1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,339 Hello, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:04,240 My name is Chanel Banger. Today, I have 3 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:06,660 the pleasure of speaking with doctor Victor Navarro, 4 00:00:07,279 --> 00:00:09,859 the chief clinical officer of the central region 5 00:00:09,919 --> 00:00:12,559 of Jefferson Health System, who joins the podcast 6 00:00:12,559 --> 00:00:15,035 today to share insights into his background, trends 7 00:00:15,035 --> 00:00:16,394 he's keeping an eye on, and a bit 8 00:00:16,394 --> 00:00:18,234 more. Doctor Navarro, thank you so much for 9 00:00:18,234 --> 00:00:20,635 joining me today. Oh, my pleasure, Chanel. Thanks 10 00:00:20,635 --> 00:00:21,454 for having me. 11 00:00:21,835 --> 00:00:23,435 Of course. Well, to get us started, could 12 00:00:23,435 --> 00:00:25,195 you please introduce yourself and tell us a 13 00:00:25,195 --> 00:00:28,414 bit about your background and Jefferson Health System? 14 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:30,440 Sure. Sure will. I'd love to. Thanks very 15 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,619 much. Yeah. My name is Vic Navarro. 16 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:34,600 As I as you said, I'm a chief 17 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:35,979 clinical officer for 18 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:38,520 one of the four regions within Jefferson Health, 19 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:40,940 the Central Region, which is essentially the Metropolitan 20 00:00:41,239 --> 00:00:43,739 Philadelphia area covering seven health care, 21 00:00:44,465 --> 00:00:47,684 hospital facilities for of of our 33. 22 00:00:48,945 --> 00:00:52,384 I'm a transplant physician by training. I still 23 00:00:52,384 --> 00:00:52,884 practice, 24 00:00:53,824 --> 00:00:56,464 but I have become the chief clinical officer 25 00:00:56,464 --> 00:00:57,984 in the Central Region, and I took this 26 00:00:57,984 --> 00:01:00,170 role in 2023. 27 00:01:00,170 --> 00:01:01,270 My my main responsibilities 28 00:01:01,809 --> 00:01:03,269 are to oversee the quality, 29 00:01:03,570 --> 00:01:04,709 safety, regulatory 30 00:01:05,010 --> 00:01:05,510 programs, 31 00:01:06,530 --> 00:01:09,090 for the Central Region. I also oversee the 32 00:01:09,090 --> 00:01:11,890 medical staff office, and I also help our 33 00:01:11,890 --> 00:01:13,269 critical service lines 34 00:01:13,834 --> 00:01:16,254 to grow from a strategic and even operational 35 00:01:16,314 --> 00:01:16,814 perspective, 36 00:01:17,274 --> 00:01:18,814 as part of a big team. 37 00:01:19,114 --> 00:01:22,094 That includes our transplant programs, heart and vascular, 38 00:01:22,155 --> 00:01:22,655 musculoskeletal 39 00:01:23,435 --> 00:01:23,935 cancer, 40 00:01:24,314 --> 00:01:25,295 women's programs. 41 00:01:26,474 --> 00:01:27,694 So that's my role. 42 00:01:28,439 --> 00:01:30,140 Perfect. Thank you so much for the introduction. 43 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:31,719 And now moving into the meat of the 44 00:01:31,719 --> 00:01:34,219 podcast a bit, I'm curious to know 45 00:01:34,599 --> 00:01:36,520 what are the trends that you're currently watching 46 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:37,420 either in transplant 47 00:01:37,719 --> 00:01:40,859 space, executive leadership, or just health care overall? 48 00:01:41,185 --> 00:01:41,685 Yeah. 49 00:01:42,224 --> 00:01:43,424 Sure. Well, I'll tell you, 50 00:01:43,984 --> 00:01:46,484 in talking with my colleagues, reading the literature, 51 00:01:46,625 --> 00:01:48,484 keeping one's ear to the ground, 52 00:01:48,784 --> 00:01:50,465 I think the most important thing we've got 53 00:01:50,465 --> 00:01:52,645 to keep an eye on is artificial intelligence 54 00:01:52,865 --> 00:01:53,525 and technology. 55 00:01:54,219 --> 00:01:56,180 You know, this is a tool that it 56 00:01:56,180 --> 00:01:58,819 seems to be most sort of carefully regulated 57 00:01:58,819 --> 00:02:01,640 and scrutinized at the organizational level. And Jefferson 58 00:02:01,700 --> 00:02:04,659 with this very large system of 33 hospitals 59 00:02:04,659 --> 00:02:07,015 has a robust process for this. But, you 60 00:02:07,015 --> 00:02:09,974 know, there's risk involved in artificial intelligence and 61 00:02:09,974 --> 00:02:12,055 technology, but it's so useful in so many 62 00:02:12,055 --> 00:02:12,555 ways. 63 00:02:12,854 --> 00:02:14,074 It can help with administrative 64 00:02:14,375 --> 00:02:16,875 tasks, predictive analytics, as you know, 65 00:02:17,175 --> 00:02:18,395 very much in diagnostic 66 00:02:18,775 --> 00:02:19,275 support. 67 00:02:19,655 --> 00:02:22,129 And and I think as we move further 68 00:02:22,129 --> 00:02:25,170 and further, AI is gonna become incredibly important. 69 00:02:25,170 --> 00:02:26,629 Actually, it already is important, 70 00:02:27,569 --> 00:02:30,930 for alleviating the doctors and other providers of 71 00:02:30,930 --> 00:02:31,830 of administrative 72 00:02:32,450 --> 00:02:32,950 tasks. 73 00:02:33,735 --> 00:02:35,034 Everything from scribing 74 00:02:35,415 --> 00:02:38,135 to, you know, other things that our that 75 00:02:38,135 --> 00:02:39,514 our front office does. 76 00:02:40,055 --> 00:02:42,775 Jefferson is very deep into and a and 77 00:02:42,775 --> 00:02:44,555 a leader of the pack on, 78 00:02:44,935 --> 00:02:47,495 ambient listening for among our providers in the 79 00:02:47,495 --> 00:02:47,995 office, 80 00:02:48,389 --> 00:02:49,989 now in the hospital, and now it's being 81 00:02:49,989 --> 00:02:51,209 adopted by our nurses. 82 00:02:51,669 --> 00:02:53,189 But I'd also like to see, 83 00:02:53,509 --> 00:02:55,289 our own health system and, 84 00:02:55,590 --> 00:02:56,250 in general, 85 00:02:56,789 --> 00:02:59,370 more patient facing artificial intelligence 86 00:02:59,669 --> 00:03:01,769 technology such as conversational agents 87 00:03:02,069 --> 00:03:03,610 becoming tested and deployed. 88 00:03:04,175 --> 00:03:05,715 Things that might help patients 89 00:03:06,175 --> 00:03:07,235 prepare for procedures. 90 00:03:07,935 --> 00:03:10,435 And that really allows us on the 91 00:03:10,735 --> 00:03:12,894 the clinical end to become more efficient because 92 00:03:12,894 --> 00:03:15,935 we can deploy these processes that will interact 93 00:03:15,935 --> 00:03:18,340 with patients, help them prep, let's say, for, 94 00:03:18,580 --> 00:03:19,960 you know, a a colonoscopy 95 00:03:20,419 --> 00:03:21,960 or another surgical procedure. 96 00:03:22,340 --> 00:03:24,340 And we don't have to take the time 97 00:03:24,340 --> 00:03:26,740 of our of our, operating room staff to 98 00:03:26,740 --> 00:03:28,419 do that. So I think that's one of 99 00:03:28,419 --> 00:03:30,099 the big things. The other thing which I 100 00:03:30,099 --> 00:03:31,875 think we've got to keep a close eye 101 00:03:31,875 --> 00:03:34,454 on is virtual and care and home care. 102 00:03:34,674 --> 00:03:36,935 You know, hospitals at home are very important, 103 00:03:37,234 --> 00:03:38,534 and all health systems 104 00:03:38,834 --> 00:03:42,294 are investing heavily in virtual and remote monitoring. 105 00:03:42,995 --> 00:03:45,474 Certainly at Jefferson where we have a large 106 00:03:45,474 --> 00:03:46,215 health plan, 107 00:03:46,849 --> 00:03:48,770 This is very important for our members so 108 00:03:48,770 --> 00:03:51,090 that we can, after discharge, give them an 109 00:03:51,090 --> 00:03:54,370 opportunity for virtual care to have follow-up soon 110 00:03:54,370 --> 00:03:55,430 after their discharge. 111 00:03:55,889 --> 00:03:58,849 But virtual care is critically important to maintain 112 00:03:58,849 --> 00:03:59,349 access. 113 00:03:59,894 --> 00:04:01,574 I think we've got to keep a close 114 00:04:01,574 --> 00:04:03,514 eye on precision medicine, 115 00:04:03,894 --> 00:04:06,074 whether that's in the area of genomics 116 00:04:06,375 --> 00:04:07,194 or biomarkers. 117 00:04:08,055 --> 00:04:10,694 And it has such a potential great impact 118 00:04:10,694 --> 00:04:11,354 in oncology 119 00:04:11,734 --> 00:04:14,419 and other areas such as brain disease, brain 120 00:04:14,419 --> 00:04:15,800 health, Alzheimer's disease. 121 00:04:16,339 --> 00:04:18,500 And then I think, you know, workforce in 122 00:04:18,500 --> 00:04:19,000 general, 123 00:04:19,939 --> 00:04:22,339 labor shortages are something that we're living with 124 00:04:22,339 --> 00:04:25,060 every day, and employee costs nonetheless continue to 125 00:04:25,060 --> 00:04:26,714 rise. And this puts a lot of pressure 126 00:04:27,035 --> 00:04:28,415 on healthcare organizations. 127 00:04:29,035 --> 00:04:30,814 And so we've got to be increasingly 128 00:04:31,435 --> 00:04:34,495 efficient on how we manage our, our workforce. 129 00:04:35,595 --> 00:04:38,235 Obviously, we're asking our our providers to become 130 00:04:38,235 --> 00:04:39,694 increasingly more productive. 131 00:04:40,889 --> 00:04:42,889 So we've got to be really creative and 132 00:04:42,889 --> 00:04:45,069 be mindful of shifts in workforce. 133 00:04:46,490 --> 00:04:46,990 Absolutely. 134 00:04:47,370 --> 00:04:49,370 A lot of innovative things happening in health 135 00:04:49,370 --> 00:04:51,210 care right now. Thank you for walking us 136 00:04:51,210 --> 00:04:54,650 through that. And now looking forward into the 137 00:04:54,650 --> 00:04:56,144 rest of 2026, 138 00:04:56,384 --> 00:04:58,064 what are you most focused on and excited 139 00:04:58,064 --> 00:04:59,745 about? And then I kinda want you to 140 00:04:59,745 --> 00:05:02,224 look back at the past six to eighteen 141 00:05:02,224 --> 00:05:04,564 months. So can you talk about an initiative, 142 00:05:04,625 --> 00:05:07,185 a project, or something that you or Jefferson 143 00:05:07,185 --> 00:05:09,745 Health has accomplished that you're proud of? Sure. 144 00:05:09,745 --> 00:05:11,604 Sure. You know, Jefferson has become, 145 00:05:13,079 --> 00:05:14,680 you know, as you know, Chanel, a very 146 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,419 large health system, and we have a few 147 00:05:17,959 --> 00:05:19,160 strategic health, 148 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:21,819 medical centers that are are 149 00:05:22,199 --> 00:05:25,595 tertiary or more quaternary care. You know, centers 150 00:05:25,595 --> 00:05:29,035 that will provide transplant care, for example, or 151 00:05:29,035 --> 00:05:31,774 take care of the most complex vascular procedures. 152 00:05:33,035 --> 00:05:35,774 Certainly in the central region where I'm located, 153 00:05:36,475 --> 00:05:37,294 our tertiary 154 00:05:37,834 --> 00:05:41,120 slash quaternary facility, which is Thomas Jefferson University 155 00:05:41,180 --> 00:05:41,680 Hospital, 156 00:05:42,459 --> 00:05:44,939 is bound by city streets and, you know, 157 00:05:44,939 --> 00:05:47,360 height restrictions. And it's an older facility, 158 00:05:47,980 --> 00:05:50,860 yet still very, very productive and very packed. 159 00:05:50,860 --> 00:05:52,779 And so one of the most important things 160 00:05:52,779 --> 00:05:55,285 that we've done over the past six to 161 00:05:55,285 --> 00:05:56,105 twelve months 162 00:05:56,485 --> 00:05:58,404 is to look at our assets, our bed 163 00:05:58,404 --> 00:06:02,245 capacity within Thomas Jefferson University Hospital as well 164 00:06:02,245 --> 00:06:04,884 as other hospitals within our central region. And 165 00:06:04,884 --> 00:06:07,384 start to guide our patients 166 00:06:07,870 --> 00:06:10,350 from our emergency department, for example, to one 167 00:06:10,350 --> 00:06:12,430 of our other hospitals for care that might 168 00:06:12,430 --> 00:06:13,410 not be required 169 00:06:13,870 --> 00:06:16,269 to be rendered in our university hospital. You 170 00:06:16,269 --> 00:06:17,089 know, for example, 171 00:06:18,029 --> 00:06:20,669 a patient who has an aortic dissection needs 172 00:06:20,669 --> 00:06:24,014 to be within the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital 173 00:06:24,014 --> 00:06:26,654 walls. However, many other patients who might have 174 00:06:26,654 --> 00:06:27,475 heart disease, 175 00:06:28,095 --> 00:06:29,555 other infectious diseases, 176 00:06:30,574 --> 00:06:31,634 vascular problems 177 00:06:32,014 --> 00:06:34,629 could very easily and be taken care of 178 00:06:34,629 --> 00:06:37,589 very well at another hospital, for example, Methodist. 179 00:06:37,589 --> 00:06:39,449 And so we've we've developed, 180 00:06:39,829 --> 00:06:41,850 we've developed great processes 181 00:06:42,550 --> 00:06:42,870 to, 182 00:06:43,509 --> 00:06:46,149 redistribute so to speak in a compassionate way 183 00:06:46,149 --> 00:06:48,230 where patients understand what's going on and are 184 00:06:48,230 --> 00:06:50,564 in agreement to some of our other facilities. 185 00:06:50,865 --> 00:06:52,305 And I think this is gonna be key 186 00:06:52,305 --> 00:06:54,085 for the future, particularly for 187 00:06:54,464 --> 00:06:57,345 health systems that like ours where you've got 188 00:06:57,345 --> 00:06:59,504 very, very many hospitals, you're just, you know, 189 00:06:59,504 --> 00:07:02,720 distributed in in large areas, but you've got 190 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,060 to figure out ways to provide high acuity 191 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:05,620 services. 192 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:08,720 And you can't do that in every space. 193 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:10,180 You've got to figure out, 194 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,840 where these high acuity specialties can operate in 195 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:14,819 the most efficient 196 00:07:15,154 --> 00:07:17,875 and highest quality way. And that may just 197 00:07:17,875 --> 00:07:19,955 be one or a few hospitals within these 198 00:07:19,955 --> 00:07:22,295 large health systems. So it's really incumbent upon 199 00:07:22,595 --> 00:07:25,235 us managers to figure out ways to keep 200 00:07:25,235 --> 00:07:25,975 those patients, 201 00:07:26,754 --> 00:07:28,935 coming to these high acuity hospitals, 202 00:07:29,419 --> 00:07:31,600 to keep the capacity there for them 203 00:07:31,980 --> 00:07:34,939 yet to not prevent or create barriers for 204 00:07:34,939 --> 00:07:37,660 patients who may have lower acuity disease but 205 00:07:37,660 --> 00:07:38,639 still need hospitalizations 206 00:07:39,339 --> 00:07:40,540 while they can be taken care of at 207 00:07:40,540 --> 00:07:42,879 some of our other hospitals. So managing capacity 208 00:07:43,180 --> 00:07:45,274 is something that I think we've done well. 209 00:07:45,334 --> 00:07:47,334 And at Jefferson, there's certainly more to do 210 00:07:47,334 --> 00:07:49,834 because we are undergoing tremendous renovations 211 00:07:50,535 --> 00:07:53,894 of our emergency room and and building new 212 00:07:53,894 --> 00:07:56,154 units and and our floors to create capacity. 213 00:07:56,589 --> 00:07:58,669 But until that's all said and done, we 214 00:07:58,669 --> 00:08:00,430 do have to you know, we we are 215 00:08:00,430 --> 00:08:03,629 always on top of keeping patient capacity at 216 00:08:03,629 --> 00:08:04,850 its absolutely optimum. 217 00:08:05,870 --> 00:08:08,050 Absolutely. That's amazing to hear. And 218 00:08:08,350 --> 00:08:10,430 I'm curious to hear from your perspective as 219 00:08:10,430 --> 00:08:13,194 the practicing clinician and somebody that's worn different 220 00:08:13,194 --> 00:08:16,074 hats throughout the Jefferson Health System. What advice 221 00:08:16,074 --> 00:08:18,074 would you give to evolving leaders looking to 222 00:08:18,074 --> 00:08:19,675 have that same impact and drive in the 223 00:08:19,675 --> 00:08:20,894 careers as you have? 224 00:08:21,274 --> 00:08:22,795 Oh, well, thank you. That's a very nice 225 00:08:22,795 --> 00:08:23,295 question. 226 00:08:24,259 --> 00:08:26,100 I have been with Jefferson for a long 227 00:08:26,100 --> 00:08:26,500 time. 228 00:08:27,220 --> 00:08:30,259 It's actually connected in some ways since 2001, 229 00:08:30,259 --> 00:08:33,059 and I've seen the landscape of health care 230 00:08:33,059 --> 00:08:35,720 change both locally, nationally, and I think Jefferson 231 00:08:35,779 --> 00:08:37,485 is responding really well to it. 232 00:08:38,044 --> 00:08:40,284 My advice is that any health care leader 233 00:08:40,284 --> 00:08:42,384 has to be committed to being flexible. 234 00:08:43,245 --> 00:08:45,485 Things change on a dime within, you know, 235 00:08:45,485 --> 00:08:47,345 week by week, month by month. 236 00:08:47,804 --> 00:08:51,325 New regulations appear, you know, new processes may 237 00:08:51,325 --> 00:08:54,090 appear that improve efficiency. So one must really 238 00:08:54,090 --> 00:08:56,029 be flexible and open to change. 239 00:08:56,490 --> 00:08:58,809 And realizing that sometimes you don't know what 240 00:08:58,809 --> 00:09:00,490 you don't know, and you've got to be 241 00:09:00,490 --> 00:09:02,410 open to what other people have to say 242 00:09:02,410 --> 00:09:04,429 and what other health systems might be doing, 243 00:09:04,730 --> 00:09:07,129 particularly systems that are operating in a similar 244 00:09:07,129 --> 00:09:09,875 demographic in our situation in urban environments. 245 00:09:10,414 --> 00:09:13,615 So flexibility is important as is resilience because, 246 00:09:13,615 --> 00:09:15,934 you know, change can be tough. But, you 247 00:09:15,934 --> 00:09:18,995 know, change is important. It helps us grow, 248 00:09:19,455 --> 00:09:21,779 and it also makes us stronger. So I 249 00:09:21,779 --> 00:09:23,000 think one has to 250 00:09:23,539 --> 00:09:24,919 commit to be resilient 251 00:09:25,379 --> 00:09:27,779 and to be communicative and resourceful with one's 252 00:09:27,779 --> 00:09:29,860 team because there is a lot of talent. 253 00:09:29,860 --> 00:09:32,179 Sometimes that talent is hidden and we have 254 00:09:32,179 --> 00:09:33,940 to coax it out of people, but really 255 00:09:33,940 --> 00:09:35,240 a lot of good ideas, 256 00:09:36,184 --> 00:09:38,345 and focus can come out of our our 257 00:09:38,345 --> 00:09:39,644 various team members. 258 00:09:40,184 --> 00:09:42,184 I think that's the most important advice I 259 00:09:42,184 --> 00:09:44,684 can give, to be flexible, to be resilient, 260 00:09:44,745 --> 00:09:46,825 and to look within for strength. There are 261 00:09:46,825 --> 00:09:48,585 a lot of pressures out there. You know, 262 00:09:48,585 --> 00:09:51,004 we mustn't worry about what other health systems 263 00:09:51,389 --> 00:09:53,470 are doing, at least not too much. We 264 00:09:53,470 --> 00:09:55,230 have to really worry to be sure that 265 00:09:55,230 --> 00:09:58,190 we're continuing to provide high quality, you know, 266 00:09:58,190 --> 00:09:59,570 mission driven care. 267 00:10:00,029 --> 00:10:02,110 Yes. We must focus on volumes and we 268 00:10:02,110 --> 00:10:04,110 do that through making the best use of 269 00:10:04,110 --> 00:10:04,610 capacity. 270 00:10:05,404 --> 00:10:07,644 But I think living the mission of your 271 00:10:07,644 --> 00:10:10,125 organization is another important piece of advice I'd 272 00:10:10,125 --> 00:10:10,625 give. 273 00:10:11,165 --> 00:10:13,485 Excellent advice. Well, doctor Navarro, I wanna thank 274 00:10:13,485 --> 00:10:14,845 you for your time today. But before I 275 00:10:14,845 --> 00:10:16,125 let you go, is there anything else that 276 00:10:16,125 --> 00:10:17,100 listener, Chanel? 277 00:10:17,659 --> 00:10:19,740 Well, no. I appreciate that, Chanel. You know, 278 00:10:19,740 --> 00:10:20,139 I think, 279 00:10:21,019 --> 00:10:23,120 Jefferson, as as I've said a few times, 280 00:10:23,259 --> 00:10:25,839 is a very large health system with hospitals 281 00:10:26,059 --> 00:10:28,480 in many different venues, and I think this 282 00:10:28,779 --> 00:10:31,100 adds to the depth and dimension of what 283 00:10:31,100 --> 00:10:33,394 we can offer from the from the extent 284 00:10:33,394 --> 00:10:36,355 of the Lehigh Valley where the Lehigh Valley 285 00:10:36,355 --> 00:10:38,754 Health Network has become part of Jefferson to 286 00:10:38,754 --> 00:10:41,574 now New Jersey as well as metropolitan 287 00:10:41,954 --> 00:10:42,454 Philadelphia. 288 00:10:43,794 --> 00:10:46,674 The high acuity advanced specialty services that we 289 00:10:46,674 --> 00:10:49,450 offer and system line efficiencies, I think, will 290 00:10:49,450 --> 00:10:50,589 be a model for 291 00:10:50,889 --> 00:10:51,389 similar 292 00:10:51,769 --> 00:10:53,789 diverse health systems such as Jefferson. 293 00:10:54,767 --> 00:10:56,287 Got it. Got it. Well, that's a great 294 00:10:56,287 --> 00:10:58,047 note. And on, Doctor. Navarro, I wanna thank 295 00:10:58,047 --> 00:10:59,407 you once again for your time today and 296 00:10:59,407 --> 00:11:01,167 for sharing your insights on the Becker's Healthcare 297 00:11:01,167 --> 00:11:03,727 podcast. Thank you so much. Thank you. Bye 298 00:11:03,727 --> 00:11:04,227 now.