1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,560 Hi, everyone. This is Lucas Voss with Becker's 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:04,400 Healthcare. Thanks so much for tuning in to 3 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,599 the Becker's Healthcare podcast series. Fantastic to have 4 00:00:07,599 --> 00:00:09,859 you. Today, we're talking about unlocking 5 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:12,880 data and efficiency, how a major health system 6 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:14,179 transfer workflows 7 00:00:14,585 --> 00:00:17,704 with data fabric and AI. And I'm so 8 00:00:17,704 --> 00:00:18,204 excited 9 00:00:18,505 --> 00:00:20,824 to be joined by Sarah Galyon, senior director 10 00:00:20,824 --> 00:00:23,864 of health care solutions at Intellistax. Sarah, thanks 11 00:00:23,864 --> 00:00:25,144 so much for being here today. It's great 12 00:00:25,144 --> 00:00:27,304 to have you. Yes. Thanks for having me. 13 00:00:27,304 --> 00:00:27,964 I'm excited. 14 00:00:28,289 --> 00:00:30,449 Absolutely. For those that might not know you 15 00:00:30,449 --> 00:00:32,129 yet, at least, could you just share a 16 00:00:32,129 --> 00:00:33,809 little bit about yourself and and your work 17 00:00:33,809 --> 00:00:34,710 in health care? 18 00:00:35,250 --> 00:00:38,210 Yeah. Sure. So I've been with Intellistac for 19 00:00:38,210 --> 00:00:40,530 about a year now. Prior to that, I 20 00:00:40,530 --> 00:00:43,409 worked for the University of Tennessee Medical Center 21 00:00:43,409 --> 00:00:44,405 for seventeen 22 00:00:44,865 --> 00:00:47,265 years. I did a lot of things when 23 00:00:47,265 --> 00:00:49,344 I was there. Most of my adult life 24 00:00:49,344 --> 00:00:52,225 spent there, but, most of my tenure was 25 00:00:52,225 --> 00:00:54,325 focused on digital transformation, 26 00:00:55,024 --> 00:00:58,245 process improvement initiatives, and, like, clinical informatics. 27 00:00:59,070 --> 00:01:00,850 I had the privilege of working alongside 28 00:01:01,149 --> 00:01:03,329 and learning from some of the most, 29 00:01:04,109 --> 00:01:06,269 brilliant minds I would consider in health care 30 00:01:06,269 --> 00:01:07,090 process improvement. 31 00:01:07,629 --> 00:01:09,489 So that was a really unique opportunity. 32 00:01:10,510 --> 00:01:12,030 And then through that work is how I 33 00:01:12,030 --> 00:01:13,865 got to know the folks at Intellistac, 34 00:01:14,645 --> 00:01:16,344 because we use their products 35 00:01:16,645 --> 00:01:18,805 in the hospital for a lot of our 36 00:01:18,805 --> 00:01:19,704 digital solutions. 37 00:01:20,325 --> 00:01:22,564 So and now I am here, 38 00:01:23,204 --> 00:01:25,784 trying to help kind of spread the message, 39 00:01:26,084 --> 00:01:27,944 so to speak, to a wider audience. 40 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:30,240 Right. And we're certainly spreading the message today. 41 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:31,920 Excited to hear about all of your expertise 42 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:33,120 and then some of the things that we're 43 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:35,120 going to discuss today. The name of the 44 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,599 game for health care for health systems right 45 00:01:37,599 --> 00:01:39,599 now seems to be to do more with 46 00:01:39,599 --> 00:01:40,099 less 47 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,545 from workforce shortages, finance always. Right? Finances, patient 48 00:01:44,545 --> 00:01:47,284 expectations, etcetera. It it's really tough. 49 00:01:47,665 --> 00:01:50,405 In this environment, how do you see technology, 50 00:01:50,625 --> 00:01:52,165 and that includes AI, 51 00:01:52,465 --> 00:01:56,064 helping teams work more efficiently and focus on 52 00:01:56,064 --> 00:01:57,204 what matters most? 53 00:01:57,939 --> 00:02:00,100 So the first thing that comes top of 54 00:02:00,100 --> 00:02:02,020 mind for me is is a quote by 55 00:02:02,020 --> 00:02:04,840 Hal Wolf, who's president and CEO of HIMSS. 56 00:02:05,859 --> 00:02:07,780 He said in a keynote speech a few 57 00:02:07,780 --> 00:02:09,800 years back, technology alone 58 00:02:10,260 --> 00:02:11,719 doesn't do anything. 59 00:02:12,525 --> 00:02:14,305 It's people, process, 60 00:02:14,604 --> 00:02:17,264 and technology. All three have to come together. 61 00:02:17,805 --> 00:02:19,905 And I thought that was just brilliant 62 00:02:20,205 --> 00:02:22,205 at the time because it's so true. Like, 63 00:02:22,205 --> 00:02:24,525 you you've got all these tools and things 64 00:02:24,525 --> 00:02:26,224 that you you wanna use, 65 00:02:26,849 --> 00:02:28,610 but you can't just throw tech at the 66 00:02:28,610 --> 00:02:30,469 problem and think it's gonna fix it. Right? 67 00:02:30,849 --> 00:02:33,009 In this particular scenario, I don't really see 68 00:02:33,009 --> 00:02:35,009 this as doing more with less as much 69 00:02:35,009 --> 00:02:38,150 as I see it being smart about providing 70 00:02:38,610 --> 00:02:41,669 your very highly valuable staff and team members 71 00:02:41,955 --> 00:02:44,594 with the right tools to be as efficient 72 00:02:44,594 --> 00:02:45,334 as possible. 73 00:02:46,114 --> 00:02:49,155 There's a man called Oliver King Smith, who's 74 00:02:49,155 --> 00:02:51,175 the founder of SmartR AI, 75 00:02:51,955 --> 00:02:55,094 and he refers to AI as assistive intelligence. 76 00:02:56,129 --> 00:02:57,810 And I think that's a much better way 77 00:02:57,810 --> 00:03:00,229 of thinking about this kind of technology because 78 00:03:00,449 --> 00:03:01,969 when we think about AI, it can be 79 00:03:01,969 --> 00:03:02,789 very intimidating. 80 00:03:03,409 --> 00:03:06,289 But, really, it's there to enhance your overall 81 00:03:06,289 --> 00:03:09,009 productivity and allow you to shift your focus 82 00:03:09,009 --> 00:03:10,549 away from ancillary tasks 83 00:03:11,235 --> 00:03:13,955 and work more towards that kind of higher 84 00:03:13,955 --> 00:03:15,254 caliber of work. 85 00:03:15,794 --> 00:03:18,534 There's a, I think, a major opportunity 86 00:03:18,834 --> 00:03:21,334 to streamline workflow processes and efficiencies 87 00:03:21,715 --> 00:03:23,094 using tools like that, 88 00:03:23,889 --> 00:03:25,430 specifically in the administrative 89 00:03:25,729 --> 00:03:27,189 space of health care. 90 00:03:27,490 --> 00:03:29,889 There's so much that goes on in patient 91 00:03:29,889 --> 00:03:30,629 care coordination 92 00:03:31,250 --> 00:03:33,729 that most clinicians are just kind of blissfully 93 00:03:33,729 --> 00:03:36,824 unaware of, just to be frank. And that's 94 00:03:36,905 --> 00:03:38,025 just kind of the way it is. There's 95 00:03:38,025 --> 00:03:41,384 this unfortunate kind of division between the clinical 96 00:03:41,384 --> 00:03:43,644 side and the administrative side of the house. 97 00:03:44,344 --> 00:03:46,504 So kind of just an example of this, 98 00:03:46,504 --> 00:03:47,884 I was working on a project, 99 00:03:48,264 --> 00:03:48,764 helping 100 00:03:49,144 --> 00:03:51,724 a physician practice transition to CPOE, 101 00:03:52,590 --> 00:03:53,090 And 102 00:03:53,629 --> 00:03:54,930 I got a lot of resistance, 103 00:03:55,469 --> 00:03:57,550 from the physicians. They did not wanna have 104 00:03:57,550 --> 00:03:58,530 to use a computer. 105 00:03:58,909 --> 00:03:59,409 And 106 00:04:00,110 --> 00:04:02,610 one said to me point blank, I 107 00:04:02,990 --> 00:04:04,750 I don't wanna have to do this. All 108 00:04:04,750 --> 00:04:06,030 I have to do right now is tell 109 00:04:06,030 --> 00:04:07,710 my nurse what I want and it magically 110 00:04:07,710 --> 00:04:09,764 happens. Like, those words came out his mouth. 111 00:04:09,764 --> 00:04:10,264 Magically 112 00:04:11,205 --> 00:04:12,325 happens. And so I had to explain to 113 00:04:12,325 --> 00:04:14,564 him it doesn't magically happen. Like, your nurse 114 00:04:14,564 --> 00:04:16,485 is now gonna spend two hours of her 115 00:04:16,485 --> 00:04:17,785 day coordinating 116 00:04:18,165 --> 00:04:19,464 with the Surgical Suite, 117 00:04:19,764 --> 00:04:20,100 with, 118 00:04:20,660 --> 00:04:23,459 your administrative staff, with your schedulers, with the 119 00:04:23,459 --> 00:04:25,699 patient trying to get this all set up 120 00:04:25,699 --> 00:04:27,379 so your patient can come in for their 121 00:04:27,379 --> 00:04:27,879 procedure. 122 00:04:28,819 --> 00:04:30,660 Whereas if you would just take five minutes 123 00:04:30,660 --> 00:04:32,100 and put the order in, now we can 124 00:04:32,100 --> 00:04:34,040 automate a lot of that on the backside 125 00:04:34,420 --> 00:04:35,800 using that as the trigger. 126 00:04:36,714 --> 00:04:37,214 Right? 127 00:04:37,675 --> 00:04:39,514 And he was completely unaware that that was 128 00:04:39,514 --> 00:04:40,175 a possibility. 129 00:04:40,555 --> 00:04:41,055 So 130 00:04:41,435 --> 00:04:43,754 there's so much that goes into preparing a 131 00:04:43,754 --> 00:04:45,914 patient for arrival to a facility and also 132 00:04:45,914 --> 00:04:47,694 a lot of follow-up work 133 00:04:47,995 --> 00:04:50,269 after their visit's over. And there's a lot 134 00:04:50,269 --> 00:04:52,350 of opportunity now to kind of let the 135 00:04:52,350 --> 00:04:54,029 computer take care of a lot of that 136 00:04:54,029 --> 00:04:55,009 manual stuff 137 00:04:55,389 --> 00:04:57,310 that allows you to then transcend to a 138 00:04:57,310 --> 00:04:59,230 higher level of work. Right? So now the 139 00:04:59,230 --> 00:05:00,750 nurse doesn't have to spend two hours of 140 00:05:00,750 --> 00:05:02,925 a day chasing people around and trying to 141 00:05:02,925 --> 00:05:05,485 coordinate and orchestrate things. The computer can kind 142 00:05:05,485 --> 00:05:06,865 of kick off those 143 00:05:07,324 --> 00:05:11,664 those workflow patterns and and, you know, trigger 144 00:05:12,125 --> 00:05:14,764 certain notifications and and kind of keep people 145 00:05:14,764 --> 00:05:16,144 in sync with what's happening 146 00:05:16,970 --> 00:05:18,810 while she can go now put her focus 147 00:05:18,810 --> 00:05:20,589 back on other patients. Right? 148 00:05:21,290 --> 00:05:23,149 So I know people are kind of afraid 149 00:05:23,449 --> 00:05:26,089 that they're gonna be replaced by AI, but 150 00:05:26,089 --> 00:05:27,789 I would argue we're not even close 151 00:05:28,089 --> 00:05:29,229 to being there yet. 152 00:05:29,529 --> 00:05:32,509 But your job will evolve into something else 153 00:05:32,704 --> 00:05:33,524 through the incorporation of it. 154 00:05:34,464 --> 00:05:36,004 And I think that 155 00:05:36,865 --> 00:05:38,805 we should be using it to offset 156 00:05:39,185 --> 00:05:41,745 that work burden, not thinking it's just gonna 157 00:05:41,745 --> 00:05:43,285 replace entire jobs. 158 00:05:43,745 --> 00:05:45,584 Well, it comes back to the trifecta that 159 00:05:45,584 --> 00:05:48,139 you mentioned. Right? People process technology, and I 160 00:05:48,139 --> 00:05:51,180 feel like this it's doing more with more 161 00:05:51,180 --> 00:05:52,939 instead of the do more with less. Right? 162 00:05:52,939 --> 00:05:54,560 I think that's very, very key. 163 00:05:55,180 --> 00:05:56,939 From your work, as you look at some 164 00:05:56,939 --> 00:05:58,540 of the partners that you're working with and 165 00:05:58,540 --> 00:06:00,720 certainly your own work, you made this experience 166 00:06:00,860 --> 00:06:02,800 firsthand. You have this experience firsthand. 167 00:06:03,435 --> 00:06:05,274 What are some of the results that these 168 00:06:05,274 --> 00:06:08,154 organizations are achieving when they're changing the approach 169 00:06:08,154 --> 00:06:10,555 and they're not just saying, hey, nurse, can 170 00:06:10,555 --> 00:06:13,214 you do this for me? They're actually handling 171 00:06:13,514 --> 00:06:15,355 handling on their own. And what are some 172 00:06:15,355 --> 00:06:17,995 of the success factors that stand out for 173 00:06:17,995 --> 00:06:18,495 you 174 00:06:19,139 --> 00:06:21,220 that have really been able to make these 175 00:06:21,220 --> 00:06:22,360 changes stick? 176 00:06:23,459 --> 00:06:25,800 So making the changes stick, 177 00:06:26,740 --> 00:06:27,240 there's 178 00:06:27,860 --> 00:06:29,860 a few things that there's a lot that 179 00:06:29,860 --> 00:06:30,839 goes into play. 180 00:06:31,865 --> 00:06:32,584 Let me, 181 00:06:33,384 --> 00:06:35,144 I'm gonna tell a story real quick and 182 00:06:35,305 --> 00:06:37,944 Yeah. Go ahead. Help illustrate this. Back in 183 00:06:37,944 --> 00:06:39,245 the height of COVID, 184 00:06:40,024 --> 00:06:40,845 we had, 185 00:06:41,544 --> 00:06:44,024 instruction at UT Medical Center that we needed 186 00:06:44,024 --> 00:06:46,524 to stand up a monoclonal antibody unit. 187 00:06:46,829 --> 00:06:50,269 This was an experimental IV infusion therapy that 188 00:06:50,269 --> 00:06:52,589 preceded the vaccine, and it was intended for 189 00:06:52,589 --> 00:06:55,089 folks that were already sick with COVID. 190 00:06:55,629 --> 00:06:58,509 And the goal was to keep them from 191 00:06:58,509 --> 00:07:01,009 getting bad sick, technical term, 192 00:07:01,404 --> 00:07:02,704 and ending up in the hospital. 193 00:07:03,084 --> 00:07:04,685 It wasn't intended to be a cure. It's 194 00:07:04,685 --> 00:07:07,324 just to help bolster their immune system so 195 00:07:07,324 --> 00:07:09,104 that they could fight it off. But 196 00:07:09,404 --> 00:07:11,404 our instructions were if you can service eight 197 00:07:11,404 --> 00:07:13,245 to 10 patients a day, that would be 198 00:07:13,245 --> 00:07:15,259 good enough. And we've looked at that and 199 00:07:15,259 --> 00:07:15,759 went, 200 00:07:16,300 --> 00:07:17,900 eight to 10 patients. They're like, why even 201 00:07:17,900 --> 00:07:20,139 bother? Eight to 10 patients isn't gonna put 202 00:07:20,139 --> 00:07:22,160 a dent in this problem. Right? 203 00:07:22,699 --> 00:07:24,560 And we knew that the real driver 204 00:07:24,939 --> 00:07:25,439 of 205 00:07:25,819 --> 00:07:28,960 volume was gonna be how quickly can we 206 00:07:29,020 --> 00:07:29,520 triage 207 00:07:30,115 --> 00:07:30,854 the referrals 208 00:07:31,634 --> 00:07:33,235 to get the patients through the system and 209 00:07:33,235 --> 00:07:34,694 into the schedule. Right? 210 00:07:35,314 --> 00:07:35,814 So 211 00:07:36,595 --> 00:07:37,574 we brought 212 00:07:37,954 --> 00:07:39,574 everybody together and 213 00:07:39,875 --> 00:07:41,634 talked about it with the people that we're 214 00:07:41,634 --> 00:07:44,034 gonna have to be administering the medications, the 215 00:07:44,034 --> 00:07:45,414 pharmacists, the nurse, 216 00:07:46,420 --> 00:07:48,500 the schedulers, you know, everybody that was gonna 217 00:07:48,500 --> 00:07:50,199 be involved in this, and we designed 218 00:07:50,899 --> 00:07:53,779 a system. We used a combination of digital 219 00:07:53,779 --> 00:07:56,339 tools in the EHR and also products from 220 00:07:56,339 --> 00:07:57,584 Intellistack as well, 221 00:07:58,305 --> 00:08:00,805 to design and implement a referral and triaging 222 00:08:00,865 --> 00:08:03,664 system that would allow us to quickly capture 223 00:08:03,664 --> 00:08:04,324 the referrals 224 00:08:04,625 --> 00:08:08,384 and streamline scheduling and eliminate those bottlenecks so 225 00:08:08,384 --> 00:08:10,625 we could get people through faster and then 226 00:08:10,625 --> 00:08:11,925 scale as needed. 227 00:08:12,470 --> 00:08:13,370 At our peak, 228 00:08:13,750 --> 00:08:16,330 we serviced around a 120 patients a day. 229 00:08:17,110 --> 00:08:20,230 Our clinic was open two full years, and 230 00:08:20,230 --> 00:08:22,550 we triaged over 10,000 231 00:08:22,550 --> 00:08:24,330 referrals during that time. 232 00:08:24,725 --> 00:08:25,944 Other health care facilities 233 00:08:26,485 --> 00:08:27,464 in that area 234 00:08:27,845 --> 00:08:30,165 who also were offering this therapy closed in 235 00:08:30,165 --> 00:08:30,904 six months, 236 00:08:31,285 --> 00:08:32,965 and as far as I know, never saw 237 00:08:32,965 --> 00:08:34,664 more than eight to 10 patients a day. 238 00:08:35,205 --> 00:08:35,705 So 239 00:08:36,579 --> 00:08:39,139 the reason that worked was a lot of 240 00:08:39,139 --> 00:08:42,179 contributing factors. Right? But one of the biggest 241 00:08:42,179 --> 00:08:44,579 ones I would attribute to, not just the 242 00:08:44,579 --> 00:08:45,079 tech, 243 00:08:45,459 --> 00:08:47,320 but we brought in 244 00:08:47,700 --> 00:08:50,120 the people that were gonna do the work. 245 00:08:50,345 --> 00:08:52,184 And we talked to them, and we tried 246 00:08:52,184 --> 00:08:52,924 to understand, 247 00:08:54,105 --> 00:08:56,024 from their point of view what they were 248 00:08:56,024 --> 00:08:58,684 gonna need in order to be successful. Right? 249 00:08:59,304 --> 00:08:59,804 So 250 00:09:00,264 --> 00:09:02,504 to me, that's what really makes it stick 251 00:09:02,504 --> 00:09:03,884 because you can throw 252 00:09:04,470 --> 00:09:06,149 whatever tech you want, and it doesn't matter 253 00:09:06,149 --> 00:09:07,509 how cool it is, you could build a 254 00:09:07,509 --> 00:09:09,470 rocket to the moon. If nobody knows how 255 00:09:09,470 --> 00:09:11,110 to fly the rocket ship, you're not going 256 00:09:11,110 --> 00:09:12,089 anywhere. Right? 257 00:09:12,470 --> 00:09:12,970 So 258 00:09:13,589 --> 00:09:15,990 I I always tell people you've got to 259 00:09:15,990 --> 00:09:17,690 talk to the people doing the work 260 00:09:18,044 --> 00:09:18,544 and, 261 00:09:19,085 --> 00:09:20,764 give them a seat at the table and 262 00:09:20,764 --> 00:09:23,245 a voice to provide input on how to 263 00:09:23,245 --> 00:09:26,544 design and implement those processes. If they're involved, 264 00:09:27,085 --> 00:09:29,804 you will have a much easier time, getting 265 00:09:29,804 --> 00:09:31,745 buy in and adoption for the implementation. 266 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,240 That's one key factor that's been emerging as 267 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:36,860 well for us in a lot of conversations 268 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,600 is the adoption piece. Adoption is crucial, especially 269 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:41,820 for AI success 270 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:44,540 in this space, which is so, so critical. 271 00:09:45,035 --> 00:09:47,835 Looking then to again, you've highlighted this process 272 00:09:47,835 --> 00:09:49,595 and and how it worked. When we look 273 00:09:49,595 --> 00:09:52,315 at leadership and and specifically health care leaders, 274 00:09:52,315 --> 00:09:52,815 obviously, 275 00:09:53,595 --> 00:09:55,835 what is one step that they can take 276 00:09:55,835 --> 00:09:58,715 now to better prepare for this future that's 277 00:09:58,715 --> 00:10:01,350 obviously driven by technology and specifically 278 00:10:01,649 --> 00:10:04,690 AI to ensure their organizations are set up 279 00:10:04,690 --> 00:10:06,710 for lasting efficiency gains? 280 00:10:07,889 --> 00:10:08,389 So 281 00:10:08,929 --> 00:10:10,450 I have a a saying that I like 282 00:10:10,450 --> 00:10:12,070 to throw around a lot, which is 283 00:10:12,529 --> 00:10:14,470 managers theorize about problems, 284 00:10:14,995 --> 00:10:17,475 and the frontline worker actually knows what the 285 00:10:17,475 --> 00:10:18,375 problems are. 286 00:10:18,995 --> 00:10:20,514 Not just knows what the problems are, but 287 00:10:20,514 --> 00:10:22,694 they know what the work grounds are. Right? 288 00:10:23,235 --> 00:10:26,034 So it kind of goes back to, one, 289 00:10:26,034 --> 00:10:28,180 you've got to involve the right people, and 290 00:10:28,180 --> 00:10:30,580 two, don't assume that AI is gonna be 291 00:10:30,580 --> 00:10:33,060 the magic potion that solves all of your 292 00:10:33,060 --> 00:10:33,560 problems. 293 00:10:34,259 --> 00:10:36,019 You need to do your research. You need 294 00:10:36,019 --> 00:10:38,340 to talk to people and figure out start 295 00:10:38,340 --> 00:10:39,160 by identifying 296 00:10:39,700 --> 00:10:42,519 what problems, what bottlenecks, what inefficiencies 297 00:10:43,254 --> 00:10:43,914 are you 298 00:10:44,294 --> 00:10:46,774 trying to solve for. I would start there. 299 00:10:46,774 --> 00:10:48,375 I wouldn't I wouldn't dive off the deep 300 00:10:48,375 --> 00:10:49,735 end of the pool and let's find some 301 00:10:49,735 --> 00:10:51,495 cool AI and figure out how to how 302 00:10:51,495 --> 00:10:54,554 to, you know, pigeonhole it into our organization, 303 00:10:56,149 --> 00:10:57,830 because it may not be the thing you 304 00:10:57,830 --> 00:10:59,529 need, right? That's backwards. 305 00:11:00,149 --> 00:11:02,389 Figure out what you wanna make better. Figure 306 00:11:02,389 --> 00:11:05,769 out by identifying what problems you wanna solve, 307 00:11:05,990 --> 00:11:08,410 and then you can go and start researching 308 00:11:09,115 --> 00:11:10,795 what AI tools are available. It doesn't even 309 00:11:10,795 --> 00:11:12,654 have to be AI. It can be anything 310 00:11:12,955 --> 00:11:14,975 supportive that will be 311 00:11:15,514 --> 00:11:16,174 a value 312 00:11:16,475 --> 00:11:19,355 to, like I said, support the process. Because 313 00:11:19,355 --> 00:11:20,095 that's all 314 00:11:20,554 --> 00:11:23,375 AI does. That's all technology does. It supports 315 00:11:23,970 --> 00:11:26,129 the process that you already have in place 316 00:11:26,129 --> 00:11:27,970 and have decided on. So if you try 317 00:11:27,970 --> 00:11:30,610 to pigeonhole something in there without taking a 318 00:11:30,610 --> 00:11:32,850 look at the bigger picture, you're gonna get 319 00:11:32,850 --> 00:11:35,570 failed implementation every time. You know, I think 320 00:11:35,570 --> 00:11:37,169 the best AI tools are the ones you 321 00:11:37,169 --> 00:11:38,884 never see. Yeah. Absolutely. 322 00:11:39,504 --> 00:11:40,945 A quick follow-up to this. I think this 323 00:11:40,945 --> 00:11:42,545 is an important question that I wanted to 324 00:11:42,545 --> 00:11:44,144 ask because I think it's key to this 325 00:11:44,144 --> 00:11:44,644 conversation. 326 00:11:45,504 --> 00:11:46,644 What's at stake 327 00:11:47,745 --> 00:11:49,125 if this doesn't happen? 328 00:11:49,745 --> 00:11:52,350 If they don't do this, if they don't 329 00:11:52,350 --> 00:11:55,410 follow the red thread? What's at stake here? 330 00:11:56,269 --> 00:11:57,730 Candidly, I think 331 00:11:58,029 --> 00:11:58,529 many 332 00:11:59,070 --> 00:11:59,809 health care 333 00:12:00,269 --> 00:12:00,769 organizations 334 00:12:02,110 --> 00:12:03,970 operate under kind of this 335 00:12:04,455 --> 00:12:07,995 comforting notion that health care as an industry 336 00:12:08,134 --> 00:12:09,754 is recession proof, 337 00:12:10,615 --> 00:12:11,115 and 338 00:12:11,654 --> 00:12:13,995 to a certain degree it is because everyone 339 00:12:14,215 --> 00:12:16,455 will always need health care in some form 340 00:12:16,455 --> 00:12:17,115 or fashion, 341 00:12:17,629 --> 00:12:20,529 what they tend to forget is your individual 342 00:12:20,750 --> 00:12:21,250 organization 343 00:12:21,870 --> 00:12:23,490 is not recession proof. 344 00:12:24,110 --> 00:12:26,350 Just because the industry is not going anywhere 345 00:12:26,350 --> 00:12:29,009 doesn't mean that if you decide 346 00:12:29,710 --> 00:12:32,370 not to take steps to make improvements 347 00:12:33,365 --> 00:12:35,764 doesn't mean that your particular organization will be 348 00:12:35,764 --> 00:12:37,625 around in the future. Right? 349 00:12:38,324 --> 00:12:40,404 And to be fair to to health care 350 00:12:40,404 --> 00:12:41,764 facilities, I think a lot of people think 351 00:12:41,764 --> 00:12:44,084 they've got deeper pockets than they really do. 352 00:12:44,084 --> 00:12:44,584 Right? 353 00:12:45,044 --> 00:12:48,080 From what I've seen, most hospitals, even large 354 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,120 systems, have very narrow operating margins. They don't 355 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:52,820 have a lot of money to throw around. 356 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:53,620 So 357 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,720 you've got to be intentional and deliberate about 358 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:57,539 where you're spending. 359 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,235 But the wonderful thing about AI, even though 360 00:13:01,455 --> 00:13:03,615 it's been around a lot longer than I 361 00:13:03,615 --> 00:13:04,674 think people realize, 362 00:13:05,455 --> 00:13:08,355 it's at a maturity level now where 363 00:13:08,735 --> 00:13:11,075 it can be implemented and 364 00:13:11,539 --> 00:13:12,759 offset, you know, 365 00:13:13,059 --> 00:13:15,459 your office manager who's been asking for three 366 00:13:15,459 --> 00:13:17,779 extra people to support the volumes for the 367 00:13:17,779 --> 00:13:19,959 past four years and never gets approved. 368 00:13:20,339 --> 00:13:21,539 Well, is there a way that we can 369 00:13:21,539 --> 00:13:23,799 implement AI to offset the need 370 00:13:24,179 --> 00:13:26,100 to hire those people so that the people 371 00:13:26,100 --> 00:13:26,839 she's got 372 00:13:27,365 --> 00:13:30,884 can be more more efficient and improve the 373 00:13:30,884 --> 00:13:31,784 patient throughput. 374 00:13:32,644 --> 00:13:33,144 And 375 00:13:33,445 --> 00:13:36,404 then not just stop the hemorrhaging of losing 376 00:13:36,404 --> 00:13:38,105 money, but now we can maybe start 377 00:13:38,644 --> 00:13:40,440 making money. I mean, health care is a 378 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:42,120 business. We don't have to like it, but 379 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:42,779 it is. 380 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:45,160 So that that would be my thoughts on 381 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,340 that is is if if you 382 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,200 if you wanna maintain the status quo, the 383 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,759 world won't move on without you. That's just 384 00:13:52,759 --> 00:13:53,660 the way it is. 385 00:13:54,144 --> 00:13:54,644 Especially 386 00:13:55,424 --> 00:13:57,985 around technology and AI. I think that's especially 387 00:13:57,985 --> 00:14:00,065 true in that space. Sarah, thank you so 388 00:14:00,065 --> 00:14:01,585 much for your time and insights. What a 389 00:14:01,585 --> 00:14:04,304 fantastic conversation. Thanks for being here. Yes. Thanks 390 00:14:04,304 --> 00:14:06,304 for having me. Absolutely. And we also want 391 00:14:06,304 --> 00:14:08,526 to thank our podcast sponsor at Telestack. You 392 00:14:08,526 --> 00:14:10,686 can tune into more podcasts from Becker's Healthcare 393 00:14:10,686 --> 00:14:14,866 by visiting our podcast page at beckershospitalreview.com.