Latest / Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast / Dr. Robert Insoft, Chief Operating Officer at Franciscan Children's

Transcript

Dr. Robert Insoft, Chief Operating Officer at Franciscan Children's · Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast

• 0:00
  This is Chris Sok with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
• 0:02
  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Robert Ansoft,
• 0:05
  chief Operating Officer of Franciscan Children's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Eof,
• 0:09
  thank you for joining us today.
• 0:11
  Thank you. I appreciate the invitation.
• 0:14
  Wonderful.
• 0:15
  Would you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background?
• 0:18
  Sure. Um, uh, my name is Robert Gsoft, as you mentioned. I am the, uh,
• 0:22
  chief Operating Officer at Franciscan Children's Hospital here in Boston.
• 0:27
  And for those of you who aren't familiar with our institution, um,
• 0:30
  we are one of the largest post-acute care, um,
• 0:33
  and rehabilitative in behavioral health hospitals in the Northeast.
• 0:39
  What would you say are top priorities today, Dr. Ansoft?
• 0:43
  Um, um, my top priorities as Chief operating Officer,
• 0:46
  actually we're going through like a lot of other hospitals and healthcare
• 0:49
  systems. We're going through a period of transition where we're trying to,
• 0:53
  you know, come out of, you know, the last three years of the Covid Pandemic, um,
• 0:57
  basically to, you know, strengthen our workforce. Um, again,
• 1:01
  it's been impacted like many other healthcare systems around the state and
• 1:06
  around the country. Um,
• 1:07
  and we're also in an unusual position in that we're very excited to be, um,
• 1:12
  go entering into, um,
• 1:15
  becoming part of a new healthcare system with Boston Children's Hospital. Um,
• 1:19
  Boston Children's has never been a healthcare system.
• 1:21
  It's always been a free-standing children's hospital,
• 1:23
  one of the best in the country, if not the world.
• 1:26
  And they're on a journey to become a full-fledged healthcare system.
• 1:30
  And we are the first major piece in that journey to become a full-fledged
• 1:34
  pediatric healthcare system, um,
• 1:36
  by bringing in what we call state-of-the-art first class pediatric
• 1:40
  rehabilitative behavioral health and education into the model of an acute
• 1:45
  care, um, academic medical center.
• 1:47
  What are the advantages you think of becoming part of that network?
• 1:51
  For us, I think there's a, a lot of advantages. Uh, I think it both ways,
• 1:54
  both for, for us at Franciscan Children's as well as for Boston Children's.
• 1:59
  I think the first that comes to mind is that we're both very complimentary. Um,
• 2:04
  we're both free-standing pediatric hospitals, but we serve, uh, like I said,
• 2:08
  a complimentary patient population. Um, the services that we provide,
• 2:13
  they currently do not and vice versa. So to become a, uh, you know,
• 2:17
  one of the nation's leading pediatric healthcare systems,
• 2:20
  I think you need to build on what are the institutions that each of you bring,
• 2:23
  what are the strengths that each of you bring to the table? And I think for us,
• 2:27
  it's an amazing opportunity to take what we've done over the last 70 years and
• 2:32
  connect ourselves with one of the leading acute care, um,
• 2:35
  pediatric hospitals in the country, if not the world.
• 2:39
  Given all the changes that you just mentioned that Franciscan Children's is
• 2:43
  undergoing right now and the challenges that pediatricians are facing, uh,
• 2:48
  how do you anticipate your role will evolve over the le the next 18 months?
• 2:52
  Sure. I think I'm a, you know, an unusual chief operating officer in that,
• 2:56
  you know, first and foremost, I'm a pediatrician. I'm also a neonatologist, um,
• 3:01
  board certified in pediatrics in neonatal per perinatal medicine.
• 3:06
  My background is in critical care transport as well as neonatology.
• 3:09
  And I've had the pleasure of being in numerous, um,
• 3:12
  healthcare leadership positions in the past, including being NICU directors,
• 3:16
  pediatric chiefs. Um,
• 3:18
  most recently I served for over eight years as a chief medical officer,
• 3:22
  and now as a chief operating officer.
• 3:25
  I think I bring a very different dimension to the role in that I really can
• 3:29
  link, um,
• 3:29
  the operational improvement needs of our institution with what we need to do to
• 3:33
  build ourselves into a system with also having that framework of what is the
• 3:38
  ultimate goal,
• 3:39
  providing the best high quality care and safest care for our patients and the
• 3:43
  best patient experience for our patients and their families.
• 3:47
  What are you most excited about right now and what makes you nervous?
• 3:51
  I think first of all, what makes me most excited is that as a pediatrician,
• 3:55
  first and foremost,
• 3:56
  we are really developing a first of its kind pediatric healthcare system
• 4:01
  that really will have all service lines that have to do with the care of
• 4:06
  children from birth all the way through adolescents and young adulthood.
• 4:09
  There won't be any specialty or service that will be left behind.
• 4:12
  There'll be nothing that we can't provide as a system,
• 4:16
  and that you will basically be able to come to our hospitals,
• 4:19
  to our outpatient services, to any of our centers,
• 4:23
  and be able to access all aspects of pediatric care regardless of what those
• 4:28
  needs are. And in terms of what makes me the most nervous, I think, you know,
• 4:31
  what makes me nervous is similar to what a lot of how the healthcare leaders are
• 4:34
  failing, um, in this, in this market right now. You know, we're, we're,
• 4:37
  we're struggling is like others with, you know, again, securing, um,
• 4:41
  the right workforce. And that means not just the right numbers of staff,
• 4:45
  but the right type of staff. We wanna make sure that we're,
• 4:48
  that we're recruiting really highly committed mission focused pediatric
• 4:52
  providers of all different types, whether it be frontline, pedia, pediatricians,
• 4:56
  specialists, um, social workers, physical therapists,
• 5:01
  occupational therapists, behavioral health specialists, psychologists,
• 5:05
  psychiatrists. We wanna make sure that we really have the right people,
• 5:09
  not just the right credentials, um,
• 5:11
  who can really fit into what we're trying to do to basically set forth the
• 5:15
  standard and what a pediatric healthcare system should be in the next 10 to 20
• 5:19
  years.
• 5:21
  It certainly seems like a terrific and ambitious project you have going in terms
• 5:25
  of building the system when it comes to access to care and
• 5:29
  behavioral health in particular.
• 5:32
  How do you connect with people who are able to grow this project
• 5:36
  in the way you want it to see it evolve?
• 5:39
  I think for us, we actually will be able to offer all aspects,
• 5:43
  specifically to your question about behavioral health,
• 5:45
  everything from outpatient care to acute inpatient psychiatric
• 5:50
  care in everything in, in between, including, uh,
• 5:53
  community based treatment as well. Um, the other, the other unusual, um,
• 5:58
  aspect of our hospital in our future system is that we already provide
• 6:03
  direct mental healthcare and behavioral healthcare, um,
• 6:06
  treatments directly in schools.
• 6:08
  We have a very strong connection with our child wellness initiative where we
• 6:13
  actually provide direct behavioral
• 6:16
  services in the school setting. So the children and their families,
• 6:21
  their parents,
• 6:21
  their caregivers don't have to go outside the school to seek those important,
• 6:26
  um, you know, first line behavioral healthcare needs When those,
• 6:30
  when that need arises.
• 6:32
  Uh, Dr. Ansoft,
• 6:34
  as far as pediatric access to care is concerned,
• 6:38
  who needs to be, let's put it this way,
• 6:41
  who needs to help you step up and provide that access to care?
• 6:46
  I think there's, that's a great question. I think there's a number of areas.
• 6:49
  I mean, if I could draw it on a, on a, on a board,
• 6:52
  you'd probably see it better than me be speaking to it.
• 6:54
  But what I I envision is, comes from, you know, community leaders, um,
• 6:58
  whether it be, you know, people who make the laws, our state legislators,
• 7:02
  either in state or federal level,
• 7:04
  being able to kind of get rid of some of those roadblocks that, um,
• 7:07
  really impede us,
• 7:09
  impede us being able to provide us some of the services that we can do so,
• 7:13
  and being able to do so more efficiently. Um, as we all know,
• 7:16
  there's a lot of bureaucracy that healthcare has to work around.
• 7:19
  So I think getting rid of some of those bureaucratic roadblocks is first and
• 7:23
  foremost. And then secondly,
• 7:24
  I think we need to do a better job and we're doing it, um,
• 7:27
  of teaming up with and partnering with our educational, um,
• 7:31
  institutions that really are the pipeline for our future healthcare providers.
• 7:36
  So, for example,
• 7:38
  working with local universities in medical schools, nursing schools,
• 7:42
  um, other, um, healthcare professional schools,
• 7:45
  BA basically being able to be a training site for their trainees by showing
• 7:50
  them, you know, how exciting it is to practice in their specific field.
• 7:53
  And also, and not to sound selfish,
• 7:55
  but also to show them this is a great place to work and hopefully become a
• 7:59
  pipeline for those future trainees to make us a destination for their,
• 8:02
  for their employment and their careers.
• 8:05
  Also. Doctor Enol,
• 8:06
  what issue in your line of work do you think needs to be discuss,
• 8:09
  discussed more often?
• 8:11
  I think by far and away, especially when it comes to pediatrics,
• 8:14
  is the reimbursement piece. Um, what we are seeing still in this country,
• 8:18
  especially locally, but even more nationally,
• 8:21
  is the divide between reimbursement on the adult side versus the
• 8:25
  similar type of care that's being delivered on the pediatric side.
• 8:30
  And the divide in terms of what that reimbursement, um, holds for us.
• 8:34
  So for example, as I mentioned earlier, you know,
• 8:36
  I come from a strong background as a neonatologist,
• 8:39
  having worked in a number of NICU and having led a number of nicu, um,
• 8:43
  in some very, um, exciting, um, institutions throughout my career.
• 8:47
  And you compare the reimbursement in critical care for newborns in,
• 8:51
  in children compared to that in the adult world. And there's a huge division.
• 8:56
  And I think those divisions need to be looked at better analyzed and kind of
• 9:00
  brought up to par with our adult colleagues so that we can provide better care
• 9:04
  for our children.
• 9:06
  Dr. Ina, thank you so much for all your insight today.
• 9:09
  It was an absolute pleasure speaking with you,
• 9:10
  and hopefully we can connect again soon.
• 9:13
  Oh, no. Thank you for the honor of being able to, uh,
• 9:15
  provide this information for this podcast.
• 9:17
  And thank you for the honor of the invitation.