1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,880 Hello everyone. I am Maria Mohamed, a writer for Becker's Healthcare. 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,000 Thank you so much for joining me today as I speak with Lindsey Thompson, 3 00:00:07,090 --> 00:00:11,160 Network Director of cardiovascular programs at Honor Health Lindsey, 4 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:12,880 it's so nice to meet you. How are you today? 5 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,460 I'm good. It's nice to be here. Thank you for having me. 6 00:00:16,910 --> 00:00:18,900 Of course. Well, to begin, um, 7 00:00:19,020 --> 00:00:22,820 could you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background? 8 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,970 Yeah, so my name is Lindsey Thompson, as you said. Uh, 9 00:00:27,970 --> 00:00:32,810 I am the network director at Honor Health for cardiovascular programs. Um, 10 00:00:32,810 --> 00:00:37,090 I oversee a variety of the sub-specialties in the service line, um, 11 00:00:37,090 --> 00:00:41,930 that includes building programs and, um, overseeing staff and, you know, many, 12 00:00:41,930 --> 00:00:45,610 many other things as we all know about our roles in healthcare. Uh, 13 00:00:45,620 --> 00:00:49,210 my background is I have been with this system for, 14 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,890 I just had my 20th anniversary in June. Um, 15 00:00:52,890 --> 00:00:56,810 I've held a variety of roles along the way and, um, 16 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,330 I started out in radiology as a rad tech, uh, for several years. 17 00:01:02,270 --> 00:01:05,290 And then, um, I really needed something more, uh, 18 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,290 than just kind of taking chest x-rays and, and sitting in the or. 19 00:01:09,290 --> 00:01:14,090 So I decided to go back to school and from there I was an ecotech for, um, 20 00:01:14,090 --> 00:01:15,210 about six years. 21 00:01:15,990 --> 00:01:19,450 And I really kind of hit my stride and found my passion at that point in 22 00:01:19,450 --> 00:01:22,810 cardiology. I knew I wanted to stay, um, in there it was, 23 00:01:22,910 --> 00:01:25,130 was home to me and it felt good. 24 00:01:25,130 --> 00:01:28,530 I was doing something good and I loved the work that we were doing and the 25 00:01:28,530 --> 00:01:32,850 trajectory for cardiovascular was just endless, um, at that point in time. 26 00:01:32,900 --> 00:01:36,650 So I moved to service line about four years ago, um, 27 00:01:36,650 --> 00:01:41,650 and have been kind of just growing in my roles, um, since then. And then, um, 28 00:01:41,710 --> 00:01:45,250 you know, outside of work, I have some hobbies. Um, 29 00:01:45,250 --> 00:01:48,890 I'm a mom to two kids that are seven and four. Um, 30 00:01:48,890 --> 00:01:51,050 and then I also really, um, 31 00:01:51,050 --> 00:01:55,930 have grown to enjoy the outdoors and just disconnecting in that time. 32 00:01:55,930 --> 00:02:00,810 So my husband and I recently bought an Airstream and we've been enjoying 33 00:02:00,810 --> 00:02:05,770 that, um, the last couple of weeks, so that's good. Um, and then professionally, 34 00:02:06,020 --> 00:02:10,450 um, my current role, like I said, I cover CV programs. I also, um, 35 00:02:10,450 --> 00:02:14,610 am now entering my second year as the American Heart Association's chair for 36 00:02:14,610 --> 00:02:17,250 their Inspire ed campaign in the Phoenix area. 37 00:02:17,260 --> 00:02:21,770 So that's been a really good kind of passion project for me of promoting, um, 38 00:02:22,090 --> 00:02:24,810 awareness in the community, um, 39 00:02:24,810 --> 00:02:29,650 amongst women my age who don't always understand that we have a real great 40 00:02:29,650 --> 00:02:32,930 risk for cardiovascular disease even in our thirties. So. 41 00:02:33,950 --> 00:02:38,570 Got it. That's incredible. Congratulations on 20 years, by the way. Um, 42 00:02:38,820 --> 00:02:43,330 so to go more, Yeah. So to go more into like your expertise and experience, 43 00:02:43,820 --> 00:02:48,810 um, for you, what are the top three biggest issues in cardiology today? 44 00:02:49,730 --> 00:02:53,140 Yeah, you know, that's a good question and I feel like, you know, 45 00:02:53,140 --> 00:02:57,660 three is so hard to narrow down at this point because cardiology is 46 00:02:57,730 --> 00:03:01,120 such an evolving field, and we've really came so far. You know, 47 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,840 you look at the last 10 years of how things have evolved and it's actually 48 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,280 really incredible. So, but some things have stayed the same, right? 49 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:10,960 So one in six people will die of heart cardiovascular disease, 50 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:14,840 one in three women will actually die from a cardiovascular disease problem. 51 00:03:14,900 --> 00:03:19,600 And so that itself is really pleaing a huge emphasis on, um, 52 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,480 cardiovascular care in, um, our patients that we serve in the community. 53 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:26,360 People are growing older baby boomers and things like that, 54 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,280 but also people are living longer and so their care that they need at the end of 55 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,240 life is such a big, um, it's a longer spectrum now. 56 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,760 So really it's kind of been a moving target, um, 57 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,880 to kind of keep up with the technologies and things like that. 58 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:39,670 So I would say the, 59 00:03:39,670 --> 00:03:44,080 a big one is really just the newfound emphasis on cardiovascular. 60 00:03:44,770 --> 00:03:48,480 Um, the other thing I would say for a top issue really since covid, 61 00:03:48,790 --> 00:03:52,520 it's been cost, um, providing value and um, 62 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:57,920 being able to provide top tier services that are cost efficient to, um, 63 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,800 patients, payers, and those things. 64 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:05,360 And then I think the other piece is to remain relevant 65 00:04:05,460 --> 00:04:10,270 and continue growing in cardiovascular. I feel like we've had to get, um, 66 00:04:10,270 --> 00:04:11,190 better, um, 67 00:04:11,190 --> 00:04:15,750 and more creative in providing access to care and providing more creative ways 68 00:04:15,750 --> 00:04:19,750 that we provide care that are much more personalized to patients because 69 00:04:19,750 --> 00:04:24,670 patients have a choice now. It's not just, you're not the only hospital within, 70 00:04:24,690 --> 00:04:25,670 you know, 15, 71 00:04:25,670 --> 00:04:30,310 20 miles of them and people are willing to drive for services that they and, 72 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:31,230 um, 73 00:04:31,230 --> 00:04:35,870 physicians and staff that they like and that they've had good experiences with. 74 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,950 So I think those are probably the biggest three for us right now. 75 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,930 Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for sharing those stats. Um, and you know, 76 00:04:44,930 --> 00:04:48,330 I definitely agree with the fact that, you know, patients are, 77 00:04:48,330 --> 00:04:52,890 they want to be comfortable in the place that they're getting care. 78 00:04:53,500 --> 00:04:55,490 Um, and kind of speaking of the care, 79 00:04:55,710 --> 00:05:00,370 how do you see heart care evolving over the next 18 months or 80 00:05:00,610 --> 00:05:01,443 so? 81 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:05,090 Yeah, you know, 18 months, um, 82 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:09,450 it's one of those things that seems like it's such a long time, but it's also, 83 00:05:09,450 --> 00:05:12,570 you know, we know now it's really not, it's very short time period. 84 00:05:13,140 --> 00:05:17,930 So I would say the biggest, um, thing that we are seeing here in the, 85 00:05:17,930 --> 00:05:20,210 um, Phoenix market is, you know, 86 00:05:20,210 --> 00:05:22,610 there's a large shift into the ambulatory space. 87 00:05:22,910 --> 00:05:26,130 And so for us and for, I know, you know, 88 00:05:26,130 --> 00:05:28,330 really everyone in the market right now, 89 00:05:28,690 --> 00:05:33,250 everyone is really placing a huge emphasis on how are we gonna provide these 90 00:05:33,250 --> 00:05:36,930 services in that ambulatory space? How are we going to, um, 91 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,090 make it a place where physicians wanna practice? Um, because now, you know, 92 00:05:42,090 --> 00:05:43,730 if you have private practice physicians, 93 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,930 it's very lucrative for them to go open their own lab and perform those, um, 94 00:05:48,930 --> 00:05:51,250 simple, you know, more, uh, 95 00:05:51,250 --> 00:05:55,330 easy access procedures like CRM devices and um, 96 00:05:55,330 --> 00:05:59,840 diagnostic cast services. So, um, providing space for them to do that, 97 00:06:00,010 --> 00:06:03,960 um, and making sure that they want to, you know, provide, uh, 98 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:08,680 care with us and partner with us, I think is a big one. And then placing, 99 00:06:08,700 --> 00:06:12,640 you know, a big, there's a big need on, um, like I just said before, 100 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,520 of getting creative and how we provide the care, making sure that, um, 101 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,240 we are making it a good place for, um, 102 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:23,240 physicians to practice and patients to, um, come get their care. 103 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:28,240 So I think ambulatory and then again, getting creative in how you, um, 104 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,120 provide access to care and how you deliver care, making it, 105 00:06:31,290 --> 00:06:34,440 we have like kind of a saying that we used for heart months, um, 106 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:39,320 I believe is two years ago was like making heart healthy personal. So, 107 00:06:39,490 --> 00:06:39,840 um, 108 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:44,440 trying to provide little personal touches that make the patient experience just 109 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,280 that much better with you as an institution is critical right now. 110 00:06:48,830 --> 00:06:51,730 Got it. Thank you for sharing. And before I let you go, 111 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,970 last thing I wanted to ask you about is what are you excited about today? 112 00:06:54,970 --> 00:06:57,530 And also what is makes you nervous in the field? 113 00:06:59,100 --> 00:07:03,740 , You know, um, I think today in general, 114 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:08,620 you know, what excites me is really the work in front of me. Um, 115 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:13,180 you know, I, I'm super passionate. I've been extremely loyal to, um, 116 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,340 the place that I have worked with on our health for, you know, now 20 years. 117 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,700 And, um, I think the exciting part is that, uh, 118 00:07:21,700 --> 00:07:24,900 the reason why I moved to service line, right, is that no day is the same. 119 00:07:24,900 --> 00:07:29,300 It's not mundane. Every day is different. Um, every day there's a new challenge, 120 00:07:29,300 --> 00:07:32,580 whether it's, you know, juggling physician dynamics or, you know, 121 00:07:32,970 --> 00:07:35,380 roadblocks for building a program or things like that. 122 00:07:35,380 --> 00:07:39,540 So I think that's part of the excitement of working in, um, administration, 123 00:07:39,550 --> 00:07:42,220 at least in cardiovascular services, um, 124 00:07:42,220 --> 00:07:45,260 on a programmatic or service science side, um, 125 00:07:45,260 --> 00:07:49,100 is you still get that operational piece, but it's, it's not as, um, 126 00:07:49,230 --> 00:07:50,700 mundane in the day to day. 127 00:07:50,700 --> 00:07:55,420 There's a lot of room for creativity and a huge emphasis on creating strategy. 128 00:07:55,420 --> 00:07:59,780 And I think that's the thing that really excites me for our field is you, 129 00:07:59,780 --> 00:08:00,300 like I said, 130 00:08:00,300 --> 00:08:04,220 think about how far we've come in just 10 years and then looking at the future 131 00:08:04,310 --> 00:08:08,100 of like just the research and the things coming out for patients. 132 00:08:08,100 --> 00:08:12,220 And it's, it's, the op opportunities are really endless. 133 00:08:12,220 --> 00:08:16,620 It's just how far are you willing to push the envelope on, um, you know, 134 00:08:16,620 --> 00:08:20,140 being that at the forefront of providing the care. 135 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,460 And I think the PA thing that makes me the most nervous is, 136 00:08:24,690 --> 00:08:27,300 I would say there's two things. Um, the, 137 00:08:27,300 --> 00:08:31,740 one of the biggest ones is really partnering with everyone 138 00:08:31,830 --> 00:08:36,500 through, I think Covid, you know, was really tough on everyone, you know, 139 00:08:36,500 --> 00:08:40,460 staff, physicians, administration, you know, personally, right? 140 00:08:40,700 --> 00:08:42,900 Everyone had every, all the dynamics with that. 141 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:47,540 And I think that it maybe kind of put an emphasis on, 142 00:08:48,230 --> 00:08:50,820 we kind of lost our, why we're here in the first place, 143 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,140 why we went into healthcare and what, 144 00:08:53,780 --> 00:08:58,520 what drove us to CHO choose cardiovascular services in the first place. 145 00:08:58,520 --> 00:08:58,880 You know, 146 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,840 we really chose this field to make a difference in people's lives and create 147 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:06,600 impact on our community that we're in. And I think, um, 148 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:11,600 working with everyone and trying to get back to the why are we here and not 149 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:12,720 just the, um, 150 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,960 moving the widgets along along the pathway is probably one of the biggest 151 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:18,880 things, um, biggest challenges. 152 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:23,160 And then I'd say the other piece is really the high cost, um, 153 00:09:23,410 --> 00:09:27,800 of things right now of, you know, building materials and inflation. 154 00:09:27,810 --> 00:09:31,520 So trying to keep up with the ever growing salaries and, um, 155 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:35,960 remaining relevant in the market so that you can, um, employ a high caliber, 156 00:09:36,290 --> 00:09:41,040 um, staff and um, so that you can attract really great physicians, um, 157 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:45,320 you know, and, and pay them the their worth. Um, but you know, 158 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,560 really the juggling that, that side of things. 159 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:52,320 So I think focusing on providing the value, um, and then, um, 160 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:53,520 making sure that you're finding, 161 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:58,920 being able to afford to be relevant in the market and provide that 162 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:00,600 care that our patients really need. 163 00:10:00,650 --> 00:10:02,800 So I think those are probably the two biggest things. 164 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,450 Yeah, for sure. Well, thank you so much for those final thoughts, Lindsey. 165 00:10:07,450 --> 00:10:11,490 That is all I had for you. So I wanna thank you for speaking with me today. Um, 166 00:10:11,490 --> 00:10:14,690 and to hear more about Becks Healthcare, please visit our website, 167 00:10:14,690 --> 00:10:17,610 becks hospital review.com. And thank you again, Lindsey. 168 00:10:18,730 --> 00:10:20,210 Thank you. Have a great day. 169 00:10:20,590 --> 00:10:21,250 You too.