This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast. I'm thrilled to be joined by doctor
Neil Tanna, senior vice president of system preoperative
services and strategy at Northwell Health. Doctor Tanna,
it's a pleasure to have you on the
podcast today.
It's great to be here.
Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation because
I know at Northwell, you're doing some really
innovative things. So we'll dig into that a
little bit and then your perspective on how
you're thinking about the future. But before we
dive in, can you tell us a little
bit more about yourself as well as
Yeah. So, you know, I am a a
practicing surgeon. My specialty is, you know, plastic
surgery. I think that's important because, you know,
you have to lead by example. I mean,
that's really, really important in anything we do.
And, you know, within the domain that I'm
in,
it's,
you know, looking at the perioperative space, so
the operating rooms.
And we're a large health care system.
You know, we are,
in in the entire you know, in the
Northeast Region, and we span, you know, various
practice sites, various disciplines, various geographies.
And, it's an exciting time.
I love that. And, you know,
as it is a very exciting time, a
lot happening in health care space today and,
you know, really truly evolving more quickly than
ever before. So what are some of the
trends that you're currently watching? What's top of
mind for you as you think about where
you're at today as well as where
Yeah. So I it's interesting. This is one
of those few times,
in
history,
that
all disciplines
are facing the same,
disruptive innovations.
And that that's artificial intelligence. So that is
first and foremost.
And how do we incorporate artificial
intelligence?
You know, how do we leverage it
to improve our efficiency,
to reduce workload, to improve outcomes, whatever those
may be?
And and unfortunately, there's a lot of noise.
Right? So it's it's trying to decipher
what is
real and what's not real, what is going
to be a benefit, what is not gonna
be a benefit.
It's it's incredible. And then you've got some
major players,
tech players,
that I think we're gonna see some exciting
things from as well.
So so I would say artificial intelligence,
is gonna be a potential game changer.
I love that. I I think that makes
a lot of sense. And, you know, when
you think about AI, there's so much potential
right now, but I I know also some
anxiety around it too just because a lot
is unknown about AI and and how it
could work in the health care space. And
so at Northwell,
what are some of the ways that you
are using AI? How are you thinking about
it, especially in the clinical space? And, you
know, what are you excited about as well
as what makes you nervous?
Yeah. I think I think anytime you're dealing
with,
you know, protected health information,
and technology, it can be a little,
you know, scary or, you know, you have
to proceed cautiously. And then, you know, at
the end of the day,
you know, what AI doesn't give you is
accountability. Right? And that that can be also
a source of
fear or anxiety.
You know, we're you we're utilizing it in
various clinical spaces, you know, ambient listening, you
know, with artificial intelligence, helping our clinicians,
you know, helping our providers
effectively
document their encounters with patients,
reducing the workload,
better notes,
you know, essentially
eliminating
the cost and overhead of a scribe,
or,
you know, the cumbersome nature of of some
of that documentation.
So that's just one area.
I think that there's other,
you know, areas on the horizon.
You know? For example, in my space, in
the perioperative space,
you know, I think what's gonna be great
is that
you know, just imagine
how great the aviation industry is in terms
of, you know, a plane taking off, the
next plane coming to the gate, the next
plane going, you know, and and it being
very
pretty close.
You know, I know for the for the
avid flyers, you may have stories or or
harsh words of flights being delayed and whatnot,
but it is much more accurate than we
are in the operating room. So now imagine
using AI to understand,
you know, patient factors
that and and be better able to
understand what the length of the surgery is
gonna be, which will then translate into more
efficient, you know, operating room time or,
you know, better utilization. So I think, you
know, these are
on the horizon
potential applications,
that, you know, will will change the destiny
of health care.
That's really exciting to hear, and it definitely
will be a lot of,
fun to see. How certainly, obviously, some challenges
to work through, but at the end of
the day, makes, you know, the the health
care experience better. Now could you tell me
a little bit about a project or initiative
you're most proud of from the last six
to eighteen months or so? What did you
do, and what were the result?
Yes. You know, one of the areas in
a large,
integrated
health care system is to consider the site
of surgery.
And, you know, not all surgeries have to
be done
at the same place. Right? And so, you
know, creating
brand identity, creating a program that's
what a patient wants is sometimes beneficial.
You know, and that's that's also beneficial in
terms of, you know, outpatient versus inpatient surgery.
So something that, you know, I'm proud of
personally is a, you know, a program that
we we created at Northwell, you know, called
the Katz Women Surgery Center, and it's a
program designed
specifically for women who are having
breast surgery or GYN surgery. And it really
encompasses
not just great clinical outcomes by providing clinical
expertise, but it integrates that care, right? So
a woman is able to have
her breast surgery, GYN surgery done at the
same time. It provides psychosocial
services.
It really allows for a woman to understand
the operation,
understand what that means for her in terms
of intimacy and what that means for, you
know, how do I tell my coworkers or,
you know, what ancillary services and and they
also integrate nonsurgical
specialties, you know, like a woman who's, you
know, having her ovaries removed. What does that
mean in terms of fertility or menopause, right?
So looking at
the full spectrum
of patient care through the lens of a
program or the lens of a problem instead
of, you know, we're taking care of that
entire woman instead of just a body part.
So I think that that's something that just
resonates in the last twelve to eighteen months
is to see
how we can create a successful
program
and look at it,
through, you know, various aspects, not just clinical
outcomes, but philanthropy, marketing, patient access, patient experience,
etcetera.
So, it's exciting. It's very exciting.
That's amazing to hear. You know, I haven't,
really had a conversation,
about, that in the past. I haven't heard
of other organizations that are doing it similarly,
but,
that's really cool and seems to make a
lot of sense to bring together so many
different aspects of how the health system runs
in in the business in addition to the
clinical side.
I'm curious. Was there anything, I guess, surprising
that you've,
uncovered or learned throughout the process of standing
up standing this up that would, be helpful
or interesting for our listeners who might wanna
try something like this at their own organizations
to know about?
Yeah. I think, you know, what is key
is stakeholder engagement.
And so what that means is
you,
you know, quite, you know, quite often, you
you have an idea inception,
and you bring a group of people to
the table.
And you put the,
you know, pen to paper and you and
you write out the idea. The key, though,
is to understand that
to make it truly successful, you have to
have the buy in from all stakeholders.
And if you leave someone out
and you try to bring them on secondarily,
then then the the the plan is flawed
from the beginning. So what we learned is
it's better to have those conversations,
leverage those relationships.
And in the idea, the inception,
the the the the beginning
to bring those stakeholders
together,
and they don't all have to be in
one meeting at one time point, but but
definitely have those series of meetings. You know,
think about every single stakeholder and and even
things like the community.
Right? Because, you know, health care is about
delivering
care to patients, the people in the community.
And sometimes
if we just
design a program or a plan or an
initiative
with the stakeholders in the room, in the
in the building, in the in the health
care system, we may fail. You know? So
that's just even even that was surprising. It's
like, you know, we sometimes have to bring
the community,
stakeholders into into the room. So I would
say,
what was very surprising or what was very
telling and and it's quite intuitive in retrospect
is that bring all the stakeholders to the
table and think hard, think twice,
and really make sure you've gotten every single
stakeholder. Otherwise, the plan is flawed.
That's such good advice, and it's so, so
helpful,
to to to really make sure something like
this is,
is successful in the future.
Is there anything else you're most focused on
or excited about when you think about the
future? Where do you, really see some of
these, additional initiatives? I know you mentioned going
outpatients,
side of surgery,
huge, huge topic across the board. And so,
anything else along those lines that you're focused
on and excited about when you look into
the next twelve months or so?
I think data. I think data is gonna
be really, really key. I mean, we are
in an era. Just forget about even medicine
or or health care. I mean, you know,
you ask an athlete or or, you know,
any sports industry, you know, performance data, they
can rattle it off. You know, you we
can we can rattle it off about
athletes.
Look at even wearables. Right?
We can tell how much we slept, what's
our heart rate, how many steps we've had.
I I think that same
continuous,
easy to access,
reliable
data
is really what is going to shape
the decisions
and the
outcomes that we,
you know, make in in health care. So
I think,
and it's gotta be continuous. It has to
be accurate, and it has to be easy
to obtain.
Those are really the key elements that I
think
are are what we need and and what
I'm excited for in the next twelve months.
That makes a lot of sense. So really,
cool to have that data and then the
AI alongside of it makes a difference. Now
before we wrap up, I'm curious, what advice
would you give evolving leaders today, especially those
who are, trying to elevate in their careers
and really, put themselves into positions to make
a big difference within their organizations?
I think,
you know, two things. I think,
you know, data, technology,
artificial intelligence,
those are all,
they augment
the strategy, the thinking.
I would say that, you know, don't forget
relationships. Right? It's it really is,
you know, the data,
technology and artificial intelligence
supporting the relationships. Right? And that's that's something
that's really, really important.
You know, and if you're approaching a group,
approaching an individual, you know, and you bring
data, don't forget it's the relationship that's,
you know, behind that data or in front
of that data that's gonna really,
help achieve those objectives and shared goals.
And then I would say probably the other
thing is,
and this is a very hard one, is
just learn to love the gray. Learn to
love the ambiguity. Right? And I think the
mind is,
especially in this era with
the readily available data, you know, and, you
know, the on demand, anything you want, whether
it's it's car service, food, you know, I
think sometimes we have to, in health care,
understand that there is gonna be ambiguity, and
there is gonna be gray. And it may
not be a yes or no today,
and maybe a maybe. And and we have
to learn to accept that and be comfortable
with that.
That makes a ton of sense.
Doctor Tanner, thank you so much for joining
us on our podcast today. This has been
such a valuable conversation. I think, you know,
you made so many excellent points in terms
of looking at technology.
I think, you know, really,
it's integrating into the workflows today and how
we're,
elevating care within the whole organization in community
as well. So I appreciate your time today.
It's been exciting to speak with you, and
I look forward to seeing you as well
at our periapse summit coming up in September.
I think it's gonna be a lot of
fun speaking.
We'll continue this conversation there.
Looking forward to it, and thank you for
having me.