Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / Omkar Kulkarni, VP and Chief Transformation & Innovation Officer at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Transcript

Omkar Kulkarni, VP and Chief Transformation & Innovation Officer at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

• 0:00
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  in the description. We are excited to welcome
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  you in October.
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  This is Laura Doodo with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:25
  podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Omkar
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  Kulkarni,
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  chief digital officer and chief transformation officer at
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  Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Omkar, it's a pleasure
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  to have you on the podcast today.
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  Thanks for having me.
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  Now I'm really excited to talk with you.
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  I know there's so much happening in the
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  digital space, IT, technology, and then, you know,
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  transformation that how hospitals and health systems are
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  going through right now is really quite significant.
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  But before we dive into my questions, can
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  you tell me a little bit more about
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  yourself and your background?
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  Sure. So I have been at Children's Hospital
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  Los Angeles for a little over 5 years,
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  and I've led the innovation function, the digital
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  strategy, and the office of transformation,
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  in my time here. I also have the,
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  the
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  privilege of running our KidsX
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  Accelerator program, which is a digital health innovation
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  program,
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  focused on pediatrics, and we collaborate with 32
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  children's hospitals from across the country and actually
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  a few from around the world,
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  to collaborate to to drive digital innovation in
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  pediatrics.
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  Prior to my time at Children's, that that,
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  time at other health systems in in New
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  York and in Los Angeles,
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  driving,
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  you know, performance improvement, innovation,
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  different kind of activities, all kind of focused
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  around the same
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  general theme, which is solving big complex problems
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  in health systems and health care delivery. And
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  so
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  I love what I do, and it's it's
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  a fun job. And it's,
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  it'll be fun to talk a little bit
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  more about,
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  about the things we're working on now.
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  Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, what a fascinating career journey.
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  And, you know, when you look at where
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  you're at today at Children's Hospital Los Angeles,
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  what are some of the big opportunities that
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  you have? What are you most excited about?
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  And then, 2, the headwinds that you have
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  your eye on right now.
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  So I think the, you know, the,
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  reality that we're all facing
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  is that,
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  you know, as we come out of the
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  pandemic,
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  our
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  health systems
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  you know, the way we operate in our
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  basic,
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  kinda cost structure
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  is is under a bit of stress and
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  is across all health systems.
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  You know, our our revenues are generally,
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  you know, fairly flat, you know, unless something
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  dramatic has changed. And and even then, it's
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  it's you know, there's there's there's always pressures
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  to kind of,
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  from a reimbursement perspective as it relates to
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  as it relates to health system revenue.
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  But as has been well documented, the the
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  based on the market staffing shortages and and
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  a lot of other factors coming out of
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  the pandemic, you know, expenses for health systems
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  have have gone up,
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  largely
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  due to labor.
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  And, you know, that creates
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  margin pressures.
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  You know, many of us have thin margins
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  to begin with. I think they continue to
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  be thin
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  as we, you know, exit the pandemic a
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  bit.
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  And the way the reason that's important is,
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  you know, as you think about digital, as
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  you think about transformation, as you think about
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  innovation, it really it's really centered around a
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  lot of that. Right? I mean, we're trying
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  to
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  we're trying to enable the health system to
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  really thrive and achieve its big strategic goals.
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  And its strategic goals and priorities right now
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  are very much reflected on kind of the
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  the the the challenges around staffing, the challenges
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  around growing expenses
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  and costs,
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  and the reality that we're, you know, trying
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  to,
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  you know, grow
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  as as health systems. But in the pediatric
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  market specifically,
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  for example, in California,
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  you know, the the
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  population of pediatric patients seeking kind of inpatient
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  care continues to decline. There's there's,
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  you know, lots of lots of data showing
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  that kind of pediatric,
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  you know, inpatient
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  discharges and inpatient care
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  nationally and even in our region,
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  you know, it it's it's shifting away from
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  that inpatient care. So we're we're all trying
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  to figure out how to do it. I
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  think the exciting part is that,
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  is that,
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  you know, digital and innovation
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  are great
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  strategies to help us achieve that.
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  That's such a great point. And, certainly, you
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  know, looking at where the trends are headed
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  and and for hospitals and health systems to
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  really be
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  functioning in a way that's,
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  serving their patient populations well.
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  What do you think from your vantage point,
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  is, you know, ways that you can,
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  think about growth and adding value to the
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  health system overall? How do you do that
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  as a chief digital and transformation officer?
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  What does that really look like?
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  Well, I think, you know, at its core,
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  what we're trying to do is find ways
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  to leverage technology
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  to
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  solve really complicated
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  problems for our health system. And, you know,
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  as I as we were just talking about,
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  as an example, one of them is around
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  growth. Right? So how are we going to
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  leverage technology to attract new patients, to retain
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  patients,
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  to ensure that patients who are coming to
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  see us have a great experience, that they
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  come back, that they, you know,
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  talk about the the positive experience to others.
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  At the end of the day, you know,
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  we provide an important service to our community,
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  and that service is one that we want,
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  you know, as many people to access as
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  possible.
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  So, you know, digital is a great tool
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  to increase access and and attract and retain
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  patients. And so
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  we're always thinking about how we can leverage
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  the tools in our toolkit
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  to to do that. You know, we use
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  a product lens at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
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  When we think about transformation, we think about
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  innovation.
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  By that, I mean, you know, products
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  are, at least in my head, bringing together
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  people, process, and technology to solve a need
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  for a customer or end user. So in
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  our case, the customer is often the patient
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  or the family, the parent,
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  or sometimes the provider or the the staff
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  member, depending on what the actual thing is
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  we're working on. And so our goal is
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  to really orient all of our work, all
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  the things we're doing towards developing and, you
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  know, putting out the best products that,
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  really people who are using them love to
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  use.
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  The more they really engage in them and
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  they really find them valuable to their individual
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  lives, the more likely they are to use
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  them to their fullest capacity, which means that
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  we're gonna generate the most value out of
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  these products we're bringing to our patients, families,
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  and and staff.
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  Absolutely. That that's a really great point, and
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  I love that focus both internally and externally
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  too on the patients and their families. Now
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  when you're looking at both sides, how do
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  you make sure you're getting feedback and constantly
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  iterating on what you're doing in order to,
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  you know, get the the best, I guess,
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  product possible.
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  What does that look like, and how do
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  you move from the beginning of a project
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  to all the way through to where it
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  is today?
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  I mean, it really starts with understanding who
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  the right who the customers are for any
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  given,
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  any given product and really making sure we
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  have a full
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  breadth of the different types of customers that
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  exist. So even, you know, amongst our population
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  at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the
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  the the patients and families are very diverse
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  and,
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  have different, you know, perspective. They come from
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  different parts of the city. They come, you
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  know, with their own kind of set of,
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  you know, personal experiences they're bringing with them,
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  And we need to understand those. We need
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  to really deeply understand those so that we
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  can build design and develop a solution
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  specifically that's going to cater towards our broader
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  population. Because, you know, when you do that,
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  you get better adoption, and adoption is really
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  the value of of, you know, digital innovation.
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  So
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  so we we start with with deep kind
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  of discovery of kind of who our customers
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  are and and end users are, what their
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  what their, you know, experience is today, what
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  their journeys look like today given the existing
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  part of what we're trying to build for.
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  And then we learn throughout that process what
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  they're doing, and and then we we we
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  engage deeply with those customers
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  through and those end users throughout the product
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  development cycle
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  to think about how we can,
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  how we can solve specifically for that population.
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  And I think sticking to that and building
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  metrics around that and really orienting all of
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  our work towards
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  the the the end user as a central
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  part of that,
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  kind of product development journey is really crucial.
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  And we we stick to that as as
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  as closely as we can on all of
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  our products.
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  Absolutely. I love that. Thank you so much.
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  Now I know as you mentioned a little
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  bit earlier in the conversation, obviously, there are
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  a lot of challenges right now for hospitals
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  and health systems in general,
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  whether it's staffing,
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  shortages, or,
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  some of the other challenges with inflation and
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  the economy and whatnot. So when you look
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  at where we're at today, resources, obviously, are
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  are very valuable, especially in health care. So
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  what do you see as one investment or
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  risk that's still worth making this year even
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  given, you know, the the way that, a
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  lot of organizations are having to cut back
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  just a bit?
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  I mean, I think,
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  you know, it it's
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  instead of giving you, like, a technology answer,
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  I'll give you kind of the the problem
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  that I think we need to solve for.
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  And I think the problem
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  is a long term problem, and it's around
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  staffing. So, like, our traditional health delivery models
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  have involved, you know, a certain number of
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  staff providing a certain amount of care to
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  a certain number of patients, and a lot
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  of it a lot of it is live,
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  synchronous,
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  you know, and it's pretty much unchanged for
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  years, right, decades maybe, in terms of doctors,
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  nurses, therapists,
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  pharmacists kind of collaborating to deliver care.
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  It's often very episodic
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  and
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  and our reimbursement structures and others kind of
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  guide through that. But I think the challenge
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  is that we know,
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  you know,
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  given staffing challenges, given kind of data and
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  always coming out around kind of
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  the challenges we have in that space, it's
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  something that we need to think about. So
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  how can technology could you answer your question
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  around investment? How can we leverage and invest
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  in technology that's going to make it
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  possible for our clinical
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  health system to provide care,
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  great quality care,
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  perhaps with limited staffing. Right? So is there
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  ways to augment the staff leveraging technology like
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  artificial intelligence, decision support, you know, various kind
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  of algorithms that can support kind of co
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  pilot, the the clinical care team?
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  Is there ways to do asynchronous, you
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  know, care
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  delivery?
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  Again, we we have to think about how,
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  we can provide the same level of care
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  for, you know, a growing need of health
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  care,
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  with less, you know, with less people than
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  we probably had in the in the staffing
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  side of the equation 10 years ago. Right?
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  So I think technology is gonna that's gonna
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  be the key investment that we make is
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  how we can leverage technology to to plug
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  in there.
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  You know, a quick example, we've invested in
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  our you know, we we put we we
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  we we partnered with a company to to
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  put have a robot, that, you know, that
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  walk that roams around Children's Hospital Los Angeles
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  and delivers medication from the pharmacy to the
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  nursing unit.
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  Well, a year ago, there was a person
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  doing that, a few people doing that. And,
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  you know, we we given our challenges, we
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  can now have those people do other things
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  and have this robot, you know, do this
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  task just as well,
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  you know, and and leverage technology that way.
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  So what's one example of many that you
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  could think about how technology can can be
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  inserted
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  to help not help manage the realities of
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  our future staffing,
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  challenges?
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  Absolutely. Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense.
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  You know, it's just,
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  so fascinating to think about that robot going
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  through the hospital and doing, you know, that
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  job. Is how how do the staff like
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  it? Is that something that the kids also
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  see too, or or what's that like?
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  Yeah. The kids they're definitely public facing. So
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  kids see it. They love it. We've heard
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  lots of stories about this story I had
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  the other day about this this child
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  and his dad who would follow the robot
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  around even had even had nothing to do
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  with like, the the he just he was
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  so curious about the robot. He would just
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  kinda follow the robot around, and,
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  whenever the whenever they return, they would see
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  the child kind of looking from a distance
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  because he's so fascinated. So, yeah, I mean,
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  there's there's been some great stories about how,
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  in addition to everything else in terms of
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  efficiency and
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  and and all of that, that it's actually
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  added a great kind of experience to the
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  kids in the hospital. So,
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  definitely happy about that. Yeah. Absolutely. I have
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  a almost 7 year old son, and I
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  can imagine if he were there, he would
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  have a 1,000,001 questions about how the robot
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  worked and he'd be very curious about it
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  too. So that's fantastic to hear.
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  Yeah.
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  As we wrap up our our conversation, I'm
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  just wondering, looking ahead into the future, you
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  know, where do you see as some of
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  the best opportunities for growth and development,
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  for your department, the teams you work with,
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  and the hospital overall?
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  Well, so what I would say is, you
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  know, there there continues to be this kinda
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  gap in terms of
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  funding we have towards pediatric innovation and pediatric
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  digital innovation specifically.
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  And so, you know, my hope is that
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  as we continue to,
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  you know, think about how we wanna invest
• 13:43
  as a nation, as a kind of as
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  a community in our in our, you know,
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  innovative innovative technologies and solutions,
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  let's pay more attention to pediatrics. I mean,
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  they've been well documented in the last year.
• 13:56
  There's a crisis going on in pediatric mental
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  health.
• 13:59
  Adolescents and teenagers and young adults are experiencing
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  really high levels of,
• 14:06
  you know, mental health,
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  challenges.
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  And we just don't have the infrastructure as
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  nor as a country to really properly navigate
• 14:16
  and and and meet the needs of these
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  kids.
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  You You know, these kids turn into adults
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  and the adults turn into seniors. So this
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  is this could be a problem for a
• 14:22
  long time if we don't address it. And
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  I think the the way to one of
• 14:25
  the ways to address it is going to
• 14:27
  be to be innovative around how we, you
• 14:29
  know, do everything from screen to to diagnose
• 14:32
  to treat,
• 14:34
  these these children who have anything. But in
• 14:37
  this example,
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  you know, mental behavioral health
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  challenges they're they're facing. So
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  that's my hope, and I'm hoping that we
• 14:44
  can, you know, collectively invest more and more
• 14:46
  in pediatrics and and children, and see the
• 14:49
  dividends pay off in the long run.
• 14:53
  Absolutely. And that's such an important issue that
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  I know you just brought up in terms
• 14:56
  of the pediatric mental health. It's something I
• 14:58
  feel like every day we have new studies
• 14:59
  on just the challenges and the breadth and
• 15:01
  the depth of the problem and trying to
• 15:03
  reach the these kids who have been so
• 15:06
  impacted by the pandemic and everything else that's
• 15:09
  happening in the world. So, I love that
• 15:11
  there's efforts and investments in doing more with
• 15:13
  that and really,
• 15:15
  making that a a top priority. It just
• 15:17
  seems like, it'll be so important for us
• 15:20
  down the line.
• 15:22
  Absolutely.
• 15:23
  Well, Omkar, thank you so much for joining
• 15:25
  us on the podcast today. This has been
• 15:27
  such a fun and interesting conversation, and I'm
• 15:29
  excited to have you as well. Speaking at
• 15:31
  our health IT digital health and revenue cycle
• 15:33
  event in October, I think, you know, a
• 15:35
  lot of these themes we'll talk about and
• 15:37
  especially looking at some of the digital innovations
• 15:40
  and and leveraging technology for better patient care.
• 15:42
  So I'm excited to hear more from you
• 15:44
  at that point.
• 15:46
  I'm looking forward to being there and and
• 15:48
  sharing more of my perspective. Thank you for
• 15:50
  having me.
• 15:55
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