Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / David W. Zaas, MD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Duke University Health System

Transcript

David W. Zaas, MD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Duke University Health System · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  - There's a small circle of people who truly
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  - understand what it takes to lead a health
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  - system right now. The decisions are enormous.
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  - The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
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  - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
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  - That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality.
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  - And it's why the most effective c suite
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  - leaders are deliberate about where do they go
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  - to pressure test their thinking.
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  - Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
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  - brings together more than 1,500
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  - executive level attendees
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  - and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
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  - around growth, financial sustainability,
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  - workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
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  - have easy answers.
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  - Join us November second through the fifth in
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  - Chicago.
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  - For the agenda and event details,
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  - visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  - and click on the events tab in the
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  - upper right.
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  - Welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast. I'm Kelly
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  - Guiche, managing editor at Becker's, and I'm excited
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  - to be joined today by doctor David Zoss,
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  - CEO of Duke University Health System. Doctor. Zoss
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  - brings decades of experience as a physician researcher
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  - and healthcare executive, including leadership roles at Duke
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  - Health, MUSC Health, and Atrium
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  - Health Wake Forest Baptist. He assumed the CEO
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  - role at Duke University Health System this spring
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  - and is helping lead one one of the
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  - nation's premier academic health systems through a period
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  - of significant change across health care. Doctor Zoss,
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  - thank you so much for joining us. And
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  - before we dive in, I'd love for you
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  - to introduce yourself and share a bit more
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  - about your background.
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  - Now thank you, Kelly, for the invitation and
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  - the the chance to join you
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  - today. You know,
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  - as you mentioned, I've had the good fortune
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  - of now over twenty five years
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  - in health care and really grown from a
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  - physician scientist and passionate around
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  - the impact that academic medicine makes,
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  - the chance to grow up for almost twenty
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  - years,
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  - as part of Duke Health, as well as
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  - some amazing learning opportunities across, two other leading
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  - academic health systems. But there's
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  - nothing better than getting the chance to come
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  - back home,
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  - to where you grew up and trained and
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  - what really is family to me. So thank
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  - you for allowing me to be here.
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  - Absolutely. And I'd love to talk more about
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  - coming back to Duke here. You as as
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  - we said, you came back as CEO this
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  - spring
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  - and curious what maybe looked different
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  - when you walked back in and what surprised
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  - you most about how the system had changed,
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  - as well just in evolved over over the
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  - years.
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  - The most amazing
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  - observation during my first few weeks is really
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  - the depth
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  - of the clinical excellence
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  - and the commitment to innovation that really defines
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  - Duke Health.
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  - From my prior experience and roles here, I
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  - knew there were so many great things. But
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  - in the time period, right, over these last
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  - seven years,
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  - the depth of expertise,
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  - the strength of the clinical
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  - research programs,
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  - the amount, and extent of the integration
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  - between the health system,
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  - our faculty practice,
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  - and the school of medicine really creates a
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  - unique
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  - environment and an opportunity for Duke to really
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  - transform health care.
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  - And that depth
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  - has been so impressive.
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  - In addition, there's this commitment to innovation,
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  - the commitment to redefining
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  - what we do in health care that touches
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  - all of our team members, both our physicians,
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  - our scientists,
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  - to our nurses that I think is energizing
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  - as I get to go see so many
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  - of our different clinics and hospitals.
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  - Yes. And I wanted to ask more too
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  - about just, of course, the research mission, as
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  - you as you mentioned too, just being a
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  - huge part
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  - of Duke and and what makes the system
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  - Duke in itself. And it's also, of course,
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  - just a part of what federal policy is
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  - addressing right now and is really lots of
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  - changes there, of course. So how are you
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  - really thinking about protecting
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  - that research mission through
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  - through this evolving health care environment right now?
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  - I think it's so important for us to
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  - realize
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  - that for Duke Health, research is our key
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  - differentiator.
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  - That commitment to academic medicine really is, right,
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  - the r and d engine
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  - that's gonna drive
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  - care transformation.
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  - And access to clinical research
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  - is really foundational
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  - and almost envisioned as a key quality measure
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  - for what we're doing at Duke Health.
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  - And I think despite the turbulent times and
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  - the challenges that we face,
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  - that commitment to our academic mission, to the
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  - research and education,
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  - right, is just a a key part of
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  - our values. And it's important
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  - to think
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  - as we approach our centennial.
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  - Right? The next hundred years of Duke Health
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  - are gonna be shaped
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  - by that research
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  - that's happening
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  - today. So
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  - we're looking actually to continue to say, how
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  - do we strategically
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  - continue to grow and invest
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  - in our research portfolio?
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  - How do we embed research across both our
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  - academic center and our community hospitals?
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  - How do we embed it across our virtual
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  - care platforms
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  - to realize that patient centered care for Duke
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  - Health
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  - is gonna involve access
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  - to the clinical research and innovative care delivery
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  - that people expect from the leading academic health
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  - system.
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  - Absolutely. And looking forward to to continuing to
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  - stay updated there on on everything that that
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  - continues to to evolve with the mission.
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  - And you've talked also before about just thinking
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  - beyond cost cutting and and tough moments and,
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  - of course, the industry and and having a
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  - lot of pressures
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  - currently. And so curious what's something you're doing
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  - at Duke right now that you think other
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  - systems maybe
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  - wouldn't expect right now?
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  - So I think other health systems would be
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  - surprised to learn about Duke's broad
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  - commitment to expand access,
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  - create care close to home for our communities,
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  - and really building a platform solution that enables
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  - access
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  - to Duke
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  - Health right across the region, across the country.
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  - Duke's known, right, as this leading
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  - academic medical center,
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  - but our commitment and our impact goes so
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  - much further beyond it.
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  - And as we expand into different communities and
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  - as we identify
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  - new partners,
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  - we adopt a queue a few key principles.
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  - The best care
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  - is closer to home or in your home.
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  - The best care includes access
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  - to innovation,
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  - research, and specialization,
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  - but also connects with your family and your
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  - support network that is so important.
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  - And so how we build our solutions
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  - and we really spread the quality,
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  - the expertise
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  - across
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  - North Carolina and beyond
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  - is something that I think is really gonna
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  - shape Duke Health for the future in a
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  - way that many academic health systems have not
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  - done in the past.
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  - And that commitment to access
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  - is absolutely essential. We've redefined access as a
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  - key quality measure
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  - that we assume responsibility
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  - for the care of patients and families
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  - from the moment that they reach out
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  - for our help,
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  - and insisting that, right, Duke Health will be
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  - able to provide that. So I'm really excited
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  - about what the future
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  - and to share so many others where Duke
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  - Health is going.
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  - Absolutely. And I wanted to talk with you
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  - too, doctor Zoss, about the workforce component, of
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  - course. And
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  - I I know we've established
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  - where
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  - the financial pressures and every systems budget really
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  - tightening right now. But,
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  - well, as far as the workforce, how do
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  - you really
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  - look at keeping your best clinical and research
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  - employees and and also just keep them energized
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  - about about their work right now?
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  - We think of three components
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  - that are important for this retention. Our focus
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  - on culture,
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  - innovation,
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  - and this commitment
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  - to excellence that defines Duke Health. And I
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  - really think all three
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  - are so important.
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  - In my first few weeks, I've had a
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  - chance to visit our different hospitals
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  - and our clinics and our team members.
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  - And everywhere I go, I see examples of
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  - how they're living our culture commitments,
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  - putting people first,
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  - being clear to empower,
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  - and adapting to improve.
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  - They're so much more than slogans. They demonstrated
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  - in their behaviors
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  - and in their values.
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  - I get a chance to ask them why,
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  - are they here at Duke Health, and what
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  - are they most excited about?
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  - And almost universally, the answer is the team
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  - that I'm a part of,
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  - the excellence that they know that they get
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  - to uniquely deliver,
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  - and that focus,
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  - on innovation and how they are empowered
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  - to help redefine
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  - that care delivery.
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  - So when I look at you know, as
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  - we continue to grow,
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  - ensuring that those culture commitments
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  - are real,
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  - ensuring that that commitment
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  - to excellence and innovation
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  - exists and thrives and grows
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  - even despite the headwinds that we're facing in
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  - health care today.
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  - And and we're so fortunate, right, that that
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  - leads to some of the best that we've
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  - seen in terms of our growth and retention
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  - numbers for amongst our teams.
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  - Yes. And
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  - so I know we've talked about, of course,
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  - the research mission, the workforce, and and where
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  - Duke is really headed. So a year from
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  - now, curious what
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  - do you most wanna be able to say
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  - that Duke really accomplished during this period?
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  - One year from now, we'll be able to
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  - say that Duke is really charting
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  - its own path
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  - to be the leading academic medical center
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  - committed to its people and to the patients
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  - that it gets to serve.
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  - I think despite the challenges,
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  - we've embraced this growth mindset
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  - across our clinical
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  - and academic mission,
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  - bringing the integration
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  - of the school
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  - and the health system and the faculty practice
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  - together
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  - as one Duke Health.
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  - We'll also be able to look back
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  - and see, you know, the accelerated
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  - growth rates in the number of unique lives
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  - and patients
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  - that we get the privilege
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  - to to care for
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  - as part of Duke Health. So I I
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  - think, again, living our culture commitments,
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  - investing and empowering our people,
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  - embracing, you know, truly one integrated system,
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  - the future of Duke Health,
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  - is so bright. And I am confident that
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  - we will build on the tradition of excellence,
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  - and look forward a year from now to
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  - say, you know, we're even further along in
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  - that journey,
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  - to be the top academic
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  - medical center in the country.
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  - Yeah. Thank you so much, doctor Zoss, for
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  - a great conversation today, and thank you so
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  - much for connecting. And I hope to
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  - continue the conversation
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  - in the future.
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  - Thank you, Kelly, for the opportunity and for
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  - everything you do and allowing me to share
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  - some of the stories.
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  - Absolutely. Thank you.