Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / Cole Zanetti, DO, MPH, Chief Health Informatics Officer at Ralph H. Johnson VA Healthcare System

Transcript

Cole Zanetti, DO, MPH, Chief Health Informatics Officer at Ralph H. Johnson VA Healthcare System · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

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  This is Rosie Talaga with the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by doctor
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  Cole Zanetti, chief health informatics officer at Ralph
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  h Johnson VA Healthcare System.
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  Doctor Zanetti, it's a pleasure to have you
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  on the podcast today.
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  It's a pleasure to be on. Happy Valentine's
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  Day.
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  Happy Valentine's Day to everyone listening.
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  We have a great conversation in store diving
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  into the key opportunities and challenges shaping health
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  care. But before we get into it, I'd
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  love for our listeners to get to know
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  you a bit better. So could you please
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  start by sharing a little bit about your
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  background and your journey to your current role?
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  Sure.
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  So I'm,
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  originally from a small town in,
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  Upstate New York,
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  called Otisville, New York.
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  My parents didn't go to college. We come
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  from a line of jazz musicians.
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  So I grew up going to gigs, on
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  the weekends and
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  end up going into into health care because
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  I was fascinated with
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  science and and people
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  and
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  ended up going into informatics,
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  primary care, and preventive medicine
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  because I wanted to help with systems change
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  to have broader impact on the lives that
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  we are responsible for.
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  And working in the VA is,
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  the internal mission
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  for me, to serve those that have served
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  our country, and I can't think of
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  a better organization to work for,
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  with our our mission,
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  vision, and values targeted towards that population.
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  That's amazing. Thank you so much for the
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  introduction. And I have to say jazz musicians
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  sounds very cool,
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  but it's really inspiring to see your fascination
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  with
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  science and people. And then it just seems
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  like
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  the VA health care system is a perfect
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  match for you. So I'd love to talk
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  more about your organization.
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  And if you could please let us know
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  what makes your health system so unique.
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  Yeah. VA is the largest integrated health system
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  in the country.
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  We care for,
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  over 9,000,000 veterans
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  throughout Continental
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  US and in certain US territories,
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  and we have the largest,
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  dataset
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  to follow track support and provision care to
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  our veterans
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  from all backgrounds,
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  ethnicities, socioeconomic
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  statuses,
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  and
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  we have,
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  an incredible,
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  support and resources
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  to
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  provide the unique care that veterans need that
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  are
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  often not,
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  taught about in medical schools, residencies, or in
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  a private sector
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  that that really is a unique demand for
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  our our country and and and honor that
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  we,
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  get to serve in in in the way
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  that's actually needed for those that have gone
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  through what they've gone through.
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  So it's a it's the largest health system
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  in the country that has that level of
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  integration and
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  really think it also
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  positions itself
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  to be an innovation laboratory for the nation,
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  to be on the cutting edge of where
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  health care should be.
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  Absolutely. That's that's
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  very inspiring to hear about you being the
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  largest integrated health system and all that you're
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  doing to give back to that veteran population
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  that has given us so much.
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  So thank you so much for sharing that,
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  and I'd like to look more closely into
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  some of the milestones you've hit more recently.
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  So looking back at the past year, what's
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  the accomplishment that you're most proud of?
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  Yeah.
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  To to me, the VA has really stepped
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  up around
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  its focus on
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  partnering with artificial intelligence,
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  to
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  ensure that we are at the bleeding edge
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  of effective
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  and efficient care for our veterans.
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  So the work
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  that's been done to look at what currently
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  exists across the system, making sure that we're
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  considering privacy and security
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  and ethical approaches to its implementation
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  is really critical.
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  In addition,
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  the aspect that we want to reduce administrative
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  burden for the care teams that are provisioning
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  care
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  and return
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  as much humanity
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  to the experience of care interaction that we
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  can by
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  focusing on the veterans in front of us
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  instead of the computer.
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  So I think we've made incredible strides
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  to execute on those efforts,
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  and we'll continue to do so across the
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  nation.
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  That's great. And it makes me think of
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  how you mentioned that you have the largest
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  dataset to follow and track support care to
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  veterans,
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  which absolutely can be used to leverage AI
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  and make everything more efficient. So that sounds
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  great.
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  And then it's great to acknowledge this win
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  and
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  how the steps you've been taking to really
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  focus on artificial intelligence. And looking at where
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  you can continue to grow and evolve,
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  where do you see the biggest growth opportunities
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  for your team in the next twelve months?
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  It's integration
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  within workflow
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  so that we don't inadvertently
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  create additional burden on teams.
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  And we're leveraging
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  AI in such a way that is really
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  gonna help,
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  the the care processes,
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  that exist
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  to amplify their their impact.
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  So we constantly have to look at how
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  things are integrated, not just that there's a
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  artificial intelligence tool that can help, but how
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  does it fit in, and how do we
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  make sure it's connected to the right systems?
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  How do we make sure that it's actually
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  reducing
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  check boxes and
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  and steps
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  in our care workflow
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  so that as much time as possible spent
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  with the human beings that we're here in
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  charge to care for.
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  So I I think the challenge
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  is that in
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  across health care,
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  we
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  have not done a good job of auditing
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  the amount of time spent
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  to do all of those administrative things as
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  a part of our processes and rollouts,
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  to meet certain standards.
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  And it's important that
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  these aren't looked at as
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  insignificant
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  effects.
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  The more time that it takes care teams
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  to do things, the more time it takes
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  for patients and veterans to do things,
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  the the less chance that we're gonna be
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  successful
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  in those efforts. So our challenge is
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  looking at our system,
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  authentically
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  and and accurately and objectively
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  to really assess the prioritization
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  of reducing the burden so that we can
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  focus on the on the people first.
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  Absolutely. Focusing
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  on that integration within
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  the workflow, really optimizing everyone's time so that
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  they can make the most impact.
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  I think it's really important to not just
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  think that you have to reinvent the wheel,
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  but really enhancing and fine tuning what you
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  have in front of you to make
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  the most out of what you have.
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  So it sounds like there's some exciting opportunities
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  on the horizon.
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  And I'm curious when you look at
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  really focusing on this integration within the workflow,
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  what are some of the big challenges that
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  you're anticipating,
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  and how are you preparing to tackle them?
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  Yeah. I I think that the challenges that
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  we face when we're partnering with
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  artificial intelligence
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  and trying to improve,
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  the solutions so that they're most effective,
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  for example,
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  is how do we do so in a
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  way that doesn't increase that that burden. Right?
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  So when someone is
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  getting a soap note, for example,
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  that is created by an Ambient scribe,
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  there still needs to be edits. There still
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  needs to be adjustments and changes, and that
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  takes time. Right?
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  It's less time than having to write the
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  full note, but,
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  who who gets the most benefit by those
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  edits and adjustments,
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  and how is that benefit to improving a
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  solution,
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  an algorithm,
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  you know, shared
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  across the industry. And and
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  those are things that are, being looked into.
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  The other aspect is
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  challenges of having to figure out what to
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  to prioritize and focus on to give access
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  to these tools because these tools aren't free.
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  Right?
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  You have to pay for them in trying
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  to make business decisions around who, you know,
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  who do we have to prioritize access to
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  them,
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  how do we account for
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  these tools as a part of our infrastructure
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  when they've not been there in the past,
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  and and make sure that we're increasing
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  the impact
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  strategically as much as possible while weighing these,
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  these important components.
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  Absolutely. I think it's
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  very important to know how
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  crucial it is to not just understand which
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  are the smartest investments, but for whom these
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  are the smartest investments. Like you said, they're
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  not cheap, so to making sure that
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  it's really making an impact in the most
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  effective way.
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  So now I'd like to talk a little
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  bit about the importance of staying proactive.
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  What's the number one thing that you're doing
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  right now to set your organization up for
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  long term success aside from
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  really focusing on this AI integration?
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  Yeah. It's it's prioritizing the people, the staff,
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  the veterans,
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  and the the human connection in health care
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  that
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  acknowledges that we have people coming to us
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  or we're going to them
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  in an incredibly vulnerable state.
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  These are
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  individuals that are struggling,
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  or looking for assistance to to sustain health
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  and be there for their families and loved
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  ones.
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  And our job, our number one focus is
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  how do we,
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  disentangle,
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  the
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  elements that we have to accomplish
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  to properly
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  document the care
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  to,
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  to
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  provide people what they need
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  in the treatment or the care plan to
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  make sure that people understand what's actually going
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  on, not just the veteran or the patient,
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  but the caregivers and the family that is
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  also charged with the support after they they
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  leave our walls. Right?
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  It's
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  that human connection and understanding that the the
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  team is broader than
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  just the health care team. It's the it's
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  the the care
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  team for the the veterans as well in
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  the home that
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  we wanna unburden,
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  with
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  as many things as possible so they can
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  they can execute on their mission,
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  and and,
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  their love and care,
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  for for those around them. So our our
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  long term success is dependent on always reminding
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  ourselves that that is the center,
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  and we have to create environments, workflows,
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  and,
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  invest in technology
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  that really unburdens
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  that that center to to to to be,
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  you know, what everybody went into health care
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  for, which is supporting those that need it
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  most.
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  Absolutely.
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  That I think that's a great great takeaway
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  to always going back to the human connection
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  in health care. These people are, like you
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  said, at a vulnerable state, and I think
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  that it's great to recognize that the team
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  is broader than the health care team, and
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  it's also the team at home.
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  Thank you so much for joining us on
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  the podcast today, doctor Zanetti. It's been great
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  hearing your insights on integration with AI to
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  unburden your team, but your overall long term
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  goal to unburden the team at home. It's
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  very inspiring,
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  and thank you again. We look forward to
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  collaborating with you soon.
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  Thank you.