1 00:00:04,940 --> 00:00:06,430 This is the Becker's Healthcare Podcast, 2 00:00:06,500 --> 00:00:08,150 created by the team of Becker's Healthcare, 3 00:00:08,310 --> 00:00:11,350 a multimedia company devoted to the people who power us healthcare. 4 00:00:11,620 --> 00:00:15,590 Four new 15 minute episodes are released daily containing industry news analysis 5 00:00:15,590 --> 00:00:19,310 and thought leadership from powerful healthcare decision makers Support our show 6 00:00:19,410 --> 00:00:23,350 by leaving it a five star rating and review on Apple Podcast or other platforms 7 00:00:23,350 --> 00:00:23,860 you use. 8 00:00:23,860 --> 00:00:26,950 It's a chance to tell us what you like about the show and act on your feedback. 9 00:00:26,950 --> 00:00:28,910 Thanks for listening. Now here's the episode. 10 00:00:31,100 --> 00:00:33,430 This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. 11 00:00:33,890 --> 00:00:36,350 I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Andy Anderson, 12 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:40,310 chief Medical and Quality Officer at R W J Barnabas Health. Dr. Anderson, 13 00:00:40,310 --> 00:00:42,030 it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today. 14 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:43,550 Thank you very much, Laura. 15 00:00:44,610 --> 00:00:46,270 Now I'm excited for our conversation. 16 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:50,270 It'll definitely be a great one talking a lot about some of the key priorities 17 00:00:50,270 --> 00:00:52,830 you're looking at today and where R W J Barnabas is headed. 18 00:00:52,930 --> 00:00:55,150 But before we dive into the broader discussion, 19 00:00:55,530 --> 00:00:57,990 can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background? 20 00:00:58,950 --> 00:00:59,990 Absolutely. I'm a, 21 00:01:00,150 --> 00:01:04,950 a general internist and continue to see patients as a, 22 00:01:05,030 --> 00:01:09,950 a primary care physician and currently serve at R W J Barnabas Health as 23 00:01:09,970 --> 00:01:12,190 the Chief Medical and Quality Officer. 24 00:01:12,490 --> 00:01:17,470 I'm responsible for our patient outcomes related to to 25 00:01:17,470 --> 00:01:20,990 quality, uh, safety and, and patient experience and, 26 00:01:21,050 --> 00:01:24,750 and also steer our relationship, um, 27 00:01:24,940 --> 00:01:28,750 with our academic partner, Rutgers University, which translates into our, 28 00:01:28,750 --> 00:01:32,350 our pipeline of trainees as well as our, our research mission. 29 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,020 That's fantastic to hear. And you know, 30 00:01:36,020 --> 00:01:40,100 given all of those responsibilities both on the health system side as well as 31 00:01:40,100 --> 00:01:43,780 that relationship with Rutgers, what are some of your top priorities today? 32 00:01:43,780 --> 00:01:45,500 What are you spending most of your time on? 33 00:01:46,490 --> 00:01:50,820 Yeah, today my mindset is very focused on, on our, 34 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:55,300 on our people. Um, and when I say people, I mean both our employees, 35 00:01:55,450 --> 00:01:59,340 including our nurses and doctors as, as well as the, the patients and, 36 00:01:59,340 --> 00:02:04,140 and the communities that we serve. We have, um, you know, emerged out of, 37 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,980 of covid in, in a better way in terms of being, 38 00:02:08,220 --> 00:02:12,140 I think more organized and, and integrated as a health system. 39 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,460 But there's still quite a bit of, of healing to do, and there's quite a bit of, 40 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,780 of pent up demand for, for patient care needs. 41 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:22,700 And some of those are related to managing chronic diseases. 42 00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:24,060 Some of those are related to, 43 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,500 to procedures and surgeries that that need to be done. 44 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,700 And what we're really after is getting to those very, 45 00:02:30,810 --> 00:02:32,820 very best patient outcomes and, 46 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,740 and making sure our patients are cared for in the best possible way. 47 00:02:37,250 --> 00:02:38,940 That the experience in our, 48 00:02:38,940 --> 00:02:42,740 in our hospitals and in our practices is at the highest possible level, 49 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:44,900 and ultimately that they achieve the, 50 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:49,780 the best possible health in terms of how we deliver healthcare 51 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:54,140 to them and how we help prevent people from getting sick. Um, 52 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,420 so a lot of great focus on what I'll call, um, 53 00:02:57,470 --> 00:03:02,280 population health where we are out there actively promoting, 54 00:03:02,580 --> 00:03:04,480 you know, healthy behaviors and, 55 00:03:04,500 --> 00:03:08,400 and looking very closely at social determinants of health to make sure our, 56 00:03:08,420 --> 00:03:10,760 our patients in our communities are, are healthy. 57 00:03:13,290 --> 00:03:13,690 Absolutely. 58 00:03:13,690 --> 00:03:17,530 I love that and certainly is such an important aspect of serving the community. 59 00:03:17,530 --> 00:03:19,530 Well, you know, when you look at, uh, 60 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,490 some of the different ways that you're going about the prevention side of things 61 00:03:23,630 --> 00:03:26,410 in, in population health, what's worked really well for you? 62 00:03:26,530 --> 00:03:30,090 I know that's something that a lot of hospitals and health systems are trying to 63 00:03:30,090 --> 00:03:32,890 figure out in their own communities and would just love to hear if there's, 64 00:03:33,150 --> 00:03:36,690 you know, a, a project or initiative that you feel like, um, 65 00:03:36,790 --> 00:03:38,050 has been really successful. 66 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,210 Yeah, we've worked hard to make, um, access, you know, 67 00:03:42,210 --> 00:03:47,050 easier and when patients need to be seen, um, 68 00:03:47,110 --> 00:03:49,530 for healthcare conditions. And, and some of those are, 69 00:03:49,590 --> 00:03:52,810 are chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, you know, 70 00:03:53,170 --> 00:03:56,730 ensuring that that patients can easily access our services and, 71 00:03:56,790 --> 00:04:00,610 and some of that is having flexibility in terms of, 72 00:04:00,710 --> 00:04:03,890 of having telemedicine available, for example. 73 00:04:04,190 --> 00:04:06,610 But some of that's just simply making sure there's, 74 00:04:06,610 --> 00:04:09,890 there's appointments available on the other side of that, there's a lot of, 75 00:04:10,030 --> 00:04:12,210 of outreach and, and education and, 76 00:04:12,270 --> 00:04:16,090 and some of that is through standard methods such as, you know, 77 00:04:16,090 --> 00:04:19,530 sending emails and texts and, and some of that is providing, you know, 78 00:04:19,550 --> 00:04:24,010 forums for communities to engage in questions and answers related to, 79 00:04:24,010 --> 00:04:27,090 to chronic health conditions. And, and, and all this too, 80 00:04:27,330 --> 00:04:32,170 I think is very strongly promoted by the, the branding of, of, 81 00:04:32,430 --> 00:04:35,170 of healthier communities, um, and making sure that, 82 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:36,890 that we as a health system are, 83 00:04:36,910 --> 00:04:41,690 are out there in our communities being the voice of, of health and, 84 00:04:41,790 --> 00:04:46,370 and providing, you know, easy access and, and and just very clearly, 85 00:04:46,750 --> 00:04:50,010 um, you know, managing our, our patient populations in, 86 00:04:50,070 --> 00:04:54,730 in a very proactive way so that everyone feels comfortable coming to us to, to, 87 00:04:54,830 --> 00:04:56,890 to find better health as well as better healthcare. 88 00:04:59,030 --> 00:05:00,570 Got it. That makes a lot of sense. You know, 89 00:05:00,570 --> 00:05:03,730 and is definitely a great way to look at it. Now when you are, 90 00:05:03,750 --> 00:05:04,730 are looking at the future, 91 00:05:05,030 --> 00:05:07,970 how do you see the health system evolving over the next two to three years? 92 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:12,370 What do you see as changing and really, um, becoming, uh, 93 00:05:12,510 --> 00:05:13,970 better over time? 94 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,970 Yeah, we're becoming more integrated, um, 95 00:05:18,350 --> 00:05:21,290 and more efficient because we're more integrated and, 96 00:05:21,350 --> 00:05:24,570 and all that really centers around coordinated care for, 97 00:05:24,630 --> 00:05:26,490 for patients and in our communities. 98 00:05:26,590 --> 00:05:30,810 And part of how we're working hard at that is becoming more 99 00:05:30,810 --> 00:05:35,530 regionalized and more service line oriented. And that creates, you know, 100 00:05:35,530 --> 00:05:38,490 connectivity for our patients such that when a, 101 00:05:38,490 --> 00:05:42,450 when a patient is in one of our hospitals or in one of our practices, 102 00:05:42,450 --> 00:05:47,290 they have the, the whole armamentarium of, of specialists and, and services, 103 00:05:47,470 --> 00:05:51,530 things like laboratory services and, and radiology services, et cetera, 104 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:56,690 that will enable our patients to get every aspect of their healthcare. And, 105 00:05:56,710 --> 00:06:00,200 and again, as we talked about before, some of that is, is reacting and, 106 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,680 and treating acute diseases. Some of that is, is more proactive and, 107 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,440 and doing things like screening for breast cancer, colon cancer and, 108 00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:11,120 and ensuring our patients are, are getting, you know, access to the, 109 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:12,240 to the best possible care. 110 00:06:12,380 --> 00:06:16,440 So as we become more integrated in more efficient, 111 00:06:16,710 --> 00:06:21,360 it's gonna be easier for patients to access and and navigate our services. Um, 112 00:06:21,540 --> 00:06:25,280 one of our other very big initiatives is installing, um, 113 00:06:25,350 --> 00:06:27,640 epic as our single electronic health record. 114 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,440 Historically we had multiple health records and, 115 00:06:30,460 --> 00:06:35,120 and now we have a unified record that that centers on the patient, um, and, 116 00:06:35,180 --> 00:06:38,400 and really provides that coordinated, integrated care that, 117 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:39,800 that our patients all deserve. 118 00:06:41,550 --> 00:06:44,410 That's great to hear, and I know all of those areas just are, 119 00:06:44,430 --> 00:06:45,490 are a huge undertaking, 120 00:06:45,490 --> 00:06:49,370 whether it's looking at becoming more integrated and really, um, 121 00:06:49,370 --> 00:06:53,530 connecting the dots there for, for the patient and the patient experience, 122 00:06:53,630 --> 00:06:57,730 and then epic installs is certainly a huge undertaking as well. Yeah. 123 00:06:57,730 --> 00:07:00,090 From the c clinical leadership side, you know, 124 00:07:00,090 --> 00:07:04,090 what does it take to make sure that goes as smoothly as possible? 125 00:07:04,190 --> 00:07:08,090 How do you make sure, um, from the people perspective, pe you know, 126 00:07:08,090 --> 00:07:11,370 your team understands why you're making these changes, um, 127 00:07:11,390 --> 00:07:16,010 and how important it is to really buy in and, um, you know, 128 00:07:16,010 --> 00:07:18,570 move in this direction that'll be better for patient care overall? 129 00:07:19,450 --> 00:07:23,780 Yeah, a lot of that is centered on what I'll call best practices and, 130 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:28,340 and doing things, you know, the right way consistently. So, you know, 131 00:07:28,340 --> 00:07:31,740 having more of a standard operating model that incorporates those best 132 00:07:32,020 --> 00:07:33,580 practices. Um, you know, 133 00:07:33,580 --> 00:07:37,180 one of the ways that that epic is powerful is it enables you to, 134 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,700 to deliver that in the electronic, you know, health record forum. Um, 135 00:07:41,770 --> 00:07:42,520 part of, 136 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:47,140 to your question about change management is we want to be 137 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:52,420 the absolute best at what we do. And, and so getting to that gold standard, 138 00:07:52,420 --> 00:07:53,253 getting to that, 139 00:07:53,610 --> 00:07:58,260 that best practice is something that everyone I think pretty easily rallies 140 00:07:58,260 --> 00:08:01,740 around and, and understands. And the other, you know, 141 00:08:01,740 --> 00:08:04,100 thing that we've gotten better at to the question before is, 142 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:09,140 is sharing best practices and making sure that are different leaders at 143 00:08:09,140 --> 00:08:11,420 our different sites of service or talking to each other, 144 00:08:11,420 --> 00:08:14,860 they're learning from each other. When something goes well, 145 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,700 we share that or vice versa, if something doesn't go well, 146 00:08:18,700 --> 00:08:23,180 we share that too as a, a lesson learned so that that others cannot, you know, 147 00:08:23,180 --> 00:08:27,260 have that happen. Um, again. And so, you know, 148 00:08:27,260 --> 00:08:30,580 that communication, that integration, that, 149 00:08:30,580 --> 00:08:35,380 that sort of interweaving of our different sites of service so that we are truly 150 00:08:35,380 --> 00:08:37,580 performing at the highest possible level at, 151 00:08:37,580 --> 00:08:40,300 at every sites of services is what we're after. And, 152 00:08:40,300 --> 00:08:44,540 and so in terms of change management, people do get excited about that. They, 153 00:08:44,540 --> 00:08:46,820 they want to be the best, you know, we want to be the, 154 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,820 the number one health system, um, in New Jersey, which I believe we already are, 155 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,980 but we want to continue to get better and better such that our patients and 156 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:56,760 communities get the best possible outcomes. 157 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,920 I love that. I think it's such an important mission and definitely, uh, 158 00:09:01,930 --> 00:09:05,040 makes a lot of sense as a healthcare organization. Now, 159 00:09:05,180 --> 00:09:06,840 before we wrap up our conversation, 160 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,280 I was wondering if you could share with us one change that you, 161 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,680 your team has made in the last year that has really yielded some great results. 162 00:09:14,540 --> 00:09:18,910 Yeah, we've gone, I would say back to the bedside, you know, 163 00:09:18,910 --> 00:09:22,990 during covid there was less opportunity to, 164 00:09:23,090 --> 00:09:27,310 to have the face-to-face interaction that really makes us all human beings. 165 00:09:27,310 --> 00:09:31,310 And we have purposefully as leaders in our health system, for example, 166 00:09:31,980 --> 00:09:36,790 gone back to the bedside. So we have senior leader rounds, um, 167 00:09:37,020 --> 00:09:38,150 once a week and, 168 00:09:38,290 --> 00:09:43,030 and most of our hospitals where our senior team is going to the unit 169 00:09:43,130 --> 00:09:47,350 in the hospital meeting with the, the staff, the nurses, the the technicians, 170 00:09:48,090 --> 00:09:51,470 um, the, the individuals who are delivering care at the frontline, 171 00:09:51,820 --> 00:09:56,390 listening to them, understanding what's working well, what's not working well, 172 00:09:56,580 --> 00:10:01,110 solving some of their problems if there's issues with the supply chain or 173 00:10:01,110 --> 00:10:05,190 there's issues with the electronic health record not working as, as well as, 174 00:10:05,290 --> 00:10:08,390 as it should. We, we listen to those issues and, and go back and, 175 00:10:08,450 --> 00:10:12,390 and put fixes in. The other part of that that's very powerful is, 176 00:10:12,490 --> 00:10:13,323 is going to the, 177 00:10:13,370 --> 00:10:17,750 the bedside of the patient and actually rounding on patients and listening to 178 00:10:17,990 --> 00:10:18,823 patients. And again, 179 00:10:19,220 --> 00:10:24,030 individuals will present issues that we can solve real time and or their 180 00:10:24,030 --> 00:10:26,750 themes that, that emerge from those conversations. 181 00:10:27,050 --> 00:10:29,270 So getting back to the, 182 00:10:29,530 --> 00:10:34,070 the frontline to the bedside is so powerful for, for leaders to, 183 00:10:34,130 --> 00:10:38,830 to help understand what is happening and to help in turn fix 184 00:10:38,930 --> 00:10:40,750 issues that, that are happening and, 185 00:10:40,750 --> 00:10:43,430 and really spreading those best practices across our whole system. 186 00:10:45,110 --> 00:10:48,350 I love that it sounds like such a simple thing to do, but certainly, you know, 187 00:10:48,370 --> 00:10:51,430 it makes that connection and can make everything, um, 188 00:10:51,900 --> 00:10:55,230 seem just a bit more easy to, to make that change and, 189 00:10:55,250 --> 00:10:57,510 and be better for the patients as well as your teammates. 190 00:10:57,820 --> 00:11:00,510 Have you seen or heard any feedback from, uh, 191 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:03,990 since you started doing more of these bedside rounds as senior leadership team? 192 00:11:04,900 --> 00:11:09,550 Yeah. The, the staff on our hospital units love it. 193 00:11:09,810 --> 00:11:12,830 Um, they love the opportunity to interact with, 194 00:11:12,830 --> 00:11:16,670 with senior leaders and to really be heard and, and, you know, 195 00:11:16,670 --> 00:11:18,070 as we're solving problems, 196 00:11:18,070 --> 00:11:20,390 some of them are simple things that we can solve within the hour. 197 00:11:20,660 --> 00:11:23,110 Some of them are, are longer term problems. It, 198 00:11:23,130 --> 00:11:27,470 it really yields those results that makes everyone feel better about their 199 00:11:27,470 --> 00:11:31,430 workplace and, and then having the, the patient-centeredness and, 200 00:11:31,450 --> 00:11:34,670 and really having our patients be truly listened to is, 201 00:11:34,770 --> 00:11:39,150 is just very powerful and it, it brings us all back to why we do what we do and, 202 00:11:39,170 --> 00:11:42,790 and that's to get to those absolute best outcomes for our patients. 203 00:11:44,610 --> 00:11:45,850 Absolutely. Well, Dr. Anderson, 204 00:11:45,850 --> 00:11:47,890 thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. 205 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,850 This has been a really fun and interesting conversation and I look forward to 206 00:11:50,850 --> 00:11:51,970 connecting with you again soon. 207 00:11:52,140 --> 00:11:52,973 Thank you very much. 208 00:11:55,870 --> 00:11:59,120 It's so important for leaders at the top of organizations to keep learning, 209 00:11:59,270 --> 00:12:00,960 stay sharp, grow their networks, 210 00:12:01,350 --> 00:12:04,560 help our audience better do this in a more simplified, personalized, 211 00:12:04,580 --> 00:12:08,240 and meaningful way. 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