Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Driving Healthcare Transformation Through Innovation and Equity with Amaka Eneanya

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Driving Healthcare Transformation Through Innovation and Equity with Amaka Eneanya · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  This is where health care leadership comes together.
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  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500
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  hospital and health system executives and nearly 800
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  speakers to Chicago
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  April.
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  This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas
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  Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former president George
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  w Bush. For the agenda and event details,
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  visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  and click on the events tab in the
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  upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
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  in Chicago.
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  This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Amaka
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  Inania, who is the former chief transformation officer
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  at Emory Healthcare. Amaka, it's a pleasure to
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  have you on the podcast today.
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  Thanks so much, Laura. I'm excited to be
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  here and have this discussion with you.
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  Absolutely. Now I'm looking forward to your perspective
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  because I know health care is changing so
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  quickly and, you know, technology
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  and many other factors are forcing it to
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  to really,
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  you know, sharpen and become a different type
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  of care delivery system. But before we dive
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  in, can you tell us a little bit
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  more about yourself and your background?
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  Sure. So I'm a health care executive and
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  board certified nephrologist.
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  I most recently served as the chief transformation
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  officer at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta,
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  and I really started off my career as
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  a clinical researcher. So I was funded by
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  the NIH and other foundations
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  to look at,
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  patient reported outcomes
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  for patients who had kidney disease
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  and those patients who were really approaching serious
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  illness and how they made their medical decisions.
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  I also had a strong focus on health
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  equity
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  and why different patients, whether patients from different
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  racial backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds, etcetera,
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  why they were making different care decisions compared
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  to other,
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  groups.
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  And so I started off my career as
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  an academic nephrologist,
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  and I transitioned into industry after working on
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  some national policies,
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  that really kind of removed bias
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  and improved access to care for patients with
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  kidney disease, black patients in particular.
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  And so that inspired me to actually stop
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  writing about,
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  you know, things that we were seeing in
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  health care and to stop publishing and to
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  actually really try to
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  transform the system and have a greater impact.
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  And so I transitioned to,
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  Fresenius Medical Care, which is a global dialysis
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  company,
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  where I was the head of strategy and
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  operations for the global medical office
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  overseeing some finance functions,
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  strategy functions, health equity,
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  sustainability
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  that we were doing as a global organization.
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  And then I was recruited to Emory Healthcare.
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  So that's my journey.
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  That's amazing to hear. And, you know, really
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  cool to think about how you're able to
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  go from the clinical setting and being able
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  to see what was happening with your patients
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  on a daily basis to then,
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  into academics and publishing and then, you know,
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  looking into,
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  again,
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  how you can impact care on a broader
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  scale with some of those larger companies and
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  health systems. So,
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  what incredible opportunities.
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  I I'm curious from your perspective, what are
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  some of the trends that you're watching currently?
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  What's having a big impact on health care
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  and health care delivery?
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  Yes. I'm watching health care organizations
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  approach innovation in a number of ways.
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  I think the most obvious is the investment
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  in technology
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  and how we're integrating
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  AI across enterprises
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  to streamline business operations
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  or alleviate administrative burden for our clinicians and
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  our staff members.
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  I think most obviously, there's, the focus on
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  ambient listening
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  and having an AI agent
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  to transcribe
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  clinical interactions.
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  I'm also seeing innovation in how we think
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  about our teamwork, whether that's the team structure
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  or governance,
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  and really garnering excitement to carry out non
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  incremental
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  and rapid change,
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  in the industry. So that's really exciting.
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  Another trend I'm seeing is how organizations
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  and teams are really moving away from terms
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  such as equity or diversity,
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  whether it's a role title, teams, or initiatives.
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  And And it's interesting because I think that
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  people still don't really understand what these terms
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  mean. So for instance, health equity is defined
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  on how everyone is supposed to achieve their
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  full health potential
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  regardless of how they identify
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  or their personal circumstances.
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  So it's like when you think about the
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  definition, why would we want to move away
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  from something like that?
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  Nonetheless,
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  I think that it's really,
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  important and I'm seeing how organizations are continuing
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  to invest
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  in the things that really do affect health
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  outcomes. So thinking about the social determinants of
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  health,
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  which are the factors that drive 80% of
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  health outcomes such as food, education, and housing.
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  We're seeing a lot of health care organization
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  and businesses still continuing to invest
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  in those drivers even though they're removed they're
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  moving away from the actual terms.
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  Well, that's fascinating to hear. And, you know,
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  as you're seeing these investments happening,
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  in the community and access to care and,
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  you know, really improving the whole health overall,
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  how do you see that evolving and changing
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  the way that health care organizations are,
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  investing their resources and and, you know, thinking
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  about,
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  their communities,
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  as you mentioned, you know, whether it's one
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  term or another,
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  you know,
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  it has just been an interesting evolution. But,
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  in moving forward, you know, health systems, what,
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  I guess, role or responsibility are they're playing
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  in bringing up the whole, community
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  overall?
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  Yeah. I think it's I I used to
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  say all the time, and I continue to
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  say this, that health care organizations,
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  especially when you're thinking about the classic infrastructure
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  of clinics and hospitals, they can't do it
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  all. Right? Historically,
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  they're these institutions have been trained to care
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  for sick patients or to focus on preventative
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  clinical care. So they can't take on the
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  responsibility
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  of, you know, how does somebody have equitable
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  access to food, or is their housing safe
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  and secure. Right? And so what I'm seeing
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  are a lot more partnerships between organizations and
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  community organizations.
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  These community organizations are on the ground level
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  doing this type of work all day every
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  day. They have that expertise.
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  And so it's really nice to see the
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  partnerships, whether it's a health care organization
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  sponsoring these organizations or doing some type of
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  collaborative event
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  together where you can bring those expert the
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  experiences
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  from both the health care infrastructure side and
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  the community side to really change health outcomes
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  for patients in our communities.
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  That's really helpful to understand, you know, and
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  a great, way to strengthen those bonds and,
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  bring more of that health equity focus into
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  life.
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  You know, I I know that's critical for
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  hospitals and systems, especially when they're looking down
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  the into the future in wanting to be
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  able to continue to support their communities, but
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  seeing, you know, a a lot of different,
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  potential headwinds and challenges. So, you know, I
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  think when you look into,
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  the future,
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  you know, could you tell me about, some
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  of the things you're excited about and focused
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  on? Where do you see,
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  healthcare headed?
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  Yeah. Sure. So I'm very excited about continuing
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  transformation and disruption.
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  As I mentioned before, I've had a lot
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  of experience in my career doing those things
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  and seeing a very large impact. And so
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  really using my voice and my experience to
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  foster bold thinking and to encourage people to
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  be brave enough to transform healthcare for the
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  better is something I'm focused on. I'm writing
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  a book. I'm well underway with that book,
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  and I'm really excited to launch that later
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  this year.
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  So, I'm looking forward to seeing how people
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  can be really inspired to to push against
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  the status quo, right, and not to accept
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  how things are. We know a lot of
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  things are broken.
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  It's time to stop thinking about it and
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  actually start changing it.
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  I love that. I I think that's such
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  a strong and powerful call to action. And,
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  you know, based on your experience and some
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  of the things that you've been able to
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  accomplish in your career, Could you share with
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  our our broader audience, you know, some of
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  the things that you've done that have worked
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  well, that have really been, things in your
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  career that you've been proud of?
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  Sure. So what I'm really excited about is
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  kind of this renewed
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  energy and focus on well-being.
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  We saw a lot of that during the
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  pandemic. Right? We saw extremely high burnout rates
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  amongst our clinicians and our staff members, and
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  it really just, you know, revealed
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  how much we had deprioritized
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  people's well-being. And, you know, in health care,
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  when you're really focused on, again, making sure
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  that everybody can achieve their full health potential,
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  how can you forget the people who are
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  doing that type of care delivery? And so
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  at a previous institution,
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  that I worked on that I worked at,
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  we,
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  had a well-being center that we made
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  some significant investments in in terms of the
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  well-being center infrastructure,
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  the staffing,
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  and over a two and also we did
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  a number of initiatives,
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  to really, again, kind of focus on making
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  sure people felt heard about what was challenging
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  or what was affecting their well-being.
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  And over a two year period, we saw
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  some measurable improvements
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  in our people oriented metrics. So for instance,
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  we measured that burnout was lower, 6% lower
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  over a two year period. Personal fulfillment was
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  6%
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  higher, and the intent to leave was 11%
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  lower. So really, again, like, making sure that
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  our health care family members,
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  are feeling
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  heard and feeling that, yes, we care. Right?
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  It's not all about,
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  how we can push productivity
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  and things like that, but really making sure
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  that you feel whole and you feel fulfilled
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  because that's really the reason why you you
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  came into health care. So I'm proud about
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  that.
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  I'm also proud of a lot of the
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  national efforts that I did previously,
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  coming out of academia to, again, advocate for
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  patients with kidney disease and more equitable access
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  to transplantation.
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  And so, we developed a number of federal
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  policies,
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  national guidelines,
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  and fast forward three years, we've seen significant
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  improvement to transplantation access.
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  So for instance, for black patients with kidney
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  disease, we've seen
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  nineteen thousand of those patients move up on
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  transplant wait list across the country, and over
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  six thousand patients have received kidney transplants.
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  So really making sure that when you make
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  transformative
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  initiatives and changes, that you have a way
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  to sustain those changes. And so federal policies
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  and national recommendations
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  are key to making sure that we had,
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  you know, something that we can be proud
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  of years down the road.
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  I love that type of ability to build
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  a program and have a goal, but then
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  also, you know, have sustainability be part of
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  that goal because,
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  I think it's just so critical. And now
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  more than ever, I know resilience is somewhat
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  of a buzzword, in any industry, but especially
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  in health care.
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  But thinking through, you know, no matter what
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  happens or changes come down the pipe, being
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  able to continue to provide a strong level
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  of care to the community and to patients,
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  has to be critical. And so building in
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  the processes and systems and,
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  foundation
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  of a culture to do that is no
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  easy task. I know. Absolutely.
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  Absolutely, Laura.
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  Perfect. Well, I think before we wrap up,
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  I wanted to ask your advice. What, I
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  guess, thoughts or advice would you give to
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  evolving leaders today, especially those who are coming
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  into the health care space trying to to
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  make a difference?
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  Yeah. I would say that, you know, it's
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  important to to, you know, obviously
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  be a great manager and hold your teams
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  accountable. But I think as a great leader,
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  you need to hold yourself accountable.
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  Medicine traditionally has been very hierarchical, and so
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  I think that there are a lot of
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  individuals, especially as you climb the ranks,
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  that kind of,
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  develop this god complex. Right? And it's very
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  easy to let your ego lead the way
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  or for you to be, you know, increasing
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  power to change your character.
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  But even as you climb up the managerial
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  ranks, right, at the most senior levels, you
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  should be always soliciting feedback
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  from your teams and your superiors.
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  And so I know that achieving metrics and
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  and financial incentives
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  are critically important for every business.
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  However, being a servant leader where you're actually
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  deprioritizing
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  your personal status and your power and uplifting
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  others to be their best selves,
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  that should always be the ultimate goal. So
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  that's my advice for evolving leaders.
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  I love that. What a great reminder in
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  health care and what is so important and
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  unique about health care is it is that
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  type of industry where you're always serving, always
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  trying to,
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  be in a a space where that human
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  to human interaction makes such a big difference
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  in relationships,
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  are are so key.
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  Thank you so much for joining us on
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  the podcast today. This has been such a
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  great conversation, Amaka, and I look forward to
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  connecting with you again soon. Thanks so much,
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  Laura. I'm happy to come back anytime.