Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Medicaid Changes, AI in Healthcare, and Leading with Genuine Relationships with Jason Raidbard

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Medicaid Changes, AI in Healthcare, and Leading with Genuine Relationships with Jason Raidbard · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:02
  Podcast.
• 0:03
  I'm thrilled today to be joined by a
• 0:05
  brilliant leader from the University of Chicago Medicine.
• 0:08
  University of Chicago is one of the great
• 0:10
  systems in the country, great academic medical center,
• 0:13
  plus a fantastic
• 0:14
  research institution and and great provider of services
• 0:18
  to the greater Chicago community, an incredible, incredible
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  system. We're joined today by Jason Raybard. Jason
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  is one of the best leaders I know.
• 0:26
  Jason, so thrilled to have you with us
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  today. Can you take a moment to introduce
• 0:30
  yourself and and tell us a little bit
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  about what you're most focused on currently?
• 0:35
  Sure.
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  Jason Raybard. I'm the executive administrator with the
• 0:39
  Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Chicago.
• 0:43
  As far as,
• 0:45
  trends
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  that I'm looking at more of just on
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  a broader scale, and I just happened to
• 0:49
  go to a conference recently in Phoenix.
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  You know, for for me, I'm interested in
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  when the big beautiful bill
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  finally takes its effect,
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  the rule changes.
• 1:01
  Not just the stricter work requirements, but
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  not just the funding restrictions, I guess, the
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  whole kit and caboodle, but also some of
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  the administrative burden. Because usually with Medicaid patients,
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  we're
• 1:11
  usually renewing them once a year at state
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  level.
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  And now the new requirement's gonna be twice
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  a year in in some instances. So that's
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  going to be very different than it was
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  before and the impact of the requirements and
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  that, how that will affect, all patients as
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  far as, staying on the program and their
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  eligibility.
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  I think
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  secondary to that because it's a hot topic,
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  AI.
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  I've had a chance to interact with different
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  AI systems,
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  calling different companies,
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  health care, non health care, and you'd be
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  surprised how realistic some of those responses can
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  be.
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  So it'll just be interesting to see how
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  that will affect care coordination in the future
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  as well as the prior authorization on denial
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  process. Will that get better or will it
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  get worse? So those are some of the
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  trends that I'm kind of looking at right
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  now.
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  Thank you. And and what do you see
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  there in terms of
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  eligibility and people losing coverage?
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  How are you starting to see what could
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  happen there? And then also just the constant
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  ongoing challenges between systems and payers,
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  denials, getting approved, and and so forth. What
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  are some of the things you're expecting?
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  So I think when we're talking about the
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  new Medicaid rules or soon to be new
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  Medicaid rules,
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  I I think you're gonna see the shift
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  of burden back to health systems. You're gonna
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  see an increase in self funded,
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  care, which basically means, in other words, sometimes
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  the term's called no pay where patients present
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  without insurance.
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  I think from a population health standpoint,
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  that will take a negative hit because there
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  will be patients that will
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  not have the means or the funds or
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  shy away from coming to care, and then
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  they will resort to emergency care when needed,
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  which will create a different burden for emergency
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  rooms. I don't think it's something we've seen
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  for some time,
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  And I think that will impact those health
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  systems that are smaller, those that rely on,
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  government funding.
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  You know, I think some of my counterparts
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  that work in rural hospitals,
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  I think of health systems that may be
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  still independent,
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  health systems that just don't have larger margins,
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  those will
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  get tougher. It will be more difficult.
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  I think there'll be some systems that will
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  weather the storm.
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  I'm hoping at some point that there may
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  be some,
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  conversations in Washington that might see the negative
• 3:32
  effects and maybe back off, but, you know,
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  that's to be determined.
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  As far as your other question about the
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  relationship
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  between health systems and payers, I mean, in
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  a utopian world, I could see AI
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  impacting in a positive way
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  denials and prior authorizations.
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  I can also see in a more, healthcare
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  perspective,
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  seeing it taking a greater leap into further
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  denying,
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  authorizations
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  or even payment. And,
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  you know, insurance companies,
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  I've worked in health systems my whole life.
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  So I I'm a little biased, but insurance
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  companies tend to be very risk averse sometimes
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  with their issuance of authorizations.
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  And sometimes they'll take liberties and denials.
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  And I guess the question is, will they
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  take more liberties now with AI or will
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  there be, quote, unquote, AI mistakes that kind
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  of,
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  cover up what we've seen in the past
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  where,
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  care coordinators at insurance companies would outright deny
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  things based on their own internal protocols and
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  standards, and we've all heard stories or seen
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  stories or seen publications on that.
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  I'm hopeful that it will get better. I
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  don't know if it'll get better,
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  and I think that's the really test of
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  time of how will it affect it.
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  I think the tool could be used quite
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  well and really help with population health and
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  patient care, but only time will tell as
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  we see more cases come through.
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  But, you know, a 100%. And and talk,
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  Jason, for a moment.
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  What advice do you give to emerging leaders?
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  Because you you're just a pristinely good leader
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  and terrific person. How do you advise emerging
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  leaders that you're working with to think about
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  leadership, to think about their own personal growth
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  and professional growth?
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  So I just did a webinar. I let
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  out on a webinar,
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  with double AMC a couple weeks ago, and
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  it was basically a a webinar for,
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  academic
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  institutions and leaders in those institutions about the
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  the growing changes that the landscape changes in
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  health care, and and that certainly affects,
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  mentorship and networking. And that was one of
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  the vocal pieces of my discussion.
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  And one of the most important things that
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  I couldn't
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  impress upon that group and then when I
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  speak to early careerists is
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  don't look at mentorship and seeking it out
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  or networking
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  too as transactional
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  only.
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  It is still important to build the relationship.
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  You as a mentee might want to be
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  mentored
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  and that's fine, and I have plenty of
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  people that I formally and informally mentor through
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  professional organizations,
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  But it is important to have a genuine
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  conversation. You can certainly echo what you're needing
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  help with, but I can't tell you the
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  positive relationships that come about when a mentee
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  takes that mentorship relationship to the level of
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  I wanna build a a lifelong
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  relationship of some kind and acquaintanceship.
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  Sometimes it turns into a friendship. I've had
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  that happen before.
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  And I think that's important because it leads
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  to a genuineness. And then when you are
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  a mentor,
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  if you see that genuineness, you will want
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  to help that individual more. Everybody knows going
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  into the relationship there's gonna be some transaction.
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  But I think if you solely focus on
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  it, the relationship will fizzle out quite quickly.
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  And I think it'll flourish a lot better.
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  And I think you're standing in the community.
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  You know, health care is small.
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  Whether we're talking about health care in Chicago,
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  in Illinois or, you know, in regions in
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  the country or throughout the country, people talk
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  and people know each other. And if they
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  hear good things and they see that you
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  are are very genuine in your approach,
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  it's no different than having an executive leader
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  in your organization being very genuine in their
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  rounding approach when they visit different departments. It's
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  the same principle.
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  So that's one of the things we talked
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  about a couple weeks ago at this webinar,
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  one of the things I do talk about
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  in general when it comes to both mentorship
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  and networking.
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  So so talk about that for a second
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  because I think that point is so important.
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  So many people look at things as a
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  quid pro quo of some sort, and
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  I'm a big believer in this concept of
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  this book that I read years ago called
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  The Go Giver.
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  You know,
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  you give, you involve yourself, you you help,
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  and then and karma works that things tend
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  to work, and it all kinds of works
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  out without looking for that quid pro quo.
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  Talk about that mindset you have because I
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  think you are right on, and I and
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  I actually love the way that you handle
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  yourself and what you handle yourself over the
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  last decade. So so it's not a new
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  concept of watching you. But talk about why
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  not always looking for the quid pro quo.
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  And and I know myself, if I do
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  somebody a favor six times and never get
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  reciprocation in any way, shape, or form, at
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  some point and somebody's always asking for something,
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  we at some point, of course, you know,
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  there's only so much good karma to go
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  around. But the flip side is, overly looking
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  for that quid pro quo is a horrible
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  way to go through life and a horrible
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  way to lead, isn't it? Oh, it definitely
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  is. It definitely is. You know, for me,
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  mentorship at this point in my career, I
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  I've now been in health care about twenty
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  three years now.
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  I look at
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  networking and mentorship and giving back because so
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  many people gave to me. I would not
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  be here today. And, Scott, that includes yourself,
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  by the way, so please pat yourself on
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  the back because there have been people throughout
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  my time that have been willing to give
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  me a chance to speak on a subject,
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  talk on a subject,
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  be able to just sit down and listen
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  to maybe concerns I have or advice that
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  I may need or give me a chance
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  to get an interview in a position.
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  And
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  and accessing those platforms
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  doesn't happen instantaneously.
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  It's built on relationships. People need to know
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  that you're who you are, you're legitimate, you're
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  sincere.
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  And I think if you lead with that
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  genuineness, if you lead with curiosity and you
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  lead with kind of those principles, it just
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  not only shows you have a high EQ,
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  but it will
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  help you from the karma standpoint.
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  From my perspective, I think giving back the
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  way that I have, whether it's, you know,
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  leadership roles and professional organizations outside my regular
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  day to day work or even volunteering with
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  the the boys and girl scouts down where
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  I live and doing, you know, food pantries
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  and and things of that nature.
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  It's just something that I feel everyone should
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  do to the capability that they can. Not
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  everybody has certain amounts of time,
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  But I do try and mentor a handful
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  of people in a given time period as
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  a way to give back. Of course, there's
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  other charitable ways to give back. And I
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  think that's important, and I think it is
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  a key piece to growing as a leader.
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  If you miss that part of that leadership
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  journey, you have really missed a big part
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  of why you're in that role.
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  Thank you. There's a couple of things that
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  I wanna tee off on.
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  First is or or or discuss further.
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  First is this concept with young leaders who
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  are evolving relationships, evolving business, and starting to
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  public speak,
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  and and to be interviewed and to be
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  on platforms or to talk with people, whatever
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  it might be.
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  Each young person has to realize that that's
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  an evolution.
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  You're gonna get better and better, and you
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  have to be willing to do it even
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  earlier in your career
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  when you might feel like you're not ready
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  because, unfortunately, that's how you're gonna learn to
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  get ready and be more and more polished
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  and better at what you do and whatever
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  you do. And it's same thing with any
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  skills. When you're when you're first learning,
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  you're gonna have to be willing to not
• 10:51
  be your very best. You're gonna try hard.
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  You're gonna prepare well, but you're not gonna
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  be as polished as you are ten years
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  later or five years later after or or
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  have after done it several times, and I
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  think that's right on.
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  I I I but I but I I
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  love that concept of of, you know, developing
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  relationships. Everything's about relationships, and I I always
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  say relationships and competence. You gotta be both.
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  You gotta be likable and build relationships and
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  good at what you do and and and
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  constantly work to be getting better at both.
• 11:21
  Yeah. I I 100% agree. I I couldn't
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  agree more. I think, you know, one of
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  the things that I I do have really
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  careerist
• 11:29
  that Bill approached me, and I've had one
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  young man come to me recently that that
• 11:33
  was looking to move his career up, and
• 11:35
  another one wanted more speaking opportunities.
• 11:38
  And I I said to both of them,
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  I said well, to the one that wanted
• 11:42
  the speaking opportunities, I said, have you attended
• 11:45
  said conferences
• 11:46
  to meet the conference organizers?
• 11:49
  Have you met the people that run the
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  conferences, not just on on a macro level
• 11:53
  that are they're dealing maybe with,
• 11:55
  pursuing vendors and bringing them into the vendor
• 11:57
  hall for the events, but have you met
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  the event producers? Have you gotten to know
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  them? Have you gone to even the conferences?
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  Because I think if you make your presence
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  known, it's it's it's a chance encounter. If
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  you don't make that chance encounter, if you
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  don't network and make that connection,
• 12:13
  if you're not a proven individual, if you're
• 12:15
  not a proven brand, or you don't get
• 12:17
  that introduction from someone that may have, you
• 12:19
  know,
• 12:20
  some weight in in a specific industry, in
• 12:22
  this case, health care, chances are you're not
• 12:25
  gonna get that opportunity. And, you know, to
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  your point as far as the evolution
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  of growth and and getting better, yes. You
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  know, I tell people all the time, if
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  someone invites you to speak and they're not
• 12:36
  going to pay you, but it's your first
• 12:38
  chance, take it. Because it may turn into
• 12:41
  over time where people will pay you a
• 12:43
  stipend or an actual fee if that's what
• 12:45
  you're seeking.
• 12:46
  For me, I do it because it's fun.
• 12:48
  For me, the payment's not significant. I just
• 12:51
  enjoy doing it. I enjoy the networking and
• 12:53
  the opportunity to learn. And so I think
• 12:55
  for me, going in with the mentality of
• 12:58
  this is just something that's fun, it's a
• 13:00
  way to give back, and it's a way
• 13:01
  to get better at my craft, I think
• 13:03
  led to more opportunities for myself. And I
• 13:06
  try and share that knowledge with others, especially
• 13:09
  early careerists. And I think, you know, to
• 13:12
  that end,
• 13:14
  people sometimes earlier in their career don't realize
• 13:16
  the preparation that's involved both in being mentored,
• 13:20
  the networking aspects, and and things like speaking
• 13:22
  engagements, podcasts,
• 13:24
  webinars.
• 13:25
  And and I think that's important that you
• 13:28
  realize that, no, you are gonna be rusty
• 13:30
  at first, not very good
• 13:33
  compared to yourself five or ten years from
• 13:35
  now. I can look at myself when I
• 13:37
  first started coming to Becker's conferences, and I
• 13:39
  can be objective for five years later and
• 13:42
  say, yeah, I've grown in this area. I
• 13:44
  can also still say I need to improve
• 13:46
  on this and this and that. And that's
• 13:48
  important too.
• 13:50
  But but I would echo that. I mean,
• 13:51
  the difference in
• 13:53
  my speaking skills from when I started to
• 13:55
  do it to later are much different. And
• 13:57
  sometimes I'm not always on, sometimes I'm good,
• 13:58
  sometimes I'm bad. The difference in how polished
• 14:01
  you are from several years ago is remarkable,
• 14:04
  and it's it's it's really
• 14:06
  growth in practice and doing it and just
• 14:08
  being more comfortable in doing it. And so
• 14:11
  I would say to any young career, as
• 14:12
  anybody building a career,
• 14:14
  if you're looking to speak, you're looking to
• 14:16
  meet, you're looking to network,
• 14:18
  you just have to be willing to reach
• 14:20
  out because many times people are looking for
• 14:22
  people and they're willing to help. And, you
• 14:24
  know, there there's there's often lots of different
• 14:27
  opportunities
• 14:28
  for people to speak and to practice and
• 14:30
  start to learn and grow. So we we
• 14:32
  love that.
• 14:34
  Jason, I'm gonna ask you one more question.
• 14:36
  What are you most focused on and excited
• 14:37
  about this year? Where are you most focused
• 14:39
  and excited?
• 14:40
  So I think there's there's two things. More,
• 14:43
  on a smaller level, department level, we've done
• 14:46
  some great
• 14:48
  strides in expanding our glaucoma services, which there
• 14:52
  was a time where our glaucoma
• 14:54
  services were thin.
• 14:56
  And, you know, we we are one of
• 14:59
  the premier,
• 15:00
  health care institutions
• 15:01
  in in the region,
• 15:03
  specifically in the South Side Of Chicago, in
• 15:05
  the Hyde Park neighborhood for those in your
• 15:07
  audience that aren't familiar.
• 15:09
  And, glaucoma is very prevalent in the neighborhood
• 15:12
  that we serve. We have a predominantly African
• 15:14
  American immediate neighborhood, and glaucoma is very much
• 15:18
  affects that community. And so, you know, for
• 15:21
  myself and my chair, doctor Herprasad, we've worked
• 15:23
  very hard to expand those services to meet
• 15:26
  the needs in the community. And so that's
• 15:28
  something I think for us, programmatically,
• 15:30
  we were really proud of. And so,
• 15:33
  we do have three full time glaucoma providers,
• 15:35
  and
• 15:36
  they are fantastic.
• 15:38
  Two of them just joined us this year.
• 15:39
  One's been with us for a year. Each
• 15:41
  of them are fantastic.
• 15:42
  I think on a larger scale from the
• 15:44
  health system perspective, and it probably would be
• 15:47
  another podcast just to talk about the details,
• 15:50
  but the University of Chicago, along with the
• 15:52
  health system, the Pritzker School of Medicine has
• 15:54
  Elevate twenty thirty five, which is in a
• 15:58
  broad brush sense,
• 15:59
  the strategy that will drive
• 16:02
  what we will do as a system, those
• 16:04
  three entities together to provide better education,
• 16:08
  provide better care, provide better research. And and
• 16:11
  those things are are more important than they
• 16:13
  ever have been before amidst a lot of
• 16:15
  the policy changes and cuts at at the
• 16:17
  DC level. And I think a lot of
• 16:19
  this was in motion even before that. And
• 16:22
  I think we have some excellent leaders
• 16:24
  where I work that have some very good
• 16:27
  vision of what they want the system to
• 16:29
  look like, how interconnected they want it to
• 16:31
  be, and and some of the opportunities that
• 16:34
  we have to,
• 16:35
  expand
• 16:37
  not just our offerings, but our our brand
• 16:39
  in general and and how we can help
• 16:41
  others.
• 16:42
  Jason, I I love what the University of
• 16:44
  Chicago does. I love what you're doing on
• 16:45
  the glaucoma front. I think that is just
• 16:47
  so fantastic.
• 16:49
  It is really a pleasure to get to
• 16:50
  visit with you
• 16:52
  really over the last decade and and to
• 16:54
  watch your growth professionally. It's just fantastic.
• 16:57
  Jason Rehbark, thank you so much for joining
• 16:59
  us today on the Becker's healthcare podcast. Makes
• 17:01
  my day. Thank you very, very much. Thanks,
• 17:03
  Scott.