Latest / Becker’s Payer Issues Podcast / Building California’s Physician Pipeline: A Conversation with Dorothy Seleski of Health Net

Transcript

Building California’s Physician Pipeline: A Conversation with Dorothy Seleski of Health Net · Becker’s Payer Issues Podcast

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  Hello, everyone. This is Jacob Emerson with the
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  Becker's Payer Issues podcast.
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  Thrilled today to be joined by Dorothy Zaleski,
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  who is the president of Medi Cal at
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  Health Net. Dorothy, thank you so much for
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  taking the time to be with us on
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  the podcast today.
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  Thank you for having us.
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  Yeah. Absolutely. And and before we dive into
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  everything we wanna talk with you about, Dorothy,
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  and and some really special things happening at
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  Health Net, can you tell us a little
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  bit more about yourself, your background in health
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  care, and what it is that you do
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  today at Health Net?
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  Sure.
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  So I have worked in health care my
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  entire career.
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  It's been more than thirty five years.
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  I have worked at hospitals with physician groups,
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  health plans, mostly with health plans. But I
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  started my career at a federal agency,
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  working in legislation and public information.
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  About eight years ago, I had been with
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  Health Net in the,
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  nineties, and about eight years ago, I returned,
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  to work on specifically on the Medi Cal
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  team.
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  Our focus was on enhancing our local relationships,
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  with community organizations,
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  doctors, hospitals, and and the government agencies,
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  public health, mental health, all of the agencies
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  who serve the same families that we do,
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  at Health Net in the Medi Cal program.
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  So earlier this year, I was, promoted
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  to the president of the Medi Cal program,
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  and I lead the teams
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  who,
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  deliver the benefits to our Medi Cal members,
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  who work with those community
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  partners that I just described,
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  and who work on implementing new services and
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  programs
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  to help families
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  and, the members that we serve.
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  Fantastic. So a long career in health care,
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  Dorothy, and now you're you're overseeing one of
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  the largest,
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  Medi Cal plans in the state of California.
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  In that vein, we're here today to talk
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  about Health Net and the Centene Foundation
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  awarding more than $9,000,000
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  in grants to help bolster the future of
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  California's
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  physician workforce.
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  As you know, the the physician workforce in
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  the state is facing a significant shortage. It's
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  certainly not a new problem, but current predictions
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  is that there will be a physician gap
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  of 86,000
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  by the year 2036,
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  which really is not that far away. So
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  talk to us about the impact that Health
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  Net and Centene's investment
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  in things like early childhood education,
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  medical school support,
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  professional development initiatives.
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  How is that all gonna help address this
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  this growing gap, particularly when it comes to
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  underserved communities?
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  Great question. 2036
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  is not that far away, and
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  we've focused our effort across the continuum. We
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  believe
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  real solutions are gonna take place
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  take root long before residency.
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  You know, we by sparking curiosity in preschool
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  classrooms, it's 2025
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  now,
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  eleven years mid preschool classrooms,
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  elementary school,
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  nurturing students who are going through college
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  and guiding them during medical training and beyond,
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  that's how we're planting the seeds for a
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  stronger and more resilient pipeline.
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  It's got to start early.
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  When we think about the neighborhoods,
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  where families struggle to find care,
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  We know it's important,
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  for students from underrepresented
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  backgrounds in those communities
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  see themselves reflected in future physicians.
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  That way they feel empowered to pursue,
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  a path they thought was once unreachable. So
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  when you think about that support
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  across, their education,
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  they now have an opportunity,
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  a real belief that they can pursue
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  this,
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  career.
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  And by doing so, we're expanding our workforce
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  and honoring,
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  California's
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  rich tapestry of cultures,
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  again, by focusing on those underrepresented,
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  communities.
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  And finally, it takes more than just this
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  investment. You know? By weaving together health care
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  providers,
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  educators,
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  policymakers,
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  and even those community organizations and champions I
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  talked about earlier, we're building a collaborative
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  safety
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  net that really lifts,
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  these,
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  students
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  and lifts tomorrow's doctors
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  in those communities and and ultimately brings a
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  fair access to care for every Californian.
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  Certainly. And and let's let's talk about that,
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  Dorothy, in terms of all the different groups
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  and the sectors that are coming together on
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  this on this problem. Can you elaborate on
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  on some of the challenges, but also opportunities
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  that,
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  your organization has encountered in forging these partnerships
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  across health care, education,
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  advocacy sectors, and and how all of these
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  groups collaborating is going to contribute to a
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  long term solution.
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  Jacob,
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  the all of those groups, it's like that
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  tackling that challenge
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  is is a lot like, conducting a symphony.
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  Right?
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  Symphony. Each sector, you know, the health care
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  sector that I represent, academia,
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  advocacy,
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  for the communities we're focused on, each one
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  plays its own melody.
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  But we're aligning priorities
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  and timelines and resources
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  across those
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  melodies,
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  and that takes patience
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  and trust
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  and compassionate leadership. It takes a lot of
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  listening
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  and finding
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  finding commonalities
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  of outcome that you're shooting for. So when
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  we harmonize our efforts, you know, inspiration really
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  blossoms. That that list that that listening
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  and empathy
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  really leads to inspiration.
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  Educators
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  are are are a part of our of
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  this collaborative to ignite early dreams.
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  The advocates we we we are engaging with,
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  you know, they're working to dismantle systemic barriers
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  to students,
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  to the amount of,
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  placements
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  here in California for for, students graduating from
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  medical school. And the health care leaders who've
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  who have joined the collaborative
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  are opening doors
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  in real world situations in real,
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  in real settings
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  to provide extended training to to the students
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  we're talking about.
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  Together,
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  we're crafting initiatives that are more holistic and
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  inclusive,
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  far reaching, and cover
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  education,
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  access to training,
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  and
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  access to the academics they need.
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  Absolutely. And and I'm glad you called out,
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  that this is really looking to tackle systemic
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  barriers in this physician workforce as well, Dorothy,
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  because as you know, a significant portion of
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  this investment is focused on increasing
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  the representation
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  of Latino physicians in the state given their
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  underrepresentation
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  in the medical field despite
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  California's large Latino population. So how do you
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  how does Health Net envision this investment improving
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  health care access and patient outcomes, from from
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  that lens?
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  You know, we've seen
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  trust blossom between patients in the health care
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  system when patients meet doctors
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  and other practitioners
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  who speak their language.
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  That trust,
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  between patient and doctor leads to clearer communication
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  and healthier outcomes.
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  You noted that there's some, discrepancies.
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  Nearly forty percent of Californians identify as Latino,
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  but just 6% of the physicians are Latino.
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  This isn't just a statistic when you it
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  really does create a barrier to culturally centered
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  care and, therefore, to better health outcomes.
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  So that's why, you know,
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  as part of this,
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  part of the focus of this investment is
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  we're committed
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  to every step from full tuition scholarships for
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  first generation students to culturally,
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  attune training programs that I mentioned, and even
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  leadership development for mid career
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  clinicians, especially Latino physicians, to advocate on behalf
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  of growing this pipeline.
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  Over time, you know, we expect these efforts
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  to to dissolve,
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  both cultural and linguistic barriers to care,
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  to boost patient engagement through that trust between
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  patient and doctor,
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  and, ultimately, to derive measurable improvements in health
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  care because of that trust and willingness
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  to,
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  heed the advice of their doctor and ultimately,
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  lifting the the well-being and the wellness of
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  of Latino communities across the state.
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  You know, our vision
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  is a state where everybody sees can see
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  a doctor or a nurse
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  or a physician for assistant, dentist, or other
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  provider who understand their their
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  world, understands their world, and really honors
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  their personal journey to wellness.
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  Certainly. And that is such a such a
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  large gap that you mentioned, Shworty, but but
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  so great to know that this is a
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  top priority for Health Net in terms of
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  bridging that divide.
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  Before we go,
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  anything else you'd like to share with our
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  listeners? We've got a lot of other health
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  plan leaders listening in from all over the
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  country. Any final bits of advice you wanna
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  share with them? I don't know if it's
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  advice so much as a challenge, Jacob.
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  I would say to to my colleagues in
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  in health care, don't wait for change to
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  happen.
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  Be the spark.
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  This physician shortage, as you mentioned, is it's
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  huge and it's daunting,
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  but it's also a chance for every one
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  of us and our organizations
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  to make a lasting impact in the future.
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  I would also challenge my colleagues to invest
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  early and boldly.
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  You
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  know, inspire students in classrooms, whether that's through
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  investments or whether that's through your personal sharing
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  your personal experience.
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  Remove financial
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  and systemic barriers,
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  mentor emerging talent,
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  and ultimately support the caregivers
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  we're talking about who are already serving our
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  communities.
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  And finally, my final challenge is
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  embrace cultural empathy and closing gaps in care,
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  as your compass.
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  You know, those two things together
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  are necessary. You have to understand the journey
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  in order to help the patient
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  understand and seek the care they're they need.
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  And so by partnering across
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  health plans,
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  schools, advocacy groups, and community organizations as we've
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  been talking about this morning,
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  we can build a future where everybody has
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  a seat at the table of care and
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  every Californian thrives. Those are my challenges.
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  Last thoughts for my colleagues.
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  Wonderful. Well, I think that's a great place
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  to leave things, Dorothy. I wanna thank you
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  for taking the time to sit down with
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  us and for sharing with us and our
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  listeners about all the impactful work going on,
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  under your leadership at Health Net. So so
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  thank you.
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  Oh, thank you for having me again. I
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  I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about
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  this this wonderful,
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  investment in our future.
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  Absolutely. And to our listeners, if you'd like
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  to listen to more podcasts from Becker's Healthcare,
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  you can visit beckershospitalreview.com.