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Would you like to exchange best
practices and ideas to improve care,

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enhance operational efficiency,

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and address financial
challenges with your peers?

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Becker's Healthcare is facilitating these
conversations at their eighth annual

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health, IT Digital health and RCM meeting.

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You can check your eligibility for
complimentary attendance at the Lincoln,

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the description. We are excited
to welcome you in October.

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This is Laura Dedo with the
Becker's Healthcare Podcast.

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I'm thrilled today to be
joined by Dr. Alan Weiss,

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chief Medical Information
Officer at Bay Health. Dr.

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Weiss is a pleasure to have
you on the podcast today.

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Glad to be here.

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Now. I'm excited to have you here and,

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and talk a little bit more about what
you're doing on the, at Baker Health,

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thinking about clinical informatics
and how you're bridging the gap between

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clinical and it. But before
we dive into my questions,

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can you tell me a little bit more
about yourself and your background?

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Sure. Um, so I am a general internist
by background and practice. I,

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after my residency,

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I spent about 10 years practicing
at the Cleveland Clinic while doing

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informatics, helping them to roll
out epic and improve it. In fact,

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a lot of the work that I did reported
directly to the C I O and they were

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projects trying to improve patient
care, improve the quality of care,

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reduce the costs, making
physicians more efficient. Uh,

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I was doing that while practicing and
teaching and doing a number of other

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things for the Cleveland Clinic. And at
some point I decided, you know, that,

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um, I was sort of tired of, of doing
too many jobs all at once and thought,

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all right, I wanna do
informatics full time.

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Spent time working at the Cedar signing,

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helping them roll out Epic
on the inpatient side.

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Transferred over to Memorial
Herman in Houston, Texas,

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where I helped them on the
ambulatory side to convert from GE

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centricity to Cerner.

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And I've been here at the Bay Medical
System for about five years as their

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system cm. I o Just a, a a little
bit more about my background.

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I actually have a computer science
undergraduate degree and spent a number of

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years working in the
pharmaceutical industry,

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helping them create, uh, data and
analytics that help to get, uh,

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drugs on the market and,

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and help to do reporting to
the FDA into medical journals.

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That was before I went to
medical school. So I, I have a,

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a background in technology and a
background in data and analytics,

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which helps me in the job that I do.
You know, I also wanna mention that the,

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the Baker Health System is the largest
healthcare provider here in the Tampa Bay

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area. We just opened our
16th hospital. We have, uh,

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somewhere in the range of about 170
outpatient clinics and facilities.

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We do roughly about
160,000 admissions a year,

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somewhere close to 600
to 650,000 ED visits,

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and over 2 million visits on
the ambulatory side. So we're a,

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a great healthcare system
located in Tampa Bay,

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and I'll say that I'm very
impressed that they're, they're, uh,

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they like to say that quality is
their true north and they, they, uh,

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practice what they preach. They
really are trying to improve the,

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the quality of the care that they
provide. So that's a bit about me and,

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and my organization.

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Well, that's amazing to hear, and
certainly, you know, what a great, uh,

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span of opportunities
you've had in healthcare,

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both as you mentioned on the clinical
side, as well as the technology side,

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and really making a difference
for organizations as
they're trying to figure out

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how to integrate technology, um,

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in a way that will make their operations
more efficient as well as boost patient

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care. Now, when you look at where
you're at at BayCare Health,

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and especially as you mentioned,

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an eye towards improving care
quality in that care experience,

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what are some of the big opportunities
that you're looking at as well as the

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headwinds you have your eye on right now?

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Oof. Um, let me do the, um,

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let me do opportunities
right now. I, I, I think bay,

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like other healthcare systems are as, uh,

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struggling with the revenue aspect of

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healthcare in a post pandemic,
you know, covid endemic, uh,

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kind of situation. You know,

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most of us have found that
there's been an increase in costs.

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They're both supply costs, increases,
uh, personnel cost increases,

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and frankly, a a lack of,

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of enough of the right qualified
personnel for certain positions.

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So we're struggling on that front.
So from a revenue point of view,

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a lot of healthcare
systems like BayCare are,

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are really trying to figure out
how do you do more with less?

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How do you make the system work,
uh, achieve the efficiencies,

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achieve the right patient quality and,

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and do so in such a way that it,

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it actually goes in accord with the
mission that you have. And, and that's,

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that's one of the biggest
challenges that we have in,

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in today's market in that regard.
I'll, I'll tell you that, that, um,

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EHR optimization remains
a key challenge in there.

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We are really looking for ways
that we can help providers

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decrease their burnout,
become more efficient, and,

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and that means rethinking the workflows
inside of the electronic health record,

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trying to make them more efficient,

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trying to remove barriers to getting
work done that are exist inside of the

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ehr. We're trying to reduce the clutter
of what they're seeing on the screens,

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pointing them more towards the information
that they need and they have to have

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at their fingertips. Um, in some cases,

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what we're doing inside the EHR is trying
to automate tasks so that the, the,

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uh, the providers don't have to do it
and their staff don't have to do it. Uh,

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for instance, we, we recently did some
changes to the way we bill both vaccin

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vaccinations and, uh,
just a normal visits.

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And that resulted in something like
about a half million fewer, uh,

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edits that needed to be done by our
staff every single year. So, you know,

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those kinds of, of
automations, I, I think are,

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are ways that we can add value to the
system and help in the mission itself.

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You know, once again, if you,

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if you can take care of these issues
inside of the electronic health record,

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providers will be less burnt out.

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They won't need as much staff because
things will be getting done automatically.

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It helps with the bottom line.

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We are busy looking for
those opportunities across
our healthcare system, uh,

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and, and really trying to see if there's
some, some good synergies there. So it,

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we, we've got a lot of projects, we've
got a lot of challenges, but it's, um,

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it's fascinating work. So that's
one aspect of the opportunities.

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The, the second aspect, I, I think
that from the opportunity that,

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that we're embracing is the whole notion
of using artificial intelligence and,

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and what that means when it
comes to delivering patient care.

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And we're exploring all kinds
of AI types of applications, uh,

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across our system. Some of those are,
uh, AI applications dealing, let's say,

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with radiology where it helps
to identify images or where,

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you know, identify strokes,
identify other types of, of,

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of results within images. Um,

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in some cases it's just looking at the
radiology reports and trying to see if

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there's something that we can pull out
of the radiology reports to help with

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patient quality or patient follow
up. We're, we're working on,

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on a number of AI applications that
are really focused in radiology. I,

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I think that's, that's, uh, gonna
pay off in the, in the long run. Uh,

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the other types of AI applications that
we're investigating is stuff that is

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related to helping providers recognize
conditions and document in a,

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in a more comprehensive way so
they don't forget those conditions.

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And so that the,

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the way they document helps to make
sure that the people know the patient's

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story in a better way. Um, one thing
we're doing is, is exploring the,

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the product nuance Dax. I
think that's one of the,

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the big opportunities out there. The,

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a provider spend an awful lot
of time developing their notes,

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writing their notes. As a provider
who's done that now for over 20 years,

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it takes a lot of cognitive, um,

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energy to go through and create the,

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the notes and write 'em in such a way
that they're comprehensive and communicate

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the right types of, of features,
the right types of decision making,

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the right physical exam findings. We're,

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we're hoping that nuanced acts by just
listening to the conversation between the

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patient and the provider can help write
that note on behalf of the provider.

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And by doing so, uh, help to reduce
that cognitive burden. So we're,

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we're looking at the different AI
applications to help out and in some way,

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once again, deal with patient
quality issues, deal with, uh,

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workflow issues and, and somehow help
the providers at the point of care.

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I love that. It sounds like, you know,
really a, a helpful tool with, uh,

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nuanced Act and other AI-driven, um,

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technologies that can really make a
big difference for hospitals and health

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systems as they're, uh,

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finding ways to become more efficient
and decrease burnout. Um, and especially,

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I, I know you talked a little bit too
about E H R optimization, which, um,

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is so crucial and so critical,
especially as I know, you know,

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a lot of organizations are experiencing
some sort of staff or workforce

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shortages and trying to continue to
provide great levels of patient care.

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It just, you know, makes
everything more efficient.

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And so I I'm so glad
you mentioned that. Now,

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when you look at where you're at today in,

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in thinking about growth and
development, what does that mean for you?

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How are you thinking about growth and
adding value to the organization overall?

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Well, some of that growth and
value or some of the things that I,

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I just mentioned, you know,
you, you, most of our,

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our healthcare systems have an electronic
health record. The vast majority do.

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Are you utilizing that EHR in such a
way that you can help accomplish that

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mission? And, and most of us
have a mission that involves the,

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the health of the, the patients
that we serve. And, and so I,

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I wonder if there are additional ways
that you could use the EHR to help

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accomplish that mission and do so in
such a way, as I just mentioned, to,

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to reduce cost and make things
more efficient. Uh, that to me is,

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is a great opportunity for growth and
for adding value to the organization.

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You know,

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I mentioned some of the automation
we've put in place to do that kind of

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automation is a win for our
providers, a win for our staff,

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and a win for the patients that are the,

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the kind of opportunities that we're
looking for. Um, once again, it,

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it can reduce some of the
burnout, some of the turnover,

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some of the issues that
we're facing. Those are,

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are great opportunities within
our organization. Uh, and I,

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I think that's gonna add a lot of
value overall. I, I do think that, um,

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some of the other opportunities when
it comes to using the EHR are trying to

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figure out how you use the EHR to point
the providers towards doing the right

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thing, and in some way steer them
away from doing the wrong thing. We,

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we look at stuff like we,

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we've put in some different processes
to help reduce redundant testing.

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You know, testing that shouldn't
be done too often and is, is,

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is just overly ordered.

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We've put in a couple of different
mechanisms to help reduce that and the

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savings actually add up. And we,

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we have literally millions of dollars
of savings by having tests that that

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shouldn't be run too often,
get reduced in the process. Uh,

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that's a win for our
patients. Um, you know,

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there's nothing that a patient likes
worse than getting woken up in the middle

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of the night to get, uh, stuck
by a needle to draw blood.

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They don't really need to have, uh,
drawn in the first place. So it's a,

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it's a win for the patients,

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it's a win for the organization
cuz it reduces our costs.

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We've got lots and lots of activity
around this whole cost reduction,

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lab reduction,

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test reduction effort that I think
is gonna pay huge dividends for our

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organization and uses the technology
that we already have embedded within the

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organization itself. That,

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that kind of value is something
that we're working on.

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We've got lots of projects and,

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and we're happy to share the
projects we're focusing on,

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but I think the same opportunities exist
across all of the healthcare systems

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that are out there.

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Absolutely. I love that. And it's
definitely helpful, you know,

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as more organizations are thinking
through what it will really take to, um,

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you know,

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become more a part of that value
equation to really reduce that waste and

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reduce areas where they're
overspending and then, um,

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become a more lean and efficient
organization. I love that.

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And to that point, you know,

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I know a lot of what we've talked
about already is trying to become more

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efficient, trying to find ways to,
um, you know, standardize things in,

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in ways to, um,

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meet the needs of the
challenging environment we
find ourselves in right now.

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But, you know,

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with an eye to the future and
really what's best for patient care,

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what is one investment or risk
that's still worth taking this year?

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Ooh, such a good question. I mean,
the, the investments that I, I,

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I think are worth doing are starting
to look towards what is now becoming

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ubiquitous in medicine. And
I, I mentioned it earlier,

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it's the whole notion of being able to
use artificial intelligence, um, in the,

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the clinical setting. I,

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I think there are lots of opportunities
that are out there. I, I remain, I,

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I'm very hopeful with a lot of
these. And I mentioned some of the,

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the applications that we're investigating
and starting to, uh, invest in,

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such as the AI and radiology, the,

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the document processing and the
natural language processing.

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These are just enormously
helpful and really important, uh,

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applications inside, uh, of
your, your healthcare systems.

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I I think that it is worth absolutely
investing if you are in that healthcare

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arena. But I also think we have to have a,

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a little bit of a grain of
salt in there. We have to,

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to to work and have some
trepidation in there. There's a,

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an awful lot of vendors that are
out there talking about artificial

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intelligence when their applications
probably aren't really artificial

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intelligence. There's probably some
pattern matching in there in a, uh,

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you know, a a little parsing of
language and there may be, you know,

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some machine learning but isn't
really the deep-seated AI that,

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that people talk about. I,

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I think we have to be careful in knowing
which ones are the true AI and which

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ones are, are just saying their AI
as, as part of marketing. And I,

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I think that's kind of a, something we
have to be very careful about. Um, and,

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and so I, I, I think that's
something that, uh, you know,

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it is certainly worth investing. Um,
but I also think we have to do so in a,

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in a, a way that that, uh,

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makes sure that we understand and it's
much more complicated than just going

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ahead and, and ordering and installing it.

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That makes a lot of
sense. You know, and I, I,

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I really appreciate you walking us
through that because I know it's something

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that a lot of hospitals and health
systems are faced with in trying to

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troubleshoot and figure
out a real time. Now.

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Before we wrap up our conversation,

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I just wanted to look into
the future just one bit more.

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Where do you see some of
the best opportunities, um,

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for growth in the future for yourself as
a cm i o as well as for the teams that

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you work with?

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So, a great question. I,
I would tell you that,

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that one of the growth
opportunities within the CMIO area

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is really just communication across
CMIOs. Um, I, I, I think that,

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that we have a,

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a community of some pretty seasoned
CMIOs that are out there and

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being able to communicate on some of
the challenges we have with certain

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projects, certain technical challenges,

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certain political challenges is
an opportunity across the CMIO

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continuum. And I think that's,
there's opportunities there. I I,

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I also think there's opportunities for
some of the more seasoned CMIOs to help

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mentor some of the younger CMIOs who
are just starting out in the field. I,

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I think that there's some excitement and
some synergies there that that can be

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very, very useful. So I, I think
that that's, that's absolutely, um,

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you know, uh, important. I, I,
I did mention earlier, you know,

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some of the EHR optimization and,

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and I guess some of the stuff that
I think we still can do a lot of is

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the basic block and tackling
of, uh, of informatics,

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of trying to figure out better
approaches to workflows,

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better approaches to setting up
screens inside the ehr. Uh, I,

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I think that work never ends and
the opportunities are enormous. The,

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the hard part is, I think that
everybody wants to head towards the,

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the flashier types of analytical
techniques and the flashier types of,

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uh, uh, of, uh, technology like
artificial intelligence. And, and I,

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I certainly want to,

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but I also recognize that a lot
of the more basic work never ends.

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And there those opportunities
remain. I, I, I think it,

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it'd be great if there were, uh, an
easy button for this kind of work,

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and unfortunately just it
isn't there. It takes, um,

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a lot of dedication and a lot of
work, and it's painstaking. Um,

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but it can be so rewarding when you,
when you make the changes that are, are,

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are so important to so many providers.
Um, we have, by the way, we, we have a,

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a program that we're starting and
it's basically getting rid of, of,

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of stupid things inside
the ehr. We have, uh,

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providers who are bringing up ideas
about where in the EHR there's redundant

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information or a screen set up in a way
that doesn't make good cognitive sense.

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Um, finding those kind of
opportunities there, there's,

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there's literally thousands of
them across the EHR ecosystem.

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I, I think that as we get further
along, the ability that we have to,

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to really improve how
people interact with it,

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it it's gonna be a very much a, a
game-changing kind of situation. So I, I,

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I throw those out as additional things
that need to be done in the future never

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will end, and we should
always pay attention to.

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Absolutely. I, I love it. I
think that makes so much sense.

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And definitely kind of that continued
focus on the areas where there's always

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gonna be opportunity for additional
focus, additional optimization. EHR is,

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I know they're so important in
collecting the data, um, you know,

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that's gonna make everything
run and, and, and, uh,

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really give you the insights
and information that will
help you in the future.

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It makes a lot of sense. And I
love your focus on mentorship too.

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I know that's so important and so
critical in many areas of healthcare,

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but especially, um, for CMIOs and,

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and physicians who are interested
in more of the technology side.

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Have you seen more of that interest grow
over the years since you've been doing

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this? Or, or where do things stand today?

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Oh, I think there's definitely more
interest in it. I mean, I, I, uh,

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it's very interesting.
As I talk to other CMOs,

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everybody's talking
about ai, but you know,

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when I start talking about what
problems are they solving with ai,

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there's sort of a silence
that comes up. I mean, we, we,

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we love talking about it,
and certainly as I mentioned,

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there's good radiology aspects,
there's natural language processing,

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and that's gonna be very useful
for us moving into the future.

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But when it comes to all the rest
of the, the simple things that,

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that people encounter every
day, that just takes hard work.

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There's always that kind of work needed
to be done across the healthcare system,

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across the EHRs. That's, that's
something we all talk about and mean.

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I I think we,

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we probably need to make sure that we
are as good as possible on the basics

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before we start using the more advanced
types of, of technologies and analytics.

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Absolutely. That makes
sense. Uh, Dr. Wise,

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thank you so much for joining
us on the podcast today.

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This has been a really fun
and interesting conversation,

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and I look forward to
connecting with you again soon.

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00:19:24,190 --> 00:19:25,890
Sounds good. I look forward to it as well.

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00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,770
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