Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / Tony Anani, MD, MPH, MBA, Chief Medical Officer & Kevin Greene, President of Cook Children's Medical Center - Prosper TX

Transcript

Tony Anani, MD, MPH, MBA, Chief Medical Officer & Kevin Greene, President of Cook Children's Medical Center - Prosper TX · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

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  See you there.
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  This is Laura Deirda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast.
• 0:41
  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Kevin
• 0:43
  Green, president of Cook Children's Medical Center Prosper,
• 0:46
  and doctor Tony Anani, chief medical officer at
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  Cook Children's Medical Center Prosper.
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  Kevin, doctor Anani, thank you so much for
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  joining us on the podcast today.
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  Laura, it's a pleasure. We appreciate the time
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  and the opportunity to speak with you.
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  Thank you. Absolutely.
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  Now I'm looking forward to our conversation and
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  really learning more about, some of the cool
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  things you're doing at Cook Children's. But before
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  we dive in, I'm wondering, can you talk
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  a little bit about what makes the health
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  system unique?
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  Absolutely. And once again, doctor Nani and I
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  wanna say how much we appreciate Becker's and,
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  Laura, you and your team and the opportunity
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  to speak with you all today and share
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  a little bit about our organization.
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  But, Community Children's Healthcare System, we're based out
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  of Fort Worth, Texas, and, we were founded
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  actually a hundred and seven years ago this
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  month. So we're celebrating our hundred and seventh
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  birthday. So, we started in 1918.
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  So been around for a little while.
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  We care for nearly two million patients annually,
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  serving children,
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  of course, across the state of Texas, but
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  also from all 50 states and countries worldwide.
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  So we have a very broad reach in
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  the kids we care for.
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  I would say Cook Children's is unique as
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  it's one of the few fully integrated freestanding
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  pediatric health care systems in the country. And
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  what this really means as as you think
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  about the health care system in our umbrella
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  is that in addition to the medical centers,
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  both Fort Worth and Prosper,
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  we also have our own health plan,
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  home health services, infinite position, and provider network
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  that we'll talk about for, later on.
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  But that is unique. And through this integrated
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  structure,
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  it allows us to provide,
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  patients and families with a seamless care coordination
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  across all these different,
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  aspects of the organization. So, you know, doctor
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  Anani will be able to speak to it
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  from a physician perspective. But when you think
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  about
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  a patient or family needing
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  access to emergency care, inpatient care, outpatient care,
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  home health needs, or, you know, our health
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  plan, all these things are,
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  provided and communicated and coordinated,
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  through one organization, one team,
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  that are all aligned around one purpose and
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  one promise, which is that child. So it's
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  very unique versus a fragmented organization.
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  Cook Children's has all that underneath our umbrella.
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  So we believe we're more able to provide
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  that preeminent experience,
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  for not only our patients, but our our
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  families.
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  That's amazing to hear. And, doctor Nani, is
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  there anything you want to add?
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  No. I think, Kevin, you know, was right
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  on.
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  In terms of, like, providing care for patients
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  to, think of it also having
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  our own, transportation,
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  services.
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  We have the Cook Health Foundation, which helps
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  to,
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  also fill the gaps.
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  And so, for example, you'll have a child
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  show up at Prosper,
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  with a brain bleed and needs to be
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  transported to,
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  mothership in Fort Worth. You know, having the
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  ability to, you know, get your helicopter out
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  here and move the child,
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  with seamless care in one system,
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  is,
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  you know, really cool. So very excited to
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  be part of
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  Cook Children's and, what we do for our
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  kids here.
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  Well, it's amazing to hear. And, you know,
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  really, really appreciate that perspective on all the
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  different ways you're able to serve the community.
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  Now I'm curious looking back in the last
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  year or so, what accomplishment are you most
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  proud of?
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  We have a a few. And as it
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  relates to Prosper,
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  so our medical center opened
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  January ninth of twenty twenty three. So we're
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  just a little over two years old.
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  But this past year,
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  our community,
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  named us our medical center as the number
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  one medical center for inpatient and emergent care.
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  And this recognition, especially for a new medical
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  center, which I'm not sure if you're familiar
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  with North Texas, but, especially the Northern region
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  that has a very competitive
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  marketplace.
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  I think this demonstrates the exceptional work,
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  that our team members do on a daily
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  basis to ensure that we're able to provide
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  our patients
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  and our families
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  both with excellent high quality care, but also
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  a unique and one of a kind positive
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  patient experience.
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  So that's something we're very proud of locally
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  at the medical center.
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  As it relates to the health care system,
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  we're proud to,
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  acknowledge that we've received several prestigious recognitions. A
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  couple of them being that Forbes this year
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  ranked Cook Children's Health Care System,
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  as the number one employer,
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  for large organizations.
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  And number three
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  oh, I'm sorry. For large organizations in the
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  health care category. So, obviously, very proud and
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  excited about that. But the number three overall
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  employer for best large employers.
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  So once again, I think great recognition
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  when you look at not only
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  the the care we provide and the way
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  the community experiences it, but from,
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  the employer and being an employer of choice,
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  that's something that we are very proud to
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  be a part of that. In addition, as
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  it relates to Newsweek,
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  we were included on the list of America's
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  greatest places to work for women
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  and,
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  a separate list of America's greatest workplaces.
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  So to be
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  included and considered on that Forbes list and
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  Newsweek,
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  that is something we are very proud of
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  as a as an organization.
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  That is extremely impressive, you know, and certainly
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  to have not only the clinical care side
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  and the quality,
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  that, you know, makes you a differentiator, but
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  also the workplace recognitions and especially for those
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  groups who sometimes have a really big challenge
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  in the workplace.
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  It's really cool to hear that you've been
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  able to do that. And I'm curious to
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  hear from you, Kevin, or doctor Nani as
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  well. What do you see as being giving
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  you the edge, or how are you able
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  to create this experience,
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  for patients as well as the caregivers that,
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  you know, makes Cook Children so unique?
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  So I I'll take that,
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  because,
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  you know, being a clinician, you know, you
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  go
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  to organizations or you work in different places
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  where there is a a sort of tension
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  between
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  the clinicians clinicians or clinical side
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  and, the administrative side of,
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  the system. But at Cook, that is
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  very minimal.
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  We work very closely together.
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  40%
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  of the,
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  system board is made up of clinicians,
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  and so that allows for
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  decisions that are made to be made in
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  a collaborative
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  fashion
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  such that we keep the focus
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  on the patient. Right? We keep the focus
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  on the child,
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  in front of us. And so that allows
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  for, you know, everybody to buy in
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  and roll in the same direction.
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  And so to Kevin's,
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  point, we've been able to achieve so much.
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  Again, because of that buying and because
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  of our pinky promise,
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  everything for the child. And so once we
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  are all aligned,
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  you know, with that regard, I think it's
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  it's easy,
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  to
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  know, to make this happen and enjoy coming
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  to work and, you know, enjoy creating an
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  environment that people wanna come into and continue
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  to do good work. And,
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  I'll let Kevin speak to the rest, but
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  I think just that,
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  that culture that we have here at Cook
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  is, is very unique.
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  That's amazing to hear, and thank you so
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  much for sharing with us. Now looking ahead,
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  where do you see some of the big
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  growth opportunities over the next twelve months or
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  so?
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  So I would say starting off, doctor Nani,
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  please feel free to jump in on this
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  one, but it would be to continue to
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  invest in services that allow us to bring
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  complex care
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  to our medical center.
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  So those first two years, we've really focused
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  on, you know, building our core services around
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  emergency care, our ICU, our inpatient, our surgical
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  services,
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  but now investing in more complex programs such
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  as
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  NICU or neonatal ICU,
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  trauma, bariatric services so that families historically who've
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  had to drive thirty, forty, fifty minutes for
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  this care now have access to this access
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  to it, right here in their own community.
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  So I think that would be one thing.
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  Doctor Nani, anything you wanna add?
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  Thank you, Kevin. And it's it's it's interesting
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  because, again, we've been able to
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  recruit talent,
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  and clinicians
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  that would love to practice at the top
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  of their license. And so, you know, over
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  the next,
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  couple of years, you know, the focus will
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  be to allow them achieve that, such that,
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  in short order, we'll be able to do
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  about 85%
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  of,
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  services that are,
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  mother ship in Fort Worth, you know, presently
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  does. And then we can kind of send
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  kids,
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  to Fort Worth only if, you know, they
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  need that quaternary
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  of really specialized,
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  you know, care.
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  We have,
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  two things that, you know, has already happened.
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  We have a exercise respiratory presenter, EXRC,
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  led by, doctor John Robertson.
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  It's one of a kind in the country.
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  This allows
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  children with, breathing issues during exercising
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  to be examined in real time. So they
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  run on the, treadmill,
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  he visualizes their vocal cords in real time,
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  to try and figure out, you know, what
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  the issue might be. And, this has been
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  well received, you know, in our community, and
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  it's helped,
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  a few of our,
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  adolescent athletes get better, at what they do.
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  As Kevin mentioned, we're starting our bariatric program,
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  and hopefully, in the next couple of years,
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  that will also be, recognized,
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  nationally.
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  Cook already does so much as a system.
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  We're very big on clinical,
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  research.
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  We
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  we have a neurology center, Jane and John,
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  John Justin Institute.
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  We have, like, renowned,
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  researchers.
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  Cook Children is one of the centers for
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  hypoxenolism
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  in the country,
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  with, doctor Thornton. And so we just commute
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  to build on that, build on what,
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  our our our past,
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  providers have done, and, we're very excited about
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  the future.
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  Thank you.
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  And, Laura, I think add one more point.
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  What we alluded to this earlier about our
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  physician networks. So in addition to the care
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  we provide within the four walls of the
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  medical center, an avenue that is just as
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  important,
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  is our ability to provide
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  access to our community on the outpatient setting.
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  So through that, specifically, our primary care network
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  and access to specialists. So in this market,
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  we've been able to establish a a wide
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  net of primary care
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  clinics, and we want to continue to invest
• 11:56
  in that as North Texas really becomes this
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  hub.
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  I think they're saying over the next ten,
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  twenty years, it'll be, one of the largest
• 12:04
  metropolitan areas in the country.
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  We wanna be able to ensure that,
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  families and children
• 12:11
  not only have access to high quality
• 12:14
  emergency care and inpatient care, but that wellness
• 12:17
  care in their community. So we will continue
• 12:19
  to invest in in building our primary care,
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  and specialty care network out in the community
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  so that our families only have to drive
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  minutes from their home to receive that same
• 12:29
  high quality care. So that also is another
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  very important
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  program and something that we're focused on over
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  these next twelve months.
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  That is great to hear. And, you know,
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  I I know it'll be so amazing to,
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  continue to have this and and, provide that
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  type of services to a broader
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  swath of the community, to have a broader
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  primary care network and then being able to
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  provide the type of,
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  transportation
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  and access points that are needed. I'm curious
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  from your perspective, what are some of the
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  big challenges that you're anticipating?
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  I know some really amazing opportunities and growth
• 13:04
  ahead, but what are those challenges that you're
• 13:06
  navigating through?
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  Yeah. I think from
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  my perspective and lens, the big one of
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  the biggest ones is, workforce development and staffing.
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  So, you know, as we hear a lot
• 13:20
  only doctor and I speak about it from
• 13:21
  the medical staff and physician provider perspective, but,
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  you know, ensuring that as we continue to
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  grow both at the medical center and out
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  in the community that we're able to recruit
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  and hire
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  high quality health care professionals.
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  And I think we're fortunate as the culture
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  and the reputation of Cook is incredibly strong
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  where people from all throughout the country wanna
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  be a part of our institution.
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  And so we are fortunate there. But we
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  also one of the unique things about North
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  Texas is the collaboration
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  between,
• 13:52
  different health care systems and also
• 13:54
  our higher ed community.
• 13:57
  So through our what we call our DFW
• 13:59
  Hospital Council led by our president and CEO,
• 14:02
  Steve Love,
• 14:03
  and then the foundation president, Jennifer Miff,
• 14:07
  they do such a great job bringing,
• 14:09
  the large health care systems together
• 14:12
  along with community leaders to say, how can
• 14:15
  we continue to work together to provide,
• 14:18
  investment opportunities? And what I mean by that
• 14:20
  is,
• 14:21
  relationships where
• 14:23
  these higher ed institutions can go and build
• 14:26
  their we'll just use pharmacy tech program or
• 14:29
  radiology tech program or,
• 14:31
  you know, name any any of those, especially
• 14:33
  around techs right now, which are our RNs.
• 14:36
  Right? So they can go and and,
• 14:39
  create more facilities and and, be able to
• 14:42
  bring in more students, knowing that there are
• 14:45
  these employers in these health systems that are
• 14:46
  committed to providing a pipeline to help build
• 14:49
  that next workforce.
• 14:51
  And so I think that's where,
• 14:53
  through our,
• 14:54
  DFW Hospital Council, we're able to work together.
• 14:58
  And we're not just competitors. We are colleagues
• 15:00
  and and we're peers, and we wanna say,
• 15:01
  how can we collaborate to ensure that, we're
• 15:04
  able to build up that next generation when
• 15:06
  you think about workforce and staffing? So,
• 15:09
  while at the same time, either retraining or
• 15:12
  providing additional education to our current workforce
• 15:14
  to ensure that they feel like they can
• 15:16
  grow and and provide that great care.
• 15:19
  So I think that's probably one of the
• 15:20
  things that we think about most,
• 15:22
  and why we're fortunate in North Texas to
• 15:24
  have a lot of opportunity to work together.
• 15:29
  Yeah. And,
• 15:30
  you know, Kevin alluded to this, you know,
• 15:33
  with pediatrics, which is where we sit,
• 15:36
  you know, we're struggling with
• 15:39
  matching, meaning,
• 15:42
  less and less
• 15:44
  medical students are going into pediatrics
• 15:47
  as a primary,
• 15:48
  subspecialty,
• 15:49
  and that in turn affects
• 15:51
  the subspecialties that we churn out. And so
• 15:54
  Cook is trying very much so to,
• 15:57
  get involved
• 15:58
  and expose,
• 16:00
  the medical students to a different type of,
• 16:04
  pediatric experience. Right? A lot of them,
• 16:07
  their only exposure
• 16:09
  is the academic
• 16:11
  medical centers or the academic,
• 16:14
  medical hospitals, but showing them,
• 16:17
  a different
• 16:18
  type of practice, which is a stand alone,
• 16:22
  children's hospital and letting them know that, you
• 16:24
  know, you could still
• 16:27
  practice,
• 16:28
  medicine and enjoy it,
• 16:30
  just as much as you would if you
• 16:31
  are doing,
• 16:33
  straight up academic,
• 16:35
  medical practice. And, again, just trying to, you
• 16:37
  know, produce as many pediatricians as we can,
• 16:41
  to continue to provide care for the growing
• 16:44
  population,
• 16:45
  in North Texas and in The US. Thank
• 16:47
  you.
• 16:50
  It's amazing here. I I know so many
• 16:53
  hospitals and systems are trying to figure out
• 16:55
  that staffing piece as you mentioned and,
• 16:58
  really getting into creative ways to do that.
• 17:00
  And so it's very helpful to know how
• 17:02
  you at Cook Children's have been thinking about
• 17:04
  those things and then making sure you're retaining
• 17:06
  and growing your staff internally as well. I
• 17:09
  I really appreciate that. Before I wrap up
• 17:11
  here, I'm I'm curious. What is the number
• 17:14
  one thing that you're doing right now to
• 17:15
  set up up Cook Children's for long term
• 17:17
  success in the future?
• 17:20
  No. Thanks for asking. I think kind of
• 17:22
  alluding to the different topics we've talked about
• 17:24
  throughout,
• 17:25
  this conversation. We will continue to invest in
• 17:28
  critical services,
• 17:30
  ensuring that our communities,
• 17:32
  have access to world class pediatric care for
• 17:35
  their children, both on the inpatient and outpatient
• 17:37
  settings, while at the same time,
• 17:39
  focus on continuing to be an employer of
• 17:42
  choice.
• 17:43
  For Cook Children's,
• 17:44
  with over 10,000 team members, we have maintained
• 17:47
  a deep sense of purpose,
• 17:49
  through the pinky promise that doctor Anani mentioned
• 17:52
  earlier, which is everything for the child.
• 17:54
  This promise has guided our health care system
• 17:57
  for the last hundred and seven years.
• 17:59
  And by continuing to live out that promise,
• 18:01
  we truly believe that we will remain
• 18:04
  a preeminent pediatric health care system for every
• 18:07
  child and every health care professional
• 18:09
  for the next hundred and seven years. And
• 18:10
  I think, you know, as when you think
• 18:12
  about that in our history,
• 18:15
  where we've been, who we are today, and
• 18:16
  where we're going,
• 18:18
  it all
• 18:19
  starts at the top.
• 18:20
  And we are incredibly fortunate to be led,
• 18:23
  by our president and CEO, mister Rick Merrill,
• 18:26
  and other
• 18:28
  key executives,
• 18:30
  in our health care system being,
• 18:32
  our executive vice president of hospital services, Nancy
• 18:34
  Seichel,
• 18:35
  our chief medical officer, doctor Jonathan Nedrillo, our
• 18:38
  physician
• 18:39
  president, doctor Matthew Zurich, and many others. So
• 18:42
  to have that that consistency, that leadership, that
• 18:45
  guidance, that support,
• 18:47
  both on the administrative and physician side
• 18:50
  and nursing side,
• 18:52
  I think that is why
• 18:54
  you
• 18:55
  were able to not only provide this great
• 18:57
  care, this great experience and this vision for
• 18:59
  who we are and who we're gonna be.
• 19:01
  So, really, it all starts at the top,
• 19:02
  and we're very fortunate to have wonderful leaders,
• 19:05
  guiding our institution.
• 19:08
  Yeah. I couldn't have said it,
• 19:10
  any better.
• 19:11
  I think, again,
• 19:12
  for Kevin and I, you know, starting up
• 19:16
  our Prosper campus
• 19:18
  and, you know, the amount of support we've
• 19:20
  received from,
• 19:22
  the center and our leaders, the mentorship,
• 19:25
  that we've gotten, you know, and then paying
• 19:27
  that forward.
• 19:29
  Finding out what the needs of your community
• 19:32
  is and, you know, being there,
• 19:34
  to provide that for them so that, again,
• 19:37
  nobody has to leave
• 19:39
  where they, reside,
• 19:42
  to get care, and then continually thinking ahead
• 19:45
  about the next,
• 19:47
  big thing,
• 19:48
  and where health care is going and, you
• 19:50
  know, kind of planning ahead, I think, has
• 19:52
  been,
• 19:53
  key for us. And so,
• 19:55
  we're excited about the future. We're excited about,
• 19:58
  our growth opportunities,
• 20:00
  and,
• 20:01
  thank you so much for, you know,
• 20:04
  allowing us spend time to,
• 20:07
  talk about
• 20:08
  our health system,
• 20:10
  and our our Prosper campus and what the
• 20:13
  future holds for us. Thank you.
• 20:16
  Absolutely. That's amazing to hear. Kevin, doctor Anani,
• 20:20
  thank you so much for your time today.
• 20:21
  This has been such a fun conversation, and
• 20:23
  I look forward to connecting with you both
• 20:24
  again soon.
• 20:26
  Thank you, Laura. We're grateful for the opportunity,
• 20:28
  as doctor Anani mentioned, to talk about Cook
• 20:30
  Children's and our campus and Prosper specifically.
• 20:33
  And, it's it's really been a pleasure. So
• 20:36
  thank you for your time.