Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Redesigning Cancer Care Through Nursing, AI and Patient-Centered Innovation with Colleen Lewis

Transcript

Redesigning Cancer Care Through Nursing, AI and Patient-Centered Innovation with Colleen Lewis · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  - The strategic agenda facing hospital and health system
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  - leaders right now is not a short list.
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  - Growth in a consolidating market, sustainable margins in
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  - a tech investment cycle that demands both urgency
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  - and a workforce story that is still being
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  - written.
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  - Eker's fourteenth annual CEO CFO roundtable brings together
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  - more than 1,500 executive level attendees and nearly
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  - 400 speakers across four days of sessions that
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  - are designed to help c suite leaders benchmark,
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  - pressure test, and sharpen their priorities.
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  - Not in the abstract, but against the real
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  - decisions they'll face heading into the next year.
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  - It's the kind of event you leave with
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  - a clear sense of where you stand and
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  - what comes next.
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  - So join us November second through the fifth
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  - at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago
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  - and come ready to do the hard thinking.
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  - Register on our events page at beckershospitalreview.com
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  - by clicking on the events tab in the
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  - upper right.
• 0:58
  - Hello, and thank you so much for tuning
• 1:00
  - in to the Becker's Oncology Leadership Podcast. I'm
• 1:03
  - Elizabeth Gregersen, a reporter here at Becker's. And
• 1:06
  - today, I'm talking to Colleen Lewis,
• 1:09
  - senior vice president of cancer nursing
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  - at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. Colleen,
• 1:15
  - thank you so much for taking the time
• 1:17
  - to speak with me today.
• 1:19
  - Thank you so much for the invitation. Really
• 1:21
  - happy to be a part of the conversation.
• 1:24
  - Absolutely. And before I kind of get into
• 1:26
  - all my questions for you, I'd love if
• 1:28
  - you could share a bit about your background,
• 1:30
  - about Winship,
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  - and your roles,
• 1:33
  - for our listeners.
• 1:35
  - Yeah. Absolutely.
• 1:36
  - So I have spent my more than twenty
• 1:38
  - year career in oncology,
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  - starting as a bedside nurse, nurse practitioner,
• 1:44
  - later leading clinical operations, research, and nursing in
• 1:48
  - both across both academic and community oncology settings.
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  - Today, I have the pleasure of being a
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  - part of the leadership team here at Winship,
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  - which is Georgia's only NCI designated comprehensive
• 2:01
  - cancer center
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  - in Atlanta. And I'm able to really hone
• 2:05
  - in on our care delivery model across the
• 2:08
  - continuum,
• 2:08
  - including
• 2:09
  - inpatient, outpatient,
• 2:11
  - navigation,
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  - supportive care, research integration
• 2:15
  - with an emphasis on how do we advance
• 2:17
  - the patient centered care for our patient population.
• 2:22
  - Perfect. And I'm so grateful to have you
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  - on here, you know, not just as an
• 2:26
  - oncology leader, but with that nursing lens as
• 2:28
  - well. So I really appreciate you taking the
• 2:30
  - time to be here. To kick things off,
• 2:33
  - I'd love to kind of center in on
• 2:35
  - what your biggest priority
• 2:37
  - is at Winship
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  - right now.
• 2:41
  - A key priority here at Winship is how
• 2:43
  - do we translate
• 2:45
  - discovery
• 2:45
  - into
• 2:46
  - better patient outcomes?
• 2:48
  - How do we ensure more patients can benefit
• 2:51
  - from the latest advances in cancer care
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  - through timely access,
• 2:56
  - innovation,
• 2:57
  - and
• 2:58
  - equally importantly, coordinated support throughout
• 3:02
  - the cancer journey?
• 3:04
  - Perfect.
• 3:05
  - Yeah. I think that's something that's come up
• 3:08
  - a lot recently in the past, you know,
• 3:10
  - year or two, really, with with the coverage
• 3:12
  - that I've been doing for Becker's is just
• 3:15
  - all the innovation, all the discovery that's happening,
• 3:17
  - and
• 3:18
  - getting that to patients.
• 3:20
  - Are there any
• 3:21
  - sort of pressures that you feel cancer centers
• 3:24
  - or oncology service lines
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  - are facing right now that maybe the industry
• 3:29
  - at large isn't talking about enough?
• 3:33
  - One thing that comes to mind is around
• 3:35
  - managing the growing complexity
• 3:38
  - of cancer care while at the same time
• 3:40
  - creating an even more seamless experience for patients.
• 3:45
  - We are really looking at ways to balance
• 3:47
  - innovation, affordability,
• 3:49
  - equitable access,
• 3:51
  - novel therapies,
• 3:53
  - increasing demands from our patients
• 3:56
  - for,
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  - timely and ease of access. If we think
• 3:59
  - about our population, they're accustomed to a lot
• 4:03
  - of online platforms,
• 4:05
  - accustomed to two hour delivery,
• 4:07
  - you know, same day shipping, and that
• 4:10
  - desire for efficiency and speed
• 4:13
  - is definitely being seen within the health care
• 4:16
  - arena. So it's balancing that increasing complexity of
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  - the clinical,
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  - aspect, which we're noting with a lot of
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  - novel therapies and new approaches
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  - with that increasing
• 4:29
  - patient and consumer expectation
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  - for efficiency.
• 4:34
  - That's such a interesting way of of framing
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  - it too. I've I've definitely, you know, heard
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  - about and tackled kind of covering both of
• 4:41
  - those issues, but when you really put them
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  - side by side,
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  - you can see how that that creates a
• 4:47
  - big pressure
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  - for leaders.
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  - Yeah. I think that's one of the reasons
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  - you're hearing a lot about
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  - navigation and the focus on care coordination because
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  - we are fortunate to be in a time
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  - with such innovation especially,
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  - you know, at a large
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  - academic comprehensive cancer center where we've got cutting
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  - edge research.
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  - But a lot of these innovations and and
• 5:11
  - new approach is require a lot of coordination,
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  - communication with patients,
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  - ensuring that they have all the key aspects
• 5:18
  - of their care connected,
• 5:20
  - and finding a way as a care team
• 5:22
  - to ensure that their experience when they're in
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  - the building
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  - is exceptional, but also how do we thread
• 5:29
  - the needle on their care journey when they're
• 5:31
  - not here with us, knowing that a lot
• 5:33
  - happens in between visits
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  - and outcomes are really affected by many of
• 5:38
  - these key challenges and barriers that patients may
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  - face when they're not here at the cancer
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  - center.
• 5:46
  - Absolutely. And I think that navigation piece is
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  - so crucial, and I'm definitely planting a seed
• 5:50
  - in my mind to follow-up with you
• 5:53
  - on this because I just think it's such
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  - a
• 5:55
  - an important
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  - role that I've I've just hear continually coming
• 5:59
  - up the more leaders I speak to and
• 6:02
  - and highlighting how navigators,
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  - you know, do
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  - affect outcomes and are able to kind of
• 6:08
  - hold the hand of a of a patient
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  - throughout their entire journey. I think it's interesting
• 6:13
  - to show the different case studies of how
• 6:14
  - different organizations
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  - are
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  - using that role. Right?
• 6:19
  - Mhmm. Absolutely.
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  - Another thing I'd love to hear,
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  - kind of, what your mindset is
• 6:26
  - or the the overall, like, kind of strategy
• 6:28
  - about AI because this is a Becker's podcast,
• 6:32
  - so, obviously, we have to talk about AI.
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  - How are you thinking about that technology right
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  - now? Is there anywhere
• 6:40
  - where it's genuinely
• 6:41
  - changing care
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  - at Winship, or have you seen maybe the
• 6:45
  - hype outrun the reality a little bit?
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  - Are there, you know, the safety concerns that
• 6:51
  - keep popping up? I I feel like leaders
• 6:53
  - I speak to
• 6:55
  - are all cautiously optimistic, but at very, you
• 6:58
  - know, levels of that. So I'd love to
• 7:00
  - to hear where you're landing.
• 7:02
  - Yeah. For me,
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  - AI should remove burden,
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  - not replace human judgment is my take on
• 7:09
  - it. Yeah. Where where we've seen in health
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  - care right now where AI seems to be
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  - really valuable
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  - is in those spaces where it can give
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  - clinicians more time with patients,
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  - reduce friction in care delivery,
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  - or help increase visibility to operational
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  - issues.
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  - The idea that it can completely replace clinical
• 7:30
  - decision making or fully automate a patient interaction
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  - is probably in that realm of maybe the
• 7:36
  - hype outruns reality as you said.
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  - And you mentioned what are we seeing at
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  - Winship. We have seen some really great strides
• 7:44
  - in research arena, for example. There are
• 7:48
  - areas where they're leveraging AI to help write
• 7:51
  - pieces of clinical trial protocols, at least the
• 7:54
  - administrative
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  - pieces, and then allowing more time for the
• 7:57
  - scientists and the clinicians
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  - to have that oversight
• 8:01
  - and ensure that the scientific content is really
• 8:05
  - rigorous and ready to bring to clinical trials.
• 8:08
  - But those
• 8:09
  - protocol writing activities and editing are very, very
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  - time consuming. So we've seen in the research
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  - arena some great use of AI there. And
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  - we're looking at ways from a a nursing
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  - documentation
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  - perspective.
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  - How do we,
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  - you know,
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  - allow those interactions for patients to be more
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  - focused on the conversation and then behind the
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  - scenes have the documentation
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  - be happening
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  - in real time. We're still learning,
• 8:35
  - and
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  - evolving, but it is an exciting time to
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  - see how are we gonna be able to
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  - create more time,
• 8:43
  - more space for that patient and clinician interaction
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  - with all the different competing priorities in the
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  - health care landscape right now.
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  - Absolutely. And I love the the two examples
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  - you gave, I think, encompass so much of
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  - what, you know, at least the oncology audience
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  - has top of mind. Right? It's that patient
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  - care, that relationship that you have with your
• 9:03
  - patient, but then also
• 9:04
  - the research and how are you making that
• 9:06
  - more effective and efficient. So I appreciate you
• 9:09
  - highlighting kind of both ends of of the
• 9:11
  - spectrum, or maybe not a spectrum, but
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  - two, you know, giant pieces of the puzzle,
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  - when it comes to AI and and what's
• 9:19
  - capable in in the future.
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  - Speaking of the future,
• 9:24
  - one question that I've been asking leaders is
• 9:27
  - kind of thinking about the next generation
• 9:29
  - of oncology leaders, and you can even take
• 9:32
  - it to oncology nurse leaders.
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  - Is there something the field maybe isn't fully
• 9:37
  - addressing right now that you think is going
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  - to be left in the hands of the
• 9:42
  - next generation
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  - to solve?
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  - I think a huge focus as we're looking
• 9:48
  - forward for leaders and in particular
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  - oncology nursing leaders is how do we build
• 9:54
  - a truly
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  - integrated
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  - cancer
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  - ecosystem.
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  - And what comes to mind is how do
• 10:00
  - we redesign
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  - the role of nursing
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  - to better connect
• 10:05
  - inpatient and outpatient in ways that we've not
• 10:08
  - been able to in the past? How do
• 10:09
  - we deploy nurses in proactive ways
• 10:13
  - to really think about developing risk stratification
• 10:17
  - models so that we ensure nurses get the
• 10:20
  - the right contact with the right group of
• 10:23
  - patients who need the most complex care, knowing
• 10:26
  - that resource,
• 10:28
  - is always gonna be top of mind as
• 10:30
  - we're navigating economic realities within health care. We
• 10:33
  - wanna align our resources
• 10:36
  - more closely to the patients who have the
• 10:38
  - biggest need, and I think that nursing will
• 10:41
  - play a huge role in how we make
• 10:43
  - those connections for our patients
• 10:45
  - and how we're proactive so that we can
• 10:48
  - hopefully prevent
• 10:49
  - complications before they ever occur versus just be
• 10:53
  - reactive
• 10:54
  - to things that come our way.
• 10:57
  - I love that,
• 10:58
  - where it's kind of you know, it's not
• 11:00
  - just a challenge that has to be tackled
• 11:02
  - in the future. It's an opportunity,
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  - like you said, to kind of redesign and
• 11:06
  - and reimagine
• 11:07
  - what Exactly. That can look like.
• 11:10
  - That does make me feel optimistic, but, you
• 11:12
  - know, I'm just a reporter. I love asking
• 11:15
  - leaders and ending our conversations
• 11:17
  - to hear what's
• 11:19
  - exciting them about the future of cancer care,
• 11:21
  - what's giving them hope and optimism
• 11:23
  - as they look on the horizon. What are
• 11:25
  - you seeing from your perspective right now that's,
• 11:28
  - you know, giving you hope?
• 11:30
  - We've talked a lot about innovation in cancer
• 11:33
  - care, and I think it's that
• 11:35
  - really unique combination of
• 11:38
  - scientific innovation and discovery
• 11:41
  - blended with compassionate care
• 11:44
  - is where we're seeing this transformation
• 11:47
  - happen, and it continues at a rapid pace.
• 11:50
  - We're seeing people live longer than ever
• 11:53
  - and have a focus on survivorship
• 11:55
  - needs, and we're seeing just so much excitement
• 11:58
  - in the field
• 11:59
  - scientifically,
• 12:00
  - but also with how do we pay attention
• 12:02
  - to what people need once they've completed their
• 12:06
  - treatment? And it's nice to see more focus
• 12:08
  - on that in the oncology arena. And that
• 12:11
  - gives me hope because that's a sign we're
• 12:13
  - really making ongoing progress, making an impact for
• 12:16
  - patients
• 12:17
  - so that they can live more fulfilled
• 12:20
  - lives with, you know, decreasing the burden of
• 12:22
  - cancer for them.
• 12:25
  - I love that. I think that's the perfect
• 12:26
  - place to end it and and, you know,
• 12:28
  - blends a lot of what we talked about
• 12:29
  - today of kind of using
• 12:31
  - that technology to advance the field,
• 12:34
  - which is, you know, paving the way and
• 12:36
  - and opening the doors for clinicians and nurses
• 12:40
  - and
• 12:41
  - everyone to spend more time with the patient
• 12:42
  - and
• 12:43
  - and focus on that patient journey. And and
• 12:46
  - I love how you mentioned kind of the
• 12:47
  - after. Right? The survivorship aspect of it all
• 12:50
  - since everyone's living longer.
• 12:52
  - I can't thank you enough for coming on
• 12:54
  - the podcast and taking the time and and
• 12:56
  - sharing your insights, Pauline. It's been great to
• 12:59
  - speak with you.
• 13:00
  - Thank you again for having me. I've really
• 13:03
  - appreciated this conversation.
• 13:05
  - And thank you to our listeners for tuning
• 13:07
  - in to Becker's Oncology Leadership podcast.
• 13:10
  - I invite you all to check out even
• 13:11
  - more Becker's Healthcare podcasts
• 13:13
  - at beckerspodcasts.com.
• 13:16
  - Thank you again to Colleen for joining me
• 13:18
  - today and to everyone for listening. Have a
• 13:21
  - great day.