Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Dr. Mayank Shah, Chief Medical Officer at Advocate Condell Medical Center

Transcript

Dr. Mayank Shah, Chief Medical Officer at Advocate Condell Medical Center · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

• 0:00
  - Welcome to Becker Healthcare Podcast, made
• 0:02
  for people who power US healthcare.
• 0:04
  I'm Molly Gamble with Becker's,
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  and today I'm sitting down with Dr. Shaw, vice President
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  and Chief Medical Officer
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  with Advocate Condell Medical Center.
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  Dr. Shaw, welcome. Thank you for being the,
• 0:14
  our guest on the podcast today.
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  How are you? And where's the podcast? Find you.
• 0:19
  - Oh, I'm so glad to be joining this podcast.
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  Thank you so much for having me, and I'm doing really well.
• 0:24
  I am, uh, here at the hospital at Advocate Con Medical
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  Center in the middle of Spring Break,
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  and really, uh, enjoying the transition of going from winter
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  to, uh, you know, springtime in Chicagoland.
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  So really excited to be here and talk about healthcare
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  and all the amazing transitions
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  that are happening, uh, throughout healthcare.
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  - Very much so. For listeners not in the Midwest,
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  we had our full spring now, second winter.
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  I think this next time might be the real thing.
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  Dr. Shaw. Um,
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  - Can, - Can you share a, a few key facts about
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  Advocate Con Medical Center?
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  It's, it's part of Advocate Aurora Health. Correct.
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  Can you, can you share more about the hospital?
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  - That's correct. So, advocate Aurora Health, uh, is the,
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  uh, part of Advocate Health overall,
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  which is the National Organization health System, uh,
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  consistent of, uh,
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  over 60 plus hospitals all throughout the country.
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  Uh, but, uh, advocate Aurora Health is, uh, co collaboration
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  between Illinois
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  and the Wisconsin market, uh, with, you know, uh,
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  advocate kind of medical center being one
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  of the hospitals in the Libertyville,
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  northern suburb of Chicago area.
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  Uh, we're the largest part
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  of the largest healthcare network, uh, in Illinois.
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  Uh, we are the largest hospital in Lake County, uh,
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  which is a northern county to cook, uh, which is one
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  of the biggest county in Illinois.
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  We're, uh, only level one trauma center in Lake County.
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  We perform the most surgeries at in, in Lake County.
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  At Con Medical Center.
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  We have the largest intensive care unit,
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  the largest medical staff,
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  and we're the, also the largest employer in the
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  market in our county.
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  We have, uh, 275 beds that are part of our hospital.
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  Uh, we have, uh,
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  over a thousand deliveries every year at the hospital,
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  o over 12,000 surgeries, uh, with about 15,000 admissions,
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  50,000 ED visits, 250,000 outpatient visits.
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  We have a thousand providers on our medical staff.
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  We have about 2200 teammates
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  and about 250 plus volunteers that are part of our team, um,
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  that help us take care of the patients in our county.
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  - Terrific. So, I mean, this hospital wears a lot
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  of different caps and hats in the, in Lake County, Illinois.
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  You also said you're on the, the market
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  that hinges on Illinois and Wisconsin.
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  Um, can you tell us about some of the initiatives
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  or areas of work that have been commanding most
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  of your energy or attention, SCMO
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  and Vice President as of late Dr. Shaw?
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  - Yeah. Uh, as you know,
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  our healthcare market is emerging out of, you know, uh,
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  the COVID-19 pandemic.
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  And as we've emerged out of that pandemic, uh, it's been,
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  uh, such an interesting journey.
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  I think we've learned a lot about, uh, you know,
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  the best place to care, uh, in terms of what is the role
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  of acute care facilities?
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  How do we, uh, serve, uh, for the wellness
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  and wellbeing of all of the communities
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  that we serve in the surrounding areas, as well
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  as learning more about the, our, the care model itself.
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  Is this the ideal model? What can we innovate?
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  One of the most exciting things that has emerged out
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  of the healthcare is just the evolution of technology
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  that could be deployed in healthcare.
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  So it's been exciting to be,
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  to being a part of that journey.
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  It also brings a lot of challenges, uh, key area focus areas
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  that we continue to work on
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  at advocate conduct medical centers.
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  Obviously, first and foremost is the quality
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  and health outcome for the patients that we serve.
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  Uh, we wanna make sure that we are the best in terms
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  of delivering the care model.
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  We put, uh, us our patients always at the center
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  of the care model, and make sure
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  that they're actually getting the highest level of care,
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  regardless of their background, their ethnicity,
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  their diversity, or whatever
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  that may they bring to the table.
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  Um, our providers have been with us for such a long time,
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  but continuing to help them grow, emerge outta the pandemic,
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  support them, uh, with the latest technology
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  and tools so that we can continue to be the best in class
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  for delivering the highest quality of care.
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  At the same time, we also need to balance the quality
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  of care with safety of care.
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  And, um, you know, oftentimes that safety
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  of care may require us to think more broadly
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  and strategically around some of our efforts, uh,
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  if our workflows are aligned with the safest outcome as well
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  as the highest quality outcome.
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  And it's the balance of those two that always continues
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  to drive us forward as our mission and our value.
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  And that's our, you know, part of our operations
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  and day to day that begins with our morning huddle, uh,
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  where we connect with our entire team
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  and talk about all the issues that relate to safety
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  and quality for the day, as well
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  as throughout our every single encounter.
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  Um, and, and, uh, our, uh, department meetings,
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  et cetera throughout the day
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  that we really focus on quality and safety of care.
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  Mm-Hmm, . The second area that is a focus
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  for us is around technology.
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  And how do we embrace the exponential growth in technology
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  that is being seen in healthcare?
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  Um, what there are many technology
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  with this exponential growth comes a challenge
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  of figuring out which pieces really have, uh,
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  great value for the patients that we serve,
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  and which pieces have not been proven yet,
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  and really need a little more experience.
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  And so navigating through that, um, you know,
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  looking at our efficiencies
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  and healthcare delivery, um, you know,
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  things like incorporation of automation, uh, as far
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  as technology is concerned, how do we optimize user for EMR?
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  How do we make sure that we have, have, um,
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  adequate resources to support some
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  of the technology framework that we need?
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  And then because this field of technology is so vast
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  with many different systems that are no,
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  don't necessarily work well together, we continue
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  to look at our manual processes
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  that connect these systems together,
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  and how do we, uh, you know, improve the efficiency of that
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  or create more automation, more, uh, intrinsic connectivity
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  to drive that forward forward.
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  So those are some things we look at.
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  We, we are constantly focused on our value-based care model.
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  Are we creating the right value
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  for the communities that we serve?
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  Are we creating the, the right, uh, opportunities, uh,
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  and are we making sure that we're, we're, uh,
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  decreasing the, uh, health disparities in the markets
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  that we serve, uh, through our value-based care efforts?
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  How are we doing with our outreach
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  and making sure that everyone in the counties
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  that we serve has a fair, uh, chance at, you know,
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  achieving the best health outcome possible?
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  Um, the, the fourth area of focus
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  for us is looking at our staffing and turnover.
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  I'm sure you all have heard that, uh, staffing
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  and turnover from a hospital perspective
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  has been a huge challenge emerging out of the pandemic.
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  There's been significant burnout from healthcare teams.
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  There's increasing level of behavioral health needs, um,
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  even in the medical, uh, care model.
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  And that has led to a lot of workplace violence and,
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  and difficulty in the care environment area.
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  So we continue to work with, um, organizing around that,
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  providing support to our teammates,
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  and maybe even thinking about different skill sets
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  that a lot of our care teams will need
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  to have going forward, including crisis management,
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  including thinking about leveraging
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  and using behavioral health resources more judiciously
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  and more efficiently, uh, looking at
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  how do we incorporate behavioral healthcare
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  and integrate the care model to provide holistic care.
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  And then last but not least, looking at
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  what is the optimal place of service for care delivery.
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  Um, so those are, uh, kind of the things that we're tackling
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  as part of the staffing and turnover model.
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  How do we create, um, joy in medicine so
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  that people enjoy coming to work and healthcare
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  and not feel like they're burned out from
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  the demands of healthcare?
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  One of the great things about, uh, our world today is
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  that information is so easy to access, uh, through internet
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  and through multiple resources online.
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  Some of that information is great, some
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  of the information is not so great.
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  Our patients and communities are empowered with a lot of
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  that mixed information.
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  And, you know, the new tasks that we have
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  as healthcare teams is really helping our patients sort out
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  through that information, really make sense
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  of what's out there, um, convince them of the science
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  behind healthcare and the medical knowledge,
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  and then also continue to advocate for their best interest.
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  Um, so those are challenges that really are,
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  are stressing our teams
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  and continuing to work through how do we support them,
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  how do we train them, and how do we build the right, uh,
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  structures around them, um, so
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  that we can leverage their skillsets to the best
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  of their ability and really give them the joy
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  of practicing medicine.
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  Mm-Hmm. actually,
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  physician wellness is also part of that.
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  And looking at how do we, uh, continue
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  to prevent burnout from physicians?
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  How do we continue to support our providers, uh, physicians,
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  our, uh, advanced practice clinicians, our nursing team, um,
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  everyone so that we have a very healthy work environment.
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  Everyone works as a team and there's joy in, uh, practice
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  and delivering of care.
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  Uh, reimbursement constraints always earned on our mind
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  as we think about how do we innovate in a space
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  where reimbursements are tightening up?
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  You've heard that Medicare, um, is continuing
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  to push forward with some cuts to providers
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  and to, uh, facilities.
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  And so as we look at that model, how do we continue
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  to look at how do we fund programs
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  that innovate in the space of
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  reducing healthcare disparities, creating more,
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  more health equity, uh, delivering the right care model, uh,
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  incorporating new technology.
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  All of that requires investment.
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  And so thinking through how do we balance that
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  reimbursement, uh, tightness with continued innovation
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  is another challenge that we face at the hospital,
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  but we continue to work through that.
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  And I think, you know,
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  the best support we have is continuing
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  to develop our leadership model,
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  having support at every level,
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  and working as a team to navigate through these issues that
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  as our healthcare markets emerge out of the pandemic
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  and look at new opportunities to, uh,
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  deliver care in a more efficient
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  and more value oriented manner.
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  - Yeah. Well, Dr. Shyman, you just hit on so much,
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  and I, I appreciate the, the rich overview you shared there.
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  You know, when you started your response,
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  you had made mention of emerging out of covid to 19.
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  And just for listeners, I mean, we are meeting
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  and talking, I would say about,
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  right about the four year mark
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  of just when things started to really unfold.
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  And, you know, one thing I would love your perspective on,
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  I remember 2021, even 2022, a great amount of attention
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  and curiosity around what types of disruptions would unfold
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  as people either put off care, delayed care did not go in
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  for checkups and appointments.
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  Has that played out to,
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  to be a big disruption for the system?
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  Uh, is that something that
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  the healthcare system was relatively able to absorb
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  or was it something that just didn't exactly pose
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  as much disruption as maybe people feared or anticipated?
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  - And I think great question and,
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  and I, I, uh, you know, completely, um, agree with,
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  you know, kind of your sentiment about that, that curiosity,
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  that, um, sort of anxiety that we had going
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  through the pandemic in terms of delayed care.
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  We are seeing little bit of that.
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  And if you look at this year
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  and look at the performance of hospitals across the country,
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  uh, every single hospital in every environment has seen a
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  significant increase in volume.
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  And I think part of that volume really comes from
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  that delayed care that we had seen during the pandemic.
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  Um, obviously some of the delayed care, especially
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  with a lot of the chronic conditions, delayed surgeries,
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  we had an immediate catch up period
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  as we emerged outta the pandemic.
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  But we're still recovering a lot from that resurgence of
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  that delayed care when it comes to chronic condition.
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  A lot of delayed care led to, uh,
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  you know, potential complications.
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  We're seeing some beginning of that right now in terms of
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  how do we catch people up with their health and wellness?
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  How do we get them caught up with all of the procedures, uh,
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  you know, that were put off during that time.
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  Uh, to give you one example,
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  we're seeing a significant increase in surgical volumes at,
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  uh, advocate Condo Medical Center.
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  And part of that increase in volume is related
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  to elective procedures.
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  And these were procedures that truly were put off
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  for the last two, three years.
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  Uh, as people were unsure about the safety
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  of these procedures, they were unsure about the safety
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  of the environment in the hospital,
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  and they, you know, continue
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  to question, do I really need it?
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  And I think now it's coming to the point where we are,
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  we're comfortable with, you know, uh, the emerging out
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  of COVID-19 and,
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  and really reassuring ourself, uh, to return back
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  to the normalcy that we had prior to 2019.
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  And so I think, um, we, we are seeing, uh, you know,
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  a tail effect of that, um, emergence and,
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  and then I think there's gonna be a second wave of
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  that effect, which is gonna be part of
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  that delayed screening and care.
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  Um, and we're hoping to catch a lot of people up
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  with those screenings so that we can continue to be ahead
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  of this trend and, you know, protect people and,
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  and their health and wellness.
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  I'll give you one example of that.
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  We have almost increased our colonoscopy screening volumes
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  by 150% at the hospital.
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  And part of that was the delayed care
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  that we had for a couple of years.
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  There's also been more increasing,
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  we're finding in our communities of health awareness where,
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  uh, there may have been reluctance
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  to pursue these procedures,
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  but the vulnerability in our health really was, you know,
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  was highlighted during the pandemic.
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  And so there's lot more, um, eagerness to, uh, pro,
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  you know, take advantage of preventative services
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  and making sure that the preventative screenings are done.
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  So I, I feel like there is that emergence back out
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  and some of the positive effects of, of pandemic are driving
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  sort of that, uh,
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  increasing demand in healthcare services. Mm
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  - Mm-Hmm.
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  , I, I appreciate you speaking to that
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  because it's been something that we, we know it's,
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  I imagine it's difficult
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  to suss out exactly when there's changes in volume like
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  that, exactly what the origins or causes are.
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  But I was curious
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  'cause I I think too, part
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  of it's not all on patients, right?
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  It's like if they are trying to resume care,
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  access is also part of it.
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  Um, and ensuring that it can be seen in a timely fashion.
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  - You bring up a very good point.
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  That's the next challenge that we have, right?
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  And, um, you can imagine that, you know,
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  strategically thinking through this is
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  so critically important.
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  How sustainable is this model?
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  Is this a transient demand that is going
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  to subside at some point?
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  Uh, and then we need to really think strategically about
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  how do we create more flexibility in our healthcare model.
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  Um, uh, you know, in United States,
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  especially in this country, we are
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  so rigid in our healthcare approach, right?
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  For acute care needs.
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  We, we always look at hospital being the environment.
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  If you need any procedures.
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  Um, still majority
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  of procedures are done in the inpatient hospital setting.
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  Uh, we, we don't utilize the ambulatory surgery centers
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  or, uh, office-based procedures as quickly
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  and as readily as we should.
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  And so I think part of this is that we, we have such
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  rigidity in our, uh, care delivery.
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  Um, and one of the things that the pandemic has taught us is
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  that we really need to be a lot more flexible in terms of
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  how we deliver care.
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  What do we think about our care model?
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  What, what else can we incorporate
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  and how can we leverage technology
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  to create this flexibility going forward?
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  And so I think it's one of the active parts of discussion
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  that we have every day, which is really thinking
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  through what's our strategic approach?
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  How do we manage the demand and access to care
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  and making sure that, um, with this increasing demand,
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  we don't push on, uh, continued health disparity, right?
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  We are, we are providing equitable care to everybody
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  and then we're creating equal access for everybody
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  that we're not disadvantaging one community over another.
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  Um, so that is a constant vigilance that we need to have.
• 16:57
  And at the same time, what do we do when, you know,
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  the demand may not be there if it goes up and down.
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  Uh, I know we invest a lot in creating new resources.
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  How do we funnel those resources
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  to something more efficient down the
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  road, if that is needed?
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  And building that right off the bat is critically important
• 17:15
  to, to being that flexible in the future.
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  - Mm-Hmm. , Dr. Mike Shaw, vice President
• 17:22
  and CMO with Advocate Condo Medical Center.
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  I mean, you surely have given us a very helpful overview
• 17:28
  of the work behind us and the work still in front
• 17:30
  of other CMOs like you and their, and their executive teams.
• 17:34
  Is there anything else you wanted to add in closing
• 17:36
  for our listeners today?
• 17:38
  - Molly, thank you so much for this opportunity.
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  I just wanna say that this is an
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  exciting time in healthcare.
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  Uh, we are going through some very big
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  changes in the next decade.
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  Healthcare delivery will be transformed
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  in such a meaningful way for all of us.
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  And I think it's in our, all of our best interests
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  to stay on top of the trends in the market, as well
• 17:59
  as continue to contribute to the best
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  of our ability in navigating through this change
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  and also creating a better future for all of us.
• 18:07
  So I hope to be part of this journey.
• 18:09
  And again, thank you so much for the opportunity
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  to be part of the podcast.
• 18:13
  - Thank you for your leadership
• 18:14
  and your active participation, Dr. Shah.
• 18:17
  - Thank you.