WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:04.319 - There's a small circle of people who truly 2 00:00:04.319 --> 00:00:05.919 - understand what it takes to lead a health 3 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:08.660 - system right now. The decisions are enormous. 4 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:11.919 - The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes 5 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:14.099 - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained. 6 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:16.774 - That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality. 7 00:00:17.234 --> 00:00:19.074 - And it's why the most effective c suite 8 00:00:19.074 --> 00:00:21.154 - leaders are deliberate about where do they go 9 00:00:21.154 --> 00:00:22.535 - to pressure test their thinking. 10 00:00:22.994 --> 00:00:25.974 - Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable 11 00:00:26.274 --> 00:00:28.594 - brings together more than 1,500 12 00:00:28.594 --> 00:00:29.894 - executive level attendees 13 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:32.799 - and nearly 400 speakers for four days built 14 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:34.739 - around growth, financial sustainability, 15 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:38.079 - workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't 16 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:39.140 - have easy answers. 17 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:41.840 - Join us November second through the fifth in 18 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:42.340 - Chicago. 19 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:44.820 - For the agenda and event details, 20 00:00:45.195 --> 00:00:47.355 - visit beckershospitalreview.com 21 00:00:47.355 --> 00:00:49.115 - and click on the events tab in the 22 00:00:49.115 --> 00:00:49.935 - upper right. 23 00:00:52.075 --> 00:00:54.155 - Hello, and thank you so much for tuning 24 00:00:54.155 --> 00:00:56.969 - in to the Becker's Oncology Leadership Podcast. 25 00:00:57.690 --> 00:01:00.750 - I'm Elizabeth Gregersen, a reporter here at Becker's. 26 00:01:00.810 --> 00:01:03.710 - And today, I am talking to Alicia Cruz, 27 00:01:04.250 --> 00:01:07.469 - vice president of the Orlando Health Cancer Institute. 28 00:01:07.609 --> 00:01:09.609 - Alicia, thank you so much for taking the 29 00:01:09.609 --> 00:01:11.150 - time to speak with me today. 30 00:01:11.864 --> 00:01:12.765 - No. Absolutely. 31 00:01:13.064 --> 00:01:14.745 - Thank you for taking the time to talk 32 00:01:14.745 --> 00:01:16.825 - to me. It's been an absolute pleasure getting 33 00:01:16.825 --> 00:01:18.444 - to know you through Becker's Oncology. 34 00:01:19.064 --> 00:01:21.305 - Aw. Thank you so much. I know. I'm 35 00:01:21.305 --> 00:01:22.984 - always grateful to share your insights, so I'm 36 00:01:22.984 --> 00:01:25.465 - excited that our podcast audience now gets to 37 00:01:25.465 --> 00:01:28.179 - meet you. Before I dive into my questions, 38 00:01:28.179 --> 00:01:30.259 - I'd love if you could share a bit 39 00:01:30.259 --> 00:01:32.259 - about just your background and your role at 40 00:01:32.259 --> 00:01:33.879 - Orlando Health for our listeners. 41 00:01:34.819 --> 00:01:38.039 - Absolutely. So I've been in health care operations 42 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:40.679 - leadership for about twenty six years. 43 00:01:41.094 --> 00:01:42.715 - I think I've done every specialty 44 00:01:43.094 --> 00:01:44.075 - beyond ortho, 45 00:01:45.015 --> 00:01:46.774 - and I'm gonna leave that alone other than 46 00:01:46.774 --> 00:01:47.594 - ortho oncology. 47 00:01:48.854 --> 00:01:51.274 - But about sixteen years ago, 48 00:01:52.134 --> 00:01:54.875 - I ended up losing my brother to colon 49 00:01:54.935 --> 00:01:57.469 - cancer and decided I needed to leave the 50 00:01:57.469 --> 00:01:57.969 - Northeast, 51 00:01:58.590 --> 00:02:01.009 - applied to a job in the Sunshine State, 52 00:02:01.789 --> 00:02:03.869 - at the University of Miami to just get 53 00:02:03.869 --> 00:02:06.289 - out of the Northeast gray. And 54 00:02:06.590 --> 00:02:07.090 - within 55 00:02:07.549 --> 00:02:10.050 - nine months, got kind of lured over 56 00:02:10.415 --> 00:02:12.254 - to talk about a role at a can 57 00:02:12.415 --> 00:02:14.355 - the cancer institute, so at Sylvester. 58 00:02:14.974 --> 00:02:16.115 - And just 59 00:02:16.415 --> 00:02:19.235 - absolutely took a dive, considered it a sign, 60 00:02:19.455 --> 00:02:21.055 - and for the first time in health care, 61 00:02:21.055 --> 00:02:23.055 - really fell in love with what I was 62 00:02:23.055 --> 00:02:23.555 - doing. 63 00:02:24.014 --> 00:02:26.189 - So I've been in oncology ever since. 64 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:29.389 - And, there's no looking back for me. This 65 00:02:29.389 --> 00:02:31.389 - is my passion plus purpose role. I get 66 00:02:31.389 --> 00:02:33.569 - to create for patients and their families 67 00:02:34.189 --> 00:02:35.969 - in everything that we do. 68 00:02:36.270 --> 00:02:39.685 - And now I also enjoy really building up 69 00:02:39.685 --> 00:02:42.664 - leaders and building teams and doing startup programs. 70 00:02:42.884 --> 00:02:45.525 - So it's become a true passion plus purpose 71 00:02:45.525 --> 00:02:48.264 - career, and I plan to stay oncology for 72 00:02:48.324 --> 00:02:49.064 - the long haul. 73 00:02:49.924 --> 00:02:52.245 - Amazing. Thank you so much. And and as 74 00:02:52.245 --> 00:02:54.319 - you kind of hint at some of the 75 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:56.800 - things you're most excited about that you're working 76 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:57.300 - on, 77 00:02:57.919 --> 00:02:59.219 - at Orlando Health, 78 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:02.080 - are you able to narrow it down to 79 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:05.139 - maybe what your biggest priority is right now? 80 00:03:05.995 --> 00:03:06.895 - Yes. Absolutely. 81 00:03:07.594 --> 00:03:09.594 - As we've seen in throughout the state of 82 00:03:09.594 --> 00:03:11.534 - Florida, and I'm assuming it's everywhere, 83 00:03:11.835 --> 00:03:14.555 - a lot of population growth, which also means 84 00:03:14.555 --> 00:03:16.175 - a lot of cancer diagnoses, 85 00:03:16.555 --> 00:03:18.974 - early cancer diagnosed, late stage still 86 00:03:19.354 --> 00:03:20.014 - in much 87 00:03:20.550 --> 00:03:23.349 - earlier populations like younger populations. So for me, 88 00:03:23.349 --> 00:03:24.169 - it's access, 89 00:03:25.349 --> 00:03:27.930 - making sure that if someone is thinking 90 00:03:28.310 --> 00:03:30.330 - that they have cancer or quickly 91 00:03:30.789 --> 00:03:32.949 - getting to someone who is diagnosed, like, making 92 00:03:32.949 --> 00:03:34.629 - sure they can get into the door and 93 00:03:34.629 --> 00:03:35.689 - meet with an expert 94 00:03:36.034 --> 00:03:37.574 - to alleviate that anxiety. 95 00:03:37.955 --> 00:03:39.955 - You know, we keep getting bigger and bigger, 96 00:03:39.955 --> 00:03:42.275 - but sometimes when you get larger and larger, 97 00:03:42.275 --> 00:03:45.495 - you forget that that that critical time window 98 00:03:45.875 --> 00:03:47.254 - of getting someone in, 99 00:03:47.955 --> 00:03:49.770 - is the most important thing you can do. 100 00:03:49.930 --> 00:03:51.770 - And if you can't do it, they will 101 00:03:51.770 --> 00:03:53.689 - vote with their feet and go somewhere whether 102 00:03:53.689 --> 00:03:55.949 - they have better quality, worse quality. 103 00:03:56.250 --> 00:03:58.409 - They are not looking at scores. They're looking 104 00:03:58.409 --> 00:04:00.409 - at how can I get in and who 105 00:04:00.409 --> 00:04:01.930 - did my neighbor go and see and how 106 00:04:01.930 --> 00:04:03.550 - quickly can I get into them, 107 00:04:04.145 --> 00:04:06.465 - so they can alleviate that fear of what 108 00:04:06.465 --> 00:04:07.844 - does this mean for me? 109 00:04:08.145 --> 00:04:10.625 - So we are heavily focused on access right 110 00:04:10.625 --> 00:04:13.425 - now and making sure that time window is 111 00:04:13.425 --> 00:04:14.325 - the right window. 112 00:04:14.784 --> 00:04:16.404 - And then in some of those diagnoses 113 00:04:16.705 --> 00:04:18.870 - that, you know, you've been in the oncology 114 00:04:18.930 --> 00:04:20.150 - space for a long time, 115 00:04:20.610 --> 00:04:23.089 - we are not MD Anderson or Sloan Kettering 116 00:04:23.089 --> 00:04:25.670 - where we only take a cancer diagnosis. 117 00:04:26.610 --> 00:04:29.110 - We also have a lot of workup opportunities 118 00:04:29.410 --> 00:04:31.545 - and a lot of referrals that may not 119 00:04:31.545 --> 00:04:33.785 - to be or they might be high risk. 120 00:04:33.785 --> 00:04:36.125 - So just making sure those are appropriately 121 00:04:36.665 --> 00:04:39.165 - kind too. So just making sure 122 00:04:39.545 --> 00:04:42.665 - that we're getting patients throughout the communities in 123 00:04:42.665 --> 00:04:45.545 - which we serve in a timely essence, really 124 00:04:45.545 --> 00:04:47.404 - taking care of their needs. So 125 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:50.160 - the other piece of that is access to 126 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:53.519 - clinical trials. Right? So in oncology today, if 127 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:56.019 - you don't have trials, you're really not offering 128 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:58.800 - the treatment you should be offering the way 129 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:00.259 - that we continue to evolve. 130 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:01.860 - So if you're doing 131 00:05:02.394 --> 00:05:05.435 - tomorrow's treatments today, that means you're offering the 132 00:05:05.435 --> 00:05:07.375 - robust clinical trial portfolio. 133 00:05:08.074 --> 00:05:10.794 - And that's something we have hyper focused on 134 00:05:10.794 --> 00:05:13.274 - as well, making sure that our patients don't 135 00:05:13.274 --> 00:05:16.419 - have to go outside of their community, outside 136 00:05:16.419 --> 00:05:17.479 - of their state 137 00:05:17.860 --> 00:05:20.019 - to get the same access to the latest 138 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:21.399 - and greatest, the innovative, 139 00:05:21.860 --> 00:05:24.180 - the Till therapy, the you know, any of 140 00:05:24.180 --> 00:05:24.839 - the things 141 00:05:25.300 --> 00:05:27.860 - that are not your typical standard of care 142 00:05:27.860 --> 00:05:29.944 - at this point. So those are our big 143 00:05:29.944 --> 00:05:32.185 - ones. So access and then, of course, clinical 144 00:05:32.185 --> 00:05:35.225 - trial access and having a portfolio that matches 145 00:05:35.225 --> 00:05:35.964 - our community. 146 00:05:37.225 --> 00:05:39.064 - Absolutely. And I I think the way you, 147 00:05:39.705 --> 00:05:41.960 - you phrased it with, you know, patients will 148 00:05:41.960 --> 00:05:44.279 - vote with their feet and walk somewhere else, 149 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:47.100 - I think, is something, you know, leaders across 150 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:49.720 - all specialties can can relate to, 151 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:53.100 - specifically when it comes to, you know, oncology 152 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:55.020 - service lines and cancer centers. 153 00:05:56.104 --> 00:05:58.444 - You mentioned kind of the growing patient population, 154 00:05:58.584 --> 00:05:59.564 - clinical trials. 155 00:05:59.944 --> 00:06:00.444 - So 156 00:06:00.824 --> 00:06:03.144 - those might be incorporated in your answer to 157 00:06:03.144 --> 00:06:05.064 - the question I'm about to ask you. But 158 00:06:05.064 --> 00:06:06.824 - is there any kind of pressure that you 159 00:06:06.824 --> 00:06:07.324 - feel 160 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:11.379 - cancer centers are facing right now that is 161 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:13.480 - not getting talked about enough? 162 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:16.980 - I don't know that it's not being talked 163 00:06:16.980 --> 00:06:17.879 - about, but 164 00:06:18.259 --> 00:06:19.879 - globally being shared, 165 00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:23.175 - just in passing a few just seeing leaders 166 00:06:23.175 --> 00:06:24.555 - and being on some exchanges. 167 00:06:25.095 --> 00:06:27.754 - The drug shortages that are happening right now, 168 00:06:28.134 --> 00:06:31.514 - the growing drug expense where some of your 169 00:06:31.814 --> 00:06:32.314 - smaller 170 00:06:33.014 --> 00:06:34.794 - we're lucky we're a large system. 171 00:06:35.175 --> 00:06:37.254 - We've got that benefit of a very large 172 00:06:37.254 --> 00:06:39.810 - supply chain to help us negotiate, you know, 173 00:06:39.810 --> 00:06:41.029 - at a large scale 174 00:06:41.490 --> 00:06:43.350 - and then also having that inventory. 175 00:06:43.810 --> 00:06:45.490 - But I think it was earlier this week, 176 00:06:45.490 --> 00:06:47.649 - we were on a leadership exchange, and some 177 00:06:47.649 --> 00:06:50.129 - of the smaller programs are really struggling and 178 00:06:50.129 --> 00:06:50.949 - having to 179 00:06:51.329 --> 00:06:51.829 - stratify 180 00:06:52.214 --> 00:06:54.314 - if we only have, say, 30 doses, 181 00:06:54.855 --> 00:06:57.014 - what 30 patients are we gonna be able 182 00:06:57.014 --> 00:06:58.694 - to give this to? How do you pick? 183 00:06:58.694 --> 00:07:00.394 - Right? Because you have 60 patients. 184 00:07:00.694 --> 00:07:02.954 - And those choices are very difficult. 185 00:07:03.334 --> 00:07:05.254 - So I think people are feeling it and 186 00:07:05.254 --> 00:07:06.394 - struggling, and, 187 00:07:06.850 --> 00:07:09.170 - they're each struggling in their own arena right 188 00:07:09.170 --> 00:07:11.650 - now. So I think that's always a hard 189 00:07:11.650 --> 00:07:13.730 - one. And we're gonna see more of that 190 00:07:13.730 --> 00:07:16.050 - as the drug expenses seem to continue to 191 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:16.790 - grow up. 192 00:07:17.569 --> 00:07:19.725 - And, of course, everything we're doing right now, 193 00:07:19.805 --> 00:07:20.785 - all the new developments, 194 00:07:21.245 --> 00:07:23.245 - some of those drugs are very expensive. When 195 00:07:23.245 --> 00:07:25.665 - you look at cellular therapy and gene therapy, 196 00:07:26.524 --> 00:07:29.964 - they're not cheap. So making sure you have 197 00:07:29.964 --> 00:07:31.904 - the team behind that 198 00:07:32.410 --> 00:07:34.089 - so you don't get stuck with a huge 199 00:07:34.089 --> 00:07:36.810 - expense. And, yes, you you gave someone life 200 00:07:36.810 --> 00:07:39.850 - altering treatment, but then you also incurred an 201 00:07:39.850 --> 00:07:42.430 - expense with no reimbursement. That is a scary 202 00:07:42.889 --> 00:07:45.574 - dilemma in the wrong, like, environment. 203 00:07:45.875 --> 00:07:48.834 - So I think around the drugs and expenses 204 00:07:48.834 --> 00:07:51.314 - and where we're going, that's one complication and 205 00:07:51.314 --> 00:07:51.814 - pressure. 206 00:07:52.914 --> 00:07:55.735 - Then there's always this staffing challenge. 207 00:07:56.194 --> 00:07:58.134 - It's just a very different 208 00:07:58.589 --> 00:08:01.470 - working group at this point. You have a 209 00:08:01.470 --> 00:08:03.330 - new generation of folks who 210 00:08:03.709 --> 00:08:06.370 - they really do love that work life integration. 211 00:08:06.750 --> 00:08:08.050 - And post COVID, 212 00:08:08.509 --> 00:08:09.490 - when it's complicated, 213 00:08:09.790 --> 00:08:12.245 - sometimes they'll just jump ship and go do 214 00:08:12.245 --> 00:08:13.064 - something else. 215 00:08:13.524 --> 00:08:16.004 - So keeping that team to support, you know, 216 00:08:16.004 --> 00:08:18.084 - the physicians and APPs are not the ones 217 00:08:18.084 --> 00:08:20.264 - that typically jump every one or two years. 218 00:08:20.644 --> 00:08:23.524 - But building that really strong team around you 219 00:08:23.524 --> 00:08:25.305 - to be able to deliver the care, 220 00:08:25.649 --> 00:08:26.389 - that continues 221 00:08:26.769 --> 00:08:27.750 - to be a challenge. 222 00:08:28.209 --> 00:08:29.889 - Even in the systems where, you know, you 223 00:08:29.889 --> 00:08:32.149 - have great benefits and you might pay competitively. 224 00:08:33.169 --> 00:08:36.370 - If if there's the assumption or the feeling 225 00:08:36.370 --> 00:08:36.870 - perception 226 00:08:37.410 --> 00:08:38.309 - that it's complicated, 227 00:08:39.090 --> 00:08:40.769 - then they can do the same thing working 228 00:08:40.769 --> 00:08:42.365 - in a less complex 229 00:08:42.825 --> 00:08:43.325 - specialty, 230 00:08:43.865 --> 00:08:45.705 - we still lose them every day. So for 231 00:08:45.705 --> 00:08:47.785 - the long haul, I think that's where we 232 00:08:47.785 --> 00:08:50.205 - start to dive into the AI space. Right? 233 00:08:50.345 --> 00:08:52.665 - When you have less of those experts who 234 00:08:52.665 --> 00:08:54.684 - are staying to support the team, 235 00:08:56.160 --> 00:08:58.000 - How do you how do you have the 236 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.899 - systems around that? So instead of just humans, 237 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:02.879 - you've got the tech to help with some 238 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:03.620 - of the workflow. 239 00:09:05.040 --> 00:09:06.799 - Absolutely. And I'd love to kind of pick 240 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:08.875 - your brain about how you're navigating 241 00:09:09.254 --> 00:09:11.095 - AI right now. You know, I know everyone 242 00:09:11.095 --> 00:09:13.595 - kind of has a different mindset, different strategy. 243 00:09:14.855 --> 00:09:15.434 - I think, 244 00:09:15.815 --> 00:09:18.134 - overall, I've heard there's places where it's, you 245 00:09:18.134 --> 00:09:19.115 - know, changing 246 00:09:19.575 --> 00:09:21.654 - the game and then other times where maybe 247 00:09:21.654 --> 00:09:22.475 - it's overhyped. 248 00:09:23.870 --> 00:09:26.289 - Safety concerns, of course, are always the caveat 249 00:09:26.350 --> 00:09:29.070 - everybody shares their opinion with, but I I'd 250 00:09:29.070 --> 00:09:30.990 - love to to see how you are looking 251 00:09:30.990 --> 00:09:32.210 - at AI right now. 252 00:09:32.909 --> 00:09:36.210 - Yeah. Absolutely. I think for our system, overarching, 253 00:09:36.954 --> 00:09:38.794 - Orlando Health has been at the cutting edge 254 00:09:38.794 --> 00:09:40.975 - kind of they've been there and 255 00:09:41.514 --> 00:09:43.914 - trying to make sure that we have the 256 00:09:43.914 --> 00:09:44.414 - most 257 00:09:45.115 --> 00:09:46.815 - innovation in every space. 258 00:09:47.195 --> 00:09:49.995 - So that's been great for us because we've 259 00:09:49.995 --> 00:09:50.975 - been able to 260 00:09:51.470 --> 00:09:54.050 - turn on our AI lung incidental program, 261 00:09:54.590 --> 00:09:56.430 - which then now can be turned on for 262 00:09:56.430 --> 00:09:57.170 - other modalities. 263 00:09:58.029 --> 00:10:01.170 - And what that did was identify patients that 264 00:10:01.309 --> 00:10:03.230 - you would miss. You know, they showed up 265 00:10:03.230 --> 00:10:05.009 - to the ED after a car crash. 266 00:10:06.014 --> 00:10:08.254 - And it's something showed on a chest except, 267 00:10:08.254 --> 00:10:10.195 - but no one was looking for an incidental. 268 00:10:10.335 --> 00:10:13.455 - Right? So finding a lung cancer early, that's 269 00:10:13.455 --> 00:10:14.274 - pretty incredible. 270 00:10:15.214 --> 00:10:17.875 - We have AI turned on within our EMR 271 00:10:18.014 --> 00:10:20.700 - to help, you know, the infusion capacity piece. 272 00:10:20.779 --> 00:10:22.779 - It's huge. Where we used to think we 273 00:10:22.779 --> 00:10:25.419 - were full because you had people manually trying 274 00:10:25.419 --> 00:10:27.899 - to arrange a schedule. Well, you take that 275 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:29.259 - out and let the tech come in and 276 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:30.080 - all of a sudden, 277 00:10:30.460 --> 00:10:32.960 - you 30% more volume without 278 00:10:33.264 --> 00:10:36.144 - going into overtime, without stretching your nurses too 279 00:10:36.144 --> 00:10:38.084 - much over lunch, all of the things. 280 00:10:38.384 --> 00:10:39.764 - Huge impact there. 281 00:10:40.464 --> 00:10:42.245 - Of course, there's 7,000 282 00:10:42.384 --> 00:10:45.184 - solutions for every problem you have. So trying 283 00:10:45.184 --> 00:10:46.644 - to find the right 284 00:10:47.830 --> 00:10:50.389 - vendor or player or stakeholder to work with 285 00:10:50.389 --> 00:10:53.610 - you within your EMR and within your system, 286 00:10:54.230 --> 00:10:56.090 - it's not quick. So 287 00:10:57.190 --> 00:11:00.009 - turning some of those on took a while, 288 00:11:00.794 --> 00:11:03.434 - And you see some of the vendors, you 289 00:11:03.434 --> 00:11:05.934 - know, now they're starting to absorb one another. 290 00:11:06.394 --> 00:11:08.315 - So it gets a little complex. And for 291 00:11:08.315 --> 00:11:11.034 - us, we never like to operate outside of 292 00:11:11.034 --> 00:11:13.355 - our EMR too much because once you have 293 00:11:13.355 --> 00:11:15.134 - to log in to something else, 294 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:18.600 - that's more clicks, that's more logins, that's more 295 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:19.100 - everything. 296 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:21.019 - So we're pretty straightforward 297 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:21.899 - with 298 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:25.720 - our IT governance and steering committees, and they 299 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:27.899 - also have an AI governance committee. 300 00:11:28.200 --> 00:11:30.535 - So they really sets out the things that 301 00:11:30.535 --> 00:11:33.095 - are not appropriate from a safety lens and 302 00:11:33.095 --> 00:11:35.495 - what is doable from an IT lens for 303 00:11:35.495 --> 00:11:37.995 - us. But when it's really important, 304 00:11:38.295 --> 00:11:39.434 - say, for our specialty, 305 00:11:40.054 --> 00:11:42.855 - we do have a chief informatics officer that's 306 00:11:42.855 --> 00:11:44.375 - also a head and neck surgeon on our 307 00:11:44.375 --> 00:11:45.960 - team. And so we 308 00:11:47.220 --> 00:11:47.720 - together, 309 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:49.539 - we kind of vet out what will work, 310 00:11:49.539 --> 00:11:51.779 - what won't work, and we've been able to 311 00:11:51.779 --> 00:11:54.039 - be nimble by having all the right stakeholders 312 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:56.340 - there. We are blessed and that we have 313 00:11:56.340 --> 00:11:59.220 - a strong oncology informatics team. So when we 314 00:11:59.220 --> 00:12:01.894 - do finally get that green light, we can 315 00:12:01.894 --> 00:12:02.394 - implement 316 00:12:02.855 --> 00:12:06.375 - fairly quickly. Usually, it's that pre process that, 317 00:12:06.375 --> 00:12:07.654 - you know, it has to go to supply 318 00:12:07.654 --> 00:12:09.175 - chain, has to go to finance, has to 319 00:12:09.175 --> 00:12:11.295 - go all around, get vetted out. But Yeah. 320 00:12:11.415 --> 00:12:14.459 - I I really pride our organization on allowing 321 00:12:14.459 --> 00:12:16.240 - us to use these tools because 322 00:12:16.700 --> 00:12:20.220 - the the inbox management for the team messaging, 323 00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:21.759 - you know, handling patient messages, 324 00:12:22.139 --> 00:12:24.539 - that reduces their time. The things that they're 325 00:12:24.539 --> 00:12:26.480 - finding for screenings and incidentals, 326 00:12:26.940 --> 00:12:29.565 - that just identifies patients early. Puts it in 327 00:12:29.565 --> 00:12:31.884 - a workable list. So it's pretty incredible what 328 00:12:31.884 --> 00:12:34.285 - it can do. And then our system turned 329 00:12:34.285 --> 00:12:36.925 - on, for us, Copilot, and now we have 330 00:12:36.925 --> 00:12:39.024 - access to Claude and ChatGPT. 331 00:12:39.565 --> 00:12:40.065 - So 332 00:12:40.365 --> 00:12:43.108 - how that reduces even the administrator burden. Right? 333 00:12:43.108 --> 00:12:45.745 - Mhmm. Nespar need this. Hey. What are the 334 00:12:45.745 --> 00:12:48.382 - last 15 emails I've missed? Can you summarize 335 00:12:48.382 --> 00:12:51.019 - who I need to get back to? And 336 00:12:51.019 --> 00:12:53.657 - it's taking hours of days. So then you 337 00:12:53.657 --> 00:12:56.035 - can spend it purposely rounding with your teams 338 00:12:56.035 --> 00:12:57.715 - and finding out what do you need, what 339 00:12:57.715 --> 00:12:59.634 - do you not need, what's broken. So I 340 00:12:59.634 --> 00:13:01.254 - think it's completely shifting 341 00:13:01.634 --> 00:13:04.054 - how we do our work as administrators too. 342 00:13:05.394 --> 00:13:07.794 - Perfect. And I love all those concrete examples 343 00:13:07.794 --> 00:13:10.035 - because I know our listeners love them as 344 00:13:10.035 --> 00:13:12.660 - well of just how, you know, the technology 345 00:13:12.800 --> 00:13:13.700 - is actually 346 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:14.980 - changing things 347 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:18.179 - in your day to day, you know, workflow 348 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:18.899 - and 349 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:21.920 - and broader, you know, when it comes to 350 00:13:21.920 --> 00:13:24.559 - diagnostics and everything. So I'm excited to see 351 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:26.960 - what what comes next out of Orlando Health 352 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:27.284 - there. 353 00:13:27.845 --> 00:13:28.345 - Yeah. 354 00:13:29.044 --> 00:13:30.024 - Absolutely. Yeah. 355 00:13:30.644 --> 00:13:32.884 - And I'm kind of phrasing this question to 356 00:13:32.884 --> 00:13:34.904 - leaders as a forward looking 357 00:13:36.964 --> 00:13:37.464 - leadership 358 00:13:37.845 --> 00:13:38.904 - question. So 359 00:13:39.590 --> 00:13:41.990 - when you look towards the next generation of 360 00:13:41.990 --> 00:13:43.129 - oncology leaders 361 00:13:43.509 --> 00:13:45.350 - who maybe are just joining the field or 362 00:13:45.350 --> 00:13:46.330 - on their way up, 363 00:13:46.870 --> 00:13:49.190 - is there a challenge that you think will 364 00:13:49.190 --> 00:13:51.750 - be left in their hands that they're going 365 00:13:51.750 --> 00:13:54.330 - to need to solve that maybe the field 366 00:13:55.074 --> 00:13:58.294 - hasn't fully tackled yet or isn't taking seriously 367 00:13:58.434 --> 00:13:59.495 - enough today 368 00:13:59.954 --> 00:14:02.274 - that you see the future generation having to 369 00:14:02.274 --> 00:14:02.774 - face? 370 00:14:03.634 --> 00:14:06.054 - Yeah. It's gonna sound old school, but 371 00:14:06.595 --> 00:14:09.074 - with all of the tech and how fast 372 00:14:09.074 --> 00:14:10.054 - we are moving, 373 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:13.700 - really making sure we still keep that balance 374 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:16.179 - of a personal touch and the communication. 375 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:18.259 - It 376 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:21.120 - you know, you can send me 7,000,000 emails 377 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:22.799 - in a day, but if if I'm out 378 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:24.375 - there and I'm supposed to be rounding on 379 00:14:24.375 --> 00:14:26.715 - teams and talking to them and sharing information, 380 00:14:27.414 --> 00:14:29.495 - it's just the the speed of which we're 381 00:14:29.495 --> 00:14:31.195 - getting all of this new info 382 00:14:31.654 --> 00:14:33.835 - and how quickly you can 383 00:14:34.215 --> 00:14:37.595 - not communicate important things to the entire group. 384 00:14:38.019 --> 00:14:39.940 - So every time we have our town halls 385 00:14:39.940 --> 00:14:43.139 - or med staff meetings or our pod meetings, 386 00:14:43.139 --> 00:14:45.399 - you find out that you think you've communicated 387 00:14:45.620 --> 00:14:47.960 - things well and everyone is up to speed, 388 00:14:48.259 --> 00:14:51.240 - but there's so much information coming at everyone. 389 00:14:51.785 --> 00:14:54.205 - You do have to have those intentional conversations. 390 00:14:54.985 --> 00:14:57.225 - So it's I've said it a few times 391 00:14:57.225 --> 00:14:58.825 - in the last two years. It's almost like 392 00:14:58.825 --> 00:15:00.524 - back to basics. Don't forget 393 00:15:01.065 --> 00:15:03.625 - that personal touch to find out what is 394 00:15:03.625 --> 00:15:05.785 - working with your patients, what is working with 395 00:15:05.785 --> 00:15:06.605 - your teams. 396 00:15:07.230 --> 00:15:10.110 - And we find sometimes that, okay. Great. Now 397 00:15:10.110 --> 00:15:11.709 - we have this new tool that helps us 398 00:15:11.709 --> 00:15:14.990 - send more MyChart messages to patients. Some patients 399 00:15:14.990 --> 00:15:17.250 - hate using MyChart and messaging. 400 00:15:17.709 --> 00:15:19.789 - They would prefer you call them back, but 401 00:15:19.789 --> 00:15:21.709 - instead they're getting a message and they have 402 00:15:21.709 --> 00:15:22.690 - six more questions. 403 00:15:23.174 --> 00:15:25.514 - So it's really not losing sight of 404 00:15:26.215 --> 00:15:28.534 - how are we making sure we're communicating to 405 00:15:28.534 --> 00:15:30.794 - everyone in the way they receive communication 406 00:15:31.414 --> 00:15:32.394 - and not assuming. 407 00:15:33.495 --> 00:15:34.934 - Yeah. It's kind of like don't let the 408 00:15:34.934 --> 00:15:37.014 - pendulum swing all the way in the other 409 00:15:37.014 --> 00:15:37.514 - direction. 410 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:41.100 - Kind of find that that happy middle ground. 411 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:42.379 - Exactly. 412 00:15:42.839 --> 00:15:44.699 - And if anyone's listening to the podcast, 413 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:46.919 - I'm sure you know what my last question 414 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:48.919 - is gonna be. I always like to ask 415 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:51.375 - the oncology leaders what is giving them hope 416 00:15:51.375 --> 00:15:53.534 - when they look towards the future of cancer 417 00:15:53.534 --> 00:15:55.695 - care and what, you know, is giving them 418 00:15:55.695 --> 00:15:58.735 - optimism about what oncology will look like in 419 00:15:58.735 --> 00:15:59.634 - the next years. 420 00:16:00.414 --> 00:16:02.274 - I'd love to hear your perspective. 421 00:16:03.294 --> 00:16:04.990 - For me, I keep calling it the most 422 00:16:04.990 --> 00:16:07.409 - exciting time to be in this space because, 423 00:16:08.029 --> 00:16:10.589 - you know, you you hear people you talk 424 00:16:10.589 --> 00:16:12.029 - and, like, I'm from a small town back 425 00:16:12.029 --> 00:16:13.470 - in Illinois, and I go home and they're 426 00:16:13.470 --> 00:16:15.070 - like, oh, yeah. You guys don't wanna cure 427 00:16:15.070 --> 00:16:16.909 - cancer. You just wanna keep treating so you 428 00:16:16.909 --> 00:16:19.455 - can make money. But they don't understand the 429 00:16:19.695 --> 00:16:21.934 - science and what has been discovered and what 430 00:16:21.934 --> 00:16:22.915 - is going on. 431 00:16:23.295 --> 00:16:25.215 - And to I was telling my mom a 432 00:16:25.215 --> 00:16:27.295 - few months ago, like, went to a Caris 433 00:16:27.295 --> 00:16:29.695 - talk and, you know, you're treating two patients 434 00:16:29.695 --> 00:16:31.295 - with the same treatment and they're not having 435 00:16:31.295 --> 00:16:33.455 - the same results. Well, now you can do 436 00:16:33.455 --> 00:16:34.995 - a liquid biopsy or 437 00:16:35.330 --> 00:16:38.049 - different testing and find out, well, yeah, the 438 00:16:38.049 --> 00:16:40.690 - one's not responding because it's a completely different 439 00:16:40.690 --> 00:16:44.049 - cancer with a completely different genetic system and 440 00:16:44.049 --> 00:16:46.690 - mutation that's impacting how they, you know, they 441 00:16:46.690 --> 00:16:47.509 - receive treatment. 442 00:16:47.865 --> 00:16:50.684 - And so being able to get precision medicine 443 00:16:50.745 --> 00:16:51.965 - and get down to 444 00:16:52.585 --> 00:16:55.465 - treating that person based on their genetic makeup 445 00:16:55.465 --> 00:16:57.804 - and that biopsy is pretty phenomenal. 446 00:16:58.504 --> 00:17:00.264 - And even watching what they've done in the 447 00:17:00.264 --> 00:17:02.205 - melanoma space, watching terminal, 448 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:04.700 - stage four terminal melanoma patients 449 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:07.820 - suddenly having a chance of, like, they're completely 450 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:09.180 - eradicating their cancer. 451 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:11.240 - Just went through this with one of my 452 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:13.339 - best friends, my old neighbor in Miami, 453 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:16.859 - last year December telling me, oh my god. 454 00:17:17.215 --> 00:17:17.955 - I have 455 00:17:18.735 --> 00:17:19.235 - metastatic 456 00:17:19.615 --> 00:17:20.115 - melanoma, 457 00:17:20.815 --> 00:17:22.674 - and I think this is it. 458 00:17:23.055 --> 00:17:23.555 - And 459 00:17:24.015 --> 00:17:26.975 - two months ago, finding out that he's in 460 00:17:26.975 --> 00:17:29.695 - remission, cancer free, and he was on a 461 00:17:29.695 --> 00:17:31.875 - trial down in Miami, and 462 00:17:32.329 --> 00:17:34.809 - that is what gives me hope about what 463 00:17:34.809 --> 00:17:37.210 - we're doing and where we're headed, and it's 464 00:17:37.210 --> 00:17:39.470 - just an exciting time to see that impact. 465 00:17:40.650 --> 00:17:43.210 - Absolutely. And I think, you know, being able 466 00:17:43.210 --> 00:17:43.710 - to 467 00:17:44.164 --> 00:17:46.884 - to talk about your friends and and and 468 00:17:46.884 --> 00:17:48.964 - have that connection of all these kind of 469 00:17:48.964 --> 00:17:51.605 - broader innovations and the excitement about the future 470 00:17:51.605 --> 00:17:53.605 - and and tying it back to, you know, 471 00:17:53.605 --> 00:17:56.325 - your friend and and the patients that Orlando 472 00:17:56.325 --> 00:17:57.625 - Health is serving is 473 00:17:58.369 --> 00:17:59.650 - is such a great way to end the 474 00:17:59.650 --> 00:18:00.950 - podcast. So I'm grateful, 475 00:18:01.730 --> 00:18:03.970 - for you looping us in on that, and 476 00:18:03.970 --> 00:18:05.590 - I hope your friend's doing well. 477 00:18:06.210 --> 00:18:08.049 - But thank you so much. And that's why 478 00:18:08.049 --> 00:18:10.529 - it's it's such a personal connection to the 479 00:18:10.529 --> 00:18:13.109 - field and such an exciting time to help. 480 00:18:13.265 --> 00:18:15.605 - So just honored to serve in the role. 481 00:18:15.985 --> 00:18:18.225 - Absolutely. Well, thank you again, Alicia, for coming 482 00:18:18.225 --> 00:18:20.065 - on the podcast and taking the time to 483 00:18:20.065 --> 00:18:21.845 - share your insights with our audience. 484 00:18:22.545 --> 00:18:24.404 - Truly a pleasure. Thank you for having 485 00:18:36.257 --> 00:18:36.342 - me.