Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Sandra Bossi, Senior Director of Care Delivery Innovation at Hospital for Special Surgery

Transcript

Sandra Bossi, Senior Director of Care Delivery Innovation at Hospital for Special Surgery · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

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  - This is the Becker's Healthcare Podcast, created
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  by the team of Becker's Healthcare,
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  Thanks for listening. Now here's the episode.
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  - This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Sandra Bossi,
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  senior Director of Care Delivery Innovation at Hospital
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  for Special Surgery in New York City.
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  Sandra, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
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  - Likewise, it's always pleasure to speak with you, Laura.
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  - Fantastic. Well, I'm looking forward to our discussion
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  because I know Hospital
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  for Special Surgery is such an innovative place
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  and really on the cutting edge of a lot
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  of what's happening in orthopedics
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  in research and development.
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  But before we dive into my questions,
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  I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more
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  about yourself and your background.
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  - I, I, uh, started working at HSS almost 10 years ago,
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  and I started first in the operations, uh, uh,
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  and then for the past seven years, I have, uh, been a member
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  of our innovation institute,
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  where I currently lead the care delivery, uh,
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  innovation vertical.
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  And so in that role, I'm, uh, responsible for the execution
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  and management of a broad portfolio of innovative, um,
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  you know, enterprise strategic healthcare initiatives
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  that are founded on strategic operations
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  and joint product developments, uh, with the goal
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  to promote healthcare value
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  and scale, HSS, uh, world-class clinical expertise globally,
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  um, HSS
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  or Hospital Specialist Surgery, um,
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  the oldest orthopedic institution in the country.
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  It's been in existence for 160 years.
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  So from very long tradition, uh,
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  we are ranked number one orthopedic hospital by US News
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  and World Report for, uh, 14 consecutive years.
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  Uh, and we, uh,
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  perform over 35,000 surgical procedures annually.
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  So that's the highest volume of hip
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  and knee replacement surgeries in the country.
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  Uh, we also have the lowest readmission
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  rates in orthopedics.
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  Um, so innovation has always been a part of our DNA and I.
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  I, I'm, I'm very confident that it has contributed, uh,
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  to us become the leader in the field.
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  Um, the global standard told replacement was developed at
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  HSS in 1969,
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  and since then we have,
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  we have been con continuously innovating.
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  So I'm very, um, you know, honored to be part of
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  that innovation team, um,
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  and lead the care delivery, uh, innovation, uh, you know,
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  where I spearhead the developments
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  and commercialization
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  of the next generation digital robotic machine learning AI
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  applications, but also computer vision
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  and data analytics technologies
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  and all of that with, uh, really the ambition
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  to create a real clinical products
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  that will make an impact in the lives of patients.
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  - That's amazing to hear and, and such great background
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  and foundation that HSS has in, as you mentioned, innovation
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  and, and really forward thinking for the orthopedic space.
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  What are the opportunities
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  and headwinds that you have your eye on right now?
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  I know healthcare has changed a lot, especially in the last,
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  you know, few years or so.
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  Um, what's really kind of top of mind for you right now?
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  - Well, you know, being a, a, uh, a, uh, a ser you know, uh,
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  orthopedic institution
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  and highly focused on surgical, uh, procedures,
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  I'm thinking from the innovation
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  and technology development perspective related
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  to the surgical procedures.
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  So I would say, um, robotic is definitely an area
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  that I'm interesting in and that's expanding.
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  Um, currently approximately 30%
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  of our surgical procedures are robotic or computer assisted.
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  And that, that's a big change, uh,
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  from only a few years ago.
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  Uh, and I do think that this trend will continue.
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  Um, so, uh, I think it's really important for us
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  to stay ahead, uh, of those, of these technological changes.
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  And, um, uh, with that in mind, in 2021,
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  we have created the, uh, industry first innovation center
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  for artificial intelligence in robotic joint replacement in
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  partnership with the MedTech companies, Immer Biomed.
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  And, um, so the goal of this center is to, you know, uh,
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  leverage HSSX clinical of surgical expertise
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  and clinical data to continue to develop those, uh, uh,
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  decision support tools that can be integrated in robotic
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  surgical processes, you know, with the goal to, um,
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  have better, uh, surgical outcomes.
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  Um, so, um, I definitely see that as a,
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  as a really big opportunity in the future.
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  And, um, you know,
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  but apart from just robotic procedures,
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  like it's a whole ecosystem that's associated with this, uh,
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  uh, surgical procedure.
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  It's also the question of preoperative planning.
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  We are developing technologies
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  that can now really help us better prepare surgeons
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  and clinical teams for the surgery, um, by using, you know,
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  uh, machine learning and ai, um, algorithms apply
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  to the imaging to better, um, you know, estimate the type
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  and size of the implant that needs to be used,
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  the positioning, the orientation, where the cut needs
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  to happen, uh, so that we can increase the chances
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  of successful surgical outcomes.
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  Um, at the same time, we also have at HSS, um,
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  I think that we are the only healthcare system
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  that has on our own premise, uh, the 3D uh,
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  implant printing facility, like we can print on-premise,
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  the, uh, a patient implant.
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  Um, we, uh, that, that facility was open in partnership
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  with the European Med Tech company.
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  Uh, we don't, uh, obviously print, uh, implants
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  for all our surgical patients.
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  It's only for very complex cases, be
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  because the processes takes time and it's expensive.
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  But, uh, for the very complex revision cases, uh,
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  this could be applied
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  and it could help really, um, improve the surgical outcome
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  because you can imagine it's really precision medicine, um,
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  creating, uh, specifically tailored, um, you know, uh,
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  implant that's based on patients' anatomy.
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  So all these initiatives where we use technologies
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  for better precision medicine around, uh,
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  surgical procedures is really important,
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  and I think it's going to continue in the future.
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  Now, uh, when you talk about the headwinds, um, I think
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  that, uh, when you are working in innovation
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  and when you are introducing any new technology,
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  particularly in healthcare, um, you know, it requires, uh,
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  um, a lot of evidence, clinical evidence to be collected
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  to prove that that protocol or technique
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  or technology is better.
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  So it takes time. And so you need to have patients to, um,
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  you know, to, and,
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  and dedication to commit to prove it over time.
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  But at the same time, uh, it requires reiterations
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  and product development, you know, cautious monitoring
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  of the processes, review of the results generation
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  of new insights to improve the technology further.
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  So, uh, it's not like you are using a,
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  a technology off the shelf that you can easily deploy.
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  Um, so it requires really engaged stakeholders,
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  engaged surgeons who are willing to wrap their hands
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  around those new technologies
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  and contribute to their for further development.
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  And that's not easy to do in an environment
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  that we know is already, um, you know,
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  there's a lot of burnout.
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  So in other words, finding extra time
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  for innovation in a healthcare setting may sometimes
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  sounds a, as a luxury.
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  And I would say that's maybe the biggest, um, headwind
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  or hurdle for innovation.
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  - That's fascinating to hear,
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  and certainly as you mentioned, you know, it's so important
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  to have that eye for the future
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  and understand what that investment in thinking about
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  innovation could mean, um, going forward.
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  And in that vein, how are you thinking about growth
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  and adding value to hospital for special surgery, um,
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  in the future over the next year especially?
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  What does that look like for you?
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  - Yeah, um, I think over,
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  over the past decade we've seen in the healthcare landscape,
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  uh, healthcare landscape has undergone,
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  you know, substantial changes.
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  And we've seen non-traditional players entering the sector
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  and, uh, driven by a commitment to become major healthcare
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  providers and transform the industry.
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  Uh, I think for healthcare systems to sustain growth, uh,
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  we must, uh, I think adopt a creative approach to the,
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  our growth models.
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  And, uh, I think that, uh, that can be possible
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  through strategic partnerships
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  and, uh, the development of the capabilities that may be
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  outside of our traditional scope of responsibilities
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  and more so than just having like geographical expansion.
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  I think it's really important that we, uh, enhance the, uh,
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  care delivery models,
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  and I think that the technology can really help us, um,
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  help us in, in, uh, in that, uh, space.
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  So I would say, you know, partnering with industry
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  for innovative care, uh, delivery models will be key.
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  I think finding the ways
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  to commercialize our clinical expertise and know-how
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  and monetize it is also an additional, uh, opportunity
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  to create revenues and, and, and,
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  and, uh, additional revenue streams and grow,
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  but also, uh, leveraging the clinical data that we have
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  for the medical research
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  and the future development of those, uh,
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  cutting edge technologies can really contribute
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  to both the medical progress
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  and for, um, for, for the growth of the healthcare systems.
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  So I would say, you know, in a, you know, a blend
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  of strategic partnership, innovative capability buildings
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  and leveraging of technology, uh, will be key
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  to remain a competitive in the new, uh,
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  healthcare landscape.
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  - Well, that's great to hear. It makes a lot of sense,
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  especially when you think about, you know,
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  how quickly things are changing.
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  I can imagine having the right partners
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  and, um, people in the right spots
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  to really drive innovation and, and be flexible
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  and nimble more than ever before.
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  Um, mm-hmm, could really make
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  a big difference.
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  - Yes, definitely. Mm-Hmm, .
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  - Now I know, you know,
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  it's been a challenging few years here with the pandemic
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  and then some of the other headwinds, staffing shortages,
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  many health systems we're dealing with as well
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  as financial issues.
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  Um, but from your perspective,
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  if you were looking at innovation and, you know, a hospital
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  or health system had maybe limited resources
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  to really put into it, what do you think is one risk
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  or investment that's really worth making?
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  Um, if you're thinking about, you know,
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  what is gonna be essential going forward?
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  - Uh, I, I think that's, that's, that's a really, uh,
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  you know, , that's a great question,
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  and I would say it's, um, building the,
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  the data-driven, uh, culture.
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  Um, I will explain why I think that I think it's, it's a,
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  it's a very, uh, it's a risk.
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  If we are not doing it in the future, uh,
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  it's definitely an investment,
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  but if we don't do it, I think, um,
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  there's a huge risk associated with it.
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  I think in the same way
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  as over the years we have been promoting the culture
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  of excellence, the culture of innovation, the culture
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  of like the highest quality, et cetera.
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  I think that, uh, promoting data-driven culture, the,
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  the culture where decisions are made based on the data, uh,
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  is, is really important for the healthcare systems.
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  And, uh, and so what does that mean?
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  That means, you know, promoting the culture of data literacy
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  among, you know, within our staff, uh,
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  but also, you know, for the future, uh, science development.
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  And when I say that I don't think like, you know, uh,
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  you know, collecting and, and storing the data
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  and creating unnecessary data repositories, uh,
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  for the data collection, uh, sake, how can data be,
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  uh, leveraged best
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  for clinical meaningful clinical applications and, uh, and,
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  and help us further provide not only like streamline,
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  streamline our processes, make us us more efficient,
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  which we will need to be, be to be able to, with,
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  with all the, you know,
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  financial pressure on the healthcare systems with, uh,
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  staffing issues, et cetera.
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  We will need to rely on, on, on those technologies
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  that rely on data for streamlining our operations,
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  but also for further, um, clinical research
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  and for, uh, development of precision medicine.
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  And at HSS in 2021, we have, uh, you know, it was a part
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  of our strategic initiative.
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  We have created a center for
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  of analytics modeling and performance.
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  And that is responsible for, um, all our ne needs
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  for data, infrastructure, resources, analytics, that's going
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  to support our strategic, uh, roadmap.
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  So, um, I, I really think, uh,
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  that the healthcare systems in the future should, uh,
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  invest in their, their, um, data-driven culture.
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  - That makes a lot of sense. And, you know, I love that idea
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  and that mindset of being so focused on the data, being able
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  to bring everything in one spot
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  and provide the right information
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  to the right people in order to really improve care and,
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  and how processes are implemented.
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  Sandra, thank you so much
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  for joining us on the podcast today.
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  This has been really a fun and,
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  and very interesting conversation,
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  and I look forward to connecting with you as again soon.
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  And I know you'll be at our, um, events next year,
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  live events, C-E-O-C-F-O, round table.
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  Um, I had the pleasure of having you on a panel in 2023,
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  and I'm really excited to see you there again in 2024.
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  - Thank you, Laura. Thank you for the opportunity,
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  and I love, uh, enjoy the, uh, Becker's events.
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  So looking forward to the next, uh, encounter next year
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  - Is so important for leaders at the top of organizations
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