1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,580 Everyone, and welcome to the Becker's healthcare podcast. 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,120 I'm Scott King. Thrilled today to be joined 3 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:06,259 by Joey Soliske, 4 00:00:06,799 --> 00:00:09,139 director, digital health strategy and operations 5 00:00:09,439 --> 00:00:11,919 over at Allegheny Health Network. Joey, how are 6 00:00:11,919 --> 00:00:12,740 you doing today? 7 00:00:13,074 --> 00:00:14,595 Hey. I'm doing great. Thanks for having me 8 00:00:14,595 --> 00:00:16,274 to the the Becker's team for allowing us 9 00:00:16,274 --> 00:00:17,494 the opportunity to discuss. 10 00:00:18,114 --> 00:00:19,635 Of course. No. So happy you're with us. 11 00:00:19,635 --> 00:00:21,154 We're gonna have a great conversation. I I 12 00:00:21,154 --> 00:00:22,675 know we're gonna get into a lot of 13 00:00:22,675 --> 00:00:25,314 the kind of trending topics in health care. 14 00:00:25,634 --> 00:00:27,960 So much going on right now. Just wanted 15 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:29,559 to see if you could don't mind introducing 16 00:00:29,559 --> 00:00:31,320 yourself and and talking a little about your 17 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:33,659 background before we jump into the questions, Joey. 18 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:35,960 Absolutely. So as you head out, I'm director 19 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:37,960 of digital health strategy and operations for Allegheny 20 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,304 Health Network. We are part of Highmark Health. 21 00:00:40,304 --> 00:00:41,905 Highmark is a 29,000,000,000, 22 00:00:42,225 --> 00:00:45,265 nonprofit organization with over 44,000 employees, and the 23 00:00:45,265 --> 00:00:47,664 HN Albany Health Network is a provider arm 24 00:00:47,664 --> 00:00:49,104 within that. So we have about, you know, 25 00:00:49,104 --> 00:00:52,564 14 hospitals, over 300 clinics, 3,000 physicians across 26 00:00:52,704 --> 00:00:53,685 Western Pennsylvania. 27 00:00:54,259 --> 00:00:55,879 My personal journey, you know, I started, 28 00:00:56,500 --> 00:00:58,659 wanting to go into pediatric oncology through our 29 00:00:58,659 --> 00:01:00,820 undergraduate, went to school at the University of 30 00:01:00,820 --> 00:01:03,539 Wisconsin Madison. And in Wisconsin's backyard is a 31 00:01:03,539 --> 00:01:05,619 company called EPIC who many many are familiar 32 00:01:05,619 --> 00:01:07,700 with. You know, thought I'd only go there 33 00:01:07,700 --> 00:01:09,555 for one year. I didn't know too much 34 00:01:09,555 --> 00:01:12,194 about health care technology or the company. But 35 00:01:12,194 --> 00:01:13,475 over time, you know, I fell in love 36 00:01:13,475 --> 00:01:15,395 with what technology and health care truly can 37 00:01:15,395 --> 00:01:17,155 do. How it can transform care, not, you 38 00:01:17,155 --> 00:01:19,155 know, just for maybe for one patient, but, 39 00:01:19,155 --> 00:01:20,880 you know, truly at scale. So, you know, 40 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,200 after that, I was there for multiple years 41 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,840 working across international health care, tribal health care, 42 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,599 mergers and acquisitions, and technology standardization initiatives, and 43 00:01:29,599 --> 00:01:31,599 came to Allegheny Health Network about three years 44 00:01:31,599 --> 00:01:33,520 ago to really help, you know, Allegheny Health 45 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,935 and Highmark Health Network, identify opportunities 46 00:01:36,394 --> 00:01:36,894 for 47 00:01:37,194 --> 00:01:40,334 using technology to better improve experience, operational efficiencies, 48 00:01:40,394 --> 00:01:42,155 and, you know, clinical outcomes. So that's a 49 00:01:42,155 --> 00:01:43,674 little bit about myself and how I got 50 00:01:43,674 --> 00:01:45,594 to where I'm at today, and I'm excited 51 00:01:45,594 --> 00:01:46,415 to talk more. 52 00:01:46,795 --> 00:01:48,954 Thanks so much, Joey. You know, speaking of 53 00:01:48,954 --> 00:01:49,454 opportunities, 54 00:01:49,909 --> 00:01:51,530 I wanna ask you what opportunities 55 00:01:52,150 --> 00:01:52,890 and headwinds, 56 00:01:53,430 --> 00:01:55,189 you might have your eye on right now 57 00:01:55,189 --> 00:01:56,010 in health care. 58 00:01:56,790 --> 00:01:58,549 Sure. I I think there's there's two big 59 00:01:58,549 --> 00:02:01,030 ones I specifically wanna chat about that we 60 00:02:01,030 --> 00:02:03,030 hear often, not just the Allegheny Health Network, 61 00:02:03,030 --> 00:02:05,634 but across the the country. You know, workforce 62 00:02:05,634 --> 00:02:07,954 shortages are something that we hear every day 63 00:02:07,954 --> 00:02:09,634 about statistics both now and in the upcoming 64 00:02:09,634 --> 00:02:11,395 years. You know, by 2028, we're looking at 65 00:02:11,395 --> 00:02:13,235 a shortage, you know, across the country. This 66 00:02:13,235 --> 00:02:14,754 isn't specific to us, but in general, you 67 00:02:14,754 --> 00:02:16,754 know, 60 to 90,000 physicians and over a 68 00:02:16,754 --> 00:02:19,800 100,000 nurses over the upcoming years. So burnout 69 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:21,640 is real, and it's you know, we really 70 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:24,040 have to use that headwind looking ahead to 71 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:25,640 find opportunities for how do we prevent that. 72 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:27,319 How do we keep our staff happy and 73 00:02:27,319 --> 00:02:29,240 engage with the patient? And there can be 74 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:30,460 a better way for technology 75 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:32,599 to fit into that. So especially in the 76 00:02:32,599 --> 00:02:35,344 world of where we're at with artificial intelligence 77 00:02:35,805 --> 00:02:38,444 and automate administrative tasks, you know, you're seeing 78 00:02:38,444 --> 00:02:40,764 this in ambient documentation across the country, and 79 00:02:40,764 --> 00:02:43,344 we're doing that at Highmark Highmark Health Network. 80 00:02:44,204 --> 00:02:46,044 Ways that you can find also, like, chart 81 00:02:46,044 --> 00:02:47,949 summarizations. How can you prevent, you know, a 82 00:02:47,949 --> 00:02:49,709 clinician from needing to go search for something 83 00:02:49,709 --> 00:02:51,789 that's being able to input a I wanna 84 00:02:51,789 --> 00:02:53,469 find the lab results for this patient over 85 00:02:53,469 --> 00:02:55,069 the past four weeks, and it can pull 86 00:02:55,069 --> 00:02:57,069 it in quickly versus that time it takes 87 00:02:57,069 --> 00:02:58,590 to remember where to go search and find 88 00:02:58,590 --> 00:03:00,430 it. So that those tools like that that 89 00:03:00,430 --> 00:03:02,664 really help our staff focus on patient care 90 00:03:02,664 --> 00:03:03,884 quickly are are key. 91 00:03:04,584 --> 00:03:06,344 I think today, we're trying to think about 92 00:03:06,344 --> 00:03:08,424 hybrid care models to help with this. So 93 00:03:08,424 --> 00:03:10,905 how can we implement concepts of virtual nursing 94 00:03:10,905 --> 00:03:12,745 in our facilities or for maybe our remote 95 00:03:12,745 --> 00:03:13,245 hospitals, 96 00:03:13,719 --> 00:03:15,400 allowing a clinician from the city or Pittsburgh 97 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:17,639 to assist on rounding or with that specialist 98 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:19,319 in the future. So we're trying to figure 99 00:03:19,319 --> 00:03:21,639 out how how staff can, still practice at 100 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:23,639 the top of their license, remove those admin 101 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:25,800 tasks, and, hopefully, that'll start to then address 102 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,335 some of that burnout or shortages projections. 103 00:03:29,115 --> 00:03:31,594 You know, from a financial perspective then, that's 104 00:03:31,594 --> 00:03:33,594 another headwind that, again, not just selling any 105 00:03:33,594 --> 00:03:35,514 health network, all facilities are facing and, you 106 00:03:35,514 --> 00:03:37,775 know, cost might be rising, reimbursement rates, 107 00:03:38,155 --> 00:03:40,314 margins are tight. And with that, from a 108 00:03:40,314 --> 00:03:41,935 technology lens, the opportunity 109 00:03:42,430 --> 00:03:45,710 is using your platforms and artificial intelligence specifically 110 00:03:45,710 --> 00:03:47,790 in, like, the revenue cycle as well. So 111 00:03:47,790 --> 00:03:50,830 how can you, you know, accurately code, find 112 00:03:50,830 --> 00:03:53,469 information from the inpatient stay, from the chart 113 00:03:53,469 --> 00:03:55,469 to surface that code on the claim, you 114 00:03:55,469 --> 00:03:57,330 know, reduce some denials using technology, 115 00:03:57,645 --> 00:03:59,965 and, ultimately, also accelerate collections. And, 116 00:04:00,365 --> 00:04:03,645 secondly, then use predictive analytics to optimize your 117 00:04:03,645 --> 00:04:05,645 staffing. How can you best know where to 118 00:04:05,645 --> 00:04:08,305 allocate your resources based on historical information 119 00:04:08,925 --> 00:04:11,085 and also understand how your operating rooms, where 120 00:04:11,085 --> 00:04:12,605 you should staff, you know, or tell your 121 00:04:12,605 --> 00:04:14,739 patients to come and based on historical info. 122 00:04:14,739 --> 00:04:16,579 So I think those are a couple larger 123 00:04:16,579 --> 00:04:18,500 headwinds that, you know, we're thinking about and 124 00:04:18,500 --> 00:04:20,259 just ways that we're starting to use that, 125 00:04:20,259 --> 00:04:22,259 you know, as an opportunity to address and, 126 00:04:22,500 --> 00:04:24,120 using technology to do that. 127 00:04:24,979 --> 00:04:25,479 Absolutely. 128 00:04:25,779 --> 00:04:26,899 And, you know, some of the things you 129 00:04:26,899 --> 00:04:29,264 were saying about workforce shortages kinda dovetail into 130 00:04:29,264 --> 00:04:31,264 our next question here, and that is how 131 00:04:31,264 --> 00:04:32,404 are you thinking about 132 00:04:32,785 --> 00:04:35,185 growth and adding value to your organization, you 133 00:04:35,185 --> 00:04:35,925 know, especially, 134 00:04:36,305 --> 00:04:38,165 in spite of those workforce shortages? 135 00:04:38,944 --> 00:04:40,545 Yeah. I I think the first thing with 136 00:04:40,545 --> 00:04:42,464 that is, you know, growth isn't also just 137 00:04:42,464 --> 00:04:45,389 about maybe buying technology or implementing it. Sometimes 138 00:04:45,389 --> 00:04:46,770 it's about forming, 139 00:04:47,389 --> 00:04:50,189 relationships and connecting dots internally with with what 140 00:04:50,189 --> 00:04:51,790 we have. So how can we, you know, 141 00:04:51,790 --> 00:04:54,370 develop with our technology team, informaticists, 142 00:04:54,670 --> 00:04:55,330 and groups 143 00:04:55,865 --> 00:04:57,004 understand stakeholders 144 00:04:57,305 --> 00:05:00,185 and understand listening, building trust, meeting with clinical 145 00:05:00,185 --> 00:05:02,185 and operational revenue cycle teams to know what 146 00:05:02,185 --> 00:05:03,245 are their top challenges, 147 00:05:04,025 --> 00:05:05,785 and then using that to educate and say, 148 00:05:05,785 --> 00:05:07,545 you know, technology and what we have now 149 00:05:07,545 --> 00:05:09,740 could could solve that. You know, if we 150 00:05:09,740 --> 00:05:11,020 partner and change the way that we do 151 00:05:11,020 --> 00:05:12,540 work, we make this adjustment to it, it 152 00:05:12,540 --> 00:05:13,360 could do it, 153 00:05:13,740 --> 00:05:16,379 now. Or how do we then leverage market 154 00:05:16,379 --> 00:05:18,220 analysis to say, you know, a health system 155 00:05:18,220 --> 00:05:20,805 out west is solving that top challenge of 156 00:05:20,805 --> 00:05:22,644 radiology. Here's how they're doing it. You know, 157 00:05:22,644 --> 00:05:24,164 should we how can we learn from that 158 00:05:24,164 --> 00:05:26,725 playbook and maybe implement that? That's our top 159 00:05:26,725 --> 00:05:28,724 problem as an organization we wanna solve. And 160 00:05:28,724 --> 00:05:31,044 so, you know, sometimes our our role in 161 00:05:31,044 --> 00:05:33,300 technology, again, is not necessarily going to buy 162 00:05:33,300 --> 00:05:35,300 it, but it's actually connecting the dots internally. 163 00:05:35,300 --> 00:05:37,639 Being the dot connector and the relationship developer, 164 00:05:37,860 --> 00:05:38,839 having that trust, 165 00:05:39,379 --> 00:05:41,779 and then pulling all the teams together and 166 00:05:41,779 --> 00:05:43,220 then make helping them show how to use 167 00:05:43,220 --> 00:05:43,959 it in training. 168 00:05:45,220 --> 00:05:46,899 I think then too, you know, the final 169 00:05:46,899 --> 00:05:47,560 thing is 170 00:05:48,055 --> 00:05:50,214 every organization now has to be using AI 171 00:05:50,214 --> 00:05:52,535 and data as their compass. You know? It 172 00:05:52,535 --> 00:05:54,794 is driving where we need to maybe consider 173 00:05:55,014 --> 00:05:56,854 investing, you know, where it aligns with our 174 00:05:56,854 --> 00:05:58,694 organizational goals, and how do we start to 175 00:05:58,694 --> 00:06:01,334 use it in predictive models or analytics, the 176 00:06:01,334 --> 00:06:03,220 generative AI, and the two in the future 177 00:06:03,220 --> 00:06:05,620 here, AgenTek AI, to solve, those top things 178 00:06:05,620 --> 00:06:06,980 we need. So those are, you know, a 179 00:06:06,980 --> 00:06:08,819 couple things I'd I'd say for how we're 180 00:06:08,819 --> 00:06:10,100 trying to, you know, add value in what 181 00:06:10,100 --> 00:06:12,040 we're thinking about at at our organization. 182 00:06:13,459 --> 00:06:15,000 Yeah. I know you touched on, 183 00:06:15,365 --> 00:06:17,764 you know, emerging technology that's helped your system 184 00:06:17,764 --> 00:06:20,404 and and others, like like, the types of 185 00:06:20,404 --> 00:06:21,464 AI you just mentioned. 186 00:06:21,764 --> 00:06:23,925 But do you think is there another risk 187 00:06:23,925 --> 00:06:26,345 or investment that you think is worth making 188 00:06:26,644 --> 00:06:27,705 for the next year? 189 00:06:28,740 --> 00:06:30,259 Yeah. Yeah. I think there's two. So I'm 190 00:06:30,259 --> 00:06:31,720 gonna address it from both the, 191 00:06:32,099 --> 00:06:34,740 people perspective and then technology. Right? So from 192 00:06:34,740 --> 00:06:35,720 a people perspective, 193 00:06:36,659 --> 00:06:37,560 start to invest 194 00:06:38,019 --> 00:06:39,939 now and then next year in AI literacy 195 00:06:39,939 --> 00:06:42,194 and just team development. As I hit on, 196 00:06:42,274 --> 00:06:44,115 you know, it's impacting every role in health 197 00:06:44,115 --> 00:06:46,435 care. Clinician we need our clinicians, operators, and 198 00:06:46,435 --> 00:06:48,115 leaders to understand, you know, what AI is 199 00:06:48,115 --> 00:06:49,895 and what isn't, where and how it works, 200 00:06:50,035 --> 00:06:52,355 and integrating the workflows that does not. You 201 00:06:52,355 --> 00:06:54,514 know, teaching our teams how to troubleshoot this, 202 00:06:54,514 --> 00:06:55,735 review the outputs, 203 00:06:56,230 --> 00:06:58,550 and assess is operations ready for this or 204 00:06:58,550 --> 00:07:00,230 not. You know, it's not just about the 205 00:07:00,230 --> 00:07:01,750 technology as as you know and that we 206 00:07:01,750 --> 00:07:03,029 talk about a lot. It's about the people 207 00:07:03,029 --> 00:07:04,089 and process alignment. 208 00:07:04,790 --> 00:07:06,550 And without all of that, even the best 209 00:07:06,550 --> 00:07:09,290 technology fails. So it's important to, you know, 210 00:07:09,555 --> 00:07:11,714 educate staff across the organization and within your 211 00:07:11,714 --> 00:07:14,194 own department, in the technology or digital space 212 00:07:14,194 --> 00:07:15,975 on how do we keep learning. You know, 213 00:07:16,115 --> 00:07:18,595 stuff's coming out every day, new AI models, 214 00:07:18,595 --> 00:07:20,355 new technologies, so we always need to give 215 00:07:20,355 --> 00:07:21,569 our team time to learn. 216 00:07:22,050 --> 00:07:24,689 Now, you know, from a technology perspective in, 217 00:07:24,930 --> 00:07:26,790 an investment area, you recommend 218 00:07:27,649 --> 00:07:28,470 to look into 219 00:07:29,009 --> 00:07:31,089 is in the imaging space and around, you 220 00:07:31,089 --> 00:07:33,170 know, AI in in that area. I think, 221 00:07:33,170 --> 00:07:35,189 you know, regardless of, you know, your reimbursement 222 00:07:35,250 --> 00:07:37,545 models or your contracts, there's value in the 223 00:07:37,545 --> 00:07:39,545 fee for service or value based care realm, 224 00:07:39,865 --> 00:07:42,745 and using AI platforms to assess your images 225 00:07:42,745 --> 00:07:43,725 that are being captured 226 00:07:44,185 --> 00:07:45,884 and to look at, 227 00:07:46,904 --> 00:07:49,465 prioritize urgent cases, you know, assist in image 228 00:07:49,465 --> 00:07:52,080 detection and saying, you know, this patient might 229 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,319 have intracranial hemorrhage. Maybe you should review that 230 00:07:54,319 --> 00:07:56,800 now. And then also assist with generating the 231 00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:59,199 report for radiologists. Like, they are starting to 232 00:07:59,199 --> 00:08:01,920 become technologies that can do this, and that 233 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:03,759 is gonna help us develop our workforce of 234 00:08:03,759 --> 00:08:04,339 the future 235 00:08:04,654 --> 00:08:06,175 and really start to get through some of 236 00:08:06,175 --> 00:08:08,335 this, you know, maybe backlog of images that 237 00:08:08,335 --> 00:08:10,895 Telesys might be facing potentially across the country. 238 00:08:10,895 --> 00:08:12,975 So, you know, if you if you make 239 00:08:12,975 --> 00:08:14,735 sure you start to understand the market, what 240 00:08:14,735 --> 00:08:17,819 is your radiology department doing, journey mapping that, 241 00:08:17,979 --> 00:08:19,500 I think it's really important to to take 242 00:08:19,500 --> 00:08:20,319 a look because, 243 00:08:20,699 --> 00:08:21,360 whether that's, 244 00:08:21,660 --> 00:08:23,500 you know, partnering with another vendor, whether it's 245 00:08:23,500 --> 00:08:25,740 building it internally, you should start exploring that 246 00:08:25,740 --> 00:08:27,759 area, you know, in '26 and '27. 247 00:08:28,865 --> 00:08:29,985 Yeah. I think you made a really good 248 00:08:29,985 --> 00:08:31,665 point. You you said, you know, even the 249 00:08:31,665 --> 00:08:34,325 biggest or or best technology fails, and 250 00:08:34,945 --> 00:08:37,345 you hear so many health systems people are 251 00:08:37,345 --> 00:08:39,424 are worrying about getting that, you know, that 252 00:08:39,424 --> 00:08:42,184 that next new shiny object. Just curious, what 253 00:08:42,304 --> 00:08:42,705 what's, 254 00:08:43,264 --> 00:08:44,325 what's the top 255 00:08:44,690 --> 00:08:46,049 tech that has kinda failed, 256 00:08:47,250 --> 00:08:49,089 you or your system or or let you 257 00:08:49,089 --> 00:08:50,629 down, you know, at least temporarily? 258 00:08:51,570 --> 00:08:53,350 Yeah. I I wouldn't say there's necessarily, 259 00:08:53,889 --> 00:08:54,950 Ben, where the 260 00:08:55,330 --> 00:08:58,524 technology fails necessarily or, like, where it, is 261 00:08:58,524 --> 00:08:59,725 the it's like the partner we chose to 262 00:08:59,725 --> 00:09:01,904 work with. It's more the concept of 263 00:09:02,445 --> 00:09:05,164 we can't just put technology on a a 264 00:09:05,164 --> 00:09:07,485 process or operational team member who's not ready 265 00:09:07,485 --> 00:09:08,544 for change. Right? Understanding 266 00:09:08,924 --> 00:09:10,605 what is the readiness for a change like 267 00:09:10,605 --> 00:09:12,065 this. Take aside the technology. 268 00:09:12,710 --> 00:09:14,870 By implementing it, what will it do pre 269 00:09:14,870 --> 00:09:15,610 and after? 270 00:09:15,910 --> 00:09:17,830 And is that team ready or not? Is 271 00:09:17,830 --> 00:09:19,350 it actually solving a problem that they have, 272 00:09:19,350 --> 00:09:21,029 or is it adding a step? So I 273 00:09:21,029 --> 00:09:23,190 wouldn't even you know, the the technology is 274 00:09:23,190 --> 00:09:25,590 not always the the hard part. That's actually 275 00:09:25,590 --> 00:09:27,995 the easy part. The hard part is culturally 276 00:09:28,134 --> 00:09:28,955 getting folks, 277 00:09:29,894 --> 00:09:31,654 assessed and ready and saying, yes. We are 278 00:09:31,654 --> 00:09:32,855 ready for the change. We know how it'll 279 00:09:32,855 --> 00:09:34,054 change us, and we think it is a 280 00:09:34,054 --> 00:09:36,134 top thing to make that adjustment. And that's 281 00:09:36,134 --> 00:09:38,134 where that concept I hit on earlier of 282 00:09:38,134 --> 00:09:40,774 having trust across the business and clinical operational 283 00:09:40,774 --> 00:09:42,000 and all teams, 284 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:44,440 allows you to have those conversations and then 285 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:46,679 sort of make a a checklist to say, 286 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:48,120 yes. We're ready or, no. We're not ready. 287 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:49,639 So maybe we should focus on a different 288 00:09:49,639 --> 00:09:50,679 area right now. 289 00:09:51,159 --> 00:09:53,100 So hope that helps answer that. 290 00:09:53,414 --> 00:09:56,235 Yeah. 100%. Dude, absolutely. People have to be 291 00:09:56,294 --> 00:09:57,975 ready and and willing to learn how to 292 00:09:57,975 --> 00:09:58,955 use the technology, 293 00:09:59,654 --> 00:10:01,595 properly for it to be efficient. Absolutely. 294 00:10:02,934 --> 00:10:05,034 And last question I have for you, Joey. 295 00:10:05,254 --> 00:10:07,254 Where do you see the best opportunities for 296 00:10:07,254 --> 00:10:09,409 growth in the future in health care? 297 00:10:10,589 --> 00:10:12,589 Yeah. So there's again, two two aspects. I 298 00:10:12,589 --> 00:10:14,429 I like focusing I always like focusing on 299 00:10:14,429 --> 00:10:15,730 the people and the technology. 300 00:10:16,429 --> 00:10:19,149 You know, I think adoption and enablement teams 301 00:10:19,149 --> 00:10:20,830 are critical. They have been, but I think 302 00:10:20,830 --> 00:10:22,350 in the world of AI are so are 303 00:10:22,350 --> 00:10:24,475 that much more. You know, whether that's informatics, 304 00:10:24,695 --> 00:10:27,334 your training team, a different implementation team, however 305 00:10:27,334 --> 00:10:29,014 that helps us in going across the country 306 00:10:29,014 --> 00:10:30,615 to define it, you need to make sure 307 00:10:30,615 --> 00:10:31,355 you're ready, 308 00:10:32,054 --> 00:10:33,414 for this and have a plan. I think 309 00:10:33,414 --> 00:10:35,254 a lot of organizations right now, right, think 310 00:10:35,254 --> 00:10:35,754 about 311 00:10:36,089 --> 00:10:37,449 AI. I will use that as an example. 312 00:10:37,449 --> 00:10:39,529 We have governance and maybe compliance around it, 313 00:10:39,529 --> 00:10:40,649 and we need to make sure we're thinking 314 00:10:40,649 --> 00:10:43,529 about clinical integration or the operational integration into 315 00:10:43,529 --> 00:10:46,490 our workflows and change management again. You know, 316 00:10:46,490 --> 00:10:48,809 a AI is not gonna deliver value or 317 00:10:48,809 --> 00:10:51,345 solve the the true problem. We need teams 318 00:10:51,345 --> 00:10:53,664 who really know where and how staff interact 319 00:10:53,664 --> 00:10:55,745 with technology of the patient. How do you 320 00:10:55,745 --> 00:10:57,745 prompt the tool or technology to get the 321 00:10:57,745 --> 00:10:59,024 output you need, and how does that fit 322 00:10:59,024 --> 00:11:00,784 into your true care delivery? Where and how 323 00:11:00,784 --> 00:11:02,464 are you talking to the patient in the 324 00:11:02,464 --> 00:11:04,720 call center? Need that AI model to output 325 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:06,319 to so you don't leave the system. Or 326 00:11:06,319 --> 00:11:07,839 as a clinician, where are you talking to 327 00:11:07,839 --> 00:11:09,519 the patient now, and you need that to 328 00:11:09,519 --> 00:11:10,179 be surfaced. 329 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:12,319 And then when you do that, you know, 330 00:11:12,319 --> 00:11:14,100 you can assess to the business readiness. 331 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:16,000 That's, again, I'll head out from the last 332 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,204 question. But, you know, before implementing AI, evaluate, 333 00:11:19,264 --> 00:11:21,264 is your department prepared for that process change 334 00:11:21,264 --> 00:11:23,264 again? You know? If not, let's not maybe 335 00:11:23,264 --> 00:11:25,504 introduce the technology yet. Let's start with the 336 00:11:25,504 --> 00:11:27,345 education. Let's just talk through what it is 337 00:11:27,345 --> 00:11:29,105 and what it isn't, and then design a 338 00:11:29,105 --> 00:11:31,424 smaller pilot before we scale. I think it's 339 00:11:31,424 --> 00:11:33,529 easy to just think throw on the technology 340 00:11:33,529 --> 00:11:35,289 when, again, you don't maybe have the the 341 00:11:35,289 --> 00:11:37,610 team ready for it. So, you know, the 342 00:11:37,610 --> 00:11:38,750 the question is not 343 00:11:39,370 --> 00:11:41,769 AI versus not AI mindset. Like, the secret 344 00:11:41,769 --> 00:11:44,409 sauce here is mapping how people, how AI 345 00:11:44,570 --> 00:11:46,570 how other technologies that aren't AI, so it'll 346 00:11:46,570 --> 00:11:48,954 always be there, all interact with each other, 347 00:11:49,014 --> 00:11:51,014 and then how those collectively work together sort 348 00:11:51,014 --> 00:11:52,534 of in, like, an end to end journey, 349 00:11:52,534 --> 00:11:53,434 start to finish. 350 00:11:53,894 --> 00:11:55,495 And so when you can do that, map 351 00:11:55,495 --> 00:11:57,334 it out, and document pain points, how it's 352 00:11:57,334 --> 00:11:59,815 solving that, that all then is truly how 353 00:11:59,815 --> 00:12:01,495 we're gonna change some of the, you know, 354 00:12:01,495 --> 00:12:02,934 the headwinds that we talked about at the 355 00:12:02,934 --> 00:12:03,389 beginning. 356 00:12:04,350 --> 00:12:06,210 Now from a technology perspective, 357 00:12:07,790 --> 00:12:10,269 the biggest opportunity for growth is you're again, 358 00:12:10,269 --> 00:12:12,290 you're seeing it across the country with ambient 359 00:12:12,509 --> 00:12:15,629 intelligence, but I you know, conversational intelligence is 360 00:12:15,629 --> 00:12:17,654 is a huge opportunity. You know, our voice 361 00:12:17,894 --> 00:12:20,394 is powerful. Whether that's patient facing in clinic, 362 00:12:20,535 --> 00:12:22,855 video visits, whether that's on a telephone in 363 00:12:22,855 --> 00:12:25,335 your call center, all that information from that 364 00:12:25,335 --> 00:12:26,075 voice conversation 365 00:12:26,695 --> 00:12:28,134 is now being able to be captured, you 366 00:12:28,134 --> 00:12:30,774 know, guide your next step documentation, the action 367 00:12:30,774 --> 00:12:32,480 you should take, maybe that protocol that you 368 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:33,919 need to take from the call center when 369 00:12:33,919 --> 00:12:34,899 you're getting called in. 370 00:12:35,279 --> 00:12:35,940 And so 371 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:38,559 it's happening now, and it's just having a 372 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:41,700 conversational intelligence strategy across the various platforms 373 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:44,080 and making sure you are moving forward with 374 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,179 that in all all care settings and roles. 375 00:12:47,684 --> 00:12:49,365 So I think, you know, generally, my my 376 00:12:49,365 --> 00:12:51,784 takeaway is for folks to to think about 377 00:12:52,164 --> 00:12:55,284 is process map out workflows. You know, find 378 00:12:55,284 --> 00:12:56,105 where inefficiency 379 00:12:56,485 --> 00:12:58,584 is costing time or money, 380 00:12:59,139 --> 00:13:00,980 and then take, like, a an approach of 381 00:13:00,980 --> 00:13:02,740 getting rid of stupid stuff or the gross 382 00:13:02,740 --> 00:13:04,659 d r o s s approach. Like, what 383 00:13:04,659 --> 00:13:05,779 are things that we're doing that maybe we 384 00:13:05,779 --> 00:13:06,899 can just get rid of? Or how can 385 00:13:06,899 --> 00:13:08,740 we find a quick win that we could, 386 00:13:08,740 --> 00:13:11,779 you know, implement now and change that off 387 00:13:11,779 --> 00:13:13,414 your plate? And, when you do that for 388 00:13:13,414 --> 00:13:15,434 the various care settings, you're gonna find opportunities. 389 00:13:16,375 --> 00:13:18,794 You know, technologies isn't just about the tools. 390 00:13:18,855 --> 00:13:21,254 It's, you know, the culture, the education, and 391 00:13:21,254 --> 00:13:23,815 alignment. So, you know, start small, really think 392 00:13:23,815 --> 00:13:26,019 about real problems, and that'll truly allow for 393 00:13:26,019 --> 00:13:27,379 you. And, you know, what we're thinking about 394 00:13:27,379 --> 00:13:29,620 is to build readiness for our future, at 395 00:13:29,620 --> 00:13:30,519 Allegheny Health. 396 00:13:31,459 --> 00:13:32,980 Joey, thanks so much for joining us on 397 00:13:32,980 --> 00:13:34,819 the podcast. Really appreciate all your great insight 398 00:13:34,819 --> 00:13:36,740 on on not just tech, but but people 399 00:13:36,740 --> 00:13:38,500 in health care too. And, it was a 400 00:13:38,500 --> 00:13:39,044 great conversation. 401 00:13:43,204 --> 00:13:45,125 Thrilled to have, you know, the teams, from 402 00:13:45,125 --> 00:13:46,644 Allian Health Network contributing to some of the 403 00:13:46,644 --> 00:13:48,084 work, you know, that I talked about, and 404 00:13:48,084 --> 00:13:49,284 the great work that they're doing. So thanks 405 00:13:49,284 --> 00:13:50,904 again for having us. Absolutely.