Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Expanding Ambulatory Care to Meet Central Ohio’s Growth with Jess Pfister
Transcript
- 0:02- There's a small circle of people who truly
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- 0:50- This is Alan Condon back with another episode
- 0:53- of the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. And today, I'm
- 0:56- thrilled to be joined by Jess Pfister,
- 0:59- senior director of operations for ambulatory services at
- 1:02- the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Jess,
- 1:07- a real pleasure to have you join us
- 1:09- on the podcast today, making your debut podcast
- 1:11- appearance, I believe.
- 1:13- For those of our listeners who aren't as
- 1:15- familiar with you and the fantastic work that
- 1:17- you and your colleagues do at OSU Wexner,
- 1:20- do you mind sharing a little bit more
- 1:21- about your role and your background at the
- 1:23- health system before we get started?
- 1:25- Sure. Yeah. And and of course, thank you
- 1:27- so much for inviting me. I really do
- 1:29- appreciate it.
- 1:31- So
- 1:32- I am actually a speech language pathologist by
- 1:35- trade.
- 1:36- And I started my career in Texas, and
- 1:39- I've
- 1:40- been back in Ohio, which is my home
- 1:42- state, for a decade now.
- 1:44- And,
- 1:45- I started out with the Wexner Medical Center
- 1:49- as
- 1:50- just a staff speech pathologist.
- 1:52- I kind of started my career over
- 1:55- again when I got back to Ohio
- 1:58- and,
- 1:59- over time pursued my MBA through the Fisher
- 2:01- College of Business at Ohio State
- 2:04- and then, landed a really amazing role as
- 2:07- the Director of Operations
- 2:09- of our Ohio State Outpatient Care New Albany
- 2:12- in 2021, and I'm sure we'll talk a
- 2:14- little bit about that site today.
- 2:17- And, I was overseeing that location
- 2:21- for the past five years, four and a
- 2:23- half years,
- 2:24- and then,
- 2:25- was given an awesome opportunity
- 2:29- in a new position. And so now I
- 2:31- am the senior director of operations, and I
- 2:33- oversee
- 2:34- the Ohio State
- 2:36- outpatient care centers,
- 2:39- for our medical center, which includes about 12
- 2:41- locations.
- 2:43- Hey. Fantastic. Love that kind of brief intro
- 2:45- and excited to dive in.
- 2:47- Columbus, an area I'm a little bit familiar
- 2:50- with. I was there recently for a book,
- 2:51- guys, on Who's Yours Game. But for our
- 2:54- conversation today
- 2:55- focusing on the health care, I know, fantastic
- 2:58- city,
- 2:59- an area that I believe that is expected
- 3:01- to see
- 3:02- rapid kind of population growth over the next
- 3:04- few years.
- 3:06- Jess, can you can you talk a little
- 3:07- bit about how that kind of market growth
- 3:11- impacts the way you think about ambulatory strategy
- 3:13- at your health system?
- 3:15- Absolutely. And I appreciate the question. It's one
- 3:18- we're talking about a lot. You know, the
- 3:19- the region overall is really projected
- 3:22- to add nearly a million people,
- 3:24- and really that's driven by, you know, economic
- 3:27- development and and technology investment. A lot of
- 3:30- people know about Intel coming in our backyard,
- 3:33- but
- 3:34- that's really over the next decade
- 3:36- or more, but that kind of growth really
- 3:38- fundamentally changes how healthcare systems have to think
- 3:41- about
- 3:42- access and infrastructure,
- 3:44- workforce,
- 3:46- and for this conversation, you know, our ambulatory
- 3:48- strategy.
- 3:49- And for us, I would say that probably
- 3:51- really centers on two main things. I think
- 3:53- it's about creating access
- 3:55- and also integrating
- 3:57- thoughtfully
- 3:58- within the communities we serve.
- 4:01- And,
- 4:02- we recognize our patients are increasingly
- 4:05- expecting healthcare
- 4:06- to be you know, convenient and accessible.
- 4:10- They want it close to where they live
- 4:11- and work,
- 4:12- and they want it to be easy to
- 4:14- navigate.
- 4:15- And so as our population really grows in
- 4:18- Columbus, especially in our suburban corridors, we really
- 4:21- have to proactively plan infrastructure
- 4:24- and access points before that demand might really
- 4:28- peak.
- 4:29- I think, you know, the other things I'd
- 4:31- tell you, Alan, is we're really thinking beyond
- 4:34- just adding square footage though. Right? For us,
- 4:36- this is about
- 4:37- patient flow.
- 4:39- The other important piece is workforce sustainability.
- 4:42- It's really how is care being coordinated
- 4:45- across the continuum in such a large enterprise
- 4:48- like ours.
- 4:49- Mhmm. Yeah. So that kind of three pronged
- 4:52- approach you said, Jess, access,
- 4:54- infrastructure,
- 4:55- workforce, we're seeing more of these
- 4:57- complex kind of procedures, high acuity, high complexity
- 5:00- procedures moving away from the hospital
- 5:03- towards some of these outpatient settings.
- 5:06- Can you talk a little bit about
- 5:08- your strategy in terms of the migration of
- 5:10- a lot of these procedures out of the
- 5:12- hospitals
- 5:13- and towards these ASCs, surgery centers, outpatient settings?
- 5:16- I think in terms of kind of topically
- 5:18- integrating those procedures,
- 5:21- more and more as they as they migrate
- 5:22- out to the outpatient settings.
- 5:24- Yeah. Absolutely.
- 5:26- You know, so ambulatory has really evolved for
- 5:28- us over time and and it was
- 5:31- it really kind of picked up the pace
- 5:34- when we opened Ohio State Outpatient Care New
- 5:36- Albany in 2021. And so that was our
- 5:38- first sort of flagship
- 5:40- of this new model,
- 5:42- this thought of all of your health care
- 5:44- in one spot. Right? So you you walk
- 5:46- in our doors and you can get everything
- 5:48- from primary care to we have an urgent
- 5:50- care, we've got a retail pharmacy,
- 5:53- we've got, you know, OBGYN
- 5:55- and specialty services and and our ambulatory surgery
- 5:58- center there. And so, just really this idea
- 6:02- of all your care in that one spot.
- 6:04- And so that was twenty twenty one, and
- 6:06- then 2022
- 6:08- was Outpatient Care Dublin on the West Side,
- 6:11- and now we're finishing up construction on our
- 6:14- third site, which is Ohio State Outpatient Care
- 6:16- Powell. And that location is very much looks
- 6:19- and feels the same in some ways
- 6:22- as the other two, and that opens in
- 6:24- August '26 here. So, just around the corner.
- 6:28- And, you
- 6:29- know, for us, what we've learned is is
- 6:31- that patients deeply value having that comprehensive care
- 6:35- available
- 6:37- in in really that one convenient location.
- 6:40- And the hubs create, you know, greater access
- 6:43- and
- 6:44- also are an awesome opportunity for really critical
- 6:48- services,
- 6:49- like, I'll tell you, our advanced urgent care.
- 6:51- So, that service, advanced urgent care, is one
- 6:54- that we started
- 6:55- when we opened outpatient care in New Albany.
- 6:58- It's the idea of a cross between an
- 7:00- ED and an urgent care, and that you
- 7:02- can get about
- 7:04- 80%
- 7:05- of the services you would get in an
- 7:07- ED can happen in that space.
- 7:09- And it's always staffed for us with a
- 7:12- ED trained nurse practitioner, an ED trained provider.
- 7:15- And what I mean by that is they
- 7:16- actually rotate from our main campus, you know,
- 7:19- and that's really important for us. But that's
- 7:21- been an incredibly
- 7:23- valuable service. I mean, I have
- 7:25- an endless number of just personal stories of
- 7:28- friends and family members who have used that
- 7:30- service for care. But also, these sites have
- 7:33- given us the opportunity for the first time
- 7:35- when we opened New Albany for an ambulatory
- 7:37- surgery center.
- 7:39- And so,
- 7:40- you know,
- 7:41- these in New Albany and Dublin, it's offered
- 7:43- an opportunity
- 7:45- to try to move these less critical cases
- 7:48- out of our main house where we really
- 7:51- need to keep our OR access open as
- 7:53- we are a trauma one center and really
- 7:55- for more critical cases.
- 7:57- And so, that's been a really valuable service
- 7:59- to sort of release a little bit of
- 8:01- the pressure valve. But I'll also add for
- 8:03- you, you know, it's a joke for us
- 8:05- at Ohio State, you know, parking is always
- 8:07- key. You know, these are sites that have
- 8:09- free parking. We're reducing the navigation complexity that
- 8:12- often is found when you get a service
- 8:15- closer to our main campus.
- 8:17- And it's really become
- 8:19- comfortable and familiar for our patients to be
- 8:22- able to come to these sites. And so
- 8:24- it's been a win for us
- 8:26- overall.
- 8:28- I'll tell you the one other thing, Alan,
- 8:30- and I'm
- 8:31- speaking from, I will be honest, a very
- 8:33- biased,
- 8:34- place.
- 8:35- But is our central services at the site
- 8:38- and also that director of operations role. So,
- 8:41- at these big box sites, what we looked
- 8:43- at was, hey, this offers an opportunity for
- 8:46- us to take
- 8:48- things that really are are not as much
- 8:51- in the scope for the clinical staff, things
- 8:53- like ordering supplies
- 8:55- and navigating some of the IT stuff and
- 8:58- really building a strong centralized model. So we
- 9:00- have
- 9:01- a support team at each of these sites
- 9:03- and that's there's a central registration team,
- 9:06- there's the central facilities team, supply chain and
- 9:10- logistics,
- 9:11- environmental services,
- 9:13- security,
- 9:14- and IT.
- 9:15- And each of those departments,
- 9:17- those leaders at the heads of those departments
- 9:19- in ambulatory,
- 9:21- they all have you know, it's not their
- 9:23- first rodeo. They helped us open New Albany,
- 9:25- and they are overseeing Dublin, and they'll help
- 9:28- us oversee Powell. And so we're really learning
- 9:30- together,
- 9:31- and they have been so crucial in supporting
- 9:34- our clinical teams to do what they do
- 9:36- best.
- 9:37- And so the other element I'll tell you
- 9:39- that we've seen really be beneficial in these
- 9:40- big box sites is this development of the
- 9:43- director of operations role.
- 9:45- So we had never had that before, and
- 9:47- and, you know, as as many people are
- 9:49- probably familiar, usually in the ambulatory
- 9:52- environment, you have somebody who's the building leader,
- 9:55- and maybe that's the person you call, you
- 9:57- know, who helps keep the lights on, right?
- 9:58- And or, you know, you need something specific
- 10:01- with the facility itself.
- 10:03- This was a different role, and the major
- 10:06- differentiator
- 10:07- for us is this is really the leader
- 10:09- who's the operational quarterback for the site.
- 10:12- They're the connector for the clinics. They're driving
- 10:14- team culture.
- 10:16- They're leading communication.
- 10:18- They're really ensuring that the providers and staff
- 10:20- are informed regarding the site and community updates
- 10:23- as well. And so they're the liaison both
- 10:26- internally for the rest of the enterprise as
- 10:28- sort of like the representative for the site,
- 10:30- but also externally within the community.
- 10:33- And so we've just seen tremendous value in
- 10:35- having someone who's focused not just on the
- 10:37- operations,
- 10:39- but also culture,
- 10:41- collaboration,
- 10:43- and community engagement. So this is somebody who's
- 10:45- really
- 10:46- owning that and and really ensuring that the
- 10:49- the whole ship is steering in the right
- 10:51- direction, if you will. And so, for us,
- 10:53- this has been incredibly beneficial.
- 10:56- We're seeing,
- 10:57- just huge gains for us in terms of
- 10:59- new patients coming out of these sites, meaning
- 11:02- a patient walks through the doors of these
- 11:05- big box sites for the first time, and
- 11:07- a lot of times it's their first time
- 11:09- ever experiencing
- 11:10- the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. And
- 11:13- so when we get that first experience right,
- 11:15- you know, it it just really makes a
- 11:17- difference in terms of who they think about
- 11:19- the next time they need care.
- 11:21- Yeah. No. I feel it's fascinating to kinda
- 11:23- hear about some of that specific on outpatient
- 11:26- growth strategy, the leadership structure kinda being implemented
- 11:28- across the board there. I I think one
- 11:30- thing I'm really curious about, you kind of
- 11:33- alluded to it there in terms of OSU
- 11:35- X and they're opening several of these large
- 11:37- big box campus campuses, excuse me. But I
- 11:40- know freestanding cancer and other especially big box
- 11:43- facilities are really becoming more prominent, not just
- 11:45- in Ohio, but really across the the country.
- 11:48- From your perspective, what role do you see
- 11:50- these
- 11:51- highly specialized outpatient centers, whether that's ortho, cancer,
- 11:56- GI? How could be what role do these
- 11:57- type of highly specialized centers play in your
- 11:59- broader growth strategy going forward over the next
- 12:02- few years?
- 12:03- Yeah. That's a great question. I think we're
- 12:05- really gonna see that for this newest site
- 12:07- that opens in August, outpatient care Powell,
- 12:10- because that facility is a little different than
- 12:12- New Albany and Dublin.
- 12:14- For a while, I kept saying outpatient care
- 12:16- Powell is like the porridge is just right.
- 12:19- And then what I meant by that is
- 12:20- like we learned a lot of lessons from
- 12:21- New Albany and Dublin.
- 12:23- And so Powell was our chance to sort
- 12:24- of expound on those and sort of, you
- 12:26- know, copy paste all the best elements.
- 12:30- But we changed a lot of our strategy
- 12:32- around Powell, and part of that is is
- 12:34- sort of what you're describing.
- 12:36- You know, our James Cancer
- 12:38- Hospital and and the James,
- 12:40- and Sullivan Institute is internationally
- 12:43- recognized in terms of its reputation.
- 12:46- And in part with that, you know, there's
- 12:48- also, as we all know,
- 12:51- there's the fact that cancer rates continue to
- 12:53- rise nationally,
- 12:54- and so the demand for oncology services continues
- 12:57- to grow. And so, at outpatient care Powell,
- 13:00- to be honest with you, we were actually
- 13:02- 50%
- 13:03- into the build for that before we sort
- 13:05- of shifted some of our strategy and said
- 13:07- we need a larger cancer presence here than
- 13:10- we were initially planning on. And so, the
- 13:13- whole 4th And 5th Floors of the medical
- 13:15- office building at outpatient care Powell are going
- 13:18- to be all cancer services
- 13:20- and include
- 13:21- dozens of infusion bays for oncology, and that
- 13:24- is huge for us. I mean, that's the
- 13:26- first time that we've ever done anything like
- 13:28- that. And so, for us, expanding that specialized
- 13:31- outpatient care is going to be essential
- 13:34- if we want to be the healthcare system
- 13:37- of choice across the region and beyond.
- 13:40- And so,
- 13:41- it's really important in terms of the oncology.
- 13:44- We continue to think about
- 13:46- them and that service line more and more
- 13:49- as we're looking throughout the communities, and what
- 13:52- are we going to build, and what is
- 13:54- the right mix there.
- 13:56- You know, and as you know, oncology care
- 13:58- really isn't just a single service line. It's
- 14:00- gonna involve the surgery and infusion, as I
- 14:02- mentioned. There's the imaging, rehabilitation,
- 14:05- we've got clinical trials.
- 14:07- And so, that outpatient model, when we can
- 14:09- be really in the community
- 14:12- and integrate so many of those services,
- 14:15- what we're also offering is a lot more
- 14:17- coordinated
- 14:18- and patient friendly experience.
- 14:22- Yeah. And it's fascinating to kinda hear along
- 14:24- with kinda Columbus's
- 14:26- population growth, the demand for some of these
- 14:28- specialized services, and how you're really trying to
- 14:30- proactively
- 14:31- build capital, build a hope and spark model
- 14:33- to really coordinate around this patient care.
- 14:35- Jess, I guess one quick follow-up question on
- 14:37- that as I'm curious about OSU Wexner, a
- 14:40- huge leader, obviously, in the in the Columbus
- 14:42- space, but it's a it's a rapidly growing
- 14:44- market. There's a lot of competition in that
- 14:46- market as well.
- 14:48- How do you really differentiate,
- 14:50- OSU Wexner's ambulatory network in such a booming
- 14:54- market, in such a competitive market? You've talked
- 14:56- a little bit about it already, but I'm
- 14:57- just curious. Anything else to add there?
- 15:00- Yeah. I appreciate that. I mean, what I
- 15:03- would tell you is for us, this is
- 15:05- about
- 15:06- where we're at is having
- 15:08- providing
- 15:09- world class care
- 15:11- where people live and work. And what I
- 15:13- mean by that is we have just incredible
- 15:17- experts,
- 15:18- providers,
- 15:19- physicians,
- 15:20- researchers,
- 15:22- true experts in their field who are providing
- 15:25- care in this area. And so our strategy
- 15:28- is not just about
- 15:30- the next square footage to grow and grow
- 15:33- and grow. It's very thoughtful growth for us,
- 15:36- and it's ensuring that we're
- 15:38- meeting the needs for the communities that we
- 15:42- and what we hear from them.
- 15:44- You know, for
- 15:45- so many so much time, so many decades,
- 15:48- Ohio State Wexner Medical Center provided care really
- 15:52- centralized to the Ohio State campus,
- 15:54- and and that was the model. And so
- 15:57- for us, this is this is a different
- 15:59- wave. It's we're getting out into these communities.
- 16:02- We're deepening
- 16:03- our relationships
- 16:05- with community members,
- 16:07- with local government, and we're really asking and
- 16:10- and better understanding what those needs are. And
- 16:13- so, it's a whole different
- 16:15- playbook for us in terms of really thoughtful,
- 16:19- engagement. And and I think what I would
- 16:21- tell you about that is, you know, for
- 16:23- us, it's less about this transactional,
- 16:27- quantitative
- 16:28- growth.
- 16:29- It's really about
- 16:31- transformational,
- 16:33- qualitative
- 16:35- build and relationships.
- 16:36- And and we would argue that
- 16:40- that grows and gains for us tenfold,
- 16:44- versus maybe another playbook and strategy.
- 16:47- And so where I am just truly excited
- 16:50- to see kinda what what's ahead for us.
- 16:52- Yeah. I think, and that ties nicely into
- 16:56- my last question for you, Jess, which, if
- 16:58- you'll humor me, it's a little bit of
- 16:59- a crystal ball question. But
- 17:02- if we're to fast forward, say, twenty, thirty,
- 17:04- four or five years down the line, what
- 17:06- will ambulatory care look like at OSU Wexner?
- 17:09- From your perspective, what will determine whether this
- 17:12- expansion strategy was truly successful and transform transformative
- 17:17- over the next few years. So I'd love
- 17:18- to hear your perspective on that. Oh my
- 17:20- gosh. Great question. So
- 17:22- I think you're gonna see an even greater
- 17:24- ambulatory presence across Central Ohio from us. You
- 17:28- know, and again, that means being present in
- 17:30- these communities where people live, work, and raise
- 17:32- their families.
- 17:33- But success
- 17:35- is really gonna come down for us to
- 17:37- access, you know? And so,
- 17:39- a lot of where we've been expanding has
- 17:41- been across the northern portion of the area,
- 17:44- but we are thoughtfully and intentionally looking at
- 17:48- Southern and Southeastern communities within Central Ohio.
- 17:51- And, you know, our success is gonna come
- 17:54- down to that access. Can patients get the
- 17:56- right care
- 17:58- at the right time in the right setting
- 18:01- with as seamless of an experience
- 18:04- as possible.
- 18:05- And so success is just it's not just
- 18:08- gonna be about, again, more square footage or
- 18:10- opening buildings, it's gonna be about thoughtfully filling
- 18:14- these locations
- 18:15- with meaningful patient access,
- 18:18- improving community health,
- 18:21- attracting new patients,
- 18:23- and continuing to create experiences where patients really
- 18:26- wanna continue to receive care within that system.
- 18:28- And so, you know, for us, it's also
- 18:30- again, everybody's talking about this in healthcare's workforce.
- 18:33- So it means building environments where caregivers and
- 18:36- and physicians and staff, they really wanna work
- 18:39- and collaborate in these spaces. And and I
- 18:41- I think we're truly on to something,
- 18:43- and I'm I'm truly excited about it. So,
- 18:46- you know, I think all I have to
- 18:48- say on, I think our goals, it's not
- 18:49- just to simply grow for growth's sake. This
- 18:52- is about creating a health care system that's
- 18:54- more accessible,
- 18:56- more connected,
- 18:57- and it's more responsive to the communities that
- 19:00- we serve. I see. Jess, I think, fascinating
- 19:02- to kinda get the inside track into what's
- 19:04- going on at OSU ex Wexner. Sounds like
- 19:07- a huge, huge strategy, huge undertaking on your
- 19:09- hands, but, you know, I'd have to do
- 19:10- another podcast in four or five years maybe
- 19:12- to see whether that strategy was truly successful
- 19:14- and transformative. No doubt. I'm sure it will
- 19:16- be. Jess, your debut podcast appears with us.
- 19:19- Thank you so so much. We greatly appreciate
- 19:20- it and look forward to catching up with
- 19:22- you down the line. Awesome. Thanks, Alan. Appreciate
- 19:24- you.