
Certainly, with the changes that are going on
with,
Medicaid eligibility
requirements,
we're anticipating
an increased
volume of of workload.
Moving from a an annual requirement to a
six month requirement
is a is a bit of a a
stressor
on on us and certainly other hospitals.
So we're actually bootstrapping our our own solution.
We're calling it Hey Medicaid, and it is
a agentic AI
platform to really help our patients navigate that
process.
And, we're really excited about, deeply exploring what
else agentic AI can do.
That's amazing to hear. And it seems like
a truly,
unique innovation, but beneficial one for the community
as well as for the health system.
How did you go about putting that together
and, you know, bootstrapping that platform,
in order to make a difference for the
broader community?
Yeah. It's, you know, bootstrapping is not easy.
It it's tough.
A lot of hospitals are are configured and
set up
in a very particular way. We're well tooled
for for research. We're well tooled for
really understanding,
how to care for our patients end to
end,
from admit to discharge,
education,
everything in between. We we have those mechanisms,
and we've been really good at those.
The United States, we have a fantastic health
care system, and there's a there's a lot
to be proud of.
Hospitals aren't really tooled
to
to fire up start ups.
They're even from a staffing perspective,
you know, we have integrators and experts, but
not a lot of developers.
So the the game changer
nowadays is that really with platforms that that
either are agentic AI platforms or or just
kind of the the prompt based ones that
many people are now familiar with is
everybody's a developer.
And,
I'd love the notion
of every doctor, every nurse, every provider
having these incredible tools at their their fingertips.
But I also kind of, you know, as
a CIO, I'm gonna lose a little bit
of sleep
because
when you have that much power and you're
developing software,
you know, there there can be a risk
of not doing it well,
the notion of of vibe coding.
So with HeyMedicaid,
a couple of things happened. The the first
thing that happened is, you know, we're paying
attention to what our our patients are saying.
We and our peers are are very involved
in being advocates for pediatrics
and, just kind of understanding the landscape and
what we need to do to provide accessible
and affordable care.
You know, Medicaid is is central to that.
So understanding that those changes are coming,
we recognize that we needed a new way
to help patients
navigate
signing up and and doing eligibility.
And some of those things, you know, we
can be helpful with, and some of those
things, it it's really just about us to
to be good educators and,
provide information and wayfinding. So we built the
platform from that understanding, and,
what's incredible about it is this notion of
rapid development. So we partnered,
with some experts in Agentic AI,
and we've formed our own company. It's it's
kind of a new thing for us.
We've spent seventy six years as a as
a notable not for profit enterprise,
and now we have,
an LLC
that's called BrightFoundry,
and we're starting to really do more joint
ventures, IP transfer,
and really going down this pathway to be
more entrepreneurial,
and, we can kind of self sustain our
innovation program. You know, we we recognize that
philanthropy,
while it's critical and important to what we
do,
it can't be the only answer.
We have to, as as a hospital,
find new and unique ways to make sure
that, you know, the stewardship of the dollars
that we have available
is not only great, but exceptional.
If if we execute on that and we
protect our margin, we can do more with
our mission, and, really, hey. Medicaid comes from
that.
Got it. That's interesting to know, and and
thank you so much for digging a bit
deeper there.
Now looking ahead, how are you thinking about
growth and adding value to the health system
overall?
You know, I I was talking about this
a little bit earlier. I I feel like
a lot of the problems in health care
come from this notion that
we want scale without empathy.
And,
growth really for us is is not just
about scale. You know, we've seen a lot
of people move into Nebraska
in the last five years. We've seen a
lot of,
people move for for for great jobs and
to enjoy the Midwest and the lifestyle that
that that affords into our neighboring states. But
we haven't seen a a huge flux of
population.
So
growth for us is is really not about
scale. It truly is about
meaningful and and deep impact.
So we're investing
in things like, hey, Medicaid, Adientec AI, robotics,
VR.
We're, you know, standing up a a free
standing,
behavioral health and wellness hospital,
right now within the next couple of months.
And by doing that, we're really looking at
creating an ecosystem for health care. We don't
wanna be just a lighthouse in the darkness.
What we want to be is
one of many organizations
that help all Nebraskans,
have fantastic pediatric care and be able to
avail of lots of different resources. So it's
it's about us integrating and partnering,
across the board.
And I I like to think, a lot
about value through the lens of also workforce
enablement.
So,
really, growth for us is is about that
empowerment. So with our clinicians,
what can we do by giving them tools
like AI tools
so that they they can reduce burnout, so
we can improve outcomes for them?
And when we do those things and we're
thinking about not just scale, but scale with
empathy, I feel like that's where innovation becomes
really transformative for us.
That's helpful to understand. And, you know, really
thinking about where growth comes from and what
that means, for different organizations is critical and
helpful context as then you look at that
innovation, those investments,
thinking about how agentic AI, robotics,
VR, and more,
really play a big role in powering the
future and helping to develop
the access to care that you're looking for.
I'm curious. You know, I know resources are
slim for a lot of hospitals and systems
that,
you know, are are part of the Becker's
network today, and just looking at uncertainties in
the future. So some folks are are wanna
make sure that they make the most of
their investments. From your perspective, what is one
risk or investment that is still worth making
in the next twelve months or so even
as, you know, you might need to tighten
up a bit? I think that's a really
powerful question.
And a lot of of health care leaders,
providers, and in bay basically, anybody in health
care right now
is is grappling
with this notion of what's a risky investment
that that you can make this year that's
worthwhile.
It's tough because I think on some levels
with AI, a lot of people are disappointed.
And, statistically, if you look at the success
rate of AI pilots as they've been rolled
out into health care,
they're not great, you know, with the exception
of maybe things like ambient listening for note
taking,
maybe some more established AI technologies like prior
auth or eligibility checks,
maybe even patient follow-up. There there's been some
some bright lights there where you see some
some good indications there.
What what I would say the one risky
investment that's worth it this year
is to make sure you
lean into the wind
with something simple like
Copilot,
GPT, perplexity. Pick pick a model that you
really like and get yourself a group inside
of your hospital
that is
cross function, cross disciplinary
members of ops, your workforce, your providers,
and really have them learn how to be
AI champions
and,
kinda hold them to it. And, you know,
it these tools are expensive. You know, they're
they're gonna change your your your OpEx budget
substantively.
And,
but the costs are coming down. So with
ambient listening, for example, what what's kinda wild
is we were early adopter of one platform,
and we saw the pricing come down, and
we saw three or four competitors pop up.
And then we even saw Epic announce that
they were gonna have an option. And, I
had read some really interesting news that indicated
that when Epic made that move, it crashed
over 20 startups.
And so that's that's both exciting and troubling
at the same time. It's it's tough to
kind of balance
how you feel about that. But
no matter how you feel about that, when
you look at it, the affordability and accessibility
of AI tools,
particularly generative tools, is coming down.
And there are ways that you can even
do this for free safely if if you
get really creative with it. But educate your
folks.
You know, it's it's gonna be a completely
different world, and I like in AI skills
much like when when office was a thing.
I'm I'm old enough to remember
an era when you would put office competency
on your resume.
Now now, you know, when I talk to
younger people, you know, early career professionals that
are in the workforce, that sounds so alien
and so bizarre, but it really was a
thing. There was a time where you would
have, you know, beginner, intermediate
expert level,
office suite proficiency that that went on your
resume.
Now I would say things like prompt engineering,
how many different AI models you utilize,
have you built your own AI agents yourself.
It's
pretty easy to do. It just requires a
little bit of time and a little bit
of investment. So if if, you know, looking
at the lens of dollars that I have
available, even if it's a small group of
five people,
you really, really should have
a a cooperative
pilot going right now,
and a plan that says this is how
we're gonna upskill and train or educate our
workforce to understand
what AI is going to do inside of
a hospital and how it's going to affect
everything from the clinical environment through every aspect
of ops.
That's fascinating to think about, you know, and
really
amazing to look at the evolution of technology
in those platforms. You know, I definitely can
relate in looking at, you know, the office
competencies and spreadsheets
and all of those kinds of things, then
all of a sudden, you know, that is
just taken for granted. So I'm so glad
you remember that too. It doesn't make me
feel, you know, hating.
For for sure.
Alright. Well, I I think, you know, when
we look at,
look ahead, I'm curious. What do you see
as some of the best opportunities for growth
in the future? I know we talked a
little bit about where things stand today and
the investments that you're making, but how do
these all align
into the strategy to make sure that,
the health system is in a really strong
position going forward?
Well,
yeah. Wow. What a great great question.
The reality is that
health care is just gonna be different,
and it it's it's a it's a deeply
tough thing to navigate.
And it it doesn't matter, you know, what
what your specialty is or or what your
expertise,
you know, happens to be. Everybody
is really feeling this this incredible
evolution.
I liken it to, you know, what happened
in the automotive industry a few decades ago,
what
happened or is still happening with higher education
and and how they're grappling with a lot
of change.
It's kind of like health care's turn
and the convergence of things,
like rapid technological development and growth,
changes in in geopolitical situations,
changes in,
you know, new diseases and new drugs. And
the convergence of all these things are are
really creating
an exciting time, but also a very stressful
time. So the best opportunities
ahead are going to really sit at that
intersection
of, I would say, equity,
access,
and,
you know, maybe where some of these technologies
come into
play. In in pediatrics, AI is a hot
topic, but I would also say that maybe
VR and robotics,
is an even hotter topic right now. We're
seeing a lot of turnkey affordable solutions that
that are ready to go, that have great
clinical evidence that can help people.
But you really wanna start from that notion
of saying, what can we do to proactively
support
underserved populations, especially children,
that not only kind of get out those
those outcomes,
but also at the same time reduce those
costs in that overhead. We have to do
those two things.
So we just can't really focus on on
legacy processes and systems.
You can't let yourself
fall into the trap of saying,
health care has always done it this way.
You know, I would even argue that things
like how how a clinical space is designed
and set up
really shouldn't be left to regulators alone to
decide,
but we have to kind of get loud
and we have to move faster.
So the best opportunities ahead, I think, are
are training and education
and looking at how the landscape of technology
has changed,
that notion of everyone's now a developer and
and vibe coding and AI.
And anything that you can do, whether it's
ultra low cost or for free,
or making a big bold commitment across your
workforce that says,
we're not gonna do this process this way
anymore.
You know, we're we're gonna empower everybody with
these great AI tools.
They can do their own data visualization. They
can do their own analysis. They can do
rapid research now. Of course, check it. You
know, check your work. These things hallucinate, and
they are new.
Be safe about what you're doing, but,
lean into that wind. If you don't,
I think you're going to be in a
tough spot where you have to sacrifice
the the kingdom to sell the castle. And
I I do see some health systems,
you know, struggling and and making those moves,
wrong or right based on the needs of
of their patient populations. But for us,
because rural health care is so important,
because we are the the one and only
freestanding children's hospital in
the state,
because we're kind of, you know, that that
beacon of hope,
we really have to profoundly and deeply look
at how do we provide affordable accessible care
to everyone,
regardless if they live in the metro, if
they live in a rural environment, even a
neighboring state.
And so,
if if we do those things and and
we look at tools that improve processes that,
you know, save on the margin and and
help us invest more in AI and and
roll it out further, I think we're gonna
win. And, that's ultimately what it's all about.
It's it's making sure that, you know, our
patients walk away and they feel like,
we were able to be really helpful for
them,
and,
they feel safe and they feel like there's
a a great resource that they can turn
to as kids kinda grow.
I love that, Ryan. Thank you so much
for joining us on the podcast today. This
has been such an interesting and insightful conversation,
and I look forward to connecting with you
soon.
Yeah. I appreciate you having me. It's it's
always great to to be a a part
of Becker's and a part of the conversation.
And, you know, we we were talking just
before the podcast. I I wanna thank Becker's
for for having a particular focus in pediatrics
and,
really kind of recognizing the the nuance difference
to to what we do, how we care
for young people.
That means a lot to every pediatrician and
everybody in pediatrics that you recognize that. Sometimes
it it can be forgotten,
and, thanks so much for your support and
for sharing some of our message. Oh, yeah.
Anytime. We associate you and everything you do
for such an important patient population.
At Athena Health, we know your ambulatory
practice wants healthier,
a healthier business, healthier care teams, and healthier
patients.
But the complexities of modern health care tech
make it hard for you and your care
teams to focus on what matters most.
That's where athenahealth can help. Our AI native
all in one solutions reduce administrative burdens,
streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights
when clinicians need it most.
That means fewer clicks, more time for patients,
and stronger bottom lines.
Practicing medicine is complex,
but running a practice can be that much
simpler with athenahealth.
See how simpler is healthier at athenahealth.com.