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- This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
I'm thrilled today to be joined by Sandra Bossi,
senior Director of Care Delivery Innovation at Hospital
for Special Surgery in New York City.
Sandra, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
- Likewise, it's always pleasure to speak with you, Laura.
- Fantastic. Well, I'm looking forward to our discussion
because I know Hospital
for Special Surgery is such an innovative place
and really on the cutting edge of a lot
of what's happening in orthopedics
in research and development.
But before we dive into my questions,
I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more
about yourself and your background.
- I, I, uh, started working at HSS almost 10 years ago,
and I started first in the operations, uh, uh,
and then for the past seven years, I have, uh, been a member
of our innovation institute,
where I currently lead the care delivery, uh,
innovation vertical.
And so in that role, I'm, uh, responsible for the execution
and management of a broad portfolio of innovative, um,
you know, enterprise strategic healthcare initiatives
that are founded on strategic operations
and joint product developments, uh, with the goal
to promote healthcare value
and scale, HSS, uh, world-class clinical expertise globally,
um, HSS
or Hospital Specialist Surgery, um,
the oldest orthopedic institution in the country.
It's been in existence for 160 years.
So from very long tradition, uh,
we are ranked number one orthopedic hospital by US News
and World Report for, uh, 14 consecutive years.
Uh, and we, uh,
perform over 35,000 surgical procedures annually.
So that's the highest volume of hip
and knee replacement surgeries in the country.
Uh, we also have the lowest readmission
rates in orthopedics.
Um, so innovation has always been a part of our DNA and I.
I, I'm, I'm very confident that it has contributed, uh,
to us become the leader in the field.
Um, the global standard told replacement was developed at
HSS in 1969,
and since then we have,
we have been con continuously innovating.
So I'm very, um, you know, honored to be part of
that innovation team, um,
and lead the care delivery, uh, innovation, uh, you know,
where I spearhead the developments
and commercialization
of the next generation digital robotic machine learning AI
applications, but also computer vision
and data analytics technologies
and all of that with, uh, really the ambition
to create a real clinical products
that will make an impact in the lives of patients.
- That's amazing to hear and, and such great background
and foundation that HSS has in, as you mentioned, innovation
and, and really forward thinking for the orthopedic space.
What are the opportunities
and headwinds that you have your eye on right now?
I know healthcare has changed a lot, especially in the last,
you know, few years or so.
Um, what's really kind of top of mind for you right now?
- Well, you know, being a, a, uh, a, uh, a ser you know, uh,
orthopedic institution
and highly focused on surgical, uh, procedures,
I'm thinking from the innovation
and technology development perspective related
to the surgical procedures.
So I would say, um, robotic is definitely an area
that I'm interesting in and that's expanding.
Um, currently approximately 30%
of our surgical procedures are robotic or computer assisted.
And that, that's a big change, uh,
from only a few years ago.
Uh, and I do think that this trend will continue.
Um, so, uh, I think it's really important for us
to stay ahead, uh, of those, of these technological changes.
And, um, uh, with that in mind, in 2021,
we have created the, uh, industry first innovation center
for artificial intelligence in robotic joint replacement in
partnership with the MedTech companies, Immer Biomed.
And, um, so the goal of this center is to, you know, uh,
leverage HSSX clinical of surgical expertise
and clinical data to continue to develop those, uh, uh,
decision support tools that can be integrated in robotic
surgical processes, you know, with the goal to, um,
have better, uh, surgical outcomes.
Um, so, um, I definitely see that as a,
as a really big opportunity in the future.
And, um, you know,
but apart from just robotic procedures,
like it's a whole ecosystem that's associated with this, uh,
uh, surgical procedure.
It's also the question of preoperative planning.
We are developing technologies
that can now really help us better prepare surgeons
and clinical teams for the surgery, um, by using, you know,
uh, machine learning and ai, um, algorithms apply
to the imaging to better, um, you know, estimate the type
and size of the implant that needs to be used,
the positioning, the orientation, where the cut needs
to happen, uh, so that we can increase the chances
of successful surgical outcomes.
Um, at the same time, we also have at HSS, um,
I think that we are the only healthcare system
that has on our own premise, uh, the 3D uh,
implant printing facility, like we can print on-premise,
the, uh, a patient implant.
Um, we, uh, that, that facility was open in partnership
with the European Med Tech company.
Uh, we don't, uh, obviously print, uh, implants
for all our surgical patients.
It's only for very complex cases, be
because the processes takes time and it's expensive.
But, uh, for the very complex revision cases, uh,
this could be applied
and it could help really, um, improve the surgical outcome
because you can imagine it's really precision medicine, um,
creating, uh, specifically tailored, um, you know, uh,
implant that's based on patients' anatomy.
So all these initiatives where we use technologies
for better precision medicine around, uh,
surgical procedures is really important,
and I think it's going to continue in the future.
Now, uh, when you talk about the headwinds, um, I think
that, uh, when you are working in innovation
and when you are introducing any new technology,
particularly in healthcare, um, you know, it requires, uh,
um, a lot of evidence, clinical evidence to be collected
to prove that that protocol or technique
or technology is better.
So it takes time. And so you need to have patients to, um,
you know, to, and,
and dedication to commit to prove it over time.
But at the same time, uh, it requires reiterations
and product development, you know, cautious monitoring
of the processes, review of the results generation
of new insights to improve the technology further.
So, uh, it's not like you are using a,
a technology off the shelf that you can easily deploy.
Um, so it requires really engaged stakeholders,
engaged surgeons who are willing to wrap their hands
around those new technologies
and contribute to their for further development.
And that's not easy to do in an environment
that we know is already, um, you know,
there's a lot of burnout.
So in other words, finding extra time
for innovation in a healthcare setting may sometimes
sounds a, as a luxury.
And I would say that's maybe the biggest, um, headwind
or hurdle for innovation.
- That's fascinating to hear,
and certainly as you mentioned, you know, it's so important
to have that eye for the future
and understand what that investment in thinking about
innovation could mean, um, going forward.
And in that vein, how are you thinking about growth
and adding value to hospital for special surgery, um,
in the future over the next year especially?
What does that look like for you?
- Yeah, um, I think over,
over the past decade we've seen in the healthcare landscape,
uh, healthcare landscape has undergone,
you know, substantial changes.
And we've seen non-traditional players entering the sector
and, uh, driven by a commitment to become major healthcare
providers and transform the industry.
Uh, I think for healthcare systems to sustain growth, uh,
we must, uh, I think adopt a creative approach to the,
our growth models.
And, uh, I think that, uh, that can be possible
through strategic partnerships
and, uh, the development of the capabilities that may be
outside of our traditional scope of responsibilities
and more so than just having like geographical expansion.
I think it's really important that we, uh, enhance the, uh,
care delivery models,
and I think that the technology can really help us, um,
help us in, in, uh, in that, uh, space.
So I would say, you know, partnering with industry
for innovative care, uh, delivery models will be key.
I think finding the ways
to commercialize our clinical expertise and know-how
and monetize it is also an additional, uh, opportunity
to create revenues and, and, and,
and, uh, additional revenue streams and grow,
but also, uh, leveraging the clinical data that we have
for the medical research
and the future development of those, uh,
cutting edge technologies can really contribute
to both the medical progress
and for, um, for, for the growth of the healthcare systems.
So I would say, you know, in a, you know, a blend
of strategic partnership, innovative capability buildings
and leveraging of technology, uh, will be key
to remain a competitive in the new, uh,
healthcare landscape.
- Well, that's great to hear. It makes a lot of sense,
especially when you think about, you know,
how quickly things are changing.
I can imagine having the right partners
and, um, people in the right spots
to really drive innovation and, and be flexible
and nimble more than ever before.
Um, mm-hmm, could really make
a big difference.
- Yes, definitely. Mm-Hmm, .
- Now I know, you know,
it's been a challenging few years here with the pandemic
and then some of the other headwinds, staffing shortages,
many health systems we're dealing with as well
as financial issues.
Um, but from your perspective,
if you were looking at innovation and, you know, a hospital
or health system had maybe limited resources
to really put into it, what do you think is one risk
or investment that's really worth making?
Um, if you're thinking about, you know,
what is gonna be essential going forward?
- Uh, I, I think that's, that's, that's a really, uh,
you know, , that's a great question,
and I would say it's, um, building the,
the data-driven, uh, culture.
Um, I will explain why I think that I think it's, it's a,
it's a very, uh, it's a risk.
If we are not doing it in the future, uh,
it's definitely an investment,
but if we don't do it, I think, um,
there's a huge risk associated with it.
I think in the same way
as over the years we have been promoting the culture
of excellence, the culture of innovation, the culture
of like the highest quality, et cetera.
I think that, uh, promoting data-driven culture, the,
the culture where decisions are made based on the data, uh,
is, is really important for the healthcare systems.
And, uh, and so what does that mean?
That means, you know, promoting the culture of data literacy
among, you know, within our staff, uh,
but also, you know, for the future, uh, science development.
And when I say that I don't think like, you know, uh,
you know, collecting and, and storing the data
and creating unnecessary data repositories, uh,
for the data collection, uh, sake, how can data be,
uh, leveraged best
for clinical meaningful clinical applications and, uh, and,
and help us further provide not only like streamline,
streamline our processes, make us us more efficient,
which we will need to be, be to be able to, with,
with all the, you know,
financial pressure on the healthcare systems with, uh,
staffing issues, et cetera.
We will need to rely on, on, on those technologies
that rely on data for streamlining our operations,
but also for further, um, clinical research
and for, uh, development of precision medicine.
And at HSS in 2021, we have, uh, you know, it was a part
of our strategic initiative.
We have created a center for
of analytics modeling and performance.
And that is responsible for, um, all our ne needs
for data, infrastructure, resources, analytics, that's going
to support our strategic, uh, roadmap.
So, um, I, I really think, uh,
that the healthcare systems in the future should, uh,
invest in their, their, um, data-driven culture.
- That makes a lot of sense. And, you know, I love that idea
and that mindset of being so focused on the data, being able
to bring everything in one spot
and provide the right information
to the right people in order to really improve care and,
and how processes are implemented.
Sandra, thank you so much
for joining us on the podcast today.
This has been really a fun and,
and very interesting conversation,
and I look forward to connecting with you as again soon.
And I know you'll be at our, um, events next year,
live events, C-E-O-C-F-O, round table.
Um, I had the pleasure of having you on a panel in 2023,
and I'm really excited to see you there again in 2024.
- Thank you, Laura. Thank you for the opportunity,
and I love, uh, enjoy the, uh, Becker's events.
So looking forward to the next, uh, encounter next year
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