Latest / Becker’s Payer Issues Podcast / Driving Community Impact Through Medicaid Innovation at UPMC

Transcript

Driving Community Impact Through Medicaid Innovation at UPMC · Becker’s Payer Issues Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello, everyone. This is Jacob Emerson with the
• 0:02
  Becker's Pay Your Issues podcast.
• 0:04
  Thrilled today to be joined by Brendan Harris,
• 0:06
  who is the Medicaid president at UPMC Health
• 0:08
  Plan. Brendan, thanks so much for taking the
• 0:10
  time to be with me on the podcast
• 0:12
  today. Jacob, it's great to be here, and,
• 0:14
  thanks for the opportunity to come and and
• 0:16
  talk about, some of the work that we're
• 0:17
  doing. Absolutely. We we we're we love having
• 0:19
  you on the podcast with us, Brandon.
• 0:22
  Before we dive into everything we wanna talk
• 0:23
  with you about, all the good stuff that's
• 0:25
  happening under your leadership at UPMC,
• 0:27
  Can you tell us a little bit more
• 0:29
  about yourself for our audience who might not
• 0:30
  be familiar, your background in health care, and
• 0:33
  the part of the company that you now
• 0:34
  lead today?
• 0:35
  Great. Great. I'll start with a little bit
• 0:37
  of my background and then can lead into
• 0:39
  some of, the the, you know, kind of
• 0:41
  what I have to to manage today. But,
• 0:44
  I actually, prior to joining UPMC, I've been
• 0:46
  here a little under eight years.
• 0:48
  I, I I was a I'd like to
• 0:50
  call myself a reformed bureaucrat now, but I
• 0:52
  spent twelve years at the Pennsylvania Department of
• 0:55
  Human Services working in a variety of roles,
• 0:58
  you know, really supporting the Medicaid program predominantly
• 1:00
  across,
• 1:02
  all the different, elements that we have in
• 1:03
  Pennsylvania. And since coming to UPMC, I've kinda,
• 1:07
  taken an interesting, trajectory,
• 1:10
  across the board here starting with, you know,
• 1:13
  running our MLTSS program, our managed long term
• 1:15
  services and support program,
• 1:17
  known here in Pennsylvania as Community Health Choices.
• 1:19
  But now I also have responsibility,
• 1:23
  over most of our Medicaid portfolio, which, not
• 1:25
  only includes our MLTSS,
• 1:27
  but also our physical health Medicaid plan,
• 1:31
  our CHIP program. And then one of the
• 1:33
  the my favorite parts of the work that
• 1:35
  I get to do and what I'm gonna
• 1:36
  talk a little bit about is our, Center
• 1:38
  for Social Impact,
• 1:40
  which is really leading the charge,
• 1:42
  across, the UPMC world
• 1:45
  in looking at health related social needs and
• 1:47
  social determinants of health and how we can
• 1:50
  really meet people where they are and support
• 1:52
  them through,
• 1:53
  some of the unique programs that we've developed
• 1:55
  through the years.
• 1:56
  Sure. Yeah. And let's dive right into that,
• 1:58
  Brandon, because we were talking with some other
• 2:00
  leaders at UPMC recently
• 2:02
  about what the center is doing, specifically about
• 2:04
  the Pathways to Work program, which for our
• 2:07
  audience who might not know,
• 2:09
  UPMC's Pathway to Work program provides
• 2:11
  job skills training to Medicaid recipients so that
• 2:15
  they can, find a career.
• 2:17
  They can get health benefits and and access
• 2:20
  to tuition assistance.
• 2:22
  So what's the latest with that, Brendan? How
• 2:25
  is the program going? Any latest,
• 2:27
  stories, stats to share with us?
• 2:30
  Oh, absolutely. I mean, this is this is
• 2:32
  one of my favorite programs that we've had,
• 2:34
  the opportunity to develop, and it's it's really
• 2:37
  it's taken on a life of its own,
• 2:39
  and really just been an incredible model when
• 2:42
  we look at it. So one of the
• 2:43
  big things, and I'll I'll I'll rewind us
• 2:46
  to about five year or so years ago
• 2:48
  when we really started this program.
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  One of the big things is,
• 2:52
  that's unique about UPMC is we're actually the
• 2:54
  largest nongovernment employer in the state of Pennsylvania.
• 2:58
  So,
• 2:59
  you know, we have,
• 3:00
  over 40 hospitals, doctors' offices, you name it,
• 3:03
  let alone the health plan that we run.
• 3:06
  And and one of the big challenges that
• 3:07
  we struggle with, and we're not alone in
• 3:09
  this across the country, is is our workforce
• 3:12
  and finding people to fill jobs at all
• 3:14
  levels within the organization.
• 3:16
  And and we really do an incredible job
• 3:18
  doing that, with over a 100,000 employees,
• 3:21
  but we also have a significant number of
• 3:24
  job openings on any given day.
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  Thousands upon thousands of jobs available across,
• 3:29
  our footprint in Pennsylvania here.
• 3:32
  And, you know, one of the the unique
• 3:34
  things is, you know, that we decided at
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  the time about five years ago was
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  what can we do? What more can we
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  do? Are there some nontraditional
• 3:43
  ways that we can look to develop the
• 3:45
  workforce?
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  And that really, led us to a partnership
• 3:48
  with, you know, our local workforce,
• 3:51
  investment board here in Allegheny County outside in
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  that's, Pittsburgh,
• 3:55
  here in Pennsylvania,
• 3:57
  and and really approach them about, you know,
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  what can we do to maybe look at
• 4:01
  the folks that are on our Medicaid program
• 4:04
  and enrolled with us to receive benefits for
• 4:06
  Medicaid,
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  and maybe look at how we can support
• 4:08
  them and give them an opportunity
• 4:11
  to really find gainful employment with us.
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  And it it really kinda took off.
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  It started off as a unique conversation.
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  We got into some disability employment as part
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  of it as well,
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  and and we really just, you know, crossed
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  the an incredible threshold with over 10,000
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  individuals,
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  have left our Medicaid program
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  and joined UPMC's
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  workforce,
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  in either full or part time positions.
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  And and, you know, that's really just an
• 4:41
  incredible milestone, especially in light of all the
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  conversations about employment with Medicaid today.
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  Right now, we're hiring more than 200 people
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  a month,
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  from our own Medicaid plan. Now it seems
• 4:53
  like, you know, we're, you know, hurting ourselves,
• 4:55
  but in the end, we're giving these individuals,
• 4:59
  skills and and jobs that match their skills,
• 5:02
  that they may have or
• 5:04
  getting them plugged into programs that actually develop
• 5:07
  skills,
• 5:08
  and then getting them into
• 5:10
  family and life sustaining jobs here at UPMC.
• 5:13
  And it's really just been an incredible thing,
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  and, you know, we see this as as
• 5:17
  part of our core mission
• 5:19
  across Pennsylvania,
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  and and it's really just an incredible opportunity
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  that we've seen so much success with this.
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  And one of the big things is, you
• 5:27
  know, when these folks come to us, we're
• 5:29
  paying significantly higher than minimum wage,
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  for these positions.
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  And, you know, at the end of the
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  day, they're getting access to all the benefits
• 5:39
  that, you know, all of us have as
• 5:41
  employees,
• 5:41
  which includes tuition reimbursement, other things like that.
• 5:44
  And we've some seen some incredible,
• 5:47
  you know, success stories of of individuals that
• 5:50
  started in the program
• 5:51
  and that continued on and that are now
• 5:54
  joining and going to medical school and nursing
• 5:56
  school and really kind of rejoining that that
• 5:59
  workforce and making a significant difference
• 6:02
  for the people that we serve having been
• 6:04
  some of the people that we serve. And
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  it's really just been an incredible program,
• 6:09
  that we've been able to to to build
• 6:11
  and and really drive and promote self sufficiency
• 6:15
  across the region. And one of the great
• 6:17
  things that we've been able to do is
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  it started here in Allegheny County, but we've
• 6:20
  expanded it to other parts of our footprint
• 6:24
  in the Northwestern part of the state in
• 6:26
  Erie, as well as in Central Pennsylvania outside
• 6:28
  of Harrisburg.
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  And we're seeing some of the same success
• 6:31
  that we had here in those locations as
• 6:33
  well, and it's it's really just incredible,
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  especially with, you know, as we understand the
• 6:38
  intersection of Medicaid and work,
• 6:41
  and and what that actually means.
• 6:43
  Wow. I mean, those really are some incredible
• 6:46
  numbers you just cited there, Brandon, in terms
• 6:48
  of 10,000
• 6:49
  people placed into career roles since this program
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  started, 200 people a month being hired. It's
• 6:55
  really amazing.
• 6:57
  And I wanna ask you, you know, you
• 6:58
  you mentioned that this these are Medicaid members,
• 7:02
  where they where they're starting from. And, obviously,
• 7:04
  as you alluded to, there's so much going
• 7:06
  on right now with the Medicaid program more
• 7:08
  broadly,
• 7:09
  of course, work requirements coming down the pipeline
• 7:11
  nationally.
• 7:12
  So when you're thinking about this this program,
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  why is UPMC Health Plan so passionate about
• 7:19
  removing some of these barriers that these individuals
• 7:22
  face? What what is really behind all of
• 7:24
  this for you?
• 7:26
  Well, I I mean, I think it's it's
• 7:27
  at the core of who we are. I
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  mean, we're
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  a a regional health plan here in Pennsylvania,
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  and
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  not only is our health plan business here
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  in Pennsylvania for the most part, our hospitals,
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  for the most part, other than a couple
• 7:41
  exceptions,
• 7:42
  are here in Pennsylvania, and we're embedded in
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  these communities. We see it day in and
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  day out. We see the impact that we
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  have
• 7:49
  in those communities, and and, fundamentally,
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  community is in our DNA,
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  and that's really where we saw this. And
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  we saw some of our community members that
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  needed help,
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  and,
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  really, what we wanted to do was find
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  a way to help them. And it it
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  also helps our business as well.
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  And, you know, so it really kinda checks
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  a lot of the boxes for us as
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  a nonprofit health plan, health system here in
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  Pennsylvania
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  to really do good and give back to
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  those communities that we serve.
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  Because at the end of the day, if
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  those communities are thriving and being successful, so
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  are we. And, you know, one of the
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  other big things, and I'll I'll just throw
• 8:28
  this out there because they did come from
• 8:29
  their get their health care coverage from Medicaid.
• 8:31
  Now they get coverage through our commercial benefits,
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  and that's been a big shift, for these
• 8:36
  folks as well in getting that access point
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  too.
• 8:40
  No. That's absolutely amazing. And like I said,
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  I we really appreciate you filling us in
• 8:43
  on on what the latest is with this
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  program, some of the latest stats there, Brandon.
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  I wanna shift focus to another community initiative,
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  that I know is really at the center
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  of of what the health plan is focused
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  on right now. You've got new neighborhood centers
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  in Pittsburgh and now Erie. The Erie Center,
• 8:59
  of course, opening just this past center.
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  So talk to our listeners about this, what
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  these centers are, how they position the health
• 9:07
  plan to really go beyond just
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  actual health care and and,
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  really deliver or or at least address some
• 9:15
  of those SDOH,
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  that you mentioned at the start of our
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  conversation today.
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  Oh, absolutely. And and and I will say
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  these are incredibly near and dear to my
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  heart because
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  I actually put a lot of,
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  sweat equity, physical equity,
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  and work into, setting up our first neighborhood
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  center in the East End Of Pittsburgh. But,
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  you know, these really
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  truly embody
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  a lot of what I just mentioned about
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  our commitment to our communities.
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  You know, one of the big challenges that
• 9:43
  we hear
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  is, you know, we've got a lot of
• 9:46
  different community groups that are working within these
• 9:49
  communities to support our members and those communities
• 9:52
  as a whole. So one of the big
• 9:54
  things that, you know, we were presented with
• 9:56
  an incredible opportunity with this gigantic space in
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  the East End Of Pittsburgh,
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  more than a few years ago,
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  and it was a blank slate.
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  And it was
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  what can we do with this? And knowing
• 10:09
  where we were in the East End Of
• 10:10
  Pittsburgh and some of the challenges that, some
• 10:13
  of the communities in the East End had,
• 10:15
  we kind of hatched this idea of meeting
• 10:17
  people where they are and meeting people in
• 10:20
  those communities.
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  But not going with a top down approach,
• 10:23
  really going at it with a different approach,
• 10:26
  creating a platform in those communities,
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  but then really making that platform adaptable to
• 10:32
  the needs of that community. And that and
• 10:34
  that's been one of the the the incredible
• 10:36
  successes
• 10:37
  that we've had, and and and it's rooted
• 10:39
  in the the concept of we're embedded there.
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  We live in these communities too, and we
• 10:44
  wanna be able to kinda really find ways
• 10:46
  to support them.
• 10:47
  And we wanna be able to meet the
• 10:48
  people that we serve where they are. And
• 10:50
  that becomes incredibly important with all of the
• 10:53
  folks that we serve across all of our
• 10:55
  Medicaid programs,
• 10:57
  and and all our programs in general, really,
• 10:59
  when it comes down to it. We all
• 11:01
  live in neighborhoods at the end of the
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  day.
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  And, you know, really, what we wanted to
• 11:05
  be able to do was find, an opportunity.
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  But too often,
• 11:09
  you know, groups can come in, and they
• 11:11
  think they know what that community needs. And
• 11:14
  we really wanted to flip that on its
• 11:16
  head a little bit because
• 11:18
  the community knows what they need. They know
• 11:20
  what they're seeing day in and day out
• 11:22
  and the people that are being served there.
• 11:23
  So, really, our goal was to go in
• 11:26
  and create a platform.
• 11:28
  And at that platform, we have access to
• 11:30
  a bunch of different things that we we
• 11:32
  provide
• 11:33
  at UPMC as a whole. So we have
• 11:35
  access to telehealth at that platform. If someone
• 11:37
  needs help or benefits,
• 11:39
  we can get them signed up when they
• 11:40
  walk in the door. If they're having trouble
• 11:42
  navigating
• 11:43
  how to find a doctor, where they can
• 11:45
  go to get help, we'll help navigate them.
• 11:48
  And we have community health workers,
• 11:50
  manning all of these facilities,
• 11:53
  to to really help them guide. And then
• 11:55
  we're also creating a platform for those various
• 11:57
  community groups. So
• 12:00
  creating, a place where you can go and
• 12:02
  you can get access to,
• 12:04
  food and nutrition and and healthy produce,
• 12:07
  and shelf stable foods there. But then also
• 12:10
  using the space that we have and some
• 12:12
  of that infrastructure to support community groups that
• 12:15
  are doing fantastic work, but they may not
• 12:17
  have the infrastructure to provide some of the
• 12:19
  things that they need. So, you know, be
• 12:21
  it trainings, be it groups, and and it's
• 12:23
  everything from,
• 12:25
  citizenship classes
• 12:26
  to, you know, employment and training programs. Some
• 12:29
  of what I talked about with partner for
• 12:31
  work, some of the training they do actually
• 12:33
  takes place at the neighborhood center.
• 12:36
  And, you know, really having that platform through
• 12:39
  that. And we've had over 200
• 12:41
  different community groups
• 12:43
  use the East End,
• 12:45
  neighborhood center since its inception and and creation.
• 12:48
  And, you know, one of the things that
• 12:50
  we decided was we wanted to take the
• 12:52
  show on the road. So Pittsburgh obviously is
• 12:55
  is near and dear to our heart, and
• 12:57
  and the name obviously being rooted in Pittsburgh,
• 12:59
  with mister Rogers.
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  So we want it to be a good
• 13:02
  day in the neighborhood for those communities that
• 13:04
  we serve, and that's why we came up
• 13:06
  with the name of the neighborhood center. But,
• 13:08
  you know, really, we didn't wanna stop at
• 13:10
  just Pittsburgh. We wanted to take this to
• 13:11
  new locations, and, we we decided to go
• 13:14
  into Erie,
• 13:15
  and the East End Of Erie,
• 13:18
  and really find,
• 13:20
  a different way. So it's, the Erie Neighborhood
• 13:22
  Center, it's different than what we did in
• 13:24
  Pittsburgh, which is exactly the point. It's not
• 13:26
  going in with a a cookie cutter approach.
• 13:28
  It's going in creating that platform and then
• 13:31
  using it. And the East End Of Erie,
• 13:34
  has a lot of challenges. They've they've really
• 13:36
  struggled.
• 13:37
  It's a food desert.
• 13:39
  It's a childcare desert. There's a whole host
• 13:41
  of issues facing that neighborhood.
• 13:43
  And, really, we're going in to really develop
• 13:46
  and support that neighborhood in partnership with some
• 13:49
  of the things that we've been doing.
• 13:51
  So the UPMC Foundation,
• 13:53
  with, the UPMC Hammett Foundation,
• 13:56
  in Erie has been investing a lot in
• 13:58
  in in some of the locations in the
• 14:00
  East End, and this is really meant to
• 14:02
  supplement that.
• 14:04
  So we've got some really incredible partnerships there
• 14:06
  with, a Second Harvest, which is the food
• 14:09
  bank, in Erie, Pennsylvania.
• 14:11
  And what they've actually created is a one
• 14:13
  of a kind marketplace
• 14:15
  where people can go in and get access
• 14:17
  to healthy foods. They're not running to the
• 14:20
  convenience store than bodegas that are down the
• 14:22
  street. They're really getting access to healthy produce
• 14:25
  and food at the neighborhood center.
• 14:28
  It's it's really an incredible partnership,
• 14:31
  and it's like I said, it's a little
• 14:32
  bit different than what we have in the
• 14:33
  East End, but it's providing a lot of
• 14:36
  really good opportunities for that. And and we
• 14:38
  also have access to street medicine. We have
• 14:40
  access to a whole host of services that
• 14:43
  are there,
• 14:44
  and it's really meant to focus on what
• 14:46
  that neighborhood needs and what we can do
• 14:49
  to really support it. It's got a lot
• 14:51
  of the same things that we do in
• 14:52
  the East End, but we've really expanded it.
• 14:54
  And I will tell you, I I was
• 14:56
  doing a walk through before the the the
• 14:58
  grand opening, and we had people knocking on
• 15:00
  the door, and and we were able to
• 15:01
  get them help. We had a gentleman walk
• 15:02
  in, who was having trouble finding a doctor
• 15:05
  and a dentist. And, literally, we got on
• 15:08
  the phone with him, as I was standing
• 15:10
  there with the team, and we got him
• 15:12
  a, doctor's appointment, for a couple days later
• 15:15
  and found a dentist to get him in
• 15:16
  there too, which is exactly the point. It's
• 15:19
  it's meant to be that community resource
• 15:21
  to really support that community and really give
• 15:24
  back and find those creative solutions to best
• 15:26
  support the our our membership in those areas.
• 15:29
  Yeah. No. Absolutely. And I'm sure that feels
• 15:31
  really great for you and your team on
• 15:32
  a on a personal level being to be
• 15:35
  there on the ground and and see the
• 15:37
  impact you're making firsthand
• 15:38
  with your members.
• 15:40
  Absolutely. Absolutely. And and and it really I
• 15:43
  I think it it was it was great
• 15:45
  for me because I don't always get to
• 15:46
  see all the folks that we serve on
• 15:48
  a regular basis, and I and I love
• 15:49
  to meet them, hear their stories,
• 15:52
  and and that experience. And then when we
• 15:53
  did the grand opening, I was hanging out
• 15:55
  for a little bit afterwards and had the
• 15:57
  same type of interaction with some folks that
• 15:59
  just needed some help. And and that's really
• 16:01
  what it was meant to be. And our
• 16:03
  partnership with those community groups that are there
• 16:06
  is is only continuing to get stronger.
• 16:08
  We have classes that are going for,
• 16:11
  you know, pregnant moms,
• 16:13
  you know, teach them what they should be
• 16:14
  doing with their kids. We have caregiver classes,
• 16:17
  because we have a a lot of seniors
• 16:19
  in in those areas. So trying to to
• 16:22
  help support
• 16:23
  the people that are are really spending all
• 16:26
  their time in blood, sweat, equity supporting the
• 16:28
  people, that we have in those those areas
• 16:30
  and those members. And it's really it's it's
• 16:32
  not meant to be only UPMC.
• 16:34
  It's really a broader aspect of of how
• 16:38
  we can give back to those communities and
• 16:39
  really support them.
• 16:41
  No. Certainly. And, you know, 200 community,
• 16:44
  organizations already. That's incredible. I'm sure many more
• 16:47
  to come.
• 16:48
  Brendan, before we go today, anything else we're
• 16:51
  missing? Any other tidbits you wanna share with
• 16:53
  the other health plan leaders listening right now?
• 16:56
  It's it's an incredibly busy time,
• 16:58
  for for everybody listening in. What else do
• 17:00
  you wanna share today? It's it's incredibly busy,
• 17:03
  and and, you know, Medicaid's always had its
• 17:06
  its challenges through the the years. And I've
• 17:07
  been working in Medicaid for twenty years now.
• 17:10
  And, it's, it's it's it's always going through
• 17:13
  the ringer when we look at those things.
• 17:14
  But but, really, I think it's it's in
• 17:17
  in these times, it's really about listening to
• 17:19
  the people you serve,
• 17:21
  and going and meeting them where they are.
• 17:23
  You can't forget about it. It's one thing
• 17:25
  to to to be a leader. It's another
• 17:28
  thing to really go out and listen to
• 17:29
  those communities, really spend the time and the
• 17:31
  energy with them. That's such such an important
• 17:35
  component of it, to have their stories to
• 17:37
  be able to to to give back to
• 17:39
  our regulators,
• 17:41
  and to also help inform us. I learned
• 17:43
  so much from talking to the people,
• 17:46
  that are enrolled with us, going on visits
• 17:48
  with our teams. It really gives you a
• 17:50
  a a good perspective on how you should
• 17:52
  be functioning and and how you can do
• 17:53
  the best to serve them and meet people
• 17:55
  where they are.
• 17:57
  Wonderful. Well, Brandon, I wanna thank you so
• 18:00
  much for taking the time once again to
• 18:02
  sit down with us, share your insights with
• 18:04
  our listeners on sharing about all this, clearly
• 18:07
  very impactful work going on under the leadership
• 18:09
  of you and your team at the health
• 18:11
  plan. So thank you very much.
• 18:13
  No. Thank you for the opportunity, and, you
• 18:15
  know, appreciate you taking the time to to
• 18:17
  hear some of what the great things that
• 18:19
  we're doing. Absolutely. And to our listeners, if
• 18:21
  you wanna listen to more podcasts from Becker's
• 18:23
  HealthCare, you can visit beckershospitalreview.com.