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This is Laura Dear with the Becker's Healthcare podcast.
I'm thrilled today to be joined by Shannon Bradley,
chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Keck Medicine of U usc. Shannon,
it is a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
Thank you. It's nice to be here.
Now, I know we have a lot to talk about. I,
there's so much happening in healthcare right now,
and especially thinking about diversity and inclusion is such an important space
and topic for us. But before we dive into my questions,
can you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background?
Sure, sure. Um, I am serving as the inaugural, uh,
chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of Kec Medicine of usc. Um,
we are one of only two university based medical systems in the Los Angeles area,
uh,
providing highly specialized world-class patient care within our four hospitals
and over a hundred clinics. So my entry into diversity,
equity and inclusion really started, uh, from a non-traditional standpoint.
I was a non-traditional student, um, entered college, uh,
later on in life and was a single parent at the time. Um, so, uh,
during my journey, um, I did not have access to, uh, healthcare. Uh,
my daughter had access to Medicaid, uh, but I did not. And so, uh,
had an opportunity to really understand, uh,
firsthand some of the challenges of accessing, uh,
healthcare here within the United States, um, particularly, uh, when you are,
um, experiencing low income. And so it really drove, uh, certainly a,
a more of an interest in really getting into healthcare, uh,
to figure out how from the business side of things,
I could make more of an impact. Um, I also, uh,
was blessed with the opportunity to win a scholarship with the Executive
Leadership Council, which is an organization that focuses on Fortune 500, uh,
black leaders in, uh, um, organizations.
And, uh,
really was able to learn a little bit more about how organizations really focus
on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the benefits, the value add,
why they were focused on, uh, de and I, and it sparked, uh,
an additional interest, um, that really has played itself out in, um,
my current work.
What are the valuable perspective that is that you have and just really bringing
that experience to your current role?
Because I know that a lot of health systems are trying to navigate, um,
you know, what the healthcare journey looks like for patients across the board.
Um, so, you know, I,
I can imagine that perspective really makes a difference for you and for tech
medicine. You know,
when you look at where the health system is headed and especially diversity and
inclusion, how do you see that evolving and changing over the next few years?
What's the growth strategy and how are you really leading into making an impact
for patients in the community at large?
Yeah, I,
I think it is an approach that focuses on really having a better understanding
of what the community needs are, understanding our internal demographics.
We know that nationally, um, certainly within the Los Angeles area,
the patient demographics continue to shift.
And so having the ability to not only attract the
best and brightest employees and colleagues to work with,
but also looking at how we can incorporate, again, the feedback of our patients,
making sure that we're providing culturally, uh, intelligent and welcoming care,
uh, for patients.
And also looking at what are the service lines and things that we need to be
invested in that we don't have our, our, uh, finger on the pulse up, right?
How do we better understand what's coming in the future, um, and continue to be,
um, proactive in building out the services and experience that patients,
um, really want to, to have. So I think, uh, for us, it really, uh, again,
focuses on kind of evaluating our demographics, uh, in particular, um,
and across not just race ethnicity, um, but age language,
um, certainly socioeconomic status and the, the social determinants of health,
uh, looking at how we can provide, uh, specialized, uh, care,
even more specialized care based on, uh, patient population needs.
And then providing the care environment that contributes to, um, uh,
equitable, uh, outcomes for all patients that we serve.
Absolutely. I think that's such a great point. And, you know,
I definitely love the idea of incorporating feedback from the community and,
and then really trying to understand what they're gonna need next and be
proactive about how you're developing the service lines and,
and what you're doing.
Could you tell us a little bit about an exciting and impactful initiative or
project that you're working on right now and you know,
what you're really hearing from the ground level?
Yeah, so our, I think most significant, uh,
focus area right now is really around building our health equity framework.
Um, and so that is a lot of, uh, collaboration on our part,
really digging into to the data to see, uh, what opportunities we have,
um, certainly what our, our patient population, um,
is reflective of in terms of demographics, um, and the, again,
the services that we need to be putting into place, um, to help move us forward.
Um, currently, uh, we're working with our quality team, our university,
uh, research team, uh, our four hospitals and our clinics, uh,
to really build out a comprehensive approach that considers, uh,
not only the compliance aspects of DE and I, but also, uh, again,
our outcomes from a quality standpoint.
What's the financial impact of the efforts that we're undertaking? Um,
how do we, uh, ensure that there is appropriate, uh,
feedback from the communities that we serve,
so that there's also that voice incorporated in, uh, what they'd like to see.
And so it's a, a, a massive, uh, puzzle for us. But I think one that,
um, certainly every healthcare, uh, system should be undertaking, uh,
in terms of figuring out how to advance health equity. It's a, I think a core,
uh, component of what we should be doing is healthcare organizations.
That's certainly really meaningful, and like you said, you know, a,
a a huge undertaking, but, um, important for,
for the improvement of care in, in bridging any health equity gaps.
And I can imagine too, you know,
when you are trying to get the feedback and trying to connect and understand
what the community needs, you have to do that in a few different ways or,
or not everybody is responsive to one particular method. How are you doing that?
How do you really connect and gather feedback and really, um,
get yourself to a place where you feel like you are understanding what the
community is telling you,
and they're really able to open up to you with some great feedback?
Sure. Uh, one of the,
the things that we're focusing on right now is our community, uh,
engagement and community benefit strategy.
So we're really taking a look at how historically we've engaged with, um,
specific communities, uh, to ensure that there's, uh, again,
that representation across the board when we're looking at, um,
what we're going to focus on from a community benefits standpoint. Uh,
but we're also trying to be a little bit more strategic. And so it's, uh,
continuing to build those relationships, uh, through our university relations,
uh, relations team, uh,
is looking at how we leverage our employee resource groups for, uh, again,
a better sense of awareness. Uh, a lot of our, uh,
workforce and colleagues are members of, uh, the community,
and so having them also inform us on organizations that we could or should be
partnering with as well. Um, and being able to make those introductions and, uh,
being actively involved in the communities that we serve helps to build that
trust that then lends itself to us having, uh,
more in-depth conversations about what the needs are and how we can be
responsive to them, but also, um, certainly, uh, help equip our communities,
uh, to also advance, uh, their own, uh, health as well.
That's so helpful to know. Thank you so much, Shannon,
for going through those methods with us and really, um,
helping us understand what that looks like. Now,
before we wrap up our conversation,
I'm wondering what is the most important thing that healthcare executives should
do now to make sure they're on a path for success in the future?
Especially as they're trying to be more diverse and,
and inclusive within their policies, both internally, uh,
from the workforce standpoint,
as well as how they connect with their communities, um, you know,
in really becoming, uh,
more focused on delivering the services that their communities need?
Yeah, I think investing in the, the lens of diversity, equity,
and inclusion, um, I,
I think certainly having the infrastructure to, uh, continue to,
to build, uh, the maturity in our de and i efforts is important.
But I think at, at a minimum, really taking an opportunity to look at,
uh, what your, uh, outcomes are by, uh, real and sogi data.
Uh, taking an opportunity to,
to really dive into what your patient demographics are. Um, we know that, again,
the workforce is, is changing. Um, we are,
no matter whether you're looking at race, ethnicity, language, uh,
et cetera, uh, we know that the, the patient population is aging. Um,
and so that in and of itself comes with some additional, um,
opportunities for us to really look at how we provide care internally,
but also the socioeconomic needs that are going, going to, um, arise,
uh, based on, uh, that patient population as well.
And so I think really taking that first step, um, to, to look at things, um,
and look at the data, uh, specifically will be helpful. Um,
I think secondarily or, or maybe second, uh,
I'd say would be looking at, uh, the service line opportunities.
Um, so really understanding where we, um, must be equipped,
uh, internally from a, uh, cultural intelligence standpoint, uh,
to accommodate and welcome patients in the ways that they desire, um,
and really continue to be able to build trust to ensure that folks feel
comfortable coming to our organizations and receiving the services that they're
interested in. Uh, we know, I think, uh, that, for instance here, we,
we've been able to focus on a gender affirming care program. Um,
and so those are the types of activities that really introduce additional
revenue streams, but also speak to a very specific need for, uh, patients.
And so it's opportunities like that,
that I think we can really take advantage of to help strengthen our financial
impact, but also again, provide, uh, better patient care and services for, uh,
the communities that we serve.
Wow, that's amazing. And Shannon, you know, what great opportunities, um, to,
to really help on all fronts, whether it's the patients and, um,
understanding what they need, and then two, from the organization at large,
just con having that diversity and I, I love the new service line opportunities,
um, you know, really makes a difference, especially during the,
the tough times that we're going through right now.
So thank you so much for sharing that with us.
I really have appreciated our conversation today,
and I look forward to connecting with you again soon.
Thank you very much. It's a pleasure. Have a great day.