Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / Pamela Landis, Senior Vice President of Digital Engagement at Hackensack Meridian Health

Transcript

Pamela Landis, Senior Vice President of Digital Engagement at Hackensack Meridian Health · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

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  See you there.
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  This is Scott King with the Becker's Health
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  Care podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined
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  by Pamela Landis, senior vice president digital engagement
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  at Hackensack Meridian Health.
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  Pamela, thanks so much for joining us. It's
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  a pleasure to have you on a podcast
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  today.
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  Thanks for having me. I'm a avid listener
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  that's wonderful to hear. We like that. Thank
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  you so much.
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  Yeah. I think it's gonna be a an
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  awesome conversation with you today, Pamela. I think
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  we're gonna kinda dive into a lot of
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  the big opportunities and challenges
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  facing health care today. But before we jump
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  in, could you please just kinda tell us
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  a little bit more about yourself and your
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  background?
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  Sure. So I'm Pam Landis. I'm the senior
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  vice president of digital engagement
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  here at Hackensack Meridian Health, which is New
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  Jersey's largest health care provider.
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  We have 18 hospitals. We really hug the
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  Shore Of New Jersey from Northern New Jersey
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  to just short of Atlantic City.
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  So all the best parts of New Jersey
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  are served by us.
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  Excellent. Thank you for that information.
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  And getting
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  more
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  to Meridian Health and your work there, what
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  accomplishment are you most proud of from the
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  past year?
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  Oh, wow. What a really good and unexpected
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  question. I would say,
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  the fact that the team,
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  continues to work together
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  collaboratively
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  with our clinicians
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  and our operational folks
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  in developing some tools that make access to
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  care easier.
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  And it's some of it's just small stuff,
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  but it's important things like making sure that
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  when a person goes to our chatbot on
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  our,
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  website
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  you know, sometimes how you get in I
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  call it chatbot jail when you're just like,
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  I just need to talk to a person.
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  So we we have that now. And so
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  if you just type in, I need to
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  talk to somebody, you'll be connected to our
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  patient access center and we'll be able to
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  help you with your needs.
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  That's outstanding. I wish that, other companies and
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  industries would follow releasing people from chatbot jail.
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  I know I don't like to be in
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  it, so that's wonderful to hear.
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  What are the big organizational goals you're setting
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  for 2025
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  or that you set?
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  We're gonna continue to do a couple of
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  things. We're gonna really focus on continuing to
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  smooth out access.
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  So for instance, right now,
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  our team schedules
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  for all of our hospitals
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  and schedules for just about two thirds of
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  our employed medical group. We hope to have
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  that all complete by the end of the
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  year. And we do it because,
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  it gives us this opportunity to
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  really look at schedules,
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  making sure that they're optimized well, that
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  it's easy for patients to get in, but
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  it also gives the clinicians time to take
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  a break, read read some journal articles,
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  document some things, make phone calls. And so
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  we really look at no matter what you
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  need from us, when you call us, you're
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  going to get
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  the HMH experience.
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  And that's really important to us. The other
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  thing that we're really focusing on is really
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  strengthening
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  what a lot of people call the digital
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  front door, and I really
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  don't like that term,
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  but I don't have a better one for
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  it.
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  Right now, people can interact with us through
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  online appointment scheduling or a bill pay site
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  or
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  a MyChart
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  site or a this site or a that
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  site, and it's confusing.
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  You have to be like, no. And so
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  we're really working on bringing together all of
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  those elements into one HMH experience.
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  That you'll have one account with us for
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  everything that you need.
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  Working in a bigger health system, biggest in
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  your area
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  Mhmm. As you mentioned, how much tougher is
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  it for you and your team to kinda
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  streamline everything and and make everything,
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  run efficiently?
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  I wouldn't say it's tougher. What it requires
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  is an investment
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  in
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  listening and understanding
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  and respect
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  for the work that's being done by the
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  clinicians.
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  And, you know, a lot of people will
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  be dismissive
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  of, oh, well, you know, every department says
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  they're special.
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  Well, actually, I actually think that's a good
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  thing when a department says, we don't understand.
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  Our patients are different and we're special.
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  And I actually think that's a good thing
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  because that shows to me that they care
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  deeply
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  about their patients and the experience that they
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  have with the care that they receive.
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  So,
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  I actually try to turn that around and
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  make it useful for us. Let's work together.
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  Let me take off your hands the administrative
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  stuff so that you can take care of
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  the patient in front of you today.
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  That's what our approach is. We're not here
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  to take over. We're here to be your
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  partner and supplement and take off the burdensome
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  stuff so you can focus on the care
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  because that's what our clinicians really care about.
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  What headwinds or challenges do you anticipate
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  with your work for the next year or
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  two?
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  Yeah. I think a couple of things.
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  The one is going to be the continuing,
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  challenges in the payer landscape
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  and understanding
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  and, you know, as payer contracts come up,
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  that's gonna be one challenge. The other one
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  is no matter where you stand,
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  you know, in your own personal political views,
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  the uncertainty
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  about what Congress
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  is doing
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  in healthcare
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  is a challenge for us. And I hate
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  uncertainty
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  and it for me, I like look at
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  that and say
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  where is the puck gonna go? And, honestly,
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  I can't tell you what where the puck's
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  gonna go in in some of these cases.
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  So that uncertainty
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  is very challenging.
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  For instance, you know, until we got the
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  budget
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  the continuing resolution passed, what, a week ago
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  or two weeks ago,
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  you know, the extensions for telehealth payment parity
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  were at risk.
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  And every six months, we go through this.
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  We really need to
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  take a bigger approach and more thoughtful approach
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  around some of this work that we're doing
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  in telehealth
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  and talking to our government agencies and partners
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  and representatives
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  to explain to them the value of it
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  and this every six months being on pins
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  and needles if we can continue, it's tough.
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  The last question I have for you, Pam,
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  how are you evolving as a leader?
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  I what I hope is
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  that I am
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  becoming a better listener
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  and a better supporter.
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  I really feel
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  that my job for my team, and I've
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  I've got a large team,
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  is to protect and provide.
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  And so that's really where I focus on,
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  you know, really, full stop. If I'm not
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  protecting them and providing for them to be
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  successful,
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  then we can't be successful in our work.
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  So that's really where I kinda try to
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  focus my efforts. I spend a lot of
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  time,
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  and sometimes it's, you know, managing a lot
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  of people, it's hard.
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  But it can be rewarding if you focus
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  on the right stuff, hire the right people
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  whose own value system aligns with the health
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  systems.
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  Pam, thanks so much for joining us on
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  the podcast today. I I think it was
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  a great conversation. I look forward to working
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  with you again soon. And and maybe maybe
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  because you listened so much, you'll listen to
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  this one. Go listen to yourself.
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  Alright.