Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / Advancing AI and Financial Sustainability in Community Health with Isaiah Nathaniel

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Advancing AI and Financial Sustainability in Community Health with Isaiah Nathaniel · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

• 0:00
  - Hello, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
• 0:02
  - My name is Chanel Banger, and I'm recording
• 0:04
  - live at the Becker's eleventh annual Health IT,
• 0:07
  - Digital Health and RCM Conference in Chicago. And
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  - I'm thrilled to be joined by Isaiah Nathaniel,
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  - the senior vice president and chief information officer
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  - at Delaware Valley Community Health. Isaiah, thank you
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  - so much for joining me today. Thanks for
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  - having me. I'm looking forward to the conversation.
• 0:21
  - Likewise. Well, before we dig in, can you
• 0:24
  - please tell us a bit about yourself and
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  - your background?
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  - I'd be happy to, one, thank you, Becker's,
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  - for always a wonderful conference. It's day one
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  - here, and the rooms are packed. The hallways
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  - are electric, and I always love coming to
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  - Becker's for things like this to be in
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  - front of my colleagues, to learn new and
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  - innovative things from what's happening out in the
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  - field and bring that home to the state
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  - of Pennsylvania
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  - where I'm located. So a little bit more
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  - about me formally, Isaiah Nathaniel, as you aforementionedly
• 0:52
  - suggested,
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  - senior vice president, chief information officer for Delaware
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  - Valley Community Health. In addition to that, I'm
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  - also the strategic CIO for the Pennsylvania Health
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  - Center Technology Alliance.
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  - And then last and finally, I'm also the
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  - CIO executive advisor for the National Association of
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  - Community Health Centers. So for me,
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  - community health is where my bread and butter
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  - is, but it's a passion. It's a mission.
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  - It's focused on innovation, focused on making sure
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  - the primary care safety net of this country
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  - is having the technology that it needs, it
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  - should have, and the patients are having the
• 1:24
  - experience that they want.
• 1:26
  - Got it. Got it. And now digging into
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  - the meat of the podcast a bit,
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  - can you give us a quick date of
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  - the union? What has gone well this year,
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  - and what are you most focused on for
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  - the rest of 2026?
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  - That's a very, very big question. What is
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  - going good this year? I think think what
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  - has gone good
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  - at all three different levels is
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  - the fact that we understand AI is a
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  - part of the equation.
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  - Now you may suggest,
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  - will it be here? What is it good?
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  - Will it do harm?
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  - I'm not gonna get into that in this
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  - podcast. What I will say is that the
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  - technology and its ability
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  - to optimize and make things more efficient
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  - is a good for health care.
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  - Where you insert
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  - artificial intelligence, I think that's up to your
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  - leadership or your skill or where you feel
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  - most comfortable according to your organizational objectives.
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  - For us in community health center space, therefore,
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  - identified use cases that we have for artificial
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  - intelligence.
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  - And if we look at the entire country
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  - and
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  - fifty two point three million patients that we
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  - see,
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  - we need artificial intelligence to make sure that
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  - entire person, that whole person care is being
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  - activated, and artificial intelligence is helping in that
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  - way.
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  - One of the biggest things that I personally
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  - am doing right now is an epic migration.
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  - And so with that epic migration,
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  - that's all I gotta say. And I know
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  - my colleagues are cheering me on, but also
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  - saying, how tired are you? So
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  - that that... That's past twelve months.
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  - Got it. Got it. And on the flip
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  - side of that, what are the biggest headwinds
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  - that you're keeping an eye on and preparing
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  - for currently?
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  - I think the biggest headwinds that I am
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  - preparing for is 2027
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  - and particularly
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  - making sure that
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  - many of our community health centers, both locally,
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  - statewide, and nationally, stay solvent financially.
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  - And that's why I love being at this
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  - Becker's IT and RCM conference. And how do
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  - you make sure that
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  - the the bottom line is not as detrimental
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  - as, the forecast is suggesting that it could
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  - potentially be when we're making cuts across some
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  - of the different programs that my my patients
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  - need.
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  - Got it. Got it. And can you talk
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  - about what is your best opportunity to grow
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  - in the next two to three years?
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  - I think the best opportunity to grow
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  - is making sure technology
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  - continues to be a part
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  - of the conversation
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  - and not thrown to the wayside. I think
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  - using artificial intelligence machine learning
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  - in the conversation is just a starter.
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  - Next is the executive
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  - level of leadership
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  - associated with artificial intelligence. It's governance of artificial
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  - intelligence. It's clinical versus operational versus quality in
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  - that governance of artificial intelligence. But then it's
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  - the true IT stack is how do you
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  - reduce the cost? How do you make sure
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  - that you have a
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  - well org running business unit that actually helps
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  - the bottom line versus detracts from it?
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  - Got it. And as a leader that wears
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  - as many hats as you do, I'm curious
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  - to hear your answer on this. Who do
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  - you admire as a leader from any industry
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  - and why?
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  - Who do I admire as a leader in
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  - any industry?
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  - Why? That's a very good question.
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  - I have quite a few leaders that I
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  - admire
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  - and...
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  - For different reasons,
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  - and I get inspiration from a lot of
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  - them. Will I name them? I'm not sure.
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  - But I'll tell you some of the leadership
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  - perspectives that I've gotten from those leaders.
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  - What I've gained and gotten is that
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  - Rome wasn't built in a day.
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  - That Mamba mentality
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  - is real.
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  - That effort towards
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  - resolving resolution is great.
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  - I'll take one from my own perspective as
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  - conflict is not bad as
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  - those that get quickest to conflict have better
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  - outcomes,
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  - and great organizations know how to deal through
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  - conflict.
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  - And then
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  - no great problem is solved by the same
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  - level of consciousness that created it. That's Winston
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  - Churchill.
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  - That's another one. And then last and finally
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  - is that
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  - make sure you're enjoying the ride while you're
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  - on it.
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  - I love it. Well, Isaiah, I wanna thank
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  - you for your time today. But before I
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  - let you go, is there anything else that
• 5:40
  - listeners should know?
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  - Be here next year if you're not in
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  - the room because that's where we get these
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  - opportunities
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  - to talk, to
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  - decompress, and figure out the next strategy for
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  - the next twelve to eighteen months.
• 5:53
  - That's a great note to end on. Isaiah,
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  - I wanna thank you once again for your
• 5:55
  - time today and for sharing your insights on
• 5:57
  - the Becker's Healthcare podcast.
• 5:59
  - Thank you.