1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,399 Welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast. I'm Chris 2 00:00:02,399 --> 00:00:04,480 Sosa, your host. And I'm very happy today 3 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:06,639 to be joined by Hillary Smith Shea. She's 4 00:00:06,639 --> 00:00:09,679 chief marketing experience officer and senior vice president 5 00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:11,699 of communications for Children's Minnesota. 6 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:14,320 Hillary, thank you for joining us today. Thank 7 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:16,454 you so much for having me. Yeah. So 8 00:00:16,454 --> 00:00:18,535 glad you can make time. Before we get 9 00:00:18,535 --> 00:00:20,295 rolling into the meat of the podcast, Shirley, 10 00:00:20,295 --> 00:00:22,054 could you just please introduce yourself and tell 11 00:00:22,054 --> 00:00:23,435 us a bit about your organization? 12 00:00:24,135 --> 00:00:26,214 Sure. You did a great job, but I 13 00:00:26,214 --> 00:00:27,835 am Hillary Smith Shea. 14 00:00:28,454 --> 00:00:31,114 I am the senior vice president of communications 15 00:00:31,429 --> 00:00:34,090 and the chief marketing and experience officer 16 00:00:34,469 --> 00:00:36,869 here at Children's Minnesota, one of the largest 17 00:00:36,869 --> 00:00:39,770 independent pediatric health systems in The United States. 18 00:00:40,229 --> 00:00:42,950 We care exclusively for children from routine care 19 00:00:42,950 --> 00:00:45,049 to the most medically complex conditions. 20 00:00:46,145 --> 00:00:48,384 Our work is grounded in a simple belief, 21 00:00:48,384 --> 00:00:51,445 and that is kids deserve care designed specifically 22 00:00:51,504 --> 00:00:53,664 for them. And that's why we call it, 23 00:00:54,465 --> 00:00:55,524 we're the care experts. 24 00:00:56,144 --> 00:00:58,144 Perfect, Hillary. So we're a little bit into 25 00:00:58,144 --> 00:01:00,304 2026, and I do wanna look ahead at 26 00:01:00,304 --> 00:01:02,460 what Children's Minnesota has coming 27 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:04,519 a little bit later. But for now, I 28 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:06,439 do wanna look back at 2025 a little 29 00:01:06,439 --> 00:01:08,359 bit. And, specifically, what would you say is 30 00:01:08,359 --> 00:01:10,519 the most important initiative that you led in 31 00:01:10,519 --> 00:01:12,439 the last year? Just take us a bit 32 00:01:12,439 --> 00:01:13,879 through it and how it evolved and what 33 00:01:13,879 --> 00:01:14,859 the results were. 34 00:01:15,854 --> 00:01:19,134 So, you know, the most important initiative I 35 00:01:19,134 --> 00:01:20,674 led was was really 36 00:01:21,054 --> 00:01:21,554 developing, 37 00:01:23,134 --> 00:01:26,414 our experience strategy from an enterprise perspective. And 38 00:01:26,414 --> 00:01:27,394 so I will 39 00:01:28,729 --> 00:01:30,729 let you know that that we're calling it 40 00:01:30,729 --> 00:01:31,629 total experience. 41 00:01:32,170 --> 00:01:33,150 But it really 42 00:01:33,530 --> 00:01:36,030 did look at the actual domains 43 00:01:36,329 --> 00:01:37,549 that we can control 44 00:01:38,409 --> 00:01:41,609 of someone's experience here within the hospital. And 45 00:01:41,609 --> 00:01:42,590 so that includes, 46 00:01:43,215 --> 00:01:44,435 the digital domain, 47 00:01:45,135 --> 00:01:47,715 the human domain, the clinical domain, 48 00:01:48,415 --> 00:01:50,974 the environmental domain, and then delivering on our 49 00:01:50,974 --> 00:01:51,795 brand promise, 50 00:01:52,334 --> 00:01:53,314 which really, 51 00:01:53,775 --> 00:01:55,474 experience is, you know. 52 00:01:56,079 --> 00:01:58,319 We are firm believers, or at least I 53 00:01:58,319 --> 00:02:00,479 should say, I'm a firm believer in that 54 00:02:00,479 --> 00:02:02,659 my role and the creation of my role 55 00:02:02,959 --> 00:02:06,640 really supports the strategy of making sure people 56 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:08,419 feel what we promise. 57 00:02:09,385 --> 00:02:10,125 That's certainly 58 00:02:10,985 --> 00:02:13,485 a worthwhile goal, and I'm sure it manifests 59 00:02:13,625 --> 00:02:16,344 itself in any number of ways. So let 60 00:02:16,344 --> 00:02:18,344 me ask you this then. So when you 61 00:02:18,344 --> 00:02:19,085 walk into 62 00:02:20,105 --> 00:02:23,165 Children's Minnesota, which is pretty much every day, 63 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:24,180 How does that manifest 64 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:27,039 itself in in just making your way through 65 00:02:27,039 --> 00:02:29,060 the halls of your your organization? 66 00:02:30,319 --> 00:02:30,819 So 67 00:02:31,759 --> 00:02:33,680 a couple a couple things. And and I 68 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,439 guess this is why this is the initiative 69 00:02:35,439 --> 00:02:36,259 that I started. 70 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:38,020 It wasn't. 71 00:02:38,715 --> 00:02:40,574 I wasn't feeling everything 72 00:02:40,955 --> 00:02:43,455 that we could do. We do amazing work, 73 00:02:43,675 --> 00:02:44,895 but we weren't really 74 00:02:45,275 --> 00:02:47,354 talking about it. And we weren't really making 75 00:02:47,354 --> 00:02:49,435 sure that we were following through on it. 76 00:02:49,435 --> 00:02:50,955 And part of that is because we we 77 00:02:50,955 --> 00:02:53,909 didn't really have leader standard work and weren't 78 00:02:53,909 --> 00:02:56,010 really using continuous improvement. 79 00:02:56,550 --> 00:02:59,689 And we put together a strong strategic plan 80 00:02:59,750 --> 00:03:00,490 that actually 81 00:03:01,110 --> 00:03:04,889 blends continuous improvement and equity and inclusion work, 82 00:03:05,735 --> 00:03:06,955 and embeds it into 83 00:03:07,495 --> 00:03:09,415 who we are as a culture. And so 84 00:03:09,415 --> 00:03:11,895 I realized, you know what? We're not gonna 85 00:03:11,895 --> 00:03:14,155 be able to differentiate on experience 86 00:03:14,854 --> 00:03:17,034 if we don't embed that into the culture. 87 00:03:17,349 --> 00:03:19,030 And so we need to be able to 88 00:03:19,030 --> 00:03:19,530 function 89 00:03:19,830 --> 00:03:22,150 as if creating a good experience is what 90 00:03:22,150 --> 00:03:24,629 we are actually here for because at the 91 00:03:24,629 --> 00:03:26,710 end of the day, these children are coming 92 00:03:26,710 --> 00:03:28,969 to us, and they're still kids. 93 00:03:29,884 --> 00:03:32,764 Right. You know, their their lives are literally 94 00:03:32,764 --> 00:03:34,604 not stopping, but all of a sudden, they 95 00:03:34,604 --> 00:03:36,284 have to actually spend time in a place 96 00:03:36,284 --> 00:03:36,784 where 97 00:03:37,164 --> 00:03:38,604 it we can make our own bit of 98 00:03:38,604 --> 00:03:41,264 magic magic here. And I think that sometimes 99 00:03:41,405 --> 00:03:43,530 people think, well, isn't that, 100 00:03:44,009 --> 00:03:46,169 you know, aspirational and no kid wants to 101 00:03:46,169 --> 00:03:47,770 go to the hospital. And I said, but 102 00:03:47,770 --> 00:03:49,209 what if you're a kid who has a 103 00:03:49,209 --> 00:03:52,009 chronic condition and you have to continuously come 104 00:03:52,009 --> 00:03:53,849 back and forth to the hospital? Wouldn't you 105 00:03:53,849 --> 00:03:55,129 want it to be some place where you 106 00:03:55,129 --> 00:03:56,925 still felt like your child was growing and 107 00:03:56,925 --> 00:03:58,625 thriving? Wouldn't you want to be 108 00:03:58,925 --> 00:04:01,664 excited to go where you are? And so 109 00:04:02,364 --> 00:04:05,004 being here for those who need us and 110 00:04:05,004 --> 00:04:08,465 creating an experience that allows them to continue 111 00:04:08,604 --> 00:04:10,864 to be children and to continue thriving 112 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,259 should be everybody's aspiration. And so putting parameters 113 00:04:15,319 --> 00:04:17,879 around that and building that strategy and then 114 00:04:17,879 --> 00:04:19,019 helping to operationalize 115 00:04:19,319 --> 00:04:22,459 it over time is is exactly why, 116 00:04:22,919 --> 00:04:25,160 I was promoted into this position. Because before 117 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:27,019 I was the VP of marketing communications, 118 00:04:28,144 --> 00:04:30,004 I worked on an experience strategy, 119 00:04:30,704 --> 00:04:33,824 was able to develop it, and develop a 120 00:04:33,824 --> 00:04:35,665 a core road map for how we build 121 00:04:35,665 --> 00:04:37,365 that capability in the organization. 122 00:04:38,464 --> 00:04:41,129 And fortunately, at the end of doing that, 123 00:04:41,370 --> 00:04:43,129 for my organization, they asked me if I 124 00:04:43,129 --> 00:04:44,029 would lead it. 125 00:04:44,490 --> 00:04:45,949 And so I am grateful. 126 00:04:46,569 --> 00:04:48,430 Oh, well, brilliant. Congratulations 127 00:04:48,810 --> 00:04:50,889 on on your promotion, Hillary. Certainly, it's well 128 00:04:50,889 --> 00:04:52,889 deserved. And you make a great point about 129 00:04:52,889 --> 00:04:55,585 wanting to create an experience that people want 130 00:04:55,585 --> 00:04:57,205 to come back to even though 131 00:04:57,585 --> 00:04:59,985 no kid, no patient really wants to go 132 00:04:59,985 --> 00:05:01,045 back to the hospital. 133 00:05:01,585 --> 00:05:03,504 You can look at any organization and say, 134 00:05:03,504 --> 00:05:05,425 you know what? I remember I like my 135 00:05:05,425 --> 00:05:08,064 experience, so that's where I'm gonna continue to 136 00:05:08,064 --> 00:05:10,319 go. And I'm sure it's, no different with 137 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:12,259 Children's Minnesota or any other, 138 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:14,420 health care provider organization. 139 00:05:15,439 --> 00:05:17,699 So thank you again for that, Hillary. 140 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,720 I love looking back at what organizations have 141 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:22,259 accomplished over the past year. 142 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,435 Next, let's look ahead to 2026 as we 143 00:05:25,435 --> 00:05:27,435 teased earlier. So what would you say are 144 00:05:27,435 --> 00:05:30,175 the biggest priorities and headwinds you're focused on, 145 00:05:30,555 --> 00:05:31,915 for 2026 146 00:05:31,915 --> 00:05:34,394 and any tailwinds you might have, pushing you 147 00:05:34,394 --> 00:05:34,894 ahead? 148 00:05:36,235 --> 00:05:38,894 Absolutely. That's such a great question. So 149 00:05:40,529 --> 00:05:43,330 we have the momentum of of thinking through 150 00:05:43,330 --> 00:05:45,610 our strategy. We created a ten year strategic 151 00:05:45,970 --> 00:05:48,689 an aspiration, a ten year aspiration, and we 152 00:05:48,689 --> 00:05:51,750 are moving the strategic plan forward in that. 153 00:05:52,290 --> 00:05:53,750 So this is year two 154 00:05:54,050 --> 00:05:54,949 of the first 155 00:05:55,504 --> 00:05:57,125 three year strategic plan, 156 00:05:58,384 --> 00:06:01,125 in service of our ten year future state. 157 00:06:01,504 --> 00:06:03,345 And so what we're doing is implementing a 158 00:06:03,345 --> 00:06:05,524 new EHR. We are moving to Epic, 159 00:06:06,464 --> 00:06:08,784 because we understand that that is where we 160 00:06:08,784 --> 00:06:11,060 need to be to be what our customers 161 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:13,279 need and to be easier to, 162 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:14,899 work with. 163 00:06:15,439 --> 00:06:17,759 When you look at, the people who would 164 00:06:17,759 --> 00:06:19,279 be referring to us, when you look at 165 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:21,139 the patients who would be coming to us, 166 00:06:21,199 --> 00:06:24,464 and the ability to affect those experiences 167 00:06:25,004 --> 00:06:26,785 and make working with us extremely, 168 00:06:28,044 --> 00:06:28,865 much easier. 169 00:06:29,324 --> 00:06:31,084 We knew that that was the foundation we 170 00:06:31,084 --> 00:06:32,925 needed to build. And so as we implement 171 00:06:32,925 --> 00:06:35,745 Epic, our, implementation team is called Eclipse. 172 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:37,800 And that is, 173 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,199 a a fun way of, you know, getting 174 00:06:40,199 --> 00:06:43,639 to make spaceships and starships and talking about, 175 00:06:44,199 --> 00:06:46,540 the future and all the places we'll go, 176 00:06:47,399 --> 00:06:50,779 with the right technology. And so, EPIC is 177 00:06:52,035 --> 00:06:52,775 going in, 178 00:06:53,314 --> 00:06:55,555 and we should launch in October. And so 179 00:06:55,555 --> 00:06:57,574 that's really kind of our main focus. 180 00:06:58,275 --> 00:07:00,754 But we have some other experience things following 181 00:07:00,754 --> 00:07:02,215 along. You know, I'm not, 182 00:07:02,595 --> 00:07:04,835 the IT person, but I definitely wanna make 183 00:07:04,835 --> 00:07:05,895 sure people understand 184 00:07:06,275 --> 00:07:09,170 that having the right EHR system is core 185 00:07:09,170 --> 00:07:11,670 to our belief of being able to be 186 00:07:12,050 --> 00:07:13,589 every family's essential 187 00:07:14,290 --> 00:07:16,310 partner in raising healthy children. 188 00:07:16,850 --> 00:07:19,089 There's no way to say, hey. We can 189 00:07:19,089 --> 00:07:21,750 make it seamless when you're in my chart 190 00:07:22,064 --> 00:07:22,725 for yourself 191 00:07:23,425 --> 00:07:25,665 and your care with our partners, our adult 192 00:07:25,665 --> 00:07:27,125 partners in the in the region, 193 00:07:27,585 --> 00:07:30,085 and you can't then manage your kids' care 194 00:07:30,305 --> 00:07:32,884 in in Epic and in MyChart. And so 195 00:07:33,585 --> 00:07:35,889 that is an experience. It's just how do 196 00:07:35,889 --> 00:07:38,529 we simplify and make sure people's lives are 197 00:07:38,529 --> 00:07:41,009 going to align. And so I love that 198 00:07:41,009 --> 00:07:42,149 we're doing this transformation, 199 00:07:42,529 --> 00:07:44,449 but we also work on we're working on 200 00:07:44,449 --> 00:07:47,250 the building that culture of experience alongside that. 201 00:07:47,250 --> 00:07:47,910 So we've 202 00:07:48,375 --> 00:07:50,074 established the experience council, 203 00:07:50,694 --> 00:07:52,855 which I love because we've basically taken our 204 00:07:52,855 --> 00:07:55,335 experts who align with all of the five 205 00:07:55,335 --> 00:07:57,355 domains I told you about. So our clinical 206 00:07:57,415 --> 00:07:59,115 experts, our human experts, 207 00:07:59,574 --> 00:08:01,910 our digital experts, and our environmental 208 00:08:02,289 --> 00:08:02,789 experts, 209 00:08:03,410 --> 00:08:05,569 and even our brand experts. And we we 210 00:08:05,569 --> 00:08:08,610 literally brought together members of those team into 211 00:08:08,610 --> 00:08:10,229 what I like to call a cohort. 212 00:08:11,009 --> 00:08:12,930 And it is a twenty four, 213 00:08:13,250 --> 00:08:14,389 month cohort 214 00:08:14,930 --> 00:08:17,625 of learning and becoming experience experts, 215 00:08:17,925 --> 00:08:20,264 but also taking the time to learn 216 00:08:20,725 --> 00:08:23,365 what it means to be an expert in 217 00:08:23,365 --> 00:08:24,585 environmental experience 218 00:08:24,965 --> 00:08:27,779 or human experience or clinical experience and what 219 00:08:27,779 --> 00:08:30,180 all of those things need. So really building 220 00:08:30,180 --> 00:08:31,959 a core group that understands 221 00:08:32,259 --> 00:08:34,500 and that's spending time in each of those 222 00:08:34,500 --> 00:08:36,679 domains over the next twenty four months, 223 00:08:37,460 --> 00:08:40,100 and or should I say, we're we're halfway 224 00:08:40,100 --> 00:08:41,700 through. So it's only got they've only got 225 00:08:41,700 --> 00:08:42,519 12 more. 226 00:08:43,139 --> 00:08:46,274 But to to really understand and help the 227 00:08:46,274 --> 00:08:46,774 ambassadors 228 00:08:47,315 --> 00:08:49,815 and, ultimately, the the system governance, 229 00:08:50,754 --> 00:08:53,075 for what it means to have the kid 230 00:08:53,075 --> 00:08:53,894 expert experience. 231 00:08:54,995 --> 00:08:57,235 Thank you, Hillary. I do wanna follow-up on 232 00:08:57,235 --> 00:08:57,720 this. 233 00:08:58,199 --> 00:09:00,379 When you speak about the EHR 234 00:09:00,839 --> 00:09:02,439 experience, and I I don't want you to 235 00:09:02,439 --> 00:09:04,759 do necessarily PR for Epicure, but I am 236 00:09:04,759 --> 00:09:07,319 curious as as to how you and the 237 00:09:07,319 --> 00:09:07,819 organization 238 00:09:08,759 --> 00:09:10,759 came to the conclusions. Like, okay. And you 239 00:09:10,759 --> 00:09:11,819 mentioned the synchronicity, 240 00:09:12,995 --> 00:09:15,554 aspect with other, adult partners. So but how 241 00:09:15,554 --> 00:09:16,914 did you know it's like, okay. This is 242 00:09:16,914 --> 00:09:18,274 the one we need to go with, and 243 00:09:18,274 --> 00:09:20,615 this is what's going to make our customers 244 00:09:20,674 --> 00:09:21,894 experience better? 245 00:09:23,955 --> 00:09:25,414 Really, we looked at who's innovating. 246 00:09:25,990 --> 00:09:27,670 We looked at who's innovating in this space, 247 00:09:27,670 --> 00:09:29,509 but we also looked at what our customers 248 00:09:29,509 --> 00:09:31,029 need. Because at the end of the day, 249 00:09:31,029 --> 00:09:33,450 we are the only stop for tertiary, quaternary 250 00:09:33,509 --> 00:09:34,009 care 251 00:09:34,389 --> 00:09:35,450 that's continuous, 252 00:09:36,629 --> 00:09:37,995 here in the in the 253 00:09:38,475 --> 00:09:41,134 Twin Cities, but also in the the regional 254 00:09:41,195 --> 00:09:43,534 area. We have over 60 specialties. 255 00:09:44,315 --> 00:09:47,674 We really are a comprehensive pediatric health system. 256 00:09:47,674 --> 00:09:48,414 And so 257 00:09:48,875 --> 00:09:50,254 we serve many, 258 00:09:50,955 --> 00:09:53,750 many audiences. And one of our audiences was 259 00:09:53,750 --> 00:09:55,910 consistently telling us, I really wish you were 260 00:09:55,910 --> 00:09:58,309 easier to work with, and those are, our 261 00:09:58,309 --> 00:10:00,410 physician partners and our care providers. 262 00:10:01,110 --> 00:10:03,429 And so we took a strong look at 263 00:10:03,429 --> 00:10:05,345 that. And then we looked at all of 264 00:10:05,345 --> 00:10:08,544 the evidence based data that shows that Epic 265 00:10:08,544 --> 00:10:11,745 has improved the the experience of patients and 266 00:10:11,745 --> 00:10:12,884 families across 267 00:10:13,264 --> 00:10:15,345 the organization. And so the fact that we 268 00:10:15,345 --> 00:10:17,764 would now be able to not only define 269 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,879 our experience domains, but then actually be able 270 00:10:20,879 --> 00:10:24,340 to improve upon them, create our own data, 271 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:26,639 and then be able to analyze and measure 272 00:10:26,639 --> 00:10:27,620 how we're doing, 273 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,639 really forced us to take this this total 274 00:10:30,639 --> 00:10:33,485 experience approach. And so I'm excited because, a, 275 00:10:33,485 --> 00:10:35,485 I get to lead it, but but Epic 276 00:10:35,485 --> 00:10:37,404 is clearly the right tool, and it's the 277 00:10:37,404 --> 00:10:39,644 right foundation. Because if you don't build something 278 00:10:39,644 --> 00:10:41,904 on a good foundation, it will fall apart. 279 00:10:42,365 --> 00:10:43,584 We've all seen that. 280 00:10:44,125 --> 00:10:46,865 You are absolutely right. As you look ahead, 281 00:10:47,279 --> 00:10:49,459 Hillary, at not only the epic 282 00:10:49,919 --> 00:10:52,659 implementation, but any other project that you have 283 00:10:52,959 --> 00:10:54,240 coming up here in the next year, what 284 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:55,679 do you think is the hardest thing you'll 285 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:57,279 have to do? And I don't mean to 286 00:10:57,279 --> 00:10:58,500 ask that to say 287 00:10:59,039 --> 00:11:01,315 it's something you're not not looking forward to. 288 00:11:01,315 --> 00:11:02,995 You can very much be looking forward to 289 00:11:02,995 --> 00:11:05,154 it and excited about it, but it might 290 00:11:05,154 --> 00:11:06,695 just require an extra, 291 00:11:07,394 --> 00:11:08,455 ounce of focus. 292 00:11:08,835 --> 00:11:10,514 Right? You know? So so what would you 293 00:11:10,514 --> 00:11:11,875 say is the hardest thing you have to 294 00:11:11,875 --> 00:11:12,375 do? 295 00:11:13,389 --> 00:11:15,409 I think the hardest thing is is predictability 296 00:11:15,629 --> 00:11:17,330 in our organization. Right now, 297 00:11:17,950 --> 00:11:20,929 health care is is in a very transitional 298 00:11:21,070 --> 00:11:21,570 period. 299 00:11:21,950 --> 00:11:25,470 There are lots of factors playing into the 300 00:11:25,470 --> 00:11:26,610 the state of, 301 00:11:27,470 --> 00:11:29,054 how health care is being, 302 00:11:29,375 --> 00:11:29,875 administrated, 303 00:11:30,334 --> 00:11:32,495 how health care is being paid for. A 304 00:11:32,495 --> 00:11:34,975 lot of people don't actually understand how much 305 00:11:34,975 --> 00:11:35,475 Medicaid, 306 00:11:36,414 --> 00:11:37,394 affects children, 307 00:11:38,174 --> 00:11:41,375 and that we are a a Medicaid service 308 00:11:41,375 --> 00:11:41,875 provider, 309 00:11:42,750 --> 00:11:46,269 who who really still only receive 70¢ on 310 00:11:46,269 --> 00:11:46,929 the dollar 311 00:11:47,309 --> 00:11:50,190 for everything that we provide. And right now, 312 00:11:50,190 --> 00:11:51,470 that 70¢ 313 00:11:51,470 --> 00:11:53,649 per dollar is already being threatened, 314 00:11:54,350 --> 00:11:57,230 with with cuts, etcetera. And so it really 315 00:11:57,230 --> 00:11:59,044 makes us have to think about how do 316 00:11:59,044 --> 00:11:59,865 we continue 317 00:12:00,245 --> 00:12:00,904 to provide 318 00:12:01,205 --> 00:12:02,184 excellent care 319 00:12:02,565 --> 00:12:03,065 differently. 320 00:12:03,684 --> 00:12:05,684 And then if we want to differentiate on 321 00:12:05,684 --> 00:12:08,085 experience, what are the investments that we need 322 00:12:08,085 --> 00:12:10,565 to make so that we can actually make 323 00:12:10,565 --> 00:12:12,024 working with Children's Minnesota 324 00:12:12,725 --> 00:12:13,865 the easy button, 325 00:12:14,299 --> 00:12:16,220 if that makes sense. And so I say 326 00:12:16,220 --> 00:12:18,299 that we look at what's going to happen 327 00:12:18,299 --> 00:12:20,799 with health care, what's happening with reimbursement, 328 00:12:21,819 --> 00:12:23,279 how we'll be able to, 329 00:12:24,139 --> 00:12:25,759 invest in our organization, 330 00:12:26,939 --> 00:12:29,679 because we are really here for the kids, 331 00:12:30,115 --> 00:12:31,715 and we want to be what the kids 332 00:12:31,715 --> 00:12:33,555 need. And so I think the most difficult 333 00:12:33,555 --> 00:12:35,894 thing is not knowing what's around the corner, 334 00:12:36,195 --> 00:12:38,514 that's also going to affect health care. And, 335 00:12:39,315 --> 00:12:40,995 I would be remiss to not say that 336 00:12:40,995 --> 00:12:44,080 we we notice changes in our community and 337 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:44,980 how they affect 338 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,080 even the way we provide care. And so 339 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,120 as we have dealt with this metro surge 340 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:52,340 here in Minnesota, 341 00:12:52,879 --> 00:12:55,700 we have noticed that we had a significant 342 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:56,340 drop, 343 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:58,340 in our ED visits, 344 00:12:59,065 --> 00:13:01,784 but we had a significant increase in our 345 00:13:01,784 --> 00:13:03,245 percentage of admits, 346 00:13:04,345 --> 00:13:07,784 which meant and indicated that people were not 347 00:13:07,784 --> 00:13:10,345 seeking the care when they needed it, but 348 00:13:10,345 --> 00:13:12,365 when it was absolutely emergent. 349 00:13:12,959 --> 00:13:16,720 And that created a higher likelihood of those 350 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,600 patients visiting the ED and then going home 351 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:22,240 to those patients finally getting to the ED 352 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:23,620 and then needing to be admitted. 353 00:13:24,399 --> 00:13:27,004 So our we do monitor our percentage of 354 00:13:27,004 --> 00:13:29,565 admits based on our ED volume. And so 355 00:13:29,565 --> 00:13:31,424 while the volume was going down, 356 00:13:32,285 --> 00:13:34,445 the people who were coming to us were 357 00:13:34,445 --> 00:13:37,004 much sicker. The children were much sicker and, 358 00:13:37,404 --> 00:13:39,659 and needing more care. And so we don't 359 00:13:39,659 --> 00:13:41,820 like that. We don't like anything that affects 360 00:13:41,820 --> 00:13:42,799 the health of children, 361 00:13:43,500 --> 00:13:45,360 that gets in their way of thriving, 362 00:13:46,059 --> 00:13:47,659 and getting them the care that they need 363 00:13:47,659 --> 00:13:50,299 because what could have been simple turned into 364 00:13:50,299 --> 00:13:52,379 far more complex and dangerous, and, 365 00:13:53,075 --> 00:13:54,514 and nobody wants to see that when it 366 00:13:54,514 --> 00:13:55,335 comes to children. 367 00:13:55,875 --> 00:13:57,794 No. Not at all. And here's hoping that, 368 00:13:58,034 --> 00:14:00,615 Children's Minnesota and and everywhere else is 369 00:14:01,154 --> 00:14:02,754 at the worst of that, and it's only 370 00:14:02,754 --> 00:14:05,154 going to improve from here. And I'm sure 371 00:14:05,154 --> 00:14:06,914 your organization will do the best it can 372 00:14:06,914 --> 00:14:08,214 to to make that happen. 373 00:14:09,009 --> 00:14:11,569 Lastly, Hillary, my question for you is looking 374 00:14:11,569 --> 00:14:15,009 even, further ahead here. So and this timeline 375 00:14:15,009 --> 00:14:17,809 can be a year, eighteen months, two years, 376 00:14:17,809 --> 00:14:20,449 whatever you see as appropriate. But where do 377 00:14:20,449 --> 00:14:22,949 you see the best opportunities for organizational 378 00:14:23,329 --> 00:14:23,774 growth 379 00:14:24,175 --> 00:14:26,415 investment, however you wanna quantify that as far 380 00:14:26,415 --> 00:14:28,195 as Children's Minnesota is concerned? 381 00:14:28,975 --> 00:14:30,735 So I'm glad you asked that because three 382 00:14:30,735 --> 00:14:32,415 areas stand out for me. First, I think 383 00:14:32,415 --> 00:14:34,894 that our digital integration, if we execute Epic 384 00:14:34,894 --> 00:14:37,019 and our digital front door strategy well, 385 00:14:37,420 --> 00:14:39,980 we can dramatically reduce friction for families and 386 00:14:39,980 --> 00:14:40,480 clinicians. 387 00:14:40,940 --> 00:14:42,160 Second, thought leadership. 388 00:14:42,620 --> 00:14:45,500 There's a national hunger for credible pediatric voices. 389 00:14:45,500 --> 00:14:48,300 We have the expertise to shape conversations about 390 00:14:48,300 --> 00:14:49,120 child health, 391 00:14:49,664 --> 00:14:51,985 policy safety in ways that are principled and 392 00:14:51,985 --> 00:14:52,485 evidence. 393 00:14:53,105 --> 00:14:56,245 And then third, experience as a strategic differentiator. 394 00:14:56,865 --> 00:14:58,884 Many organizations talk about experience. 395 00:14:59,264 --> 00:15:01,684 Few operationalize it at scale. 396 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,699 If we continue building the government's measurement, discipline, 397 00:15:05,759 --> 00:15:07,379 and and leadership accountability, 398 00:15:07,759 --> 00:15:09,779 experience becomes a competitive moat, 399 00:15:10,159 --> 00:15:12,879 not a marketing slogan. And that's important to 400 00:15:12,879 --> 00:15:13,620 me because, 401 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:15,444 a lot of people might wonder, why would 402 00:15:15,444 --> 00:15:17,845 you put experience in marketing? And I would 403 00:15:17,845 --> 00:15:20,725 say, why wouldn't you? Because to differentiate on 404 00:15:20,725 --> 00:15:22,345 experience, that only happens 405 00:15:22,725 --> 00:15:24,804 when what we promise and what we say 406 00:15:24,804 --> 00:15:28,320 and what people live are intentionally aligned. You 407 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:30,100 can't it doesn't happen by accident. 408 00:15:30,559 --> 00:15:31,059 So, 409 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:34,399 frankly, pediatric health care needs organizations willing to 410 00:15:34,399 --> 00:15:37,139 lead with both confidence and courage right now. 411 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:38,799 I think that's a perfect place to end, 412 00:15:38,799 --> 00:15:41,920 Hillary. Thank you so much for dropping behind 413 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:43,679 and giving us all your insight as far 414 00:15:43,679 --> 00:15:47,105 as how Children's Minnesota is handling challenging 415 00:15:47,644 --> 00:15:50,365 situations and really looking forward to, how it 416 00:15:50,365 --> 00:15:52,445 improves in the years to come. And we'll 417 00:15:52,445 --> 00:15:55,004 see you very shortly here in Chicago. Can't 418 00:15:55,004 --> 00:15:56,845 wait for that too. Yes. But so I'm 419 00:15:56,845 --> 00:15:58,710 looking forward to it. I'm hoping it'll be 420 00:15:58,710 --> 00:15:59,690 springtime by 421 00:16:00,230 --> 00:16:02,070 then. We still have snow on the ground. 422 00:16:02,070 --> 00:16:04,490 But we all hope the same for sure. 423 00:16:04,629 --> 00:16:07,350 And regardless, we look forward to, the next 424 00:16:07,350 --> 00:16:09,429 time our paths cross, Hillary, whenever that may 425 00:16:09,429 --> 00:16:12,230 be. Oh, love lovely. Good to talk to 426 00:16:12,230 --> 00:16:13,129 you. Thank you.