Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Eric Smith, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer for Memorial Hermann Health System

Transcript

Eric Smith, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer for Memorial Hermann Health System · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

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  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 Eric Smith,
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  senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer for Memorial Herman Health
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  System. Eric, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
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  Laura. Thanks. We're thrilled to be here.
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  Now, I know we have a lot to talk about.
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  There's so many exciting things happening in healthcare in that intersection
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  between healthcare and digital technology, too,
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  is just accelerated so fast over the past few years.
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  But before we dive into the broader questions,
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  can you tell me a little bit more about yourself and your background? Sure.
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  Uh, so as you mentioned,
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  I serve as the Chief Digital Officer for Memorial Hermann. Uh,
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  and in that role I've got responsibility for our digital experiences across our
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  system, data and analytics,
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  as well as our contact center experience and overall strategy. So, uh,
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  in April, just celebrated my third year in healthcare overall as well as, uh,
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  with Memorial Herman. So, uh,
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  before that I've spent probably the majority of my career, uh,
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  in financial services in, uh, technical and, uh,
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  kind of digitally oriented roles. Uh, early on in my career there were,
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  I was mostly technically focused and then as, um, I became more interested,
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  I guess,
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  in how technology could actually be leveraged to make things easier for the end
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  user and the consumer. So, and having been around long enough,
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  I was able to see the introduction of the web, mobile voice,
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  and other really interesting capabilities. And as these things evolved,
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  I shifted more of my focus on how to leverage and maximize these channels to
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  really empower and bring, bring unique capabilities to the end users. So, uh,
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  it's been fun to watch, uh, I guess the evolution of these capabilities, uh,
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  and being able to couple that with good design and,
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  and a focus on experience to really enable the consumer and love being able to
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  do that, uh, in healthcare today.
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  So it's been a busy three years at Memorial Hermann,
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  but it's been incredibly rewarding.
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  Absolutely. Wow. And what a time to join healthcare too, especially, um,
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  you know, right as the pandemic was beginning, uh,
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  and really getting to a space where you're making an impactful change.
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  How has the EHR platform you're using evolved in the last few years,
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  and where do you see that evolution heading?
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  So, interesting question, interesting time, especially from Memorial Hermann.
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  Uh, we've been on a journey over the past couple of years to really look at our
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  current state of our ehr, what the challenges are,
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  and determine what we want the future state to be knowing we really need to
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  improve the experience for our providers and clinicians.
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  So we've looked at how we can streamline and really standardize the experience
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  across our system as a whole and, and not just in our hospitals.
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  So like a lot of other systems, we've got a lot of complexity within the ehr.
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  While it's all well intentioned, it provides a lot of challenges, obviously for,
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  for the end user, in this case, the clinician and, and the provider.
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  So we also have the complexity of having multiple EHRs across our system. So,
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  and in addition to that,
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  we've got multiple systems for registration and billing.
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  So you can see that we just got a lot we need to go solve for.
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  And with that being kind of the core, uh,
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  we knew that it was important for us to go address this.
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  So especially as we really think about our system's vision to create healthier
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  communities now or for generations to come, uh,
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  this is a journey even though it's was gonna be, uh, a challenging one,
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  one that we needed to embark on.
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  So we're actually underway currently to consolidate a single epic based EHR
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  platform, uh,
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  and in parallel really taking the opportunity to look at our processes and
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  workflows, clinical and operational across our system,
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  knowing that this is an opportunity for us to really rethink and, and reboot,
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  if you will.
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  So EHR is clearly such a core component in the healthcare ecosystem,
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  and so gotta make it easier for our providers to interact with, uh,
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  really surface the most important patient data that they can take action on,
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  reduce their documentation burden and really allow them to do what they do best.
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  Uh,
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  and at the same time leveraging that data within it to really empower and enable
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  the patient, uh, and, and do so in a way that's digitally enabled,
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  that gives them actionable steps, uh, as part of their health journey.
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  So we're well into the journey now, uh, feeling good about our progress and,
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  and really looking forward to achieving the goal and delivering on our vision.
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  That's amazing to hear, and I love to hear talking about, um,
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  the patient experience and really how you can leverage the
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  technology, uh, to improve that and,
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  and give patients more control over their healthcare journeys and, and then to,
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  uh, make sure that they have access to care and,
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  and the care providers also, um, have a better experience.
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  So that's great to hear. From your perspective,
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  what capabilities are the most important for Memorial Hermann's digital platform
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  and what hasn't worked out well?
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  So, um, I love the word platform because I think from our perspective,
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  really that platform is key. Uh, a platform gives you, you know,
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  by definition will give you flexibility and extensibility.
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  And I guess the way I typically,
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  the analogy I use is it gives you a set of building blocks that you can assemble
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  based off of the need that you need to go solve. So, you know,
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  when I look across the ecosystem of what's out there today,
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  there's a lot of well-intentioned point solutions that solve for very specific
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  need. But as we look at it internally, you know,
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  the challenges the consumer provider,
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  they don't have just a single need to need to go solve the healthcare is really,
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  it's a continuum and the needs evolve and there's specific needs even down to a
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  patient level. And so that platform concept really needs to, to, uh,
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  to be real in order for us to be able to solve for those things. So again,
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  giving,
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  giving us the flexibility to meet evolving needs and really a higher level of
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  integration and inter interoperability.
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  So we also look for platforms that really provide consistency and tone and
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  experience. I think we've all experienced, uh,
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  what appears to be very disjointed experiences within digital journeys,
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  even in different industries.
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  And so it's really important if you want to create that high level of engagement
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  to, to create a level of consistency in experience and again, in tone.
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  So we also know our platforms. We want to,
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  we want to use them to en enhance our, you know,
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  clinical decision support capabilities, managing our,
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  our population and our population health strategy using analytics and actions to
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  really engage patients. And clearly they need to be secure.
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  These platforms need to be secure and,
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  and aligned with our privacy polys and p privacy policies and, uh,
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  the regulations that exist out there. And we're also very keen to make sure,
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  especially on the patient side, we take very much a mobile first mentality. Um,
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  we see patients wanting to engage on mobile across other industries and,
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  and other, um, capabilities they engage with.
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  And so we have to take a mobile first approach as much as possible. So,
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  so to the question of what's worked well, um, you know,
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  we've got multiple examples of where we've been able to bring kind of these
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  characteristics that I mentioned together to, to, uh, enable this.
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  So as an example, we've developed a, a, uh,
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  open consolidated messaging platform that gives us the opportunity to address a
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  wide variety of use cases from appointment reminders, wellness visits,
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  informational text location data,
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  and really the ability to point patients to resources.
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  So the great thing about that is that platform's also given us the ability to
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  reach a broader community. So not just the folks with the latest device,
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  but actually someone that has something as simple as a feature phone.
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  So at our at-risk communities, um, we're able to, uh,
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  provide the same level of resource to them.
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  So really helping us break down that digital divide.
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  So we've also created a platform that engages patients digitally in their care
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  journey. So really giving them details in bite size,
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  really easy to understand chunks of, of, uh, content.
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  And we're able to enrich that with things like video and audio,
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  so that way it's engaging to them.
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  And on the backside it allows our care navigators to really track their progress
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  and prioritize who they might need to reach out to based off what they're seeing
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  and their, the interaction that they're having with the, with that platform. So,
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  uh, it's been great.
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  We've seen about a 70% engagement rate on that platform and plan to take that
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  and expand that, uh, into other journeys. So, uh,
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  to your question about what's not worked, um,
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  one of the things that I think we've found is, um,
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  our ability to actually pull detailed data and detailed metrics in the way
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  consumers are interacting with some of these platforms, uh, out, uh,
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  because we want to take that and understand that at a very granular level so
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  that way we can really understand the consumer's behavior at the end of the day.
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  And what we see is we see a lot of solutions out there that will give you a
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  dashboard to go take a look at that gives you high level data,
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  or they'll send you a pdf. But, uh, we've really been, uh,
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  pushing hard to make sure that we have the ability to bring that data together
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  in our platform,
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  combine that with other information and other touch points that we know the,
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  the patient, the consumer has with us.
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  And that way we're able to bring that all together and really have a full
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  understanding of the journey of, of the patient. So digital vendors are,
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  they're evolving in this space, but, uh, we're still seeing some gaps.
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  Got it. That makes a lot of sense. And you know,
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  it was really helpful to know and think through.
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  I can imagine over the next few years,
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  the technology will just continue to evolve and, um, you know,
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  really become more useful in the clinical space. From your perspective,
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  what trends in healthcare are informing the way that you're using data in
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  analytics, both clinically and operationally?
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  Yeah, I think one of the,
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  and we hear about this a lot if you go to different conferences, is it's,
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  it's this concept of personalization.
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  And it's personalization not just from the perspective of the way, uh,
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  the experience shows up, say, on my device,
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  but really even getting down to personalized medicine.
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  And so really understanding me as an individual and not necessarily me as a
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  cohort. So, you know, really leveraging data, leveraging,
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  leveraging analytics to inform me,
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  give me specific actions I need to take and when I need to take them,
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  and really guiding me at the end of the day. So don't tell me what to do,
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  but actually guide me through that process at the end of the day.
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  So we have to leverage the data we have about them, their history,
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  and that I think that gives us the ability to really kind of build out a plan to
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  help them optimize their health.
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  And so I think there's great opportunities to do this from the patient's
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  perspective,
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  but I think there's also great opportunities to help scale our providers,
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  which are overworked and overburdened right now,
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  and give them the tools to actually do that, to where they can set those,
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  those protocols and pathways, if you will,
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  and then leverage the digital channels to go actually, uh, execute those.
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  So, um,
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  I think operationally predictive insights and analytics is an area that we're
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  focusing a lot of work on.
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  So historically we've done a really great job of reporting data,
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  but that's always retrospective.
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  And so what we need is the ability to see forward and anticipate needs.
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  So what kind of staffing do we need? What level of skills do we need, uh,
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  bed and resource utilization and when and where we're likely to need specialty
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  support and things along that line. So we're also looking and,
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  and leveraging data analytics to really affect and enhance the patient
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  experience. So understanding when and, and how we need to engage our patients.
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  So we're leveraging that data and combining that with our digital experiences
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  and seeing some, some really positive results. So for example,
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  we're pulling and understanding the patient population that we have that's due
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  for an annual wellness visit and plugging that into our digital outreach
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  platform to where we're able to see, uh, without hardly any human effort,
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  a 15% engagement rate and a scheduling rate for something as simple as an annual
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  wellness visit.
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  And we're also seeing reductions in notion rates of up to 20% for appointments,
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  uh, leveraging pace reminders, all driven by engagement data,
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  so we know when we need to reach out to a patient to,
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  to make sure that they'll actually show up for that appointment that they've
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  scheduled. So I think one other trend that we're seeing,
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  and we're a very active participant in is this, this idea of being able to,
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  to assemble, uh,
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  all the data that we have and combine that with other health systems, uh,
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  to form really large scale, uh,
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  data sets that can be leveraged for research and, and other needs. So, uh,
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  it's a really, it can be a really valuable platform,
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  especially when you have the ability to layer tools on top of that to do some
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  deep analysis and really find that ultimate needle in the haystack from a
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  healthcare perspective. So, um, we're proud to be a founding, uh,
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  health system partner in Reta, uh,
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  which is very laser focused on really how to leverage large sets of data like
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  that to save lives, uh, really, uh, and,
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  and what's great about it is it's all under the guidance and, uh, management of,
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  of member health systems.
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  That's great to hear, and definitely just fascinating to see how Veta has, uh,
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  evolved over time.
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  I know very forward thinking and forward looking organization,
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  and certainly I'm exciting to see, hear, experience, good results there.
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  Before we wrap up our conversation, I'm wondering, Eric,
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  if you could talk a little bit about what you're most excited about for the
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  future. I think we've gone through a lot today, um, that, you know, is really,
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  uh, helpful and interesting to hear about and a lot to be excited about,
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  but where are you really seeing it as being great opportunities going forward?
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  Well, I I definitely,
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  completing our EHR transition is something I'm very excited about for the future
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  without a doubt. That's something that, and I,
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  I say that laughingly a little bit,
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  but also that's really important because that, that for us will, will one,
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  remove a lot of complexity that is that we have to account for behind the scenes
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  and allow us to really focus on on, uh, clinical outcomes, uh,
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  patient experience and those sorts of things. So I, as far as the future,
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  I'm definitely,
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  I continue to be very excited about this focus on the consumer at the end of the
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  day, and that's, it feels like that's the buzz today,
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  but I really think the opportunity is there for us to really deliver on that.
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  We've clearly seen it, uh, in other industries and,
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  and I know in healthcare we definitely want to improve the lives of people
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  through good health.
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  And I really think this focus on the consumer will make them a very active
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  participant and, and create a level of engagement to be part of that. And again,
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  I think we've seen multiple examples of that, uh, in,
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  in other industries and how, and what the results have been and how, uh,
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  consumers have taken more of an active role, uh,
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  in really managing things like their finances and, and other things. So,
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  uh, I think it's hard to have any kind of conversation about the future without
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  talking about AI a little bit. Uh, and I don't mean that from a,
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  a buzz standpoint, but I, I think also just broadly what AI can bring, uh,
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  even beyond what we're seeing today. So, you know, I think I've,
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  I've had this vision,
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  I've talked to our team about the idea of a virtual health companion that can be
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  your coach, if you will,
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  and it's with you all the time and really guide you in your health journey.
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  So there's a lot we still need to, to work through in that space. Um, you know,
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  from making sure that the data's secure, making sure that, um, we don't, uh,
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  bring biases into the experience.
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  But I think the core is there to really do that.
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  I'm excited about that opportunity to,
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  to have somebody that understands to have a virtual thing, if you will, that,
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  uh, understands me and really coaches me and guides me, uh,
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  regardless of what my, uh, my health journey might be. So,
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  and I think along with that,
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  the ability to leverage that data that's in the E M R and the,
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  the instrumentation and the informed element that comes from the provider to
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  make sure that your providers very active in that, uh, in that engagement,
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  I think one creates scale for them, uh, but also, um,
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  enables the patient to do what they need to do and when they need to do it.
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  So again, I don't think we're that far away from it, but I think it'll be, uh,
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  make an incredible difference, uh, in improving healthcare at scale.
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  That's amazing to hear.
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  I love that turn and focus on the consumer and the patient experience.
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  And then too, as you mentioned, artificial intelligence just has, um,
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  such amazing opportunities as it evolves in the healthcare space. Eric,
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  thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
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  This has such fun and interesting discussion and look forward to again soon.
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  Sounds good. Thanks Laura. Appreciate it.
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