Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Leading Healthcare Transformation Through AI, Culture and Consumer-Centric Care with Jeffrey Flaks

Transcript

Leading Healthcare Transformation Through AI, Culture and Consumer-Centric Care with Jeffrey Flaks · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  At Insight Global Health, we are dedicated to
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  helping you and improving health care for everyone.
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  That means building stronger teams and delivering sustainable
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  solutions that truly make a difference.
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  We offer a full spectrum of talent and
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  the problems that we face in health care.
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  We're not just promising you results, we are
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  delivering them. Visit us at insightglobal.com.
• 0:26
  This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:28
  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
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  Jeffrey Flax, who is the chief executive officer
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  of Hartford Healthcare. Jeff, it's a pleasure to
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  have you on the podcast today. My pleasure.
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  Thank you.
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  Excellent. Well, I'm excited to have you here
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  because I know Hartford Healthcare is doing so
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  many amazing things right now with innovation and
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  technology and and really expanding access to care
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  for your patient population. So this is gonna
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  be a great conversation.
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  But before we dive in, can you tell
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  us a little bit more about yourself and
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  Hartford HealthCare? Yeah. Laura, it's such a pleasure
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  to be here today. It's wonderful to be
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  at Becker's.
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  You know, I've had the pleasure, Jeff Flax,
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  within Hartford HealthCare to be, next month,
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  my twenty second year anniversary. So we have
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  an amazing organization,
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  48,000
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  colleagues
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  who work across our organization, and, just an
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  absolute blessing to be part of it. Absolutely.
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  Well, that's amazing to hear. And, you know,
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  I think to to get us started off,
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  could you tell us a little bit more
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  about the scope of Hartford HealthCare? What's really,
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  commanding most of your time and attention as
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  a leader today? You know, Hartford HealthCare, our
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  ambition is to be the nation's most consumer
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  centric health system. So we are challenging ourselves.
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  We're working to disrupt the status quo.
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  We need to become something very different. And
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  in health care, our focus is around access,
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  affordability,
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  health equity, and quality, and we're challenging ourselves
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  to really reinvent the health system so that
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  we can make dramatic improvements. And and I
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  believe this is the moment to do it.
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  That's amazing to hear. And, you know, especially
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  when you think about,
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  this last year has been marked with a
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  lot of rapid change.
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  How are you, thinking through the decisions or
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  or pivots that are required, for most leaderships
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  to have, conviction in what you're doing, and
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  particularly when it comes to aligning the people,
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  resources, and capabilities?
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  Like, in many ways, people are looking at
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  this moment, and they see the headwinds, and
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  they're not insignificant.
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  But if you can look beyond the headwinds
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  and you look on the horizon,
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  this is the best moment we've ever had
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  in health care. We've never been able to
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  get better faster than we can now, and
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  we're solving intractable
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  problems that have, you know, challenged us for
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  years and years, and today they can be
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  addressed. Mhmm. So I'm excited about what's happening
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  with AI, with machine based learning.
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  I'm excited with the opportunity
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  to, you know, use these technologies and capabilities
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  to really reinvent health care. So, this is
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  truly a wonderful moment.
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  That's fascinating to hear. And I know particularly
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  for Hartford HealthCare, recently, you announced a new
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  AI technology, patient GPT. Can you tell us
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  about that? What really difference that can make
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  for you and how you,
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  decided to bring it about? Sure. We're working
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  with a company, K Health, who invented,
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  and created
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  this this patient GPT,
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  and it is revolutionary. It's absolutely extraordinary. So
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  we've done pilots and research studies.
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  But this week, we, in fact, are rolling
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  it out now to our community as a
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  whole. It's amazing. It's an opportunity to educate.
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  It's an opportunity
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  to inform,
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  to answer questions,
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  to treat to facilitate care, to remove the
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  friction in health care in so many ways,
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  and to be available to the people we
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  serve twenty four hours a day, seven days
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  a week, and to eliminate so much of
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  the administrative
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  bureaucracy.
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  So I think it's a true game changer,
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  and it's about connectedness. Mhmm. And this is
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  how we're gonna make health care better, and
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  we move from being a sick care system
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  to a health care system.
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  That's amazing to hear. And, you know, certainly
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  becoming more of a health care provider in
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  in more of that proactive care is is
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  a huge change and and huge challenge as
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  well.
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  How did, you know, you really,
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  I guess, could you tell us about
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  a a challenge or, really a a moment
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  where you were able to make a decision
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  that really was, pivotal for you in the
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  last year? Look, Laura, I think many of
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  these innovations require degree of leadership courage Mhmm.
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  Because it's either to go the easier certainly
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  to go second, third, fourth, or fifth than
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  it is to lead. Mhmm. And,
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  from my point of view, right, we cannot
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  protect the status quo in health care. We
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  have to change it, and we have to
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  disrupt it. And in some ways, health care
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  is the best it's ever been if you
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  look at it from a quality and safety
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  standpoint, but yet at the same time, it
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  can get so much better.
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  So leading with something like patient GPT,
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  where inherently, it's new, it's different,
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  and you're gonna have to work through it,
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  and it's going to evolve. And if you
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  think more just for a moment about the
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  iPhone Yeah. Right today, we look at the
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  iPhone, and most of us would say it's
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  it's essential.
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  Think about when it was version one point
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  o, not version 18.8
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  or whatever it may be today.
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  All technology grows and it evolves and processes
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  improve. We're at the early stages in health
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  care today, but it takes the courage to
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  start the process, to get it moving,
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  which then will compound over time, and it
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  keeps getting better. And that's what I'm so
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  excited about because it's actually, these initial improvements
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  are phenomenal.
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  Mhmm. But in two, three, four, five years,
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  I mean, it's probably unimaginable how good it
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  will
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  be. And it's crazy to think about how
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  vast the technology is changing and how rapidly,
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  it's growing and evolving within this space. And,
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  you know, I'm I'm curious. How does all
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  this change impact your decision making, talent, or
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  organizational readiness? What does that look like for
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  you? How do you think about that from
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  the executive level? Yeah. Laura, we're sitting here
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  in the events hall during the Becker's meeting,
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  in Chicago,
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  and we are surrounded
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  by rows and rows and rows of incredible
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  emerging companies
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  who are presenting some, you know, tremendous innovations.
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  So it is difficult because you have to
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  know what matters most. We have to be
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  discerning.
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  We have to be able to prioritize.
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  We've gotta be very thoughtful because we can't
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  do all things. We have to know
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  what matters most, how it aligns with our
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  purpose in the strategy of the organization. So
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  that's what I'm excited about. I mean, I
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  see so much innovation. I see so much
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  development around us, and all of it is
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  well intentioned, and all of it is working
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  to make health care better, better for the
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  people we serve and care for.
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  I love that. That's so helpful to understand
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  and really think through that lens of leading
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  the organization no matter what, is happening around
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  you and what challenges occur. Now I wanted
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  to ask you as well about labor and
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  workforce, a huge topic for so many health
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  care leaders right now. As the labor mark
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  markets remain tight and and care demands continue
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  to grow, how are you rethinking traditional workforce
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  models, including maybe greater use of international or
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  or con
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  other types of talent to build resilience rather
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  than just fill gaps? First of all, we
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  have the most amazing people, and we work
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  hard every day to invest in our people
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  and to provide training and development and growth
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  and support,
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  and and balance
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  Mhmm. So that we can maintain and build
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  an incredible workforce.
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  And we have to work to continue
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  to have our own people re recruit, like,
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  more people into the organization.
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  But it is so crucial because in order
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  to continue to grow and advance our capabilities,
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  our services
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  expand what we have to offer. We have
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  to make sure that we have the most
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  highly trained, skilled, devoted workforce
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  who have that discretionary effort who are invested
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  in the organization. Mhmm. And that's really about
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  culture. Mhmm. So we have to have a
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  great culture that people feel heard, that people
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  heard feel seen,
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  and that people feel they can impact, right,
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  their work. Mhmm. So it is about culture,
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  and it's about supporting our people every day.
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  I love that. And, you know, how would
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  you describe Hartford HealthCare's culture? What do you
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  really see it as being, you know, embodied
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  by the whole organization and and, what makes
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  it special? Laura, first of all, with culture,
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  right, they're never stagnant.
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  They're always moving. It's not a static thing.
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  So cultures have to be nurtured every day.
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  They have to be invested in. They have
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  to be grown, and they have to be
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  supported.
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  We have an amazing culture. Mhmm. And our
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  culture is really one where we we have
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  leadership behaviors.
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  We have committed values
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  that are deeply embedded in the organization.
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  We have a culture that focuses on innovation.
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  We have a culture that's willing to fail
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  forward. Mhmm. We have a culture that doesn't
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  assign blame but sees problems as opportunities.
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  And we have a culture that that is
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  really aligned around community and purpose. Mhmm. We
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  know why we exist. We don't have an
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  identity crisis. Mhmm. And we value and respect
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  our culture and our people above all else.
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  I love that. That's amazing to hear. You
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  know, really, really important as you're thinking through
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  the leadership and and development of the organization,
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  how it continues to evolve and grow.
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  And I'm curious, where do you believe leaders
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  need to be more decisive today, especially
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  when they're balancing speed, risk, and having the
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  right team in the right place? I think
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  I I think,
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  all leaders in every institution has to really
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  have a great understanding and a really clear
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  appreciation about the direction that it's heading, what
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  it's working to accomplish.
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  Like, in our organization, as I said earlier,
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  we have an ambition to be the nation's
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  most consumer centric health system. So every investment
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  we make, every decision, you know, every programmatic
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  consideration,
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  it's made with that in the forefront.
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  So I think it's very important that that
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  organizations have clarity of purpose, that they don't
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  have an identity crisis, that they know who
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  they are and what they're working to accomplish,
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  and that they have very clear values that
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  they're true to. And when those things are
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  in place,
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  then then then an organization or an individual
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  leader can be decisive
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  and can be clear because they do it
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  with great confidence. They do it with great
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  conviction.
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  That makes a lot of sense, and it's
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  helpful to understand how you think through that
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  and what it really looks like in practice.
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  Now before we wrap up, I'm curious as
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  certain uncertainty has become more of the norm
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  today.
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  What leadership habit or mindset has been most
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  critical in keeping Hartford HealthCare and your people
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  moving forward?
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  I think it's, again, clarity of purpose. Like,
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  in my organization,
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  we talk about a two, e two, access,
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  affordability,
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  health equity, and excellence.
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  And our the the the, paradigm that we
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  look at in many ways is we've made
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  great improvements in this area, but we aspire
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  to be the best at getting better. Our
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  job is to be better tomorrow than we
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  are today, better to be next next year
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  than we are this year. Mhmm. So we
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  recognize that the areas around access, it takes
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  too long for people to see providers. Care
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  is too fragmented.
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  It's not navigated at the level it can
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  and should be. It's not nearly as personalized.
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  We recognize issues around affordability have to be
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  tackled. Right? We cannot see health benefits, you
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  know, increasing at levels beyond what wages go
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  up each year. We recognize in health equity
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  that, you know, people's life expectancies can't be
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  determined by the ZIP code they live in
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  with, you know, massive discrepancies.
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  And finally, the thing we call never events
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  still happen. So for us, what I think
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  most important, we know what we're working to
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  accomplish. We know what our purpose is, and
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  we know what we're driven by, and we
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  hold ourselves accountable to it. So, to me,
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  that's most important because you can't get where
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  you want to if you don't know where
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  you're going. In this institution, my situation, we
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  know where we're going, and we work hard,
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  and we measure that progress daily, and we're
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  very aligned with our purpose.
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  Well, Jeff, thank you so much for joining
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  us on the podcast today. This has been
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  an amazing conversation. I appreciate your time and
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  look forward to connecting with you again soon.
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  Thank you, Laura. Thank you to Becker's. What
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  you guys do here, convening
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  thousands and thousands of people and such a
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  cross section of people from the industry, the
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  energy here is palpable.
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  And we're all working to learn from each
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  other. This is what it's all about.