1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,419 This is where health care leadership comes together. 2 00:00:04,559 --> 00:00:07,679 Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500 3 00:00:07,679 --> 00:00:10,880 hospital and health system executives and nearly 800 4 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:12,019 speakers to Chicago 5 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,259 April. 6 00:00:14,615 --> 00:00:17,335 This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas 7 00:00:17,335 --> 00:00:20,214 Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former president George 8 00:00:20,214 --> 00:00:22,934 w Bush. For the agenda and event details, 9 00:00:22,934 --> 00:00:25,175 visit beckershospitalreview.com 10 00:00:25,175 --> 00:00:26,855 and click on the events tab in the 11 00:00:26,855 --> 00:00:29,574 upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you 12 00:00:29,574 --> 00:00:30,314 in Chicago. 13 00:00:31,550 --> 00:00:34,189 Hello, everyone. Welcome to Becker's Healthcare Podcast. I'm 14 00:00:34,189 --> 00:00:36,109 Scott King. Thrilled today to be joined by 15 00:00:36,109 --> 00:00:39,310 a very special guest, Pranita Allegheny, administrator and 16 00:00:39,310 --> 00:00:41,170 assistant professor of healthcare administration 17 00:00:41,630 --> 00:00:44,195 over at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and 18 00:00:44,195 --> 00:00:45,875 Science. Pranita, thank you so much for doing 19 00:00:45,875 --> 00:00:47,494 this. Appreciate it. How are you? 20 00:00:47,954 --> 00:00:49,554 Hi. Thanks, Scott. Thanks for the opportunity to 21 00:00:49,554 --> 00:00:51,314 be here, and I'm really excited to to 22 00:00:51,314 --> 00:00:52,215 chat with you. 23 00:00:52,674 --> 00:00:53,954 Excited to have you. We have a lot 24 00:00:53,954 --> 00:00:56,289 of big topics and and trends in in 25 00:00:56,289 --> 00:00:57,729 health care to get to. Really gonna lean 26 00:00:57,729 --> 00:00:59,890 on your expertise for those. But, before we 27 00:00:59,890 --> 00:01:00,850 get to those, I was wondering if you 28 00:01:00,850 --> 00:01:02,369 could please just tell us a little bit 29 00:01:02,369 --> 00:01:04,369 about your your background and your experience in 30 00:01:04,369 --> 00:01:05,109 health care. 31 00:01:05,810 --> 00:01:08,894 Certainly. So I'm Prineetha Laginti. I work as 32 00:01:08,894 --> 00:01:11,394 an administrator at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, 33 00:01:12,015 --> 00:01:13,234 where my responsibilities 34 00:01:13,774 --> 00:01:17,394 include supporting our advanced AI and innovation hub 35 00:01:17,534 --> 00:01:18,994 as well as our Arizona 36 00:01:19,295 --> 00:01:20,430 enablement hub. 37 00:01:21,390 --> 00:01:23,870 My world really lives at the intersection of 38 00:01:23,870 --> 00:01:24,930 health care operations, 39 00:01:25,709 --> 00:01:27,569 digital transformation, and AI. 40 00:01:28,430 --> 00:01:30,189 And as far as sort of coming into 41 00:01:30,189 --> 00:01:32,270 this work, you know, honestly, Scott, I I 42 00:01:32,270 --> 00:01:34,109 didn't really come into health care because of 43 00:01:34,109 --> 00:01:36,125 technology. I came into it because of the 44 00:01:36,125 --> 00:01:36,625 people. 45 00:01:37,244 --> 00:01:39,244 Very early on, I was a volunteer at 46 00:01:39,244 --> 00:01:41,104 a safety net hospital and 47 00:01:41,564 --> 00:01:43,965 got to see some some realities of health 48 00:01:43,965 --> 00:01:44,465 care. 49 00:01:44,765 --> 00:01:46,765 I was able to see and witness how 50 00:01:46,765 --> 00:01:49,004 powerful health care can be when systems work 51 00:01:49,004 --> 00:01:50,064 for patients and 52 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,799 also how it can be painful when things 53 00:01:52,799 --> 00:01:55,600 don't work, and that really fueled sort of 54 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,159 my experience. I initially wanted to be a 55 00:01:58,159 --> 00:01:58,659 physician. 56 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,240 And now over a decade later at Mayo 57 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,135 Clinic as an administrator, I've had the chance 58 00:02:05,135 --> 00:02:07,854 to work across clinical practice, so our really 59 00:02:07,854 --> 00:02:09,155 our operational front, 60 00:02:10,094 --> 00:02:11,955 research as well as enterprise 61 00:02:12,254 --> 00:02:12,754 initiatives. 62 00:02:13,294 --> 00:02:14,974 And today, I'm really proud that, 63 00:02:15,455 --> 00:02:18,254 I get to lead the work around digital 64 00:02:18,254 --> 00:02:19,155 health and advanced 65 00:02:19,455 --> 00:02:21,590 AI, and I'm really proud of, 66 00:02:22,229 --> 00:02:24,469 being able to translate those big ideas that 67 00:02:24,469 --> 00:02:25,370 everyone has, 68 00:02:25,830 --> 00:02:27,830 into things that actually make someone's day a 69 00:02:27,830 --> 00:02:30,310 little bit easier, whether that's our patients or 70 00:02:30,310 --> 00:02:31,050 our staff. 71 00:02:31,590 --> 00:02:33,110 Well, thanks so much, Puneet. It's great to 72 00:02:33,110 --> 00:02:35,754 hear about all that that background info you 73 00:02:35,754 --> 00:02:37,694 shared and and great to hear about your 74 00:02:37,754 --> 00:02:40,074 people first focus, you know, even dealing with 75 00:02:40,074 --> 00:02:42,555 all this emerging tech we have now in 76 00:02:42,555 --> 00:02:45,194 health care. So the the first topic I 77 00:02:45,194 --> 00:02:46,635 I wanted to ask you about, the first 78 00:02:46,635 --> 00:02:48,900 question I have for you is what opportunities 79 00:02:48,900 --> 00:02:50,740 and headwinds do you have your eye on 80 00:02:50,740 --> 00:02:52,040 right now in health care? 81 00:02:52,580 --> 00:02:54,439 Yeah. I think one of the biggest opportunities 82 00:02:54,580 --> 00:02:56,680 we have right now is really having 83 00:02:57,139 --> 00:02:58,520 more honest conversations 84 00:02:58,900 --> 00:03:01,620 about how AI should show up in health 85 00:03:01,620 --> 00:03:02,085 care. 86 00:03:03,284 --> 00:03:04,264 At Mayo Clinic, 87 00:03:04,564 --> 00:03:06,025 our approach is very intentional. 88 00:03:06,485 --> 00:03:07,545 It's decentralized, 89 00:03:08,245 --> 00:03:09,145 staff led, 90 00:03:09,444 --> 00:03:11,944 and clinician driven with a focus on 91 00:03:12,245 --> 00:03:12,745 governance, 92 00:03:13,125 --> 00:03:13,625 equity, 93 00:03:13,925 --> 00:03:15,385 ethics, and transparency. 94 00:03:16,509 --> 00:03:19,310 And quite honestly, we're implementing AI to enhance 95 00:03:19,310 --> 00:03:23,009 that clinical decision making, empowering our patient outcomes, 96 00:03:23,389 --> 00:03:24,849 and streamlining care. 97 00:03:25,789 --> 00:03:26,930 Really emphasizing 98 00:03:27,229 --> 00:03:27,729 how 99 00:03:28,110 --> 00:03:29,729 AI empowers, not replaces 100 00:03:30,294 --> 00:03:31,354 our our people, 101 00:03:31,735 --> 00:03:33,814 but really taking the friction out of the 102 00:03:33,814 --> 00:03:35,674 system by reducing burden, 103 00:03:36,134 --> 00:03:38,155 improving our workflows, personalizing 104 00:03:38,534 --> 00:03:39,594 care for our patients, 105 00:03:39,974 --> 00:03:41,354 and expanding access, 106 00:03:41,735 --> 00:03:43,034 to high quality care. 107 00:03:43,610 --> 00:03:44,810 Well, let me ask you a follow-up there, 108 00:03:44,810 --> 00:03:47,370 Pernitha. How involved should the clinician be then? 109 00:03:47,370 --> 00:03:48,729 What what do you have them doing with 110 00:03:48,729 --> 00:03:50,189 the the different AI uses? 111 00:03:50,810 --> 00:03:52,569 Yeah. I think that's very dependent on the 112 00:03:52,569 --> 00:03:55,254 use case of the technology. Right? So if 113 00:03:55,254 --> 00:03:58,294 we're thinking about technology like ambient listening and 114 00:03:58,294 --> 00:03:58,794 documentation, 115 00:03:59,335 --> 00:04:02,955 which was a a huge trend last year, 116 00:04:03,094 --> 00:04:05,094 we certainly want them to be at the 117 00:04:05,094 --> 00:04:05,594 table, 118 00:04:06,294 --> 00:04:08,199 because at the end of the day, it's 119 00:04:08,199 --> 00:04:10,520 their workflow that's impacted. So you want them 120 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,000 to be engaged in both from a product 121 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,220 development design perspective, but also from an implementation, 122 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,639 and where is the right opportunity for us 123 00:04:19,639 --> 00:04:21,899 to engage this within the workflow. 124 00:04:22,724 --> 00:04:23,224 Absolutely. 125 00:04:24,004 --> 00:04:25,524 And I also wanted to ask you, how 126 00:04:25,524 --> 00:04:28,264 are you thinking about growth and adding value 127 00:04:28,564 --> 00:04:30,104 to your organization right now? 128 00:04:30,805 --> 00:04:31,784 So I personally, 129 00:04:32,564 --> 00:04:34,985 think about growth, less is doing 130 00:04:35,420 --> 00:04:35,920 more 131 00:04:36,379 --> 00:04:38,620 and more so of doing the things better 132 00:04:38,620 --> 00:04:39,839 and being more connected. 133 00:04:40,139 --> 00:04:43,199 And, certainly, Mayo Clinic differentiates itself through 134 00:04:43,580 --> 00:04:47,020 discovery, delivery, and diffusion, and my role often 135 00:04:47,020 --> 00:04:48,555 sits right in the middle of that. Right? 136 00:04:48,555 --> 00:04:50,514 A lot of my work is focused on 137 00:04:50,514 --> 00:04:51,014 translation. 138 00:04:51,634 --> 00:04:53,475 And how do you take something that's cutting 139 00:04:53,475 --> 00:04:54,295 edge technology, 140 00:04:54,754 --> 00:04:56,615 whether it's a care enabling 141 00:04:56,995 --> 00:05:00,194 AI model that can predict your likelihood of 142 00:05:00,194 --> 00:05:00,855 a disease 143 00:05:01,555 --> 00:05:03,254 or a digital care capability 144 00:05:03,970 --> 00:05:07,250 and make it usable, make it trusted and 145 00:05:07,250 --> 00:05:07,750 scalable 146 00:05:08,529 --> 00:05:11,509 within our clinical environments. Right? 147 00:05:11,889 --> 00:05:14,370 And when that growth is done right, I 148 00:05:14,370 --> 00:05:16,389 think, really, innovation stops feeling 149 00:05:16,769 --> 00:05:18,930 more of a project and really starts to 150 00:05:18,930 --> 00:05:21,485 feel about how we're shifting the paradigm 151 00:05:22,024 --> 00:05:22,764 of care, 152 00:05:23,144 --> 00:05:23,964 being delivered. 153 00:05:24,824 --> 00:05:27,064 What's one risk for investment that you think 154 00:05:27,064 --> 00:05:28,045 is worth making 155 00:05:28,425 --> 00:05:30,264 this year in 2026 156 00:05:30,264 --> 00:05:30,764 here? 157 00:05:31,305 --> 00:05:32,524 So I think, certainly, 158 00:05:32,990 --> 00:05:35,230 the investment can never be wrong when you 159 00:05:35,230 --> 00:05:38,189 invest in new people, not just technology or 160 00:05:38,189 --> 00:05:38,689 platform. 161 00:05:39,149 --> 00:05:41,149 And I know it's always tempting. We we 162 00:05:41,149 --> 00:05:43,550 love the latest technology, and we wanna focus 163 00:05:43,550 --> 00:05:45,250 on the technology itself. But 164 00:05:45,604 --> 00:05:46,964 you also have to make sure that your 165 00:05:46,964 --> 00:05:49,444 workforce is ready for that, and that includes 166 00:05:49,444 --> 00:05:53,384 things like educating your workforce, having, governance structures 167 00:05:53,444 --> 00:05:54,024 in place, 168 00:05:54,404 --> 00:05:57,464 and bringing your staff and care teams along 169 00:05:57,939 --> 00:05:58,920 in that process. 170 00:05:59,860 --> 00:06:01,460 And, certainly, I think, you know, the the 171 00:06:01,460 --> 00:06:03,060 trend for 2026 172 00:06:03,060 --> 00:06:03,560 is, 173 00:06:04,020 --> 00:06:06,279 with a lot of conversation around agentic 174 00:06:06,819 --> 00:06:07,319 AI. 175 00:06:07,779 --> 00:06:08,279 And 176 00:06:08,580 --> 00:06:10,920 agentic AI will only be successful 177 00:06:11,779 --> 00:06:12,759 when the people 178 00:06:13,194 --> 00:06:15,214 are used to help shape that solution 179 00:06:15,915 --> 00:06:18,095 and can then grow in the adoption 180 00:06:18,714 --> 00:06:19,615 of an agent. 181 00:06:19,915 --> 00:06:21,355 So if I was, 182 00:06:22,154 --> 00:06:23,834 to to comment on the investment, I think 183 00:06:23,834 --> 00:06:25,050 the investment is people. 184 00:06:25,849 --> 00:06:27,209 Yeah. I think that's a good point too 185 00:06:27,209 --> 00:06:28,829 because once, you know, once you 186 00:06:29,449 --> 00:06:31,930 you procure an agent or or use it 187 00:06:31,930 --> 00:06:34,329 somehow, you don't just have it. There's a 188 00:06:34,329 --> 00:06:36,089 lot more work to be done, you know, 189 00:06:36,089 --> 00:06:38,274 to to foster these agents and set them 190 00:06:38,274 --> 00:06:39,795 up in a way to help your system 191 00:06:39,795 --> 00:06:41,394 or or any business. Is that is that 192 00:06:41,394 --> 00:06:42,615 kinda what you're doing too? 193 00:06:42,995 --> 00:06:45,714 Absolutely. I mean, agents or any technology for 194 00:06:45,714 --> 00:06:47,795 that matter is not a one and done. 195 00:06:47,795 --> 00:06:49,954 Right? Like, a product is a living product. 196 00:06:49,954 --> 00:06:51,714 You have to make enhancements. You have to 197 00:06:51,714 --> 00:06:54,629 continue to to grow and evolve as your 198 00:06:54,629 --> 00:06:57,750 needs of your end user, your customer, your 199 00:06:57,750 --> 00:07:00,069 organization change. So I still I I would 200 00:07:00,069 --> 00:07:02,709 strongly say that we need to be able 201 00:07:02,709 --> 00:07:03,610 to be nimble 202 00:07:03,990 --> 00:07:06,490 to meet the needs of health care 203 00:07:06,925 --> 00:07:08,605 today, but also be prepared for the health 204 00:07:08,605 --> 00:07:09,585 care of tomorrow. 205 00:07:10,285 --> 00:07:12,045 And where do you see the best opportunities 206 00:07:12,045 --> 00:07:13,264 for growth in the future? 207 00:07:14,045 --> 00:07:15,004 So I'm really, 208 00:07:15,564 --> 00:07:17,425 excited about air delivery, 209 00:07:18,285 --> 00:07:20,629 that's very human centric in design, and I 210 00:07:20,629 --> 00:07:21,689 think you could probably, 211 00:07:22,310 --> 00:07:25,289 appreciate that from my previous responses as well. 212 00:07:25,589 --> 00:07:28,310 And we're really focused on building capabilities that 213 00:07:28,310 --> 00:07:30,009 span our physical, 214 00:07:30,310 --> 00:07:33,750 digital, and virtual care, but really touching everything 215 00:07:33,750 --> 00:07:35,449 from our three shielded 216 00:07:35,964 --> 00:07:37,104 approach of an institution 217 00:07:37,404 --> 00:07:39,185 as practice, research, and education. 218 00:07:39,884 --> 00:07:41,485 And, again, my personal belief is that the 219 00:07:41,485 --> 00:07:42,865 real opportunity is 220 00:07:43,485 --> 00:07:46,384 when we have insights that form that connective 221 00:07:46,524 --> 00:07:47,024 tissue 222 00:07:47,644 --> 00:07:49,644 between all of those shields and between all 223 00:07:49,644 --> 00:07:50,464 of those capabilities. 224 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:52,879 And so I think a part of that 225 00:07:52,879 --> 00:07:54,819 growth and the opportunity is really 226 00:07:55,199 --> 00:07:56,180 learning fast, 227 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,680 on how we can personalize care better and 228 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,060 really extend our expertise beyond traditional walls, 229 00:08:04,305 --> 00:08:05,524 while still providing 230 00:08:05,824 --> 00:08:06,324 that 231 00:08:06,785 --> 00:08:09,665 hug and human connection that we're so used 232 00:08:09,665 --> 00:08:11,745 to and and desire from any health care 233 00:08:11,745 --> 00:08:12,245 institution. 234 00:08:13,185 --> 00:08:15,105 You know, since you mentioned that, you know, 235 00:08:15,105 --> 00:08:16,485 that get people first 236 00:08:17,060 --> 00:08:20,099 focus you have and investing in people, I 237 00:08:20,099 --> 00:08:21,939 I wanted to get your take on how 238 00:08:21,939 --> 00:08:24,099 you think you've evolved as a leader and 239 00:08:24,099 --> 00:08:27,220 maybe any any great leadership advice that someone 240 00:08:27,220 --> 00:08:28,754 shared with you in your career so far. 241 00:08:29,235 --> 00:08:31,314 Yeah. No. That's a a great question. I 242 00:08:31,314 --> 00:08:33,315 would say I started off more as that 243 00:08:33,315 --> 00:08:36,115 frontline leader, as a a manager of a 244 00:08:36,115 --> 00:08:37,014 clinical practice, 245 00:08:37,715 --> 00:08:39,414 early in my career. And 246 00:08:39,794 --> 00:08:41,475 at some point in your career journey, as 247 00:08:41,475 --> 00:08:43,174 every leader will tell you, is 248 00:08:43,649 --> 00:08:45,889 health care is about the people for the 249 00:08:45,889 --> 00:08:48,209 people, and, certainly, you can have digital or 250 00:08:48,209 --> 00:08:50,929 any other investments, but you're still serving people 251 00:08:50,929 --> 00:08:52,069 at the end of the day. 252 00:08:52,929 --> 00:08:55,029 But I will share a quick quote 253 00:08:55,584 --> 00:08:57,904 from one of my wonderful mentors that I've 254 00:08:57,904 --> 00:09:00,384 had on the leadership journey, which is hone 255 00:09:00,384 --> 00:09:01,125 your craft. 256 00:09:01,664 --> 00:09:03,664 And that has really rung true to who 257 00:09:03,664 --> 00:09:06,084 I am and my leadership style is 258 00:09:06,544 --> 00:09:08,960 irrespective of whether you're in a clinical practice, 259 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,039 whether you're leading digital, whether you're working with 260 00:09:11,039 --> 00:09:13,460 an AI team. I think it's really important 261 00:09:13,519 --> 00:09:15,379 to hone your craft in that moment 262 00:09:15,759 --> 00:09:18,720 in service of those that you serve, which 263 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:19,620 is your patients. 264 00:09:20,434 --> 00:09:21,894 I think that's some great advice. 265 00:09:22,274 --> 00:09:24,355 Great quote. Thank you so much for sharing, 266 00:09:24,355 --> 00:09:26,274 Priti, and thank you for joining us on 267 00:09:26,274 --> 00:09:28,274 the podcast and for a great discussion. Look 268 00:09:28,274 --> 00:09:30,274 forward to working with you again soon. Thanks, 269 00:09:30,274 --> 00:09:30,774 Scott.