1 00:00:01,110 --> 00:00:01,943 CEOs, 2 00:00:02,070 --> 00:00:06,360 CFOs and executives from top hospitals and health systems are gathering at this 3 00:00:06,430 --> 00:00:08,280 exclusive world-class event. 4 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:11,120 To address the most pressing issues in healthcare today, 5 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:16,400 Becker's 11th annual c e o and CFO Round Table is taking place in Chicago 6 00:00:16,630 --> 00:00:21,320 this November and will feature more than 400 elite provider speakers and 7 00:00:21,350 --> 00:00:23,480 over a thousand hospital and health systems, 8 00:00:23,710 --> 00:00:28,640 C-Suite and VP attendees and good news healthcare providers have a chance 9 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:32,600 at receiving complimentary registration as a reviewer. If you're interested, 10 00:00:32,780 --> 00:00:34,680 you can apply at the website in the description. 11 00:00:35,660 --> 00:00:38,270 This is Lauren Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. 12 00:00:38,970 --> 00:00:41,110 I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Jennifer Schneider, 13 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,270 co-founder and chief executive officer at Homeward. Dr. Schneider, 14 00:00:44,270 --> 00:00:45,910 it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today. 15 00:00:46,210 --> 00:00:48,070 Thanks so much for the chance to be here. 16 00:00:49,130 --> 00:00:52,230 Now. I'm looking forward to talking with you. I know this is a big discussion, 17 00:00:52,310 --> 00:00:53,750 a lot happening in healthcare right now, 18 00:00:53,970 --> 00:00:55,950 and the work you do at Homeward is so critical. 19 00:00:56,130 --> 00:00:57,910 But before we dive into my discussion, 20 00:00:57,970 --> 00:01:00,150 can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background? 21 00:01:01,420 --> 00:01:05,670 Sure, absolutely. So, um, uh, my by way of background and training, 22 00:01:05,970 --> 00:01:09,310 I'm an internal medicine doctor and a health services researcher, 23 00:01:09,770 --> 00:01:14,470 and I've been in the world of digital health now for, uh, almost 15 years. 24 00:01:15,210 --> 00:01:17,710 Uh, first at a company called Castlight Health, 25 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:22,190 where I served as a Chief medical officer and then at a company called Livongo 26 00:01:22,190 --> 00:01:24,910 Health, where I served as president. Um, 27 00:01:24,910 --> 00:01:28,510 but I'm really excited about the company that I was able to conch with my 28 00:01:28,510 --> 00:01:29,870 co-founder, uh, Homeward Health, 29 00:01:29,870 --> 00:01:31,670 and delighted to tell you a little bit more about that. 30 00:01:33,130 --> 00:01:35,290 Absolutely. Well, perfect. Well, um, 31 00:01:35,300 --> 00:01:37,810 thank you again for your time and effort today. Now, 32 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:38,970 when you look at the future, 33 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,410 what is your growth strategy for the next year or two? 34 00:01:41,410 --> 00:01:44,530 What is Homeward really focused on and how do you plan to achieve it? 35 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:47,860 Let me start by telling you a little bit about Homeward. 36 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,660 So Homeward is a technology and enabled value-based care provider with a 37 00:01:52,860 --> 00:01:57,020 mission to re-architect the delivery of health and care in partnership with 38 00:01:57,020 --> 00:01:59,900 communities everywhere starting in rural America. 39 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,820 And the reason we picked rural America is because that healthcare delivery is 40 00:02:04,930 --> 00:02:09,500 heavily, heavily broken in rural America, very specifically, 41 00:02:09,530 --> 00:02:12,020 when we look at people who live in a zip code, 42 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:14,860 the last three digits designated as rural, 43 00:02:14,930 --> 00:02:19,780 they have 23% higher mortality rates than those that live in an urban 44 00:02:19,810 --> 00:02:22,900 community. Um, this is very personal to me. 45 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,460 So I grew up in a small town in Minnesota called Winona. Um, 46 00:02:26,540 --> 00:02:31,380 I was introduced to the healthcare ecosystem at the ripe young age of 47 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,060 12 when I was diagnosed with type one diabetes. 48 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:38,780 It was actually that that led me to go into medical school. Um, I was, 49 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,940 had a very, very wonderful endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic named Dr. 50 00:02:42,940 --> 00:02:44,620 Robert Nelson. And, uh, 51 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:49,180 it was really in the way he treated me that I became intrigued in the practice 52 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,500 of medicine. But it wasn't until, you know, many, 53 00:02:52,570 --> 00:02:56,940 many years later when I looked back and started to understand what, 54 00:02:57,090 --> 00:03:02,020 what types of care, uh, were the expected protocol driven types of care, 55 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,740 and then what were the types of care that real people received in real settings. 56 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:10,220 And there's oftentimes a very big discrepancy there. Specifically for me, 57 00:03:10,290 --> 00:03:14,100 when I was do diagnosed with type one, um, uh, 58 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,700 the, I didn't see an endocrinologist for a very extended period of time, 59 00:03:18,700 --> 00:03:21,020 which I did not think was AV normal, 60 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,900 did not think was weird until I went to medical school at Hopkins and learned 61 00:03:25,010 --> 00:03:28,740 that much of the mortality happens early around diagnoses, 62 00:03:28,930 --> 00:03:31,660 both coming in and out of diabetic ketoacidosis, 63 00:03:32,300 --> 00:03:34,300 managing high sugars and low blood sugars. 64 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,540 And then I started to think more about that on my own healthcare journey. 65 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,580 It became obvious that there's a lot of work that we can and need to do in rural 66 00:03:42,580 --> 00:03:47,180 America. In rural America, they're about, um, uh, you know, 67 00:03:47,290 --> 00:03:52,260 most counties have an inadequate supply of primary care doctors and 8% of 68 00:03:52,580 --> 00:03:54,540 counties have no primary care doctor. 69 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,220 The available specialist is about half of what it is in urban. 70 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,340 And so there's really a big a really a big, um, 71 00:04:01,970 --> 00:04:05,660 discrepancy around what people need and what people can get in terms of services 72 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,020 and care in these markets. And so with my co-founder decided to launch, uh, 73 00:04:09,020 --> 00:04:10,780 Homeward to help address these issues. 74 00:04:12,580 --> 00:04:15,080 That's fantastic. And as someone, uh, 75 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:17,960 who grew up in a small town in Iowa as well, 76 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:22,440 I definitely have experience with the rural healthcare system and certainly, um, 77 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:26,240 know how important it's with within communities to have access to care and being 78 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:30,040 able to provide that. And I know right now in, in many spaces, uh, 79 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:35,040 rural healthcare centers and facilities are struggling more than urban 80 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,640 centers and large academic medical centers who have their own challenges and 81 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:43,080 their own rights. So, you know, when you look at the the rural healthcare today, 82 00:04:43,270 --> 00:04:46,520 what do you see as being essential for preserving it and being able to, uh, 83 00:04:46,590 --> 00:04:50,920 make sure that people have access to care and a really practical sense, um, 84 00:04:51,030 --> 00:04:52,160 over the next several years? 85 00:04:53,310 --> 00:04:56,840 It's a, it's a really great question. I think first and foremost that, um, 86 00:04:56,840 --> 00:05:00,080 there's a lot of good work that's happening in rural communities, 87 00:05:00,140 --> 00:05:03,920 and I think partnering with people is always a better approach than coming in 88 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:07,520 and trying to compete, particularly when access is the issue. 89 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:09,920 You don't wanna come in and try to drive more people out. 90 00:05:09,940 --> 00:05:11,920 And so that's been a core tenet. In fact, 91 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,200 part of our mission statement is around the access, 92 00:05:15,230 --> 00:05:19,760 accessibility and partnering with people. I think the second is that there's a, 93 00:05:19,780 --> 00:05:23,720 the concept in healthcare around value-based care around truly getting paid for 94 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:28,320 the outcomes that you produce is critical because if you look at fee for service 95 00:05:28,380 --> 00:05:32,440 and reimbursement rates in rural America where there's a disproportionately 96 00:05:32,590 --> 00:05:34,080 high, um, population, 97 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:38,320 percentage of people in Medicare and Medicaid fee for service just doesn't work 98 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,840 just for most physicians to stay economically afloat. However, 99 00:05:41,900 --> 00:05:46,720 if you align economic incentives to the care that needs to be delivered to do 100 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,600 the, the payment model under a total capitation or global capitation, 101 00:05:51,100 --> 00:05:55,760 it allows and incense providers to do the right thing to invest in preventive 102 00:05:55,830 --> 00:05:58,620 care, to invest in remote patient monitoring, 103 00:05:58,870 --> 00:06:02,500 where you can access people more frequently and regularly at a much smaller 104 00:06:02,780 --> 00:06:05,260 reimbursement rate to drive the outcomes that are necessary. 105 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,220 Got it. I think that makes a lot of sense and it's definitely a, a great way to, 106 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:12,820 as you mentioned, incentivize, making sure that, uh, 107 00:06:12,820 --> 00:06:17,260 physicians and caregivers are really available and accessible and and focused in 108 00:06:17,260 --> 00:06:18,093 those spaces. 109 00:06:18,270 --> 00:06:21,700 Could you tell us a little bit about the most exciting and impactful initiative 110 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:23,340 or project that you're working on right now? 111 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:24,860 Yes. 112 00:06:24,860 --> 00:06:28,300 I didn't have a chance to tell you when I was introducing a homer that we're 113 00:06:28,300 --> 00:06:30,420 partnered with working in two states right now, 114 00:06:30,420 --> 00:06:34,420 partnered with two really creative forward thinking strategic payers. 115 00:06:34,990 --> 00:06:38,300 First is Priority Health, and that's in Michigan. Uh, 116 00:06:38,580 --> 00:06:42,020 priority health is the health, uh, plan arm of Corwell Health, 117 00:06:42,020 --> 00:06:44,740 which is the largest health system in the state of Michigan. 118 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,220 And the second one is in Minnesota, which is my, my home state of Minnesota, 119 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,540 um, uh, with partnering with Blue Cross Blue Shield of of Minnesota. 120 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:55,740 And so it's really in, uh, 121 00:06:55,770 --> 00:06:59,500 it's really in partnership with these two people where we've been able to 122 00:06:59,500 --> 00:07:02,100 deliver, launch, and deliver our care into the rural market. 123 00:07:04,570 --> 00:07:07,150 That's fantastic. And you know, I know as you mentioned, 124 00:07:07,150 --> 00:07:09,510 partnerships are such an important aspect of, 125 00:07:09,510 --> 00:07:13,550 of being able to connect and deliver care. Um, when you look at, you know, 126 00:07:13,820 --> 00:07:18,590 that a type of partnership like that, how do you develop a a an in, I guess, 127 00:07:18,590 --> 00:07:21,230 or how do you develop a partnership that's beneficial for both sides, 128 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:26,110 especially in a, a space where healthcare is, um, very critical, but also, 129 00:07:26,490 --> 00:07:30,710 um, not, you know, healthcare dollars and, and resources are scarce? 130 00:07:31,510 --> 00:07:34,400 Yeah, yeah, it's a great, it's a great question. I think that, you know, I'll, 131 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:35,800 I'll talk a little bit about our model. 132 00:07:36,020 --> 00:07:40,200 Our model is really to allow healthcare practitioners to practice at the top of 133 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:41,080 their licensure. 134 00:07:41,460 --> 00:07:45,360 So really building everything in a technology stack that allows people to have 135 00:07:45,500 --> 00:07:48,360 the experience in-person experience when they need it, 136 00:07:48,540 --> 00:07:51,320 and then allow and allows us to take care of much of the, 137 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:52,960 the kind of the crud work, if you will, 138 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,800 or the backend office to help drive that efficiency. 139 00:07:56,310 --> 00:08:00,320 It's very common in healthcare delivery systems where those of us whom are 140 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:04,160 really highly trained, spend most of our day doing fairly menial, um, work, 141 00:08:04,290 --> 00:08:06,040 right? Just to get the job done. 142 00:08:06,420 --> 00:08:10,440 And then investment in technologies to take part or take away some of that, 143 00:08:10,860 --> 00:08:11,693 you know, uh, 144 00:08:11,700 --> 00:08:15,400 menial part of the paperwork and allow training to work at the top of their 145 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,720 licensure is really important. I think the second is, again, 146 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:23,480 like I talked about relative to being able to partner within the ecosystem. So, 147 00:08:23,500 --> 00:08:26,000 you know, today we know that the, um, 148 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,560 there's a number of people doing really high quality work within the ecosystem 149 00:08:30,180 --> 00:08:33,080 and really coming in and helping drive and, and, um, 150 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,720 to help them develop what that could be. Um, 151 00:08:35,860 --> 00:08:40,000 so thinking really closely around what is the service offering that we have that 152 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:44,000 could help accelerate health systems in these markets or help health systems 153 00:08:44,170 --> 00:08:46,560 accelerate the things that they excel at, 154 00:08:46,940 --> 00:08:51,040 and forming tight partnerships there is really critical to the success of people 155 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:53,560 living in the catchment areas of these health systems. 156 00:08:55,820 --> 00:08:58,900 Absolutely. What a great point. And, you know, to look at the healthcare system, 157 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,980 it is about evolving so quickly and rapidly. I know over the past few years, 158 00:09:02,980 --> 00:09:05,260 especially during the pandemic, there was a lot of changes. 159 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:07,900 And then we continue to see a lot of growth and development, 160 00:09:07,900 --> 00:09:11,260 whether it's in the value-based space, looking at technology, 161 00:09:11,740 --> 00:09:14,300 artificial intelligence, the way that that's impacting healthcare, 162 00:09:14,300 --> 00:09:17,420 and then just the needs and and desires of consumers. 163 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,260 So what do you see as being the most important thing that healthcare executives 164 00:09:21,260 --> 00:09:24,740 should do right now to make sure that their organizations are successful going 165 00:09:24,740 --> 00:09:25,573 forward? 166 00:09:26,790 --> 00:09:30,120 Yeah, well, I, you know, again, I would start by re uh, 167 00:09:30,190 --> 00:09:32,160 restating again that, uh, 168 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:36,160 this idea around partnering with communities to improve access to healthcare is 169 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,960 critical. What that does, it allows, um, for trust. 170 00:09:39,180 --> 00:09:40,880 And so trust and partnership, I think, 171 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,440 are critical in any model trust across the ecosystem, 172 00:09:43,740 --> 00:09:46,920 but definitely trust with individual people that you're serving and servicing. 173 00:09:47,580 --> 00:09:52,400 Um, uh, you know, for me, you know, we right now in the rural health space, 174 00:09:52,540 --> 00:09:56,600 see a lot of hospitals are closing and there's a tremendous amount of provider 175 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:00,400 shortages, which is impacting the communities in need of the healthcare, 176 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,280 particularly in these rural areas. Um, 177 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:07,560 and it's important to be able to support providers to min, you know, 178 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:11,800 minimize those administrative burdens and help improve provider satisfaction. 179 00:10:11,860 --> 00:10:15,640 At the end of the day, if we have provider burnout and can't provide that care, 180 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,280 we, we sort of missed the point. And so again, 181 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:19,880 divesting and leveraging the tech, 182 00:10:19,910 --> 00:10:24,600 investing in and leveraging that technology to, to do that is critical. Um, 183 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:25,560 second, um, 184 00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:29,840 I've always been a very strong advocate for empowering women in the workplace. 185 00:10:30,420 --> 00:10:35,120 Um, this is truly important in healthcare where women make 80% of the healthcare 186 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:36,100 decisions. 187 00:10:36,100 --> 00:10:40,360 So ensuring that women have a voice at the seat of the table as we're developing 188 00:10:40,660 --> 00:10:43,120 the delivery care system is absolutely critical. 189 00:10:43,260 --> 00:10:46,960 Or we could end up in a place that doesn't actually make meeting the needs of 190 00:10:47,020 --> 00:10:51,080 the, this decision maker within the healthcare ecosystem. Um, 191 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:52,360 and so I think we really be, 192 00:10:52,380 --> 00:10:55,280 we need representation of wo women leadership in healthcare. 193 00:10:56,900 --> 00:10:58,400 That's amazing. Dr. Schneider, 194 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,440 thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. 195 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:01,960 This has been such a fun discussion. I, 196 00:11:01,990 --> 00:11:04,600 I've learned a lot and I look forward to connecting with you again soon. 197 00:11:05,250 --> 00:11:08,880 Thank you so much, Laura. I really enjoyed the opportunity. Thank you.