Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / Jaimie Weber, System Director of Nursing for Perioperative Services at Alameda Health System

Transcript

Jaimie Weber, System Director of Nursing for Perioperative Services at Alameda Health System · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

• 0:02
  At athenahealth,
• 0:03
  we know your ambulatory practice wants healthier, a
• 0:06
  healthier business, healthier care teams, and healthier patients.
• 0:10
  But the complexities of modern health care tech
• 0:12
  make it hard for you and your care
• 0:14
  teams to focus on what matters
• 0:16
  most? That's where athenahealth can help. Our AI
• 0:19
  native all in one solutions reduce administrative burdens,
• 0:22
  streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights
• 0:25
  when clinicians need it most. That means fewer
• 0:28
  clicks, more time for patients, and stronger bottom
• 0:31
  lines.
• 0:32
  Practicing medicine is complex, but running a practice
• 0:35
  can be that much simpler with athenahealth.
• 0:38
  See how simpler is healthier@athenahealth.com.
• 0:43
  This is Laura Dirdo with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:46
  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
• 0:48
  Jamie Weber, system director of perioperative services for
• 0:51
  Alameda Health System. Jamie, it's a pleasure to
• 0:53
  have you on the podcast today. Thank you
• 0:55
  so much for having me.
• 0:57
  Absolutely. Now I know it's such a unique
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  time in health care, and, it's exciting to,
• 1:02
  you know, think about possibilities for the future,
• 1:04
  but there's also a lot of uncertainties. So,
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  you know, I'll I'll be excited for our
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  conversation and to dig into some of the
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  things that you're seeing as well as your
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  perspective on the future. But before we do
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  that, can you tell me a little bit
• 1:15
  more about yourself and your background?
• 1:17
  Of course. Of course.
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  Yes. I am a perioperative
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  nursing leader.
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  I have been in health care for over
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  two decades,
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  and I have
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  been involved with several different areas of care
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  from
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  ER, ICU to perioperative
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  services as well as adult inpatient services in
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  both inpatient
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  and outpatient
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  services.
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  So I've sort of had my hand in
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  a lot of different things.
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  That's great to hear. And, you know, considering
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  your background and your focus on the perioperative
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  space, what are some of the opportunities and
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  headwinds you have your eye on right now?
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  So there's a lot of things that come
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  with
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  health care in general right now. We're hearing
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  a lot of buzz about AI and what
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  does that mean for us.
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  Surgical services
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  is definitely one of the major engines
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  in a health care system to generate revenue.
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  We have people that come in through multiple
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  doors,
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  but when it comes to reimbursements
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  to keep the hospital running,
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  a lot of that is generated through surgical
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  services.
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  So keeping that in mind, we always have
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  to be sort of at the forefront of
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  everything that's going on
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  and be extremely productive
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  in what we do to make sure that
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  we stretch every little penny that comes through
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  our door
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  and every opportunity.
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  That said, with all of the different
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  elements
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  and technologies
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  that are coming around, AI is definitely a
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  word that we hear thrown out a lot.
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  Now does that mean that we're going to
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  get rid of nurses?
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  No. Absolutely not. Nurses are required.
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  Patients need physical care that
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  there's no way
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  something that
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  a robot could do. But what does AI
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  look like for us in the hospital? Well,
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  it can help us with a lot of
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  that productivity
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  piece.
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  It can help us with managing our schedule
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  and forecasting
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  areas of opportunity for us to be more
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  efficient.
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  Absolutely. I think that's great to hear. And,
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  definitely, you know, one of the big conversations
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  that you mentioned right now in health care,
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  looking at AI, looking at technology, and knowing,
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  you know, that margins are thin. So how
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  can technology really be a meaningful booster while
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  while also,
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  you know,
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  being able to be additive to the human
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  workforce and,
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  really not losing sight of that human connection
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  and patient care. So when you look at
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  the ways that technology
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  is coming in and some of the modifications
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  that you're making in order to meet the
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  demands of your patient services,
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  you know, with the resources that you have,
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  what are some of the tactics that you've
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  been taking or or will consider in the
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  next year or so that, can make a
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  meaningful difference for the organization overall?
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  So one thing about health care is a
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  lot of the technology can move a lot
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  faster than folks
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  delivering the care are comfortable doing.
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  So sometimes we go a little slow, and
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  we aren't as quick to catch up.
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  It almost seems as though sometimes we can
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  be a little change averse. So when we
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  start hearing about technology,
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  it can be really hard for nursing groups
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  to go, how does this affect me and
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  how does it affect my patient?
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  So it's it's important to be mindful
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  of that when moving into this and make
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  sure that this is something that brings a
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  value
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  add to their care practice.
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  That said, again, a lot of what it
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  is is allowing the health care provider, whether
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  it's a physician,
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  you know, some ancillary team member, a nurse.
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  We'll we need to focus on things that
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  are going to make their workload that can't
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  be automated
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  a little easier
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  so that they can actually care for the
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  patient.
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  So a lot of what we've been looking
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  at in my health care system
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  and others,
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  is is things to improve that productivity. How
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  can we forecast
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  our surgery scheduling to make sure that we're
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  more accurate
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  with
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  this doctor takes this long to do this
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  procedure
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  or we think we're gonna have some open
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  time here because we tend to get a
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  lot of add ons and emergencies
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  that come through the door on this day
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  of the week. So how can we have
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  a predictive model for staffing? How can we
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  have a predictive model for our scheduling?
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  How can we know exactly how long this
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  case is going to take? You know, maybe
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  one day of the week, we get an
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  awful lot of sick calls. We need to
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  look into that, but maybe we wanna beef
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  up that day because those tend to be
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  more sick call heavy day or just days
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  that people don't sign up for extra shifts,
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  and we do get those add ons and
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  things
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  so that we can be more efficient. Or
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  even sometimes that our case volumes are just
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  a little heavier and require additional resources.
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  Some other things we can use this technology
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  for, some integrate
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  cameras for visualization
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  to actually look at what goes on in
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  our operating rooms
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  to help with flow.
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  Is there some downtime in there when people
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  are not in the room,
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  you know, doing things like turnover?
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  And is there a way that we can
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  optimize
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  the room a little better or streamline some
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  of those services to help?
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  There's also some technology that we're looking at
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  that will benefit the patients
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  that really are a value add that have
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  required a lot of manual work.
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  There are some new technologies
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  out right now that
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  use UV light, which we already use in
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  the hospital,
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  but the machines for UV disinfection
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  are big and bulky, and they require somebody
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  to move it around the room, and they're
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  very time consuming.
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  There are some technologies
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  that, again, use cameras and visualization.
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  These can be used in the OR, in
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  patient rooms, all sorts of things that have
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  sensors that immediately
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  turn off when there's any motion
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  or human detected in the room, but it
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  also monitors for high touch surfaces and then
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  use pinpointed
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  UV light
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  to treat that area
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  to ensure
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  appropriate disinfection,
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  after the surface surface has been cleansed
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  and provide more
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  disinfection
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  to prevent
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  cross contaminate
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  and,
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  infection risk for a patient or even staff.
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  So these are a lot of different options
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  that we're looking at in the future, which,
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  again,
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  reduce
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  human input to, say, move around a big
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  bulky machine,
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  which is heavy, can result in employee injury,
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  but also save us time so that we
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  can treat more areas.
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  We might be limited by having one service
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  tech move this big bulky machine around for
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  UV light, but if we can set these
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  up in a couple of rooms, that room
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  gets better UV coverage
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  and we don't have a person to have
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  to deal with that, and we can treat
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  more rooms.
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  Got it. That's really helpful to know. Thank
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  you so much for digging a little bit
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  deeper there. Now I'm wondering, how are you
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  thinking about growth and adding value to the
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  health system overall?
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  Again, it's it's a lot of it through
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  this. What can we do to just really
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  make sure that, you know, people are the
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  expensive part? That is our expensive resource. Yes.
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  Supplies cost money,
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  and those are also very expensive. But in
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  the grand scheme of things, we need to
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  invest in our people. Right?
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  That has a lot of overhead when we
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  have to think about the benefits that those
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  people require. It's not just their total compensation
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  and their hourly wage. If somebody gets hurt,
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  all those things that come around with that.
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  But, also, it's our most valuable resource because
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  if we've invested in our people,
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  our caregivers,
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  you know, we don't want them to go
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  somewhere else where they're unhappy
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  or, you know, because they're unhappy here.
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  So that said, if we can do what
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  we need to do to keep them happy
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  and at work to care for the people
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  that come through our doors and do so
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  efficiently
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  so that we can give everybody the care
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  that they need,
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  you know, volume cures all. If we can
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  get more folks in the door, we can
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  make more revenue too, but also the greater
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  good is served because more patients are treated
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  efficiently.
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  And they're not waiting until they're super sick
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  or the last minute to come in and
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  receive this care. So,
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  really, the focus is making sure that we
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  don't eliminate work for those human resources that
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  we have, but truly make
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  their jobs as easy as possible
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  because health care is tough enough. And if
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  there's anything that we can alleviate
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  by making sure that they have an added
• 10:19
  resource to do what they got into health
• 10:21
  care to do, which is take care of
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  people,
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  that's where our focus needs to be.
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  That makes a lot of sense. And, you
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  know, it is really a helpful way in
• 10:31
  benchmark to think about how you can make
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  an impact, both in terms of the quality
• 10:36
  of care as well as the,
• 10:38
  financial challenges, you know, that are very real
• 10:40
  for many hospitals and health systems overall. And,
• 10:43
  you know, thinking about that, I I know,
• 10:45
  for a lot of our listeners, margins are
• 10:47
  tightening, and they're really seeing,
• 10:49
  you know, some financial challenges ahead. But what
• 10:52
  is one risk or investment that you still
• 10:54
  think is worth making over the next twelve
• 10:56
  months or so, you know, to make sure
• 10:59
  that you're in a good position to be
• 11:01
  successful and thrive in the future?
• 11:04
  Something in your IT department
• 11:06
  and and beef up your infrastructure
• 11:09
  to be ready for that. You know, with
• 11:11
  these margins tightening,
• 11:13
  we don't know what
• 11:15
  the
• 11:16
  big beautiful bill
• 11:18
  is going to bring us as far as
• 11:22
  what those margins mean. If we are
• 11:25
  cutting Medicare and Medicaid, that is going to
• 11:28
  affect our reimbursements.
• 11:30
  That is going to
• 11:31
  affect people more so in rural areas than
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  it is those metropolitan
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  areas,
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  and we may
• 11:39
  have
• 11:40
  hospital closures
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  because of these tighter
• 11:44
  margins and and
• 11:46
  you know, that are already tight and less
• 11:48
  reimbursement. And so those areas are gonna be
• 11:51
  affected first.
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  So that leaves us an opportunity
• 11:56
  to still make sure that people get this
• 11:58
  care. They may not be able to drive
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  to a hospital that's an hour and a
• 12:03
  half away instead of having one thirty minutes
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  away. Maybe it's three hours.
• 12:08
  So looking into
• 12:10
  IT infrastructure
• 12:12
  to make sure that you have,
• 12:14
  you know, safe firewalls and bandwidth and Wi
• 12:17
  Fi
• 12:18
  and
• 12:20
  telehealth
• 12:21
  platforms. That's really where we need to focus.
• 12:24
  There's also a big shift in health care
• 12:27
  that really was
• 12:29
  just amplified with COVID and did so rapid
• 12:33
  fire. I know I was working on projects
• 12:35
  prior to COVID
• 12:36
  for telehealth
• 12:38
  because, you know, in 2017,
• 12:40
  2018, it was in its infancy,
• 12:43
  but
• 12:44
  COVID really
• 12:45
  ramped that up for us.
• 12:47
  There's gonna be opportunity
• 12:49
  for these folks in these rural areas to
• 12:51
  be able to receive telemedicine.
• 12:54
  So making sure that health care organizations
• 12:58
  have avenues for that to still get people
• 13:01
  the treatment they need.
• 13:02
  You know, laws vary from state to state,
• 13:04
  so making sure that you've got somebody in
• 13:06
  your legal department who understands what telehealth looks
• 13:10
  like to make sure that they can do
• 13:12
  that in their state.
• 13:13
  But, you know, we even have things like,
• 13:16
  you know, remote
• 13:18
  ICU, tele ICU.
• 13:20
  So we can do this with folks that
• 13:23
  monitor this even from a remote location
• 13:27
  to make sure that we can get folks
• 13:29
  the care that they need. Yes. There needs
• 13:31
  to be somebody physically there with these people,
• 13:34
  but we can make sure that the content
• 13:37
  experts
• 13:38
  and subject matter experts are able to
• 13:41
  provide
• 13:43
  remote care if possible. You know, when we
• 13:46
  look at things like even robotic surgery,
• 13:49
  there are ways to do that where we
• 13:51
  can do remote surgery.
• 13:53
  We have the technology
• 13:54
  capable.
• 13:55
  Sometimes laws and infrastructure keep us from doing
• 13:58
  that, but really making sure that we're prepared
• 14:02
  for what comes next to make sure that
• 14:04
  people get the care that they need.
• 14:06
  Got it. That makes a lot of sense.
• 14:08
  You know? It is really important aspect,
• 14:10
  in space to,
• 14:12
  invest in because if you don't have those
• 14:14
  right firewalls and infrastructure in place,
• 14:17
  it it can make a a really challenging
• 14:20
  if you do have a cyber incident or
• 14:22
  or other things. So,
• 14:23
  I I really appreciate that. And then looking
• 14:25
  into the future of telehealth, virtual care, and,
• 14:29
  just all the possibilities of how technology can
• 14:31
  connect us in different ways and have different
• 14:33
  access points,
• 14:35
  to you know, I I,
• 14:37
  I'm excited about that future, but I know
• 14:40
  it's, you know, something that takes easier said
• 14:42
  than done done in some ways, not only
• 14:44
  from the technology side, but just getting all
• 14:46
  all the people change management and transformation there
• 14:49
  as well. Yeah. Excellent. Well, before we wrap
• 14:52
  up here, I have one more question. Where
• 14:54
  do you see some of the best opportunities
• 14:56
  for growth in the next two to three
• 14:57
  years or so?
• 14:59
  It's definitely gonna be in
• 15:02
  that sort of IT space.
• 15:05
  I'm seeing some really cool
• 15:07
  things come out
• 15:09
  that solve a lot of problems,
• 15:11
  whether it's robotic surgery
• 15:14
  or
• 15:15
  program overlays with visualization of cameras. Like, there
• 15:19
  are some really
• 15:21
  awesome companies coming out, sometimes rewriting
• 15:26
  laws and standards of practice
• 15:29
  to
• 15:30
  get some of this technology where it needs.
• 15:32
  There are a lot of up and coming
• 15:34
  things,
• 15:35
  Sometimes even changing the way we do sterilization
• 15:38
  because
• 15:39
  people have invented new methods that are even
• 15:42
  better than the standard methods we've used in
• 15:45
  the past that they've had to get FTA
• 15:47
  approval for. So I'm just really excited because
• 15:51
  there are so many different things, but so
• 15:53
  many of them are technology based
• 15:56
  to get people to care
• 15:58
  where they need it.
• 16:00
  I love that. Well, thank you so much
• 16:02
  for joining us today, Jamie. This has been
• 16:03
  a really fun conversation, and I look forward
• 16:05
  to connecting with you again soon.
• 16:07
  Thank you so much. I very much appreciate
• 16:09
  the opportunity.
• 16:12
  At athena Health, we know your ambulatory practice
• 16:15
  wants healthier,
• 16:17
  a healthier business, healthier care teams, and healthier
• 16:19
  patients.
• 16:20
  But the complexities of modern healthcare tech make
• 16:23
  it hard for you and your care teams
• 16:25
  to focus on what matters most.
• 16:27
  That's where athenahealth can help.
• 16:29
  Our AI native all in one solutions reduce
• 16:32
  administrative burdens,
• 16:33
  streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights
• 16:36
  when clinicians need it most. That means fewer
• 16:39
  clicks, more time for patients, and stronger bottom
• 16:42
  lines.
• 16:43
  Practicing medicine is complex, but running a practice
• 16:46
  can be that much simpler with athenahealth.
• 16:49
  See how simpler is healthier at athenahealth.com.