1 00:00:04,890 --> 00:00:06,380 This is the Becker's Healthcare Podcast, 2 00:00:06,450 --> 00:00:08,100 created by the team of Becker's Healthcare, 3 00:00:08,260 --> 00:00:11,300 a multimedia company devoted to the people who power us healthcare. 4 00:00:11,570 --> 00:00:15,540 Four new 15 minute episodes are released daily containing industry news analysis 5 00:00:15,540 --> 00:00:16,340 and thought leadership. 6 00:00:16,340 --> 00:00:20,380 From powerful healthcare decision makers Support our show by leaving it a five 7 00:00:20,380 --> 00:00:23,660 star rating and review on Apple Podcast or other platforms you use. 8 00:00:23,810 --> 00:00:26,900 It's a chance to tell us what you like about the show and act on your feedback. 9 00:00:26,900 --> 00:00:28,860 Thanks for listening. Now here's the episode. 10 00:00:30,970 --> 00:00:33,580 This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. 11 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:36,500 I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Jeff Hoffman, 12 00:00:36,500 --> 00:00:39,220 chief Medical Information Officer at Nationwide Children's. Jeff, 13 00:00:39,220 --> 00:00:40,860 it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today. 14 00:00:41,710 --> 00:00:42,543 Great to be here. 15 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,060 Now, I know we have a lot to talk about. There's so much happening, 16 00:00:45,060 --> 00:00:48,940 especially heading into the fall, um, really with children's health, you know, 17 00:00:49,060 --> 00:00:52,060 a very much a busy season. But before we dive into the broader discussion, 18 00:00:52,060 --> 00:00:54,060 can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background? 19 00:00:55,110 --> 00:00:56,200 Sure. Uh, 20 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,640 I am a clinical informaticist and pediatric emergency medicine physician at 21 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:02,760 Nationwide Children's Hospital here in Columbus, Ohio. 22 00:01:03,550 --> 00:01:08,440 I've been a Chief Medical Information officer for about 12 years and seven years 23 00:01:08,500 --> 00:01:11,760 ago founded a division of clinical informatics in our department of peds. 24 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,120 So I currently serve as the division chief as well. 25 00:01:14,740 --> 00:01:19,440 We have 10 physician informaticists and four clinical informatics fellows in our 26 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:20,260 division, 27 00:01:20,260 --> 00:01:24,760 and we also supervise about three dozen or so e h r provider builders across the 28 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,920 organization. So it's pretty, pretty large group that, uh, that is focused on, 29 00:01:29,060 --> 00:01:33,640 uh, provider, uh, interaction with technology and the service of, 30 00:01:33,900 --> 00:01:36,560 uh, healthcare and all the other goals we have at the institution. 31 00:01:38,670 --> 00:01:39,710 Absolutely. That's great to hear. 32 00:01:39,710 --> 00:01:43,510 And I know that sitting between the technology side of it as well as the medical 33 00:01:43,690 --> 00:01:45,390 and healthcare provider side, you know, 34 00:01:45,410 --> 00:01:49,030 it just seems like a perfect place to be right now with all the opportunities 35 00:01:49,050 --> 00:01:50,750 and digital transformation and, 36 00:01:50,810 --> 00:01:54,790 and working technology into the broader healthcare delivery, um, process. 37 00:01:55,090 --> 00:01:58,510 So I'm excited to hear your perspective on how that's all working. Um, 38 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:00,270 given where we're at today, 39 00:02:00,460 --> 00:02:03,470 what are some of the big opportunities as well as headwinds that you have your 40 00:02:03,470 --> 00:02:04,303 eye on right now? 41 00:02:05,900 --> 00:02:06,290 Yeah, 42 00:02:06,290 --> 00:02:10,310 so right now we're certainly in an incredible period of opportunities in health 43 00:02:10,770 --> 00:02:15,350 IT and the use of information technology for, for health and wellness. 44 00:02:15,730 --> 00:02:16,710 Um, you know, 45 00:02:16,710 --> 00:02:19,350 for years we've been hearing and talking about things like big data, 46 00:02:19,620 --> 00:02:20,630 precision medicine, 47 00:02:20,730 --> 00:02:24,190 all these buzzwords without really a clear idea of how these things would 48 00:02:24,470 --> 00:02:25,990 directly impact what we do every day. 49 00:02:26,170 --> 00:02:30,350 And I think we're finally at the point where these technologies, uh, 50 00:02:30,390 --> 00:02:30,990 really have, 51 00:02:30,990 --> 00:02:34,950 have matured to the point that we may be getting close to some re reaching some 52 00:02:34,950 --> 00:02:38,470 of those lofty promises, uh, they held out. Um, yeah, 53 00:02:38,550 --> 00:02:43,070 I don't have to say much about the hype this year, especially around ai, uh, 54 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,670 generative AI and the large language models like chat, G P T and all that. Um, 55 00:02:47,890 --> 00:02:50,070 but with, with tools like that and the, 56 00:02:50,730 --> 00:02:53,630 and the advances we've made in predictive analytics in general, 57 00:02:54,710 --> 00:02:57,790 I think everyone's now starting to see the potential for using tools like this 58 00:02:58,610 --> 00:03:02,320 in all kinds of different areas. Workforce efficiency, patient engagement, 59 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,960 process automation, safety, quality, um, research. Um, 60 00:03:07,100 --> 00:03:10,320 of course we're, we're right at the top of the Gartner hype cycle right now. Uh, 61 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,200 I don't even think it's peaked yet. And on the other side is that dreaded, 62 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:13,360 you know, 63 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,600 trough of disillusionment before things sort of settle down into practical 64 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,480 applications with real benefits. So there's definitely headwinds. Um, 65 00:03:21,140 --> 00:03:23,840 and I think it's gonna depend on, um, 66 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:26,040 I think those headwinds are really gonna depend, 67 00:03:26,150 --> 00:03:29,960 determine how these tools are gonna be be used and what impacts they're gonna 68 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,680 really have. I mean, first of all, we got this incredible, um, 69 00:03:34,900 --> 00:03:36,240 you know, over hype right now, 70 00:03:36,260 --> 00:03:39,720 and a lot of companies are trying to capitalize on these inflated expectations. 71 00:03:39,780 --> 00:03:44,040 So everyone's rushing into incorporate generative AI and such into their 72 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,760 platforms with, you know, different levels of success. 73 00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:51,840 And I think AI algorithm is probably the new buzzword. Um, so, you know, having, 74 00:03:52,980 --> 00:03:53,280 you know, 75 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:57,840 having the knowledge and skills to kind of figure out if products and product 76 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,520 claims are for real, um, you know, if you don't have that, uh, 77 00:04:01,540 --> 00:04:05,000 you might be wasting a lot of time and money on products that don't live up to 78 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:05,660 their promises. 79 00:04:05,660 --> 00:04:10,360 So just sort of dealing with all of that noise coming from the vendor 80 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,200 community, not knowing, you know, which are really good products, 81 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,400 which ones haven't really been, uh, well tested yet in the wild. Um, 82 00:04:17,780 --> 00:04:19,760 and then on top of that, uh, 83 00:04:19,770 --> 00:04:23,720 we're facing a lot of pressure with provider and staff burnout, 84 00:04:23,790 --> 00:04:26,800 workforce shortages, you know, margins are being squeezed, 85 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:28,920 patient expectations are at an all time high, 86 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,240 especially with all this new technology out there. Um, 87 00:04:32,740 --> 00:04:35,040 and the amount of change these tools bring on is gonna, 88 00:04:35,060 --> 00:04:39,960 are gonna tax providers and staff who may be already struggling. So, um, 89 00:04:40,060 --> 00:04:40,360 you know, 90 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:44,360 the challenge that me and a lot of my counterparts elsewhere have is trying to 91 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,800 figure out, you know, which of these tools are most valuable, um, how to, how, 92 00:04:48,860 --> 00:04:49,160 you know, 93 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:53,320 how quickly to implement them and how to minimize just the burden of change that 94 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,520 we're gonna impose on our, on our workforce, and trying to do that. 95 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:57,760 And that's a real delicate balance. 96 00:05:00,070 --> 00:05:01,130 And I can imagine it, 97 00:05:01,130 --> 00:05:04,450 it seems like the last couple years there's just been so much thrown at the 98 00:05:04,690 --> 00:05:07,930 clinical workforce in particular, trying to, um, you know, 99 00:05:08,190 --> 00:05:11,930 manage some of the challenges with covid and then workforce shortages and those 100 00:05:11,930 --> 00:05:15,530 kinds of things. And then now with additional data, as you mentioned, 101 00:05:15,530 --> 00:05:19,490 information, looking at how you can develop and deliver more, um, 102 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,410 precise medical care and thinking about outcomes, um, how do you really, 103 00:05:24,210 --> 00:05:24,480 I guess, 104 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,170 work through some of the people part of that change and making sure that people 105 00:05:28,170 --> 00:05:30,090 trust the technology and are excited about it, 106 00:05:30,090 --> 00:05:32,810 and then use it in the right way to deliver the best outcomes. 107 00:05:33,900 --> 00:05:35,770 Those are really good questions. Um, 108 00:05:35,830 --> 00:05:39,450 and I think one of the big mistakes oftentimes is we get so excited about the 109 00:05:39,450 --> 00:05:40,610 technology and what it can do, 110 00:05:40,610 --> 00:05:43,370 that we put it in there without really thinking about how it integrates into 111 00:05:43,370 --> 00:05:47,050 the, into the workflow that people do every day. And sometimes it's, 112 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:50,730 it's actually that it's an assistant that's adding into their workflow something 113 00:05:50,730 --> 00:05:54,490 that, you know, might, might, you know, immediately provide benefit or help, 114 00:05:54,490 --> 00:05:58,440 but oftentimes it requires adjusting or changing a workflow that people might be 115 00:05:58,440 --> 00:05:59,273 very comfortable with. 116 00:05:59,780 --> 00:06:03,280 And so you first have to deal with just that anxiety around change in general. 117 00:06:03,820 --> 00:06:06,520 And then you throw into that the fact that, you know, 118 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:11,080 some of these tools come without much explanation as to what they're doing and 119 00:06:11,140 --> 00:06:15,760 why. So to basically develop, you need to develop a fair amount of trust, 120 00:06:16,220 --> 00:06:20,120 uh, with the people that are gonna be using these tools and trust in two ways. 121 00:06:20,300 --> 00:06:23,320 One, that you have confidence that these tools, you know, 122 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:27,720 have the accuracy they need, uh, don't, don't introduce additional risk, um, 123 00:06:27,820 --> 00:06:30,680 are equitable. Um, and at the same time trust that if, 124 00:06:30,740 --> 00:06:35,000 if things don't turn out that way that you're in position to, to, 125 00:06:35,060 --> 00:06:35,880 to deal with those, 126 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:40,720 either mitigate those issues or maybe maybe switch to some other, uh, process. 127 00:06:41,060 --> 00:06:45,360 So I think just that two-way communication and trust, um, 128 00:06:45,580 --> 00:06:48,080 is really important. And if you, if you lose that early, 129 00:06:48,110 --> 00:06:49,360 it's really hard to get it back. 130 00:06:51,260 --> 00:06:54,880 That's such a great point, and definitely something to keep in mind, um, 131 00:06:54,900 --> 00:06:58,600 for all healthcare leaders as they're looking at this transition. Now, I, 132 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:00,160 I wanted to ask, what do you, 133 00:07:00,180 --> 00:07:03,240 how are you thinking about growth and development as well as adding value to 134 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,760 Nationwide Children's overall in the near future? 135 00:07:05,830 --> 00:07:08,080 What does that really look like for you? So. 136 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:11,280 There's a few different ways to think about growth. You know, 137 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:12,960 obviously as a provider organization, 138 00:07:13,010 --> 00:07:16,880 we're looking for opportunities to expand our services, our service offerings, 139 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:17,760 geographic reach, 140 00:07:18,460 --> 00:07:21,960 but the explosion of telehealth has really dramatically changed the competitive 141 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:23,080 landscape we're in. You know, 142 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:25,600 we're a freestanding children's hospital in central Ohio, 143 00:07:25,740 --> 00:07:30,040 and we're the largest provider by far of pediatric services in our local region. 144 00:07:30,980 --> 00:07:34,520 And that has historically insulated us from a lot of competitive pressures, 145 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:35,640 even in a state like Ohio, 146 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,880 where we have four major children's hospitals within probably a two to three 147 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,560 hour drive of each other. Um, but with telehealth now in the mix, 148 00:07:42,980 --> 00:07:46,640 we really have needed to double down on our areas of strength. We need to, we, 149 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,600 we really are focusing on creating more dynamic destination programs and 150 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,400 offering services that are difficult to find elsewhere. 151 00:07:54,060 --> 00:07:57,920 And the same thing's happening in terms of our IT platforms and services, 152 00:07:57,980 --> 00:07:58,280 you know, 153 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:02,360 pretty much any clinical program these days rely heavily on technology to 154 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:05,080 support all their patient care needs, population, health, 155 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,360 quality improvement and so on. Um, so as a result, 156 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:12,080 we've been heavily investing over the past several years in core capabilities 157 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:17,040 really to take care of all those areas and to maximize the functionalities in, 158 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:21,040 in what we have and what we own. So the E H R, of course, telehealth platforms, 159 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:23,160 analytic tools and such. In our case, 160 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,880 we put together a strong data science team so we could develop internal, 161 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,760 internally things like predictive models and, uh, you know, 162 00:08:30,780 --> 00:08:34,440 use natural language processing, augment and virtual reality, things like that. 163 00:08:34,980 --> 00:08:39,000 Um, so we built up the technical infrastructure and skilled workforce to deploy 164 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:39,833 these tools in, 165 00:08:39,860 --> 00:08:43,680 in real work clinical settings so that we can study their benefit and we 166 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:45,760 continue to look for new opportunities, you know, 167 00:08:46,100 --> 00:08:50,040 to really take care of patients and families, but as importantly, 168 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:51,760 to take care of our providers, our nurses, 169 00:08:52,060 --> 00:08:56,840 and the rest of our nearly 14,000 employees. So, so really it's, 170 00:08:56,950 --> 00:09:01,880 it's around really identifying what we are best at investing 171 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:02,713 in that, 172 00:09:02,900 --> 00:09:07,840 and then letting that be our calling card both in our region and outside of 173 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:08,673 our region. 174 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:10,480 I love that. I, 175 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:14,360 I think it's sort of just fascinating to hear about and think about ways that 176 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:18,400 telemedicine, virtual care and all those other different and, 177 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:21,840 and unique care delivery, um, I guess modalities, um, 178 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,280 that have been popping up really can change the way you look at, um, 179 00:09:25,290 --> 00:09:29,400 healthcare in, in the competitive landscape. Now, I know, um, 180 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:31,440 especially in the last year, uh, 181 00:09:31,670 --> 00:09:34,760 just resources within the hospital have been a little bit more pinched than 182 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,600 usual, whether it's financial, manpower, work hours, et cetera, 183 00:09:39,180 --> 00:09:42,240 but it's still important to kind of look it through and think about, you know, 184 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:43,840 where are areas we need to double down, 185 00:09:43,940 --> 00:09:46,880 as you mentioned that we're doing really well. So from your perspective, 186 00:09:46,910 --> 00:09:49,960 what is one risk or investment that's still worth making this year? 187 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:53,740 So this might seem like an obvious choice, 188 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,100 but I really think everyone should at least dip their toes into 189 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:03,460 the newer AI tools if they can. The, especially the generative AI tools, um, 190 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:07,620 things like chat, g p T based applications somewhere in their organization. 191 00:10:07,620 --> 00:10:07,860 You know, 192 00:10:07,860 --> 00:10:11,260 I don't expect everyone to have the technical capabilities to train their, 193 00:10:11,260 --> 00:10:13,740 our own, their own large language model or, 194 00:10:13,740 --> 00:10:16,340 or even tweak one that's commercially available. Um, 195 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,340 but I think it's important to begin to understand what these things can do and, 196 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:21,180 and as importantly, what they can't do, 197 00:10:21,570 --> 00:10:24,900 what everyone's comfort level is with this technology in terms of accuracy, 198 00:10:25,130 --> 00:10:29,300 bias, potential, legal liability, um, because, you know, 199 00:10:29,410 --> 00:10:32,020 this is a train that's coming and you, you can't, 200 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,540 you're gonna be faced with using these tools at some point. Um, 201 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:36,620 and like I said before, 202 00:10:36,620 --> 00:10:39,820 every vendor seems to be baking these sorts of tools into their products. 203 00:10:39,820 --> 00:10:43,540 And new companies seem to be popping up everywhere with entirely new types of 204 00:10:43,540 --> 00:10:45,260 products based on these kinds of technologies. 205 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:49,100 So with all the hype and swirl and all these choices, it, 206 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:50,740 it can really be hard to know where to start. 207 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:55,380 My suggestion would be either to trial a feature like this in one of your 208 00:10:55,740 --> 00:10:57,780 existing applications, or, um, 209 00:10:58,250 --> 00:11:01,660 perhaps applied by a large or stable vendor that you trust, uh, 210 00:11:01,660 --> 00:11:04,860 or you can be more adventurous, try something, you know, totally new, um, 211 00:11:04,860 --> 00:11:07,340 even from a small or a new vendor, um, 212 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:09,980 in an area basically where you can afford, 213 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,500 afford it to fail if it doesn't deliver on its promise. You know, 214 00:11:13,860 --> 00:11:18,140 I personally have no doubt that these tools are gonna become ubiquitous and 215 00:11:18,140 --> 00:11:20,220 essential in the coming years. So, you know, 216 00:11:20,220 --> 00:11:24,020 you certainly don't wanna be left behind and you don't want to be behind the 217 00:11:24,140 --> 00:11:25,060 curve in adopting them. 218 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,580 But really anybody who's trying to be on the cutting edge with these tools, 219 00:11:28,780 --> 00:11:32,100 I say caution, um, until we have more history with them, 220 00:11:32,210 --> 00:11:34,100 it's hard to know what specific, you know, 221 00:11:34,100 --> 00:11:38,380 technologies or platforms will fall utterly flat and which ones will be 222 00:11:38,740 --> 00:11:39,700 transformational. So I, 223 00:11:39,740 --> 00:11:42,220 I think it'll be really interesting to look back at this period and maybe, 224 00:11:42,500 --> 00:11:47,300 you know, five, six years from now and see what stuck and what sank. 225 00:11:48,250 --> 00:11:50,820 Yeah, truly, it seems like right now they're just, uh, 226 00:11:50,930 --> 00:11:55,680 such a broad field of technologies and companies and both established as well as 227 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:59,320 startups that are trying to figure out where the sweet spot is for, um, 228 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,320 really making a difference in the healthcare space. And when you look at, 229 00:12:02,380 --> 00:12:03,213 you know, um, 230 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:07,760 yourself and Nationwide Children's and adopting new technologies or innovations, 231 00:12:07,900 --> 00:12:12,080 um, like you said, obviously you don't wanna be, uh, first to the punch, but, 232 00:12:12,140 --> 00:12:15,520 but don't wanna be lost either. Where do you really see yourself on that, um, 233 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:19,280 I guess innovation scale in terms of, um, being able to, 234 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:22,360 to wanting to jump in and, and, but, 235 00:12:22,460 --> 00:12:25,360 but also making that balance with not, you know, uh, 236 00:12:25,500 --> 00:12:27,360 taking on too much risk with something new. 237 00:12:28,940 --> 00:12:32,280 It is, it is a very delicate balancing act, um, 238 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:34,840 partly because the resources to do these kinds of things, 239 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,120 whether you're buying a, a commercial product or, 240 00:12:37,140 --> 00:12:39,320 or building things in house with local resources, 241 00:12:39,350 --> 00:12:44,080 it's expensive and there's risk involved. I think that, um, you know, in, 242 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:45,080 in our case, uh, 243 00:12:45,350 --> 00:12:49,840 what we have decided to do is take a very deliberate, 244 00:12:50,220 --> 00:12:52,720 uh, use case focused approach. Um, 245 00:12:53,250 --> 00:12:56,360 while this meaning find things where we know we have a need, 246 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,920 there isn't necessarily something out there that can do what we want it to do, 247 00:13:00,060 --> 00:13:03,880 or maybe in some cases there are and, and, and try them out and see, 248 00:13:04,060 --> 00:13:05,760 see how they work. So, you know, we've, 249 00:13:06,330 --> 00:13:10,360 we've deployed some really innovative predictive analytics tools, uh, 250 00:13:10,500 --> 00:13:14,120 for some of our high risk patient populations. Um, 251 00:13:14,340 --> 00:13:19,280 and that was done after a, a, a significant amount of not just development time, 252 00:13:19,340 --> 00:13:24,160 but testing and running scenarios and simulations and figuring 253 00:13:24,340 --> 00:13:27,320 out what the impact would be, not just on the benefits, 254 00:13:27,340 --> 00:13:32,280 but also the burden that they sometimes put on work workforce, uh, members. Um, 255 00:13:32,860 --> 00:13:36,920 and then also, um, you know, we, we definitely, 256 00:13:37,740 --> 00:13:41,660 uh, want to want to try to, 257 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:47,100 um, see what our peers are doing. We want, 258 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:51,300 we want to make sure that what the expectations that are being put on us by our 259 00:13:52,020 --> 00:13:55,180 patients, by our families, by our staff, um, you know, 260 00:13:55,180 --> 00:13:56,980 how others are addressing those. Um, 261 00:13:56,980 --> 00:14:00,060 because I think this is an area where we can really learn from each other. I, 262 00:14:00,540 --> 00:14:04,500 I don't think all of us, uh, really can afford to, uh, 263 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,660 try things out ourselves without having some indication of, 264 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,260 of how it's gone elsewhere. And I know that means someone has to go first, 265 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:15,060 and sometimes that's us, but we're also happy to let others go first and, 266 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:16,420 and us follow quickly behind. 267 00:14:17,810 --> 00:14:21,780 That makes a lot of sense and truly seems like a, a very smart strategy, um, 268 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:23,780 in approaching the very many, uh, 269 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:27,540 new technologies and opportunities there are in the digital transformation 270 00:14:27,540 --> 00:14:30,020 space. Now, before we wrap up our conversation, 271 00:14:30,140 --> 00:14:32,180 I just wanted to return to growth one more time. 272 00:14:32,550 --> 00:14:34,580 Where do you see some of the best opportunities in the future? 273 00:14:34,780 --> 00:14:36,460 I know we've talked through a few different, uh, 274 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:40,340 key changes that are happening as healthcare evolves and healthcare delivery 275 00:14:40,340 --> 00:14:43,580 changes. What, what's your perspective on the future more long term? 276 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:46,540 So from where I sit, um, 277 00:14:46,850 --> 00:14:50,380 what I see as some of the best opportunities for growth are in 278 00:14:51,670 --> 00:14:56,640 extending existing expertise, our existing expertise into, into new areas, 279 00:14:56,860 --> 00:15:00,600 new markets. Um, obviously telehealth and remote patient monitoring, 280 00:15:00,710 --> 00:15:04,200 e-consult services play a big part, but also really, um, 281 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:07,560 developing and maintaining really strong partnerships regionally, nationally, 282 00:15:07,580 --> 00:15:09,480 and some cases internationally. 283 00:15:09,750 --> 00:15:14,640 There's historically been a lot of friction for outside providers and new 284 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:17,880 patients trying to interact with health systems, and we're no exception to that. 285 00:15:18,020 --> 00:15:21,760 You know, patient access has historically been a major challenge, and I know, 286 00:15:21,820 --> 00:15:24,240 uh, we and others deal with that all the time. Uh, 287 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,280 some of that can be facilitated or helped with technologies we're focusing on 288 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:31,920 ones that can improve communication, both internally and externally. 289 00:15:32,030 --> 00:15:35,160 Certainly looking for ways to streamline operations, uh, 290 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:38,600 referral routing automation, these AI powered chatbots. 291 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:42,480 We're looking into paperless workflows we're trying to adopt and really lowering 292 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:47,160 barriers to access, uh, from things as sort of that, 293 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,400 that aren't always on the radar. Things like, uh, you know, 294 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:53,200 transportation and travel difficulties where telehealth might be a solution or, 295 00:15:53,620 --> 00:15:54,240 you know, 296 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,920 language barriers where remote interpretation services or auto translation tools 297 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,200 could really be helpful. So, you know, 298 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,000 focusing application of these tools and technologies can really attract new 299 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:09,040 patients, looking for key services that, um, that we can offer and, uh, 300 00:16:09,090 --> 00:16:12,680 allow us to retain our existing patients who might be tempted to look elsewhere 301 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:16,480 because we can provide the same amount of patient engagement that our peers do, 302 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:18,640 and certainly they expect from dealing with, you know, 303 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:22,880 other industries that have already adopted a lot of these same tools and, and, 304 00:16:23,180 --> 00:16:24,080 and technologies. 305 00:16:25,700 --> 00:16:28,760 That's a great point. It definitely, you know, makes a lot of sense. Uh, 306 00:16:29,090 --> 00:16:31,360 thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today, Jeff. 307 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,240 This has been really a fun and interesting conversation and I look forward to 308 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:35,280 connecting with you again soon. 309 00:16:35,670 --> 00:16:36,840 It's been fantastic. Thank you. 310 00:16:39,390 --> 00:16:42,840 It's so important for leaders at the top of organizations to keep learning, 311 00:16:42,990 --> 00:16:43,750 stay sharp, 312 00:16:43,750 --> 00:16:47,560 grow their networks to help our audience better do this in a more simplified, 313 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:52,280 personalized, and meaningful way. 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