Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Advancing Women’s Health Through Education, Innovation, and Access with Priya Bathija
Transcript
- 0:02- There's a small circle of people who truly
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- 0:22- Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
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- 0:49- upper right.
- 0:50- This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare
- 0:53- Podcast.
- 0:54- I'm thrilled today to be joined by a
- 0:56- brilliant leader and a wonderful person, Priya Bathia.
- 0:59- Priya's gonna talk to us about what she's
- 1:01- doing now, the company she started a couple
- 1:03- years ago,
- 1:05- her efforts around teaching and women's leadership, and
- 1:08- a lot more. Priya, can you take a
- 1:10- moment and and tell us a little bit
- 1:12- about yourself
- 1:14- and about the core things you're focused on
- 1:16- today?
- 1:17- Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, Scott. And I always enjoy
- 1:20- talking with you, so thank you for having
- 1:21- me on the podcast. So I have a
- 1:24- twenty three year career in health care.
- 1:28- I started as a health law attorney,
- 1:30- shifted to the policy space, and spent,
- 1:33- almost nine years at the American Hospital Association,
- 1:37- working not just in policy, but then shifting
- 1:40- to strategy and education.
- 1:43- My biggest focus now is New Health, which
- 1:45- is a strategic and advisory consulting company that
- 1:49- I started,
- 1:50- as you mentioned, a few years ago. And
- 1:52- we provide support to health care companies, including
- 1:55- hospitals and health systems
- 1:57- that want to improve how they deliver
- 2:00- care to women. So while every hospital is
- 2:03- providing care to women,
- 2:05- there is a tremendous opportunity
- 2:07- to do more and to move beyond
- 2:10- labor and delivery. And so we help organizations
- 2:13- understand
- 2:15- what that could look like, how that care
- 2:18- can truly span a woman's lifetime
- 2:20- and encompass
- 2:22- both primary and specialty care
- 2:24- that includes things like aging and bone health,
- 2:27- endocrine health, cardiovascular health,
- 2:30- oncology,
- 2:31- autoimmune conditions,
- 2:33- cognitive and brain health, and then, of course,
- 2:36- you know, strengthening,
- 2:37- improving quality, and expanding reproductive and gynecological
- 2:41- and sexual health services as well.
- 2:44- Priya, talk about in women's health.
- 2:47- Obviously, we we talk a lot about the
- 2:49- incredible shortage of
- 2:51- obstetricians and gynecologists
- 2:53- and what that's leading to sort of almost
- 2:55- maternity deserts. Mhmm. We also talk about how
- 2:58- The US
- 3:00- scores so poorly on women's health and maternal
- 3:03- and fetal health
- 3:05- compared to so many other developed nations.
- 3:08- Talk about what could be done about these
- 3:10- things. Are there things could be done? Are
- 3:12- there solutions?
- 3:14- How do you think about some of those
- 3:15- things?
- 3:16- Yeah. You know, and it's it's truly disappointing,
- 3:19- Scott, that we are where we are when
- 3:21- it comes to women's health and maternity care
- 3:23- as a whole. If you think about the
- 3:25- numbers, women are fifty one percent of our
- 3:27- population.
- 3:28- They're 80% of the health care workforce.
- 3:31- They're making 80%
- 3:33- of health care decisions,
- 3:35- not only for themselves, but for their kids,
- 3:37- their spouses, and oftentimes,
- 3:39- their parents.
- 3:41- And women are using, on average, 10% more
- 3:44- of health care services than men and even
- 3:46- after you exclude
- 3:48- maternity related care. So they really are a
- 3:51- key consumer
- 3:53- of health care, and it should be a
- 3:55- population that we are
- 3:57- spending time on.
- 3:59- Now when we look at what can be
- 4:01- done, there are a number of strategies that
- 4:03- hospitals and health systems can take to improve
- 4:06- women's health, not just maternity care, but certainly
- 4:09- maternity care where we are faring so poorly
- 4:12- compared to other developed nations, but across a
- 4:15- woman's life. Right? So thinking about things like
- 4:18- menstruation,
- 4:19- bone health, heart health, menopause,
- 4:22- and really the impact that all of these
- 4:25- conditions have throughout a woman's life. So there
- 4:28- are a lot of things that can be
- 4:30- done. There are small things. There are big
- 4:32- things.
- 4:33- And we're seeing all of these play out
- 4:34- in the ecosystem right now. So,
- 4:37- you know, organizations can educate communities.
- 4:41- There is a huge gap in knowledge that
- 4:44- women have about their health care and their
- 4:47- health risks.
- 4:49- We are seeing organizations
- 4:50- go back to the basics and begin to
- 4:52- ask patients
- 4:54- what they want. Right? Creating
- 4:56- methods for patients to provide feedback on the
- 5:00- outcomes they've had, the experiences they've had, and
- 5:03- how they could be made
- 5:05- better.
- 5:06- We're seeing organizations
- 5:08- improve access, whether that's through expanding in person
- 5:12- options or creating virtual care opportunities
- 5:15- to help women actual actually
- 5:18- access what they need from a physical and
- 5:20- mental health perspective as well as all of
- 5:23- the specialty care.
- 5:25- You know, we we have had previous conversations
- 5:28- around social determinants of health, and we're continuing
- 5:30- to see organizations
- 5:32- address
- 5:33- patients'
- 5:35- nonmedical needs.
- 5:36- We're also seeing organizations
- 5:39- look at this and how it looks for
- 5:40- their workforce.
- 5:42- As I mentioned, 80% of the workforce is
- 5:44- women. So what benefits and policies can we
- 5:47- be offering
- 5:48- to those women to not only better their
- 5:50- health, but improve recruitment and retention for organizations?
- 5:55- And then we're seeing
- 5:57- more investment in clinical research, especially in the
- 6:00- current environment. We're seeing hospitals
- 6:03- support research that covers those conditions that span
- 6:07- a women's life's lifetime,
- 6:09- and we're seeing them focus on recruiting more
- 6:12- women
- 6:13- into existing clinical research trials. So those those
- 6:16- are just some examples, but I truly believe
- 6:19- that no matter where an organization is in
- 6:21- addressing women's health, whether they are faring well
- 6:25- or they're having challenges, there is
- 6:28- one more step that they can take to
- 6:30- make things better for women.
- 6:32- In in how receptive are the hospitals and
- 6:34- health systems that you work with to making
- 6:37- this a bigger priority, and and how do
- 6:39- they respond?
- 6:40- Yeah. You know, I think there is truly
- 6:43- a lack of education for hospital administrators
- 6:46- and leaders
- 6:47- as well around women's health. So many times,
- 6:50- Scott, when I'm educating them on
- 6:52- this huge scope that is women's health and
- 6:55- all of the different strategies and tactics that
- 6:58- they can use,
- 6:59- many of them
- 7:01- are surprised. Right? It's the first time they
- 7:03- are really learning about this. And once they
- 7:07- do,
- 7:08- they do see the opportunities. They see the
- 7:10- opportunities to improve
- 7:12- outcomes,
- 7:13- access, patient experiences,
- 7:16- and they start to see how doing this
- 7:18- for women
- 7:19- can actually lead to better outcomes, access, and
- 7:22- experiences
- 7:23- for everyone.
- 7:25- When you look at all the time you've
- 7:27- spent focusing
- 7:28- on women's health,
- 7:31- Is there anything in particular that has particularly
- 7:34- surprised you or that you have found particularly
- 7:36- interesting
- 7:37- as you've sort of doubled and tripled down
- 7:40- in spending time and focus in this area
- 7:43- over the last several years?
- 7:45- Yeah. You know, one of the things that
- 7:47- I've sort of been watching as I do
- 7:49- this work is not just what health care
- 7:52- organizations
- 7:53- are doing,
- 7:54- but what women are actually
- 7:57- saying about their health care. And it's funny,
- 7:59- Scott. When I started working in women's health,
- 8:01- all of a sudden,
- 8:03- every conversation I had with a woman or
- 8:05- a man
- 8:06- involved a personal story of
- 8:08- if it was a woman, their own interaction
- 8:11- with the health care system related to their
- 8:13- health. If it was a man, a story
- 8:15- of their mom, their sister, their their daughter,
- 8:19- and the experience that they were having. And
- 8:21- so
- 8:23- I started thinking about what do women really
- 8:26- want?
- 8:27- What outcomes are they having? What gaps are
- 8:30- they experiencing?
- 8:32- Looking at what questions they're googling. How are
- 8:35- they using AI to get information
- 8:38- that they can't get elsewhere?
- 8:40- And sort of what I came
- 8:42- to as my conclusion is that
- 8:45- health care
- 8:46- is really complicated, and no one is teaching
- 8:49- women or any of us, quite honestly,
- 8:52- how to navigate insurance, how to navigate health
- 8:55- care bills, legal forms,
- 8:57- or how to prepare for a doctor's appointment
- 9:00- or build a relationship
- 9:02- with care teams.
- 9:03- We're all sort of struggling to figure that
- 9:05- on our out on our own,
- 9:08- through trial and error, and we often leave
- 9:12- without answers. Right? We feel more anxious after
- 9:15- a doctor's appointment than we do before.
- 9:18- And that's when we're just healthy. Right? When
- 9:20- we're getting preventive care, when we're living our
- 9:23- best lives. Imagine
- 9:25- what that looks like when we're actually
- 9:27- sick.
- 9:28- So I've been watching that and wanting to
- 9:31- find a way
- 9:32- to
- 9:34- improve the knowledge that women have about the
- 9:37- health care system as a whole. And so
- 9:40- last month, I launched the Women's Health Playbook
- 9:43- podcast,
- 9:44- to sort of fill that gap. Right? To
- 9:46- put together the plays that can help women
- 9:49- understand the health care system,
- 9:51- that can reduce friction,
- 9:54- and that can make the health care experience
- 9:56- just a little bit easier.
- 9:58- So our first season breaks down a doctor's
- 10:01- visit. We cover how to find a right
- 10:03- doctor, how to have them listen and take
- 10:07- your concerns seriously.
- 10:09- We talk about best practices to follow,
- 10:11- and we provide real strategies and tactics to
- 10:15- help women
- 10:16- navigate health care.
- 10:18- Now the podcast has women in the name.
- 10:21- It is intended
- 10:23- for women, but our first season is really
- 10:25- useful for everyone. Right? We've all gotten a
- 10:27- bill we don't understand. We've all been asked
- 10:30- to sign legal paperwork when we show up
- 10:32- that many of us don't even read,
- 10:35- and we can all benefit from building stronger
- 10:38- relationships with our care teams.
- 10:40- It's also
- 10:42- been helpful for clinicians
- 10:44- and health care organizations
- 10:45- as well.
- 10:47- It can be an educational resource for women.
- 10:51- So I've been talking with a lot of
- 10:52- clinicians who say,
- 10:54- this podcast is great. We wanna give it
- 10:57- to our patients. We want them to understand
- 11:00- how this all works because it will make
- 11:02- it easier
- 11:03- for us to do our jobs.
- 11:06- And our second season will launch in the
- 11:08- fall, and it's it's focused completely on preventive
- 11:11- care.
- 11:12- So imagine if you're a primary care clinician
- 11:15- or an OB GYN,
- 11:16- and you can say to your patient, I
- 11:19- just ordered a mammogram.
- 11:20- It's the first time I'm ordering this for
- 11:22- you. I have a podcast that you can
- 11:24- listen to, and it will help you understand
- 11:27- what a mammogram is, what will happen when
- 11:29- you show up, what will happen once you
- 11:32- get the results.
- 11:33- And then if you have questions,
- 11:35- reach out to us by phone or by
- 11:37- patient portal or however that clinician
- 11:40- prefers to receive communication.
- 11:43- And it's a win win. Right? The doctor
- 11:45- doesn't have to spend time having this conversation.
- 11:48- They can use the limited time in an
- 11:50- exam room
- 11:51- to talk about more important things that need
- 11:53- to be discussed.
- 11:55- The patient gets the information they need before
- 11:58- they show up for a mammogram.
- 12:00- And if you have this conversation in the
- 12:02- right way,
- 12:03- you establish a path for future communication
- 12:07- that can carry that relationship into the future.
- 12:10- So I'm really excited about this. I'm excited
- 12:13- about how it has already started to help
- 12:15- people understand
- 12:17- their health care a little bit better.
- 12:19- I'm excited about the potential it has for
- 12:21- the health care system and care teams,
- 12:24- and I'm really hopeful that together,
- 12:26- this podcast with the work that I'm doing
- 12:29- with Neu,
- 12:30- will really make an impact in women's health.
- 12:33- Thank you. I think that's remarkable. I wanna
- 12:35- talk about two other subjects.
- 12:37- First is maternal and child health care. Maternal
- 12:41- and field health care seems to see still
- 12:43- be
- 12:44- where we lag so far behind other countries.
- 12:48- Any thoughts on that, and why is that,
- 12:50- and what could be done about that? That's
- 12:52- one question.
- 12:53- And then second, you do a lot of
- 12:55- teaching, and I'd love to dig in for
- 12:56- a second to some of your teaching and
- 12:58- where you're most focused there.
- 13:00- Yeah. So when it comes to maternal health,
- 13:03- there are
- 13:05- a number of things that we are seeing
- 13:07- happen. Right? And all of them stem from
- 13:10- disparities in how we're delivering care. Right? So
- 13:14- I think as a starting point for all
- 13:16- health care organizations,
- 13:17- they need to look at their own data,
- 13:19- and they need to understand what is happening
- 13:21- to the women in their communities.
- 13:25- So what are the results and outcomes women
- 13:28- are seeing related to maternity care in your
- 13:31- organization?
- 13:32- Right?
- 13:33- How are those
- 13:35- different when you stratify
- 13:38- based on race,
- 13:39- ethnicity,
- 13:40- and other factors? Right?
- 13:43- Understanding
- 13:44- that data will then guide you to the
- 13:47- gaps that need to be filled.
- 13:49- And then you can figure out what are
- 13:51- the strategies you need to fill those gaps.
- 13:53- So let's just use as a case example
- 13:56- that
- 13:57- your organization is having poor outcomes for black
- 14:01- women, which we know is common because
- 14:04- black women are more likely to die in
- 14:06- pregnancy
- 14:07- than white women in our country.
- 14:09- So you see this happening in your organization,
- 14:12- and you start to get a sense that
- 14:14- the cause of this is related to cardiovascular
- 14:18- conditions.
- 14:19- And so then you can sort of really
- 14:21- evaluate
- 14:22- and figure out what are the right solutions
- 14:24- that may work. Is it a hypertension tool?
- 14:28- Is it a remote patient monitoring tool that
- 14:30- can measure hypertension
- 14:32- and track risk for patients remotely in their
- 14:34- home?
- 14:35- Is it a program that helps to address
- 14:38- the social determinants of health for women throughout
- 14:41- their entire pregnancy?
- 14:44- Is it a fourth trimester program that covers
- 14:47- fills the gaps once a woman goes home
- 14:50- after having her baby? Is it solutions that
- 14:53- help improve the health of the baby once
- 14:56- that baby is home? And so there are
- 14:59- so many different
- 15:01- causes
- 15:02- for our maternal health challenges. And the first
- 15:05- step is identifying
- 15:06- what is happening in your organization.
- 15:09- And then similarly, there are so many different
- 15:11- steps and actions that can be taken. And
- 15:13- so the second step becomes
- 15:16- deciding and identifying which are the right steps
- 15:18- for your organization.
- 15:20- One of the things I've seen over the
- 15:21- years, and I've been able to witness it
- 15:23- firsthand,
- 15:24- is that you are an incredible
- 15:26- teacher and educator,
- 15:29- both in substance and in how you deal
- 15:31- with students.
- 15:33- It's really an incredible gift that you have.
- 15:35- What brought you to teaching? How did you
- 15:37- get so excited about teaching?
- 15:40- And where are you teaching currently?
- 15:41- Yeah. So I I love teaching, and I
- 15:44- love inviting you, Scott, to be a guest
- 15:46- lecturer for,
- 15:48- my classes on health care payment and policy.
- 15:51- And so I got into teaching
- 15:54- simply by chance.
- 15:55- I had mentioned to a few friends in
- 15:57- the health law community that I was interested
- 15:59- in teaching.
- 16:01- They connected me to some folks. There was
- 16:03- an opening,
- 16:04- to teach a health care payment and policy
- 16:06- course at Loyola University in Chicago at their
- 16:10- college of law.
- 16:11- So I signed up and taught my first
- 16:14- semester and really fell in love
- 16:18- with
- 16:19- the atmosphere and the environment. So being around
- 16:23- students who are learning about the health care
- 16:26- system, learning about health care payment for the
- 16:28- first time, and seeing it through their eyes
- 16:32- really gave me a lot of energy, and
- 16:34- it brings
- 16:35- me a lot of joy to see how
- 16:37- people who are new to the health care
- 16:39- system
- 16:40- are actually taking it in. Right? So you
- 16:43- and I have been in this world for
- 16:44- a long time. We work with people who
- 16:47- have been doing this for a really long
- 16:49- time. And I think in some ways, our
- 16:52- ideas get a little stagnant because
- 16:55- we've seen
- 16:56- how slow
- 16:58- change can be. We've seen
- 17:00- layers of solutions stack on top of each
- 17:03- other and not
- 17:04- necessarily make sense. And in some ways, we
- 17:07- feel like we can't change the system anymore.
- 17:10- But teaching
- 17:11- gives me that energy where
- 17:13- students are asking questions that we forget to
- 17:16- ask because we've been in it for so
- 17:18- long. And it just gives you a different
- 17:20- perspective
- 17:22- on what we could be doing in health
- 17:24- care as we move forward and as we
- 17:26- try to change it for the better
- 17:28- in the future.
- 17:29- So to your second question, I am still
- 17:32- teaching at Loyola in Chicago. I also teach
- 17:34- at my alma mater,
- 17:36- the Ohio State University,
- 17:39- Moritz College of Law.
- 17:41- One of the things I'm really excited about
- 17:43- is I have taught classes on health care
- 17:45- payment and policy,
- 17:47- women's health law and policy. And this fall,
- 17:50- I will, for the first time, teach a
- 17:52- class on health equity. And we're gonna dive
- 17:55- into
- 17:56- sort of how health equity impacts
- 17:59- all different types of populations. So not just
- 18:02- looking at women's health, but looking at men's
- 18:04- health, not just looking at young people, but
- 18:06- looking at old people, looking at people with
- 18:09- disabilities, living looking at people who live in
- 18:12- rural communities or at
- 18:14- lower or higher socioeconomic
- 18:16- classes and really talking about
- 18:18- the disparities that exist for all of these
- 18:21- populations.
- 18:22- And I'm excited to dive into some newer
- 18:25- stuff as we think about the future of
- 18:26- health care and how
- 18:28- virtual care and AI is impacted by health
- 18:31- equity and what we need to be watching
- 18:33- for as we move forward.
- 18:36- Let me ask you a final question. You're
- 18:38- a graduate of the Ohio State University,
- 18:41- a proud Buckeye.
- 18:43- Yes. I guess the question I hear for
- 18:44- you is,
- 18:45- is it
- 18:47- depressing for you
- 18:48- to see the University of Michigan go so
- 18:51- downhill
- 18:52- in terms of their ethics in college
- 18:55- sports? And will they ever get back to
- 18:57- being a program that people could admire
- 19:00- or they forever sort of left in the
- 19:02- dust in terms of ethics and morality? Do
- 19:05- you have an opinion on that as an
- 19:06- Ohio State alum?
- 19:08- Well, I I do actually, Scott.
- 19:10- So I will I will preface my response
- 19:12- with saying I also have a degree from
- 19:14- the University of Michigan,
- 19:16- but I am a forever
- 19:18- Buckeye.
- 19:19- You know, I think programs ebb and flow.
- 19:21- I think you have good years and you
- 19:23- have bad years.
- 19:25- You know, Ohio State has certainly had ethical
- 19:28- challenges and investigations
- 19:29- in the past and currently has
- 19:32- some ongoing challenges on its own. So I
- 19:35- do think it is possible,
- 19:38- for the University of Michigan athletic program to
- 19:41- come back from this to make change. But
- 19:44- like all change, it will have to be
- 19:46- driven by leaders who are
- 19:48- committed to making the change and moving things
- 19:51- forward for the better. So I I have
- 19:53- hope that it will be better.
- 19:56- And I certainly
- 19:57- despite the rivalry, I I certainly want it
- 20:00- to be better. I want it to be
- 20:01- better for the students, for the athletes, for
- 20:03- the school.
- 20:04- I think athletics play a really important part
- 20:08- in our educational institutions and really drive
- 20:11- a lot of things from a financial,
- 20:14- and community perspective. So I certainly hope that
- 20:18- things will will make a turnaround.
- 20:21- I I hear you completely. And if I
- 20:23- understood you correctly, you said University of Michigan
- 20:26- will never be good again. There has to
- 20:27- be challenge and going in the wrong direction.
- 20:30- Yeah. Absolutely, Scott. Absolutely. That guy's forever.
- 20:35- Exactly. There you go. Now I think we're
- 20:37- on the same page, Priya. In all seriousness,
- 20:39- Priya Bathea, one of the great leaders of
- 20:41- our time, pleasure to visit with you. That's
- 20:43- clearly was a leading question in University of
- 20:45- Michigan. Though we had a couple of daughters
- 20:47- that went to University of Michigan, we don't
- 20:48- cheer for Michigan sports. It is what it
- 20:50- is, but love the school itself. The kids
- 20:53- had great experiences there. Priya, thank you so
- 20:55- much for taking the time with us on
- 20:57- the Packers Healthcare podcast.
- 20:59- I appreciate you not slamming the University of
- 21:00- Michigan. Even if I drew it up for
- 21:01- you, it is what it is. Thank you
- 21:03- so much. Thanks, Scott.