1
00:00:03,670 --> 00:00:06,920
It's so important for leaders at the
top of organizations to keep learning,

2
00:00:07,150 --> 00:00:08,800
stay sharp, grow their networks,

3
00:00:09,190 --> 00:00:12,320
help our audience better do this
in a more simplified, personalized,

4
00:00:12,420 --> 00:00:16,240
and meaningful way. Becker's
Healthcare has launched my bhc,

5
00:00:16,750 --> 00:00:19,840
it's your trusted Becker's healthcare
experience and more with content,

6
00:00:19,910 --> 00:00:22,120
connections, events, and
learning opportunities.

7
00:00:22,830 --> 00:00:27,760
Join the community free of
charge@www.my dot becker's hospital

8
00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:29,680
review.com and we'll see you there.

9
00:00:33,430 --> 00:00:35,640
This is Laura Ddo with the
Becker's Healthcare Podcast.

10
00:00:36,180 --> 00:00:38,040
I'm thrilled today to be
joined by Matt Premack,

11
00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:40,200
president of Advocate
Conde Medical Center.

12
00:00:40,380 --> 00:00:42,320
That's a pleasure to have
you on the podcast today.

13
00:00:42,690 --> 00:00:44,440
Thank you, Laura. Pleasure to be with you.

14
00:00:45,060 --> 00:00:47,200
Now. I know we've got a really great, uh,

15
00:00:47,310 --> 00:00:50,320
talk today to talk a little bit more
about leadership and some of the things

16
00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:52,720
that you're doing at Advocate
Condel Medical Center.

17
00:00:52,780 --> 00:00:54,200
But before we dive into our discussion,

18
00:00:54,220 --> 00:00:56,600
can you tell us a little bit more
about yourself and your background?

19
00:00:57,660 --> 00:01:01,550
Sure, Laura. Uh, appreciate
being here. Uh, I have been, uh,

20
00:01:01,770 --> 00:01:04,790
the president at Condo Medical
Center now for four years.

21
00:01:04,860 --> 00:01:08,510
I've been within the Advocate Health
System for just about 16 years.

22
00:01:08,820 --> 00:01:13,030
Started my career as a physical therapist
and have been in healthcare now for a

23
00:01:13,030 --> 00:01:14,150
total of about 25 years.

24
00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:16,770
Fantastic. Well,

25
00:01:16,980 --> 00:01:20,690
could you talk to us a little bit about
what your big focus is at Advocate Condo

26
00:01:20,690 --> 00:01:23,770
Medical Center this year? What are the
things that you're most excited about?

27
00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:27,810
Sure, Laura. Y it's so interesting,

28
00:01:27,810 --> 00:01:31,690
as we've spent many years now talking
about our focus areas in healthcare,

29
00:01:31,950 --> 00:01:35,130
we come back to some of our basics.
And this year we've broken our,

30
00:01:35,710 --> 00:01:37,930
our priorities into two
different categories.

31
00:01:37,930 --> 00:01:40,090
Number one is what are we
doing inside of the hospital?

32
00:01:40,110 --> 00:01:43,690
And we've taken this into three
very distinct buckets of effort.

33
00:01:43,690 --> 00:01:47,770
Number one is we've gotta be more
efficient, whether that's in throughput,

34
00:01:47,770 --> 00:01:49,890
whether that's in scheduling,
whether that's in,

35
00:01:50,070 --> 00:01:51,530
in the things that we do every day,

36
00:01:51,700 --> 00:01:56,610
efficiency has become the absolute
priority because we know the financial

37
00:01:56,610 --> 00:01:58,810
headwinds that we're facing
are like never before,

38
00:01:58,830 --> 00:02:02,690
and we've gotta be delivering on
a very efficient model. Secondly,

39
00:02:03,220 --> 00:02:06,890
we've gotta retain and we've gotta recruit
some of the best talent that we can

40
00:02:06,890 --> 00:02:07,610
find. Uh,

41
00:02:07,610 --> 00:02:11,850
staffing crisis has been an issue in
this country now for at least the last 24

42
00:02:11,850 --> 00:02:15,650
months, and we all know
there's a agency issue and a,

43
00:02:15,650 --> 00:02:17,290
and an open role issue.

44
00:02:17,350 --> 00:02:21,930
And so we are really focused on making
sure that we create an environment

45
00:02:22,140 --> 00:02:24,290
where people want to come to work here,

46
00:02:24,300 --> 00:02:28,130
where they feel recognized and they
feel celebrated, and more importantly,

47
00:02:28,130 --> 00:02:32,850
that they have the tools and the
resources where they can be successful and

48
00:02:32,850 --> 00:02:37,250
develop in their career journey. And
lastly, a big focus, and I think Laura,

49
00:02:37,510 --> 00:02:40,890
we may be talking about this a little
bit later, is the patient experience.

50
00:02:41,070 --> 00:02:45,050
We know that healthcare is
transitioned really into a customer,

51
00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:50,050
into a retail based service where
patients have choice and they can go

52
00:02:50,390 --> 00:02:52,330
to one hospital, they can
go to another hospital.

53
00:02:52,470 --> 00:02:55,890
And so we focused on the patient
experience, and that's from top to bottom,

54
00:02:56,100 --> 00:03:00,760
ambulatory to inpatient to our
diagnostic imaging, to our rehab.

55
00:03:01,100 --> 00:03:05,000
The patient experience is a, is an
absolute priority for us in 2023.

56
00:03:05,820 --> 00:03:08,440
The second area is really our growth area.

57
00:03:08,700 --> 00:03:11,120
And so we've been focused on
our physician development.

58
00:03:11,410 --> 00:03:14,600
We've actually seen Laura, uh,
up in the northern Illinois area,

59
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,480
a bit of an attrition of physicians.
We've seen some early retirements.

60
00:03:18,610 --> 00:03:23,200
We've seen some folks, uh, leave the
state and, and move out of state. Uh,

61
00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,000
we've seen folks take, uh,
a different career path.

62
00:03:26,100 --> 00:03:31,040
So we are on a mission to regrow
our physician platform and

63
00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,320
with that also grow our
ambulatory infrastructure.

64
00:03:34,500 --> 00:03:36,280
So whether it's ambulatory sites,

65
00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,040
whether it's services that we offer out
in the community. When we were in Covid,

66
00:03:40,140 --> 00:03:43,880
we spent two to three years focusing
really on taking care of the patients in

67
00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:44,540
our four walls.

68
00:03:44,540 --> 00:03:48,360
But we realized the future of healthcare
is really on an ambulatory and also

69
00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,120
virtual platforms. So those are,

70
00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,240
I think what we're most excited about
in 2023 is really getting out into the

71
00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,320
community and bringing services
out into these areas of, uh,

72
00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,600
potentially underserved or,
or, uh, or, or, or the, the,

73
00:04:02,740 --> 00:04:06,960
the areas that need us to come out to
them with the services instead of coming

74
00:04:06,980 --> 00:04:08,080
to the big hospitals.

75
00:04:09,780 --> 00:04:11,530
Absolutely. Wow, that's fascinating.

76
00:04:11,530 --> 00:04:14,210
And I love how you talked about
really that patient experience.

77
00:04:14,290 --> 00:04:16,770
I know that that's top of mind
for so many different, uh,

78
00:04:16,770 --> 00:04:19,210
organizations and trying
to figure that out. Um,

79
00:04:19,210 --> 00:04:23,210
especially with the presence of more,
uh, companies getting into healthcare,

80
00:04:23,210 --> 00:04:24,490
non-traditional entrants and,

81
00:04:24,510 --> 00:04:28,330
and then patients too
expecting a different type of
experience like they do, um,

82
00:04:28,330 --> 00:04:29,170
in the retail sector.

83
00:04:29,310 --> 00:04:32,850
So that's fascinating to hear about and
definitely seems like a really great

84
00:04:32,860 --> 00:04:36,410
areas to focus and, um, spaces
to be innovative as well.

85
00:04:38,110 --> 00:04:39,960
Yeah, Laura, I mean, this is, this is,

86
00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,800
I think the future of our industry is
making sure that we are delivering on the

87
00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:48,560
expectations that our patients
and Al Paz and our families have

88
00:04:48,740 --> 00:04:52,920
for what we do, uh, and how we can support
them every day. We are in a service,

89
00:04:53,340 --> 00:04:54,840
uh, industry. Our,

90
00:04:54,940 --> 00:04:58,320
our role and our responsibilities is
to serve our communities and serve the

91
00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:02,920
folks that need us. And now that
we're seeing also our payer, uh,

92
00:05:03,020 --> 00:05:07,680
be very, uh, um, uh, sensitive to our,
uh, to our patient experience scores,

93
00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,560
and we've seen Medicare start to
transition an emphasis now on patient

94
00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,000
experience. So it's, it's
not only critical that we,

95
00:05:14,060 --> 00:05:15,440
we do this for the community,

96
00:05:15,460 --> 00:05:17,840
but we also do this because we
know it's the right thing to do.

97
00:05:19,300 --> 00:05:20,870
Certainly. And, and, you know, I,

98
00:05:20,910 --> 00:05:25,110
I love that perspective and in thinking
through what that means internally for

99
00:05:25,110 --> 00:05:27,870
your organization, I know at the
Becker's annual meeting last month,

100
00:05:27,870 --> 00:05:31,390
you spoke on a leadership panel
about instilling a culture of Yes.

101
00:05:31,390 --> 00:05:32,350
Throughout the hospital.

102
00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:37,030
Could you tell us more about what that
means for you and what the shifts that

103
00:05:37,030 --> 00:05:40,510
you had to make, uh, in order to
make this a reality with your team?

104
00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:42,430
Yeah, thanks, Laura.

105
00:05:42,430 --> 00:05:46,330
Thi this cut on a little bit more than
I thought it was gonna cut on, catch on.

106
00:05:46,370 --> 00:05:51,130
I, I've received calls and emails from,
from, uh, leaders across the country.

107
00:05:51,350 --> 00:05:55,450
So we had an opportunity to talk about
patient experience at the last Becker's

108
00:05:55,450 --> 00:05:58,760
conference and had a, a wonderful
response to that panel discussion.

109
00:05:59,410 --> 00:06:01,440
We've introduced something
called get to Yes.

110
00:06:02,060 --> 00:06:04,840
And when we had looked at
the patient experience,

111
00:06:04,860 --> 00:06:08,000
and this is both on the inpatient,
the outpatient, the ambulatory side,

112
00:06:08,580 --> 00:06:12,560
one of the things that we saw was a
bit of a frustration of navigating

113
00:06:12,570 --> 00:06:15,160
healthcare. We've, in the industry,

114
00:06:15,470 --> 00:06:19,480
it's become almost so complicated for our
patients and our community members and

115
00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:21,560
our families, sometimes
even our own staff,

116
00:06:22,140 --> 00:06:26,800
to navigate care that
patients are often met with a,

117
00:06:26,990 --> 00:06:30,960
well call this number, or, no, we
can't, or, that's not something we do.

118
00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:32,040
You've gotta go over here.

119
00:06:32,580 --> 00:06:35,960
And that can create an
incredible amount of frustration.

120
00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:40,720
And for somebody who's going through an
injury, an illness, uh, going to, to,

121
00:06:40,820 --> 00:06:44,640
to schedule a screening, they
want to be taken care of,

122
00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,440
they want to feel like somebody is looking
out for them and be on their journey

123
00:06:48,550 --> 00:06:49,383
with them.

124
00:06:49,620 --> 00:06:54,400
And so we instilled a get to yes
model where we take a patient

125
00:06:54,460 --> 00:06:57,600
who asks any question, say,
how do we get to a yes?

126
00:06:57,700 --> 00:06:59,520
How do we get to answering their question?

127
00:06:59,580 --> 00:07:03,440
How do we get to escorting them to the
next phase? That could be physically,

128
00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,360
that could be philosophically,
that could be logistically,

129
00:07:06,820 --> 00:07:11,040
how do we shepherd them, escort them,
navigate them to the next agent?

130
00:07:11,170 --> 00:07:15,320
We've found that as we get to yes, on
any of their questions or concerns,

131
00:07:15,540 --> 00:07:19,200
we find that positively impacts
not only by the patient experience,

132
00:07:19,740 --> 00:07:23,480
but also the quality of the care and
the results that we get from the,

133
00:07:23,550 --> 00:07:26,480
from the service that we provide.
Patients are more engaged,

134
00:07:26,510 --> 00:07:29,400
they feel taken care of,
the families are engaged.

135
00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,080
They feel like they're part of the
process. And so this get to Yes,

136
00:07:33,100 --> 00:07:35,720
has been very powerful
for us as an organization.

137
00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:39,880
I love that. I think that's
such a great example of, of one,

138
00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,080
just simple way that
you can embrace, uh, a,

139
00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,360
a different mentality and
make a huge difference.

140
00:07:44,380 --> 00:07:48,080
And I can imagine it didn't cost billions
of dollars to bring something in or

141
00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:52,240
something different, but just a mindset
switch that, um, really makes a a,

142
00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:57,040
a a difference. So from your
perspective, how does that get t yes.

143
00:07:57,070 --> 00:08:00,520
Mentality add value to the
organization and impact patient care?

144
00:08:01,790 --> 00:08:03,880
Yeah, it's great. You
know, Laura, when we,

145
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,520
I wanna go back to it to sort
of that initial question is how,

146
00:08:07,580 --> 00:08:12,000
how did this happen and why did we
do this? Is we in the industry have,

147
00:08:12,070 --> 00:08:16,440
have protocolized everything. We've
created algorithms for everything. We've,

148
00:08:16,610 --> 00:08:20,240
we've, we've built ourselves
into a standardized model, which,

149
00:08:20,250 --> 00:08:23,400
which we really have to do to
create some standardization.

150
00:08:23,500 --> 00:08:28,240
And back to what we're focused on is
efficiencies. But what some of us,

151
00:08:28,260 --> 00:08:30,520
and and this is just sort
of the nature of the,

152
00:08:30,580 --> 00:08:32,880
the trajectory of our org of our industry,

153
00:08:32,940 --> 00:08:35,920
is we've sometimes lost
that personal touch,

154
00:08:36,670 --> 00:08:40,800
that moment where we just stop and
look into a patient's eyes and say,

155
00:08:41,500 --> 00:08:46,080
how can I help you? Not, your three
answers triggered this response,

156
00:08:46,140 --> 00:08:47,840
and now this is the next step for us,

157
00:08:47,940 --> 00:08:51,880
but how can we just take a
moment and pause and say,

158
00:08:52,340 --> 00:08:56,240
how can I help you? What are
you looking to achieve today?

159
00:08:56,380 --> 00:09:01,240
How can I be your escort along this
path of recovery or along this,

160
00:09:01,510 --> 00:09:05,000
this, um, challenge of finding
out what a diagnosis is,

161
00:09:05,140 --> 00:09:09,920
or I just need a simple MRI or
a CT scan or an x-ray or, or,

162
00:09:09,980 --> 00:09:12,440
or a screening. How can
I help you get there?

163
00:09:12,740 --> 00:09:17,040
And that moment of pause
sometimes deviates from a

164
00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,280
protocolized or an algorithmic
model, and just that time to say,

165
00:09:21,540 --> 00:09:24,160
I'm gonna help you and
I'm gonna be your yes,

166
00:09:24,500 --> 00:09:26,280
I'm gonna figure out
how to deliver on you.

167
00:09:26,910 --> 00:09:30,560
That inherently lowers blood
pressure, it reduces anxiety,

168
00:09:30,940 --> 00:09:32,680
it increases compliance,

169
00:09:33,020 --> 00:09:36,680
it engages patients to be
along this with us. And,

170
00:09:36,900 --> 00:09:41,000
and so we've seen not only that
it, that it improves the, the,

171
00:09:41,060 --> 00:09:42,600
the overall patient experience,

172
00:09:42,940 --> 00:09:46,280
but that it improves quality of
care because people feel engaged,

173
00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:49,000
i i in their care itself. So, uh,

174
00:09:49,050 --> 00:09:53,480
we've seen tremendous benefits to this
early on. And, and like, we always,

175
00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:56,400
I think many of my colleagues always
say, this is a, this is a journey.

176
00:09:56,450 --> 00:10:00,120
We're not done. We, we've started
this probably two to three years ago.

177
00:10:00,410 --> 00:10:04,040
We're still learning. We're getting
feedback from our own teammates to say,

178
00:10:04,250 --> 00:10:05,960
we're trying this, but we're, we're,

179
00:10:06,100 --> 00:10:08,280
we encounter these barriers
or these challenges,

180
00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:12,080
and we bring that back to the team and
say, all right, here's a new challenge.

181
00:10:12,260 --> 00:10:16,080
We, we wanna go this route, but
maybe we can't. How do we find a way?

182
00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,640
And it's back to the principle,
how do we get to Yes.

183
00:10:20,220 --> 00:10:21,490
Absolutely. I love that.

184
00:10:21,510 --> 00:10:24,970
That's just fascinating and thank you so
much for talking through how that came

185
00:10:24,970 --> 00:10:28,050
to be. I think it's, um, you know,
really awesome that, you know,

186
00:10:28,390 --> 00:10:32,930
you were able to kind of work with
the team to have such a creative and

187
00:10:33,050 --> 00:10:35,850
interesting way to go about
all that. Now, looking ahead,

188
00:10:35,940 --> 00:10:38,010
where do you see workforce
trends headed in the future?

189
00:10:38,010 --> 00:10:41,330
Where do you see some of the patient
engagement, uh, trends headed?

190
00:10:41,490 --> 00:10:44,090
I guess what's next on tap for you?
What do you really have your eye on?

191
00:10:45,350 --> 00:10:49,800
Yeah, let's, let's, let's take that in
pieces. So you ask about workforce. Uh,

192
00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:51,120
I, I dare say,

193
00:10:51,140 --> 00:10:55,320
and I'm knocking on wood and hitting
my head and biting my tongue right now,

194
00:10:55,500 --> 00:10:58,320
but it is looking a little better. Uh,

195
00:10:58,380 --> 00:11:02,360
now I know some of our colleagues in
rural areas are still having incredible

196
00:11:02,410 --> 00:11:06,720
challenges with, with finding good
staff, re retaining good staff.

197
00:11:06,780 --> 00:11:10,800
We know that the agency is, is
still part of what we do every day,

198
00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:14,720
and we've gotta solve our staffing
issues as quickly as we can. Uh,

199
00:11:14,860 --> 00:11:17,320
we are located in more of a suburban area.

200
00:11:17,620 --> 00:11:21,520
We are seeing a reduction in our
agency, in our traveling nurses and our,

201
00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,080
and some of our staff like respiratory
therapy, physical therapy. Uh,

202
00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,920
we've even seen some central
sterilization team, uh,

203
00:11:27,950 --> 00:11:32,440
some gaps needing to be filled by our
agency and our, our travelers. However,

204
00:11:33,060 --> 00:11:35,880
we are seeing a, a, a decline in that.

205
00:11:36,100 --> 00:11:38,640
And now we have less open positions.

206
00:11:38,860 --> 00:11:41,320
We are finding folks to
be part of our family.

207
00:11:41,420 --> 00:11:46,240
We talk about this at condel often on a
daily basis. It's, it's a condel family.

208
00:11:46,380 --> 00:11:48,080
And like we talked about earlier,

209
00:11:49,350 --> 00:11:53,600
when we create an environment where people
have the resources to be successful,

210
00:11:53,810 --> 00:11:57,480
where they feel recognized and celebrated
for the work they do every day,

211
00:11:57,810 --> 00:12:01,960
we've even have travelers and agencies
shift out of that model and become

212
00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:05,240
full-time employees. So
we're working hard at it,

213
00:12:05,260 --> 00:12:08,480
as I know we are working
across the entire US market.

214
00:12:08,530 --> 00:12:12,160
We're working hard on bringing in
folks to do great work every day.

215
00:12:12,660 --> 00:12:16,440
We are seeing a, a, a bit of a
shift in the positive right now.

216
00:12:17,250 --> 00:12:19,640
Let's talk about where else
we're headed in the future. I,

217
00:12:19,650 --> 00:12:21,400
we've talked about this
now a number of times.

218
00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:24,520
I o Becker's does a phenomenal
job. I think the future, uh,

219
00:12:24,580 --> 00:12:27,560
is really into virtual and
ambulatory. We know that,

220
00:12:27,590 --> 00:12:30,800
that patients are looking
for, uh, quick access.

221
00:12:31,130 --> 00:12:33,600
We're lo they're looking
for the ability to,

222
00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:35,600
to navigate healthcare in
the problem of their hand,

223
00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:39,800
whether that's a mobile device or
whether it's online. And so we at,

224
00:12:39,820 --> 00:12:43,360
at Advocate Health are really
looking towards what's the next step,

225
00:12:43,460 --> 00:12:47,160
two steps and three steps beyond of
where patients are receiving and wanna

226
00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,960
receive healthcare. And, uh, we
feel very good about where we're at.

227
00:12:50,980 --> 00:12:53,560
We know we've got a long way to
go, but that's really our future.

228
00:12:53,820 --> 00:12:58,080
So we're gonna start to showcase a
lot more innovation to our patients.

229
00:12:58,220 --> 00:13:02,560
How do they access us from wherever they
are and however they want? And that,

230
00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:05,640
and that's gonna be the
focus of us 2023 and beyond.

231
00:13:06,550 --> 00:13:09,510
I love it. Matt, thank you so much
for joining us on the podcast today.

232
00:13:09,660 --> 00:13:13,030
This has been a really fun conversation
and we look forward to having you again

233
00:13:13,030 --> 00:13:15,630
in the future and always at, at
our live events. I think, uh,

234
00:13:15,630 --> 00:13:17,630
your sessions are can't
miss. So thank you.

235
00:13:18,980 --> 00:13:21,140
Excellent. Thanks Laura. Always
a pleasure to support backers.