Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Dr. Alexa Kimball, CEO of Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians and Professor at Harvard Medical School

Transcript

Dr. Alexa Kimball, CEO of Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians and Professor at Harvard Medical School · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

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  - Prepare to dive into the forefront
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  of healthcare innovation at our 14th annual meeting coming
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  up on April 8th
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  through 11th at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, with thousands
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  of industry leaders converging over four dynamic days
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  of discussions on crucial topics from health IT
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  to executive leadership.
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  It's where the future of healthcare takes shape.
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  We can't wait to connect with you in person
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  and engage in these important conversations.
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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 Dr.
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  Alexa Kimball, CEO of the Harvard Medical Faculty,
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  physicians and Board member of Beth Israel Lehe Health.
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  Dr. Kim Melissa, it's a pleasure
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  to have you on the podcast today.
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  - Thanks so much for having me
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  - Now, I know we've got a lot to talk about
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  and I'm certainly really excited to learn more about
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  what you're doing at Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians.
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  I think there's just so much happening in healthcare
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  and things are changing so quickly.
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  But before we dive into our discussion,
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  can you tell me a little bit more about
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  yourself and your background?
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  - Uh, thanks so much. So I have been, uh, president
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  and CEO of this amazing organization for about eight years.
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  We're a a specialty academic faculty practice plan
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  of about 2000 providers
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  and 2200 employees here in Eastern Massachusetts.
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  Uh, I'm proud to say about two thirds of our faculty
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  are Harvard, uh, medical school faculty members,
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  and the rest are amazing Clinicians
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  who work in our community are a critical part
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  of everything we do every day
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  to take great care of patients.
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  I am also a dermatologist by training,
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  and I continue to see patients
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  and manage them with complex dermatologic diseases.
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  Uh, while it's sometimes hard to squeeze it all in it,
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  I think makes me much better at my job in understanding
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  what it is our physicians are trying to do every day,
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  what our patients are experiencing,
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  and how we put it all together in a way
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  that is really holistic to take the best care
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  of people. Well,
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  - That's great to hear and certainly so exciting
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  that you've got a great vantage point in terms of
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  so many physicians within the organization.
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  And then too, as you continue to practice
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  and bring that knowledge
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  and expertise to your role, what are some
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  of the biggest issues that you're
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  following in healthcare today?
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  - Well, of course, as a leader of a physician group,
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  my biggest concern is about the welfare
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  and wellbeing of our physicians.
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  And we've talked a lot about burnout over the past several
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  years, and, and I think we've made some good progress in
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  understanding what's affecting people, what we can, um,
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  change for them, where we can address some issues.
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  But we're entering another very dynamic period
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  as we've seen physicians continue to move into employment,
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  uh, largely because of both the administrative issues,
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  but also the tremendous financial pressures.
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  Uh, we are seeing, um, lots
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  of changes in certain specialties due
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  to private equity acquisitions
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  and an astounding number of physicians in some fields
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  who are changing their jobs with rapidity.
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  Some of the most dramatic data I've seen recently is in both
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  dermatology and ophthalmology, where 50%
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  and about 35% respectively
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  of those physicians had changed their sight
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  of practice over a five year period.
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  So it's a very dynamic time.
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  The financial pressures are real,
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  and until we finish advocating for more, um,
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  uh, increases for Medicare, for example,
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  I think these trends are inevitable to continue.
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  - Oh, that's fascinating to hear, you know, and,
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  and certainly, um, just really critical
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  as you were talking about, to look at that, um,
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  not only the physician wellness
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  and how they're doing combating burnout is clear, um,
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  but then to some of these other dynamics
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  and forces coming into the healthcare space,
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  whether it's private equity
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  or other, um,
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  non-traditional healthcare companies coming in.
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  And then too, you talked about dermatology
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  and ophthalmology changing the site of practice.
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  Are are they going more outpatient, inpatient?
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  What are you seeing?
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  - What I think we're seeing for some
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  of the specialties like dermatology
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  and ophthalmology, is
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  that their practices are being acquired.
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  Um, and so they are being rolled up into
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  larger organizations.
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  So while some of those physicians stay in those practices
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  and continue to practice there, um, both the locations
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  where they're practicing and the ownership
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  of those practices are changing.
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  And so that's where we're seeing, if you look at,
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  for example, the Medicare databases that their practice, um,
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  affiliations have been adjusted.
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  Uh, you know, it didn't used to be that way, right?
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  You used to go into private practice
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  and you stayed there for 20 or 30 years.
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  So we're seeing a lot of changes there.
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  The other groups that are being affected very dramatically
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  are things like anesthesia and hospitalist medicine
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  and emergency department medicine, um, as well
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  what we see there, again, sometimes the aggregation
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  of these physician groups
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  and more of a turn to almost a gig economy
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  where physicians can travel around the United States
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  and pick up employment temporarily in some places
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  where there are are needs,
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  but it's leading to a very unpredictable
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  physician, uh, landscape.
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  - It is really fascinating,
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  is something we're certainly watching very closely as well.
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  Now, when you're looking ahead,
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  what makes you excited and what makes you nervous?
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  - Well, I'll start with the nervous, which I think, uh,
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  you know, is synergistic with what I just talked about is,
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  is that we have been projecting
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  physician shortages for some time.
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  But I think all the changes
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  that we are seeing in the physician workforce right now, uh,
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  including physicians reducing their overall hours,
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  particularly their patient facing hours, will continue
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  the concept that people are gonna retire early has
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  never really panned out.
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  But we definitely see overall in the trends
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  that physician hours are down.
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  And so access to physicians,
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  which is already a major problem in most places,
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  uh, is only gonna continue.
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  Now, that said, uh, I am incredibly excited about what, uh,
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  medicine has to offer patients
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  and, uh, you know, even just over the past few days,
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  it's an amazing feeling when you have, um, a sick child
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  or a sick adult
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  and you get them to the right expert
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  who can just look at the problem and say, I know what to do.
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  I know how to help you all. I'm not confused by this.
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  Uh, and I have experience in this,
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  and we make people so much better when we make
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  that connection of, of that experience.
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  Um, and it's incredibly gratifying.
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  We do so many things so well in medicine.
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  We just have to figure out how to organize the system better
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  to get the the right care to the right people.
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  I know that sounds a little bit trite,
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  but again, that feeling of getting the right patient
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  to the right expert in the moment that they need,
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  it makes such a difference.
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  - I can imagine. You know, as you mentioned, it is just, um,
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  so, uh, broad of a task to do that
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  with every single patient, but certainly exciting
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  that the possibility is there.
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  And now, especially as you were talking through, is some
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  of the different technology
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  and ability to connect with patients on different levels.
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  Um, it'll be interesting to see how
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  that continues to play out.
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  - Uh, and I think, you know, while there's a lot of hype
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  around AI that probably exceeds its, um,
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  reality in many levels, um, one of the areas
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  where I do think there can be some real health isn't
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  reducing some of the administrative burden for physicians.
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  Um, and that's where I'm excited about seeing some
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  of the applications really emerge.
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  - That makes sense. That makes sense.
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  So, you know, given the, these trends,
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  whether we're looking at, um, you know,
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  the physician workforce
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  or some of the, the different ways
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  that specialties are changing, um, the,
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  the really whole field is changing, what do you see
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  as being most effective, um, for he healthcare leaders?
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  What do they need in order to be successful over the next
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  two to three years or so?
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  - Uh, healthcare leaders have better be able
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  to hang on a tight, it's gonna be a little bit
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  of a rollercoaster ride.
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  I think, uh, as we get to the next few years,
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  there's a lot of things on the horizon.
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  Uh, the fiscal pressures as we talked about,
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  the regulatory changes, um,
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  and I think some of the oversight
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  that is now being discussed in a lot
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  of different areas, uh, ahead.
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  So I think it's about maintaining your compass in the middle
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  of all of this and being able to adapt to changes that
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  that are coming,
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  but also be thinking proactively about the changes
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  that are likely to happen, uh,
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  and be a little bit ahead of the game where you can, um, it,
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  uh, be aware, make sure you're talking to your colleagues.
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  Everyone is experiencing many of the same problems,
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  but everyone's solving them a little bit differently.
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  Uh, and I think the more that we have conversations about
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  how to address these things, the better off we're gonna be.
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  - That makes a lot of sense. Dr.
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  Kimball, thank you so much for joining
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  us on the podcast today.
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  This has been such a fun conversation
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  and I look forward to connecting with you again soon.
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  - Great. Thanks so much for having me today.