Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / Reed Smith, MBA, Chief Consumer Officer at Ardent Health Services

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Reed Smith, MBA, Chief Consumer Officer at Ardent Health Services · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

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  This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Reed
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  Smith, chief consumer officer at Ardent Health. Reed,
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  it's a pleasure to have you on the
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  podcast today.
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  Yeah. Thanks for having me. Now I'm excited
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  to, have you in on this discussion because
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  I know you're doing some really cool things
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  at Ardent Health and certainly will be excited
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  to learn more about how you're thinking about
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  growth in the future as well. But before
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  we dive in, I'm wondering, could you tell
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  us a little bit more about Ardent Health
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  and what makes it unique?
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  Sure. Absolutely. So, yeah, Ardent Health, we're based,
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  in Brentwood, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, but
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  have,
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  30 hospitals, another couple hundred sites of care,
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  scattered around the country. We're in six states,
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  eight different markets,
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  and,
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  and provide
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  care to about 1,200,000,
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  unique lives every year.
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  Oh, it's amazing to hear. Certainly a big
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  responsibility, but an important service to the broader
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  community. Now I'm wondering, could you talk a
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  little bit about, the accomplishments that you're most
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  proud of from the last year or so?
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  Absolutely. So, you know, in my in my
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  role as we think about consumer centricity or
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  consumerism
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  or however you wanna define that.
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  You know, we're we're hyper focused on
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  the needs of our communities, the needs of
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  consumers that we serve.
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  And I think, you know, for us,
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  it's been really neat to see some of
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  those advancements that we've been able to drive
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  forward,
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  in these communities
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  around,
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  you know, trying to remove some of the
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  friction points for,
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  for patients, for consumers as they
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  search for care, schedule care, check-in for care,
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  you know, things like that. Right? So,
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  you know, trying to make it a little
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  bit easier for folks, let it look like,
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  the rest of their life to some degree.
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  You know, how to use your mobile device,
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  for example, to,
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  not just search for care, but schedule online,
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  check-in online,
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  you know, join a wait list to look
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  for an earlier appointment time, things like that.
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  So we've been able to,
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  add some things, like a wait list and
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  backfill
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  opportunity for those that have scheduled care with
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  us. We've seen folks move up their
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  appointment time last year, an average of a
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  little over twenty eight days,
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  for those that that did that.
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  And and, again, just, you know, allowing,
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  the consumer to, you know, be in charge,
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  I guess. So a lot of neat opportunities
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  and and more to come.
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  Absolutely. That's, you know, really cool to hear.
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  And I I think especially when you look
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  at that consumer experience and how technology
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  is playing a big role in easing a
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  lot of these processes and making things more
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  efficient as well as,
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  you know, a better experience for patients. I'm
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  curious,
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  if you think about how the digital,
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  landscape is changing and and especially for health
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  care, what are you really seeing as some
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  of the big growth opportunities and,
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  ways that you're hoping to continue to evolve
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  in the next year or so?
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  Yeah. I I think, you know,
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  as more time goes by, the expectation
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  it it it moves from just, hey. This
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  is nice or this is helpful to more
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  it's expected.
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  Right? So we talk about online scheduling.
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  We talk about the ability
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  to accomplish most of your care,
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  you know, in the palm of your hand,
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  you know, through the patient portal,
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  you know, virtual care even. You know, obviously,
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  we saw a big spike during the pandemic.
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  But,
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  now that things are back to the more
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  the way that we remember them, you know,
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  what is the role for virtual care? Right?
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  So is the lower acuity services that may
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  be needed,
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  you know, how are we able to help
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  individuals
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  if they want
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  to launch an on demand video visit,
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  right now, right, versus going to an urgent
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  care clinic versus waiting for a scheduled appointment.
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  So, you know, it's gonna be required that
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  we have all of these options available to
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  the consumer,
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  and we make it easy for them to
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  to find the care that fits their lifestyle,
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  their
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  level of illness? Obviously, folks that have chronic
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  conditions have a very different,
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  view of the world and and a very
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  different need. And then, ultimately, how do you
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  take into account,
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  you know, some of the chronic care management,
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  including social determinants of health. You know, how
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  do we make it easy for people,
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  to get to us, to find us, to
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  have more of a proactive or wellness based
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  approach,
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  outside of just the traditional, you know, I
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  guess, maybe definition of even population health. Just
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  how do we serve these communities.
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  So I think folks are gonna want care
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  on their own timeline
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  in the way that they want it. And
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  it's, it's gonna become more of an expectation
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  of organizations
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  than it is,
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  kind of a unique,
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  piece of an organization that you may
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  see. Got it. That's helpful to know and
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  understand. And I think that's a really important
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  point that you made about,
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  technology
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  becoming the expectation
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  versus the, really cool thing or nice to
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  have. And I can imagine, you know, trying
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  to keep up with whatever the the next
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  thing is going to be,
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  can be a challenge, especially as you're trying
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  to solve some really big issues.
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  And as you mentioned, looking at where chronic
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  care makes the biggest, difference, population health management
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  is a huge, huge,
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  transition. And so, you know, when you you
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  would think about what's coming and what's ahead,
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  are there any technologies that you're looking at
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  right now, or or considering,
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  and where do you really see things headed
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  over the next three to five years or
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  so?
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  Yeah. It's a great question. I think,
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  there's certainly a lot of technology out there.
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  There's a lot of opportunities, which is exciting.
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  Right? And,
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  you know, as we think about
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  the evolution of our technology or technology stack
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  within our organizations,
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  it's gonna be important.
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  You know, people talk about interoperability,
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  and you've seen a lot of the,
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  articles and and kind of insights even around
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  privacy and security as of the last couple
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  of years.
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  These are all big topics to solve for.
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  I think the interoperability
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  piece, especially from,
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  I guess, an opportunity or even a a
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  challenge or a hurdle,
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  again, how do you reduce those friction points,
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  and and how do you make it easy
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  for individuals? We can't,
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  you know, have an organization full of a
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  bunch of point based solutions
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  that don't talk to each other.
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  You know, they've gotta be able to hand
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  off. The consumer doesn't need to have to
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  know where to go. It should guide them
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  intuitively and and allow them a path to,
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  again, search, schedule, find care, receive care.
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  All of those things have to, you know,
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  be strung together in a way that that
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  makes sense and is easy. You know, how
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  do you make we talk a lot about
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  the ease here, you know, ease of use,
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  ease of experience, ease of access.
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  And so
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  I think what I'm most excited about is
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  the blurring of the lines between the different
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  parts of the organization.
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  So,
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  someone like myself that maybe is over a
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  lot of our, you know, outreach and engaging
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  the consumer,
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  all the way through the experience piece. So
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  how do we attract someone to the organization
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  and and provide them a a positive or
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  a a great experience?
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  There in between those two topics is care
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  delivery.
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  And so if you look at things like
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  wearable, if you look at things like remote
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  patient monitoring, some of the other virtual care
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  services,
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  it just becomes part of one one thing.
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  It's just, you know, how people,
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  receive care and the experience they ultimately have.
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  And so I think that's what's the most
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  exciting part to me is being able to
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  work with our operators, with our clinicians,
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  to develop and kinda architect these care solutions
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  in these experiences
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  and these journeys, quite honestly.
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  And I think technology
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  allows us to do that.
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  And so, again, we're at a really unique
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  time.
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  If you look at, all the technology that's
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  come out over the last few years and
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  what they're talking about coming down the down
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  the path to really create a journey that's
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  just that much more,
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  impactful and serves the communities that we're in.
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  That makes a lot of sense and, you
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  know, really helpful to understand the process and
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  seeing how you look at and evaluate new
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  technologies and new opportunities and then,
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  really have that patient focus and community focus
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  in mind.
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  Another thought I had is, you know, lots
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  of really cool things ahead, but I can
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  imagine challenges as well. What are some of
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  the the challenges or headwinds that you have
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  top of mind today?
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  Yeah. So I think,
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  you know, one of them is just philosophic
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  you know, philosophically
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  thinking about the idea of opportunity.
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  There's no shortage
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  of ideas or processes or technology
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  out there that, you know, would help,
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  in in ideas and,
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  even points that you want to go solve
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  for.
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  But where do you start? How do you
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  prioritize? You know, you you get into the,
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  you know, the idea of just
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  resourcing.
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  You know, there's only so many hours in
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  the day, so to speak. So, you know,
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  what is gonna be most impactful for the
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  communities that you're in? You know, somewhere,
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  you know, our organization may be different than
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  another organization. It doesn't make it right or
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  wrong. They're just different.
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  And, so, again, you know, trying to think
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  through that. So that that that is one
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  big hurdle because, again, there's no shortage of
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  of good ideas.
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  Right? And so how do you,
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  leverage those,
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  to, you know, serve the communities that you're
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  in? So that that's a big one. I
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  mentioned interoperability
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  a few minutes ago.
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  So how do you tie all of these
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  technologies together?
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  And, ultimately, how do you use the data
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  that you're receiving
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  to actually create insights that allow you to
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  better a process,
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  and drive back and hardwire things? And so,
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  again,
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  some of the processes and things like that
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  and even the workflows that we've thought about
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  for years,
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  how do you keep that front of mind
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  as new technologies come into play?
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  And then certainly, you know, not losing that
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  human touch,
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  not using,
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  losing, you know, what what the caregiver provides
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  to the equation.
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  How do we use technology to eliminate some
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  of the administrative burden? Right? But how do
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  you create a culture
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  and a a pathway,
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  for those that are providing care,
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  to do that in the most impactful way
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  possible? Then how do us, on the more
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  administrative
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  side, support those individuals
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  and make it a place everybody wants to
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  work? So, again, I I think there's a
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  lot out there that we need to assess,
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  and there's a lot of, you know, hurdles,
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  if you will.
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  But the biggest
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  is prioritization
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  and then, interoperability,
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  and then support,
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  around the the clinicians and the caregivers that
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  we have.
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  That's great to hear, and and certainly,
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  makes a lot of,
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  sense in terms of having the ability,
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  to support your team in,
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  incorporate technology in a smart and meaningful way
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  without,
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  as you mentioned, having it be,
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  depersonalized.
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  I know health care is such a a
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  personal industry, and and those relationships really do
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  count and matter.
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  Yeah. Absolutely.
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  It it again, it's it's about people at
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  the end of the day. And so the
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  technology has to work. Our CEO says all
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  the time, we're starting to get to a
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  place where the technology works for us,
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  versus we're working for the technology.
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  And, so I think that's, you know, some
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  of what we're starting to see. You know,
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  we're kinda cresting the hill
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  because of some of the advancements
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  that a lot of really smart people in
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  this space have made
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  over the last several years. And so, again,
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  you know, how do we use this
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  technology,
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  to better,
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  the care that we're providing to the communities
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  that we serve?
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  Fantastic. Well, Reid, before we wrap up here,
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  I'm curious.
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  To look into,
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  balancing, you know, the current needs as well
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  as future planning, what is the number one
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  most important thing that you're doing right now
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  to set Arden up for long term success?
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  You know, a lot of it,
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  I I think the biggest thing that we're
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  doing right now,
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  to really drive towards that long term success
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  is looking at the prioritization
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  and the ability to support those
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  that provide care,
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  to our patients, to our consumers. And so,
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  again, how do we make their life easier?
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  How do we, unburden them,
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  from some of the issues,
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  more administrative, you know, that that people have
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  been saddled with for some years? And I
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  think that's really where technology has, an opportunity.
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  So you think about the things like, you
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  know, the ambient listening,
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  around being able to scribe, you know, notes
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  and things like that. You know, how can
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  you look for ways to, you know, give
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  some of the human aspect of care back
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  where a clinician can engage with a patient
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  and not have to worry about, you know,
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  you know, typing away, pecking away on a
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  on a keyboard the entire time. And so
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  I I think, you know, we're we're investing
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  in those areas around patient care.
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  We're also investing in the ways to reduce
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  those friction points and make it easier for
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  people to access the system in the first
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  place. And so,
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  again,
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  reducing wait times, getting people where they need
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  to go, and that could be on the
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  phone, it could be in person,
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  giving them optionality around how they receive care.
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  Again, all creating kind of that ease of
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  access and ease of use within our communities.
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  I love that. Rean, thank you so much
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  for joining us on the podcast today. This
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  has been a really enlightening conversation, and I
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  look forward to connecting with you again soon.
• 14:09
  Absolutely. Thanks for having me.