At athenahealth,
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@athenahealth.com.
Hi, everyone. This is Scott King with the
Becker's Healthcare podcast. Thrilled today to be joined
by a very special guest, Reed Smith, chief
consumer officer with Ardent Health. Reed, how are
you doing today? Thanks so much for joining
us. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Good to
be here. Yeah. I think we're gonna dive
into some kind of big topics and and
conversations happening
right now in health care, Reed. But before
we get started and get to some questions,
can you just tell us a little bit
about your background and your work in health
care, please?
Yeah. Absolutely.
You know, it's funny. It feels like not
very long ago, but it's been probably close
to twenty five years now.
I took my first job in health care
as the director of marketing, at a hospital
in Central Texas. And
over the years, I spent time at the
Texas Hospital Association
and and consulting and at different places, and
then now have been here
at Arden Health for the last, four years
or so, leading everything this consumer facing. So
I've got a little oversight of
marketing communications,
a lot of our consumer faced technology, our
contact centers, referral teams,
all that kind of fun stuff.
That's wonderful. I think it's a really interesting
career trajectory you you've had, actually. Let me
ask you about
starting starting out or or being a director
of marketing early in your career and and,
like you said, having some communications experience. How
does that kind of pave the way for
the rest of your career?
You know, it's funny. I I I think
back to that point in time, and a
lot of people will, probably appreciate this. They're
listening to podcast, but we had,
recently signed on with the Studer Group, and
we're doing a lot of
experience based initiatives. And at the time,
that was kinda handed to me as, as
the quote, unquote,
initiative champion.
And I remember at the time thinking, you
know, as the director of marketing communications,
why in the world
would I be leading,
an experience initiative? And I know that that
that sounds weird today,
but at the time, those felt like two
totally different things. And so,
you know, it's been, very I've been very
fortunate, I guess, in a lot of ways
that some of the things and some of
the opportunities I had early on,
you know, turns out, you know, this day
and age, it's really hard to delineate where
one starts and the other one stops. And
I think we're seeing that a lot across
the industry,
certainly in and amongst,
our organization as you think about what used
to be maybe siloed departments,
our functions within the organization. It's it's much
more of a cohesive,
way that we think about things, especially as
it relates to the consumer.
Absolutely. And getting to your role now and
things that are happening in health care right
now,
what opportunities
and headwinds do you have your eye on
as we speak?
Yeah. I mean, headwinds are probably
not much different than everybody listening is dealing
with, you know, with a lot of the
uncertainty in the space.
You know, not not sure, you know, in
the in the, I guess, long term, especially,
but even the near term what, you know,
payment models or, you know, kinda how that's
all gonna be structured and thought about. And,
you know, that that does create certain level
of uncertainty. I think, you know, I'm more,
optimistic in the sense that, I can see
the tailwinds. I can see the expectations of
the consumer
in in our ability to potentially meet people
where they are. You know, and so you
think a lot about virtual care and some
of the the evolution of that over the
last few years, certainly on the telehealth side,
but even remote patient monitoring, the shifting sites
in care,
and really just, you know, what people want
out of the health care system.
I think we're uniquely positioned, and a lot
of us in the industry are uniquely positioned
to deliver on that through some of the
evolution and technology.
You know, we're only a couple of minutes
in, and I'm gonna say the word AI.
But I think we've got a lot of
opportunity both to help those that are delivering
the care and receiving the care.
And so I do. I I think there's
a lot of,
a lot of great opportunity,
and and I feel like we're in a
place where,
both we understand it as an industry of
what the opportunity is, but also the expectation
and the desire from the consumer is there
as well.
Yeah. I I think you make a great
point. And my follow-up question to that is
just with everything going on with, you know,
patients and and health systems and and today's
climate, how vital is it to kind of
approach
issues with a a solution based mindset, kind
of that optimism that you were speaking of?
Yeah. I I think it's important. No. I
wanna I wanna, I guess,
carve out a a little bit here,
a piece where it's like, you know, I
I don't wanna be solution oriented,
where, you know, I've got a a a
solution looking for a problem. Right? So, again,
we we have to make sure that we're
identifying the value that we would be creating,
both for the customer and for the organization.
Right? And so, you know, there's a lot
of really cool shiny objects out there and
a lot of people doing some really cool
things and interesting things. And it may or
may not be a fit for us. Or
just because it is, it doesn't mean it
is for someone else.
But,
I I do think
the opportunity
is to look for,
friction.
We talk about a lot internally, but friction,
with the experience or with the journey a
patient or a consumer may be having.
And, you know, how do you reduce that?
How do you eliminate that, in their lives,
as they, you know, interact with us?
It's kinda how we think about it.
Absolutely. And, you know, in your role as
as a chief consumer officer, you know, you
mentioned kind of the shiny new object. I
I think we're seeing a lot of those
in health care with the way technology has
advanced things.
How do you and your system really kind
of vet, you know, what you call the
shiny new object that that new maybe piece
of technology or or tool that the system
might invest in? How do you kinda do
your homework and and vet that before investing?
Yeah. Absolutely. I'm probably the worst culprit, to
be honest,
relative to, you know, wanting to try something
new. And,
but, you know, you try not to get
just enamored with the product necessarily, but look
for, again, what's the opportunity, what's the value.
And so,
really understanding
the voice of the customer. So that could
be a physician referring into the organization. That
could be a patient looking for care. It
could be a large employer.
But who whoever the consumer is, the stakeholder
is,
you know,
where are they seeing? What do they need?
Where are they giving you feedback? And how
do you use that to better a process?
And I think if you can align around,
you know, what the outcome or what success
looks like, you know, where where are you
what's the goal,
I think then you can back into,
is there technology or is this a process
in people and bandwidth,
I guess, solution to solve for? Right? And
so
now once you get to a place that,
yes, maybe technology is the solution or is
part of the solution,
I'm not sure it's ever the solution, but
part of the solution,
I think you've gotta look at and look
at a lot of solutions or providers out
there talk to other people that are in
the space using technology,
get get real world feedback. I would say,
you know, technology outpaces
our ability
to really see it mature in a lot
of times. And so the idea that anything's
gonna come in and be exactly what you
thought and solve every problem you have is
probably slim to none.
And you gotta be okay with that and
be willing to, you know, be nimble and
pivot when needed.
Is there one specific risk or investment you
think is worth making this year for your
system?
You know, I think in any case
that you can put an experience in front
of the consumer that that matches up to
their expectation
or maybe better said,
what they already expect based on the rest
of their life,
is a great place to lean in. And
so,
you know, portals
are nothing new,
but how do you drive people into these
experiences and have some sort of a mobile
environment
that they're used to, you know,
engaging with? You know, a really good example,
simple example,
but is,
you know, in every way, shape, and form,
people can pay their bill or pay their
co pay. Are they able to do it
with, you know, Apple or Google Pay, for
example? Again, something small,
but something people are used to doing.
You don't have that. Well, then you've you've
created an extra layer, an extra friction point
that,
takes people out of the course of what
they would normally do when engaging with,
someone from a financial transaction. So I think
if you can think about those types of
scenarios, I think about a kiosk, I think
about, you know, obviously, checking in, scheduling online,
all of that kind of practical,
ways that people engage with you. Those are
certainly places to to lean in. I think
the other piece of it is around data
and data
hygiene.
More and more of what we see, especially
online,
really has a prerequisite
for data.
And so if you think about
what you're seeing now with search and answer
engines and all of the
ChatGPT,
Perplexity, Gemini, those types of things that people
are using,
it requires,
those answer engines require good data and citations
that they can trust. And so,
that's a great place to lean in as
well.
Yeah. I agree. It certainly seems like data
is is a a key investment and and
things people are looking to hone in on
right now from who we talk to. And,
something
else I wanted to ask, if you don't
mind putting me kind of your your glasses
to the future on. Yeah. Where where do
you see the best opportunities for growth in
the future?
You know, I think it's going to be,
through the lens of virtual.
I think, again,
especially as you go on the lower acuity
end of the spectrum of care,
people are prioritizing, obviously, convenience.
This is nothing new. This is obviously why
urgent cares,
have become popular.
But people want to get the care they
need, in, out, and and move on. Right?
And so I think, you know, if you're
looking at entry points to the health care
system, primary care, urgent care, virtual care,
it's gonna be through the lens
of,
of a, kind of virtual type scenario. I
think the other piece of that is the
connectivity relative to all of that. So you
think about wearables,
remote patient monitoring, etcetera.
I think our ability to be able to
manage people's lives and the care that they
need and need to receive is gonna, you
know, require us to have this connectivity. And
so
that's that's where I think a lot of
the future is going to be. I think
we'll see the social determinants of health and
how we better take care of the wellness
of our communities, not just the sick care.
We've said that for some years now, but
I think that's also a place where,
we need to be investing certainly and then
a place that we'll see a lot of,
I think, heightened focus.
And the last question I have for you,
Reid, how have you evolved as a leader?
Oh, man. What a great question. I mean,
I think you can point to the obvious
things, you know, post COVID with remote workforce
or hybrid and and things like that. I
think, you know, evolving as a leader is
really requiring,
you know, you to think about the whole
person that's on your team.
You know, you may not be able to
solve every issue or
appease everybody, so to speak. But I think
the idea that, you know, we think about
things like burnout with our clinicians,
this is true,
for really everybody in the space. And so
how do you look at,
you know, leading with purpose and example
and and trying to heighten,
the way that we, look for ways to
reward and recognize folks and provide gratitude,
and grace even, and then amongst all of
that. So, again, I think it's, you know,
a special way to to to hopefully take
care of your team where people are energized,
ultimately, to take care of patients.
Great. Thanks so much for joining us on
the podcast today. It was a great conversation.
I look forward to working with you again
soon. Thanks for having me.
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.