Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Dan Hackner, MD, Chief Clinical and Academic Officer, Southcoast Health

Transcript

Dan Hackner, MD, Chief Clinical and Academic Officer, Southcoast Health · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

0:02
This is where health care leadership comes together.
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Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500
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hospital and health system executives and nearly 800
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speakers to Chicago April.
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This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas
0:17
Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former president George
0:20
w Bush. For the agenda and event details,
0:23
visit beckershospitalreview.com
0:25
and click on the events tab in the
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upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
0:29
in Chicago.
0:32
This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
0:34
podcast.
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I'm thrilled today to be joined by doctor
0:37
Dan Hackner, chief clinical and academic officer at
0:39
South Coast Health. Doctor Hackner, it's a pleasure
0:42
to have you on the podcast today.
0:44
Oh, it's a pleasure to join you, Laura.
0:47
Absolutely. Well,
0:48
thank you again for your time. I think
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it's always great to have you on the
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line and speak with you about what's happening
0:54
at South Coast Health. But before we dive
0:56
into our broader conversation, I am curious. Can
0:58
you tell us a little bit more about
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yourself,
1:00
your organization?
1:01
What is, you know, kind of the state
1:03
of the union for South Coast Health?
1:06
Sure.
1:07
I'm Dan Hackner, chief clinical and academic officer
1:10
at at South Coast Health.
1:12
South Coast is a not for profit health
1:14
system in Southeastern Mass and Rhode Island. We
1:17
serve a catchment of about 700,000
1:19
patients.
1:21
We operate in three Massachusetts
1:23
hospital along
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a picturesque Buzzards Bay and the surrounding areas
1:28
between Cape Cod and Newport.
1:30
In the center is New Bedford.
1:32
It's the busiest fishing port on the East
1:34
Coast.
1:35
And you may have seen Fall River, one
1:37
of the other, cities, featured in the Amazon
1:40
commercials.
1:41
We're an integrated CMS four star health system
1:44
with two cancer centers,
1:46
level two trauma center, a brain and spine
1:48
center, memory clinic, body center of excellence, and
1:51
a really strong heart center
1:53
with high performing SDS threes,
1:57
surgical programs, and interventional programs.
2:01
The system is also one of only about
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two dozen college of health care
2:05
information management executive CHIME level 10
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most wired systems in the country.
2:11
And we also have an ACR,
2:13
AI center of excellence. So it's a little
2:16
bit unusual as a community system.
2:18
I'm in my seventh year at South Coast,
2:20
and I oversee clinical excellence. I'm a clinically
2:23
active
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board certified internist, pulmonologist,
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and critical care physician.
2:29
My interest over the years have been in
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physician performance management,
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and I've published on on that.
2:36
So this population health
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care management.
2:40
I went to school at UC Berkeley at
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Stanford and the Marshall School of Business at
2:44
USC,
2:45
and I trained at UCLA and Cedars for
2:49
medicine and pulmonary and critical care. I also
2:51
did a health services fellowship at Cedars.
2:55
For a number of years, I also coedited
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the popular ACMA
2:59
Compass program for physician advisors
3:02
and was one of the original editors of
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the care management physician certification
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examination.
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I regularly teach on resilience at sites like
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Harvard Chan School of Public Health and UMass
3:15
Chan Medical School, and I have an appointment
3:17
as the associate professor at UMass Chan.
3:20
So that's a little bit about me and
3:22
South Coast.
3:25
That's amazing to hear. And, you know, what
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incredible experience.
3:29
I I was curious. What initiative has been
3:32
most important that you led this last year?
3:34
What did you do, and what were the
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results?
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So this past year culminated a multiyear effort
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on performance and reporting.
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It resulted in the second star rating upgrade
3:47
in the past, two, three years,
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as well as our 2025
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NRC award for excellence in patient experience.
3:55
And we're so proud of all the folks
3:57
that have worked multi years to achieve,
4:01
these results this past year.
4:03
Now the work is data driven,
4:06
employs, you know, robust process improvement approaches, you
4:09
know, familiar to most organizations.
4:13
And for us, it requires that balance
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between hardwiring
4:18
technology, but also a deep attention
4:21
to human factors
4:22
work.
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So whether
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you're wandering from a digital whiteboard,
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that transparently
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maps patients' throughput
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and progression of care huddles that occur every
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day at eleven in every unit,
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or you
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come across
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our daily safety huddles every morning where our
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staff physically gather
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and and share,
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the good and the bad,
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celebrate harm avoidance or report issues without, you
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know, any fear or any worry,
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or you go to one of our recognition
5:01
programs for excellence
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in compassionate care.
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All of these, elements,
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share a common thread, you know, concurrent data,
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engaged discussions, and empowerment
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to lead.
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So we're really proud of landing results this
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past year,
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but it you know, it's a multi multiyear
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effort.
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In the coming year, we're also proud that
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over a third of our board scorecard will
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be quality and experience metrics. So
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the board really supports,
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these initiatives.
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That's amazing to hear. And, you know, certainly,
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I'm just impressive to think about that turnaround
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and the ability to
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use the data, gather it, and then incorporate
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it into,
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everyday workflow so that you can really improve
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that process of care and the outcomes
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at the same time. What was it like
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for you to,
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you know, build up this new capability?
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Were were the was the team pretty accepting
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of the technology and new processes, or, did
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it take some time to really
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get to the place where you wanted to
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be?
6:09
Yeah. I'll be very honest. Early on, there
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were some folks who were worried about
6:15
this deeply data driven approach. Were folks ready
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to accept,
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concurrent data?
6:22
Were they able to? You know, were board
6:24
members prepared
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and
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were leaders willing to accept,
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you know, some hard data that is tough
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to to face?
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And it's really been a joy seeing,
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the organization,
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people grow,
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the the data
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readiness
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and literacy
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improve.
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When we have a board quality and safety
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committee and we put up a cause and
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effect diagram, a fishbone diagram,
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this is not a surprise. This is something
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as expected by board members
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using
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debriefings
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and validated approaches
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to,
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safety improvement.
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These are embraced by by our staff and
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our leaders in the field.
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And and it really is a joy,
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to see,
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say, a professional practice nurse,
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lead one of these debriefings
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and expanding the number of folks who can
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run RCA
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initiatives.
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So it's,
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it requires
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trust. It it requires
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working through our our comfort,
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or discomfort
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and,
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and and a commitment to, you know, psychological
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safety,
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a culture of safety.
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But in the end,
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you know, for folks who enjoy this delayed
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gratification, there there is definitely gratification in in
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the end and seeing
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these community teams advance the mission.
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I love that. That's so helpful to hear,
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and thank you for digging a little bit
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deeper there. Now looking ahead, what are some
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of the big priorities and headwinds you're focused
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on for 2026?
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So in the coming year, you know, we're
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excited about some important growth research and innovation
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initiatives.
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So South Coast will embark on an ambitious
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capital enhancement program in core areas
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such as heart and vascular, oncology, brain and
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spine,
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along with investments
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in our primary care providers.
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In our heart and vascular and oncology,
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we do anticipate ongoing double digit growth in
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in clinical research, and so those are very
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exciting.
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In the coming,
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year, we're also looking at growth of our
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innovation hub,
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compodio. You know, we'll be bringing to market
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exciting applications and data management
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built on
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our over ten years experience with epic and
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recognized
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excellence in in in digital management.
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Compodio will also launch products with partners such
9:17
as Avicare,
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on on topics such as cognitive dysfunction and
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dementia,
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support for caregivers.
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And,
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and and we'll be featuring
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our ability to integrate,
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applications and education
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within
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Epic MyChart,
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so that other organizations can easily adopt
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affordable solutions.
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The Compodio Hub,
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really taps into,
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you know, differentiating
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abilities at at South Coast
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and recognize
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strength and analytics as well.
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But it it's all advancing the mission,
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community care.
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Our tagline is advanced medicine or care in
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the community.
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I love that. And what a great example
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of the different ways you can create partnerships
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and find solutions to some really, really tough
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challenges within the health care landscape today. I
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think, especially when you look at research and
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and
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innovation initiatives, those are two things that aren't
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necessarily
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black and white all the time. And,
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being in that space right now in health
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care where you can be innovative and and
10:33
focus on your research too, I think is,
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incredible. So
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I'm curious. What are some of the the
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things that,
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you know, when you're looking at these partnerships,
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how do you see those the outcomes coming
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through, whether it's with Epic or or some
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of the others?
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What outcomes do you expect, and how do
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you really see,
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those initiatives playing out?
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So, you know, we're an interesting organization
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because we're we're a community system.
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We're not a traditional academic
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system, but it gives us,
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that perspective
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and also
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an understanding
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of what other community systems may lack.
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And so for instance,
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many community systems are migrating
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their legacy
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data systems,
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to either go on to Epic or some
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some other,
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dominant
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EHR.
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And South Coast has developed tools to do
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that,
11:36
and and being able to share that in
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the marketplace,
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and also,
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fund additional innovation
11:44
to support our mission.
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You know, it's it's an important
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endeavor. It's,
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it's also true that we've seen a gap
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in clinical areas.
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That, you know, we are guide,
12:02
program through CMS
12:04
providing dementia
12:07
support.
12:09
And,
12:10
it's it's based in our brain and spine
12:12
center, but we recognize that there was a
12:15
real gap in educating and supporting,
12:19
caregivers.
12:20
There was lots of information
12:22
on the web,
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very little vetted,
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and a lot of,
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information that was potentially harmful.
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And so we partnered
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with a provider
12:34
of educational content to develop an app that's
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not only freestanding but embedded
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into,
12:41
our MyChart
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EPIC patient facing
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portal.
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It also is available to,
12:50
you know, care
12:52
companions who may not have access
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to the EPIC portal
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because, you know,
12:58
they're not a proxy,
13:01
and they don't need to seek clinical information.
13:03
And so,
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doing that has filled an important gap. We
13:08
have a number of
13:10
folks who speak different languages on the South
13:11
Coast, a lot of Portuguese
13:13
speakers, a lot of Spanish speakers, and we
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made,
13:17
you know, the content available,
13:19
multilingually and also developed an affordable way with
13:22
a very robust translation service on-site
13:26
to do that for other,
13:28
applications.
13:29
And so those are just some examples of
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how
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we've taken our understanding of the community and
13:34
gaps,
13:35
married it with some capability on our side
13:37
or in partners,
13:39
and then and then awards to innovate. And
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we're looking forward to additional innovations in the
13:45
coming year through Compodio.
13:50
That's fantastic.
13:51
Amazing to to think about and look at
13:54
all those capabilities, especially as a community system.
13:57
As you mentioned, it's certainly a unique place
13:59
to be in.
14:00
I wanted to ask too,
14:02
as we're talking about the future, I know
14:04
there's a lot of uncertainties within health care
14:06
currently. So what do you think will be
14:08
the hardest thing that you'll have to do
14:09
in the coming year?
14:12
So we anticipate large headwinds in affordability
14:15
and eligibility for health insurance
14:19
in the coming year.
14:20
You know, even in Massachusetts,
14:22
which has been a leader in access to
14:24
coverage, we anticipate this is gonna be very
14:27
challenging.
14:29
You know, as other providers and many patients
14:31
experience
14:33
strains and even reduced services,
14:37
we anticipate,
14:39
ongoing growth in volume,
14:41
including patients who are new to South Coast
14:44
seeing us for the first time.
14:46
So we're committed to clinical excellence, and the
14:49
hardest thing will be maintaining access to patients
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early to avoid progression of disease and being
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left out in the cold by an increasingly
14:58
cold market.
15:00
We're commit committed to this community mission,
15:02
but, you know, we're clear eyed about,
15:06
how tough it may be in the coming
15:08
year.
15:12
Absolutely. I think that idea of access and
15:15
especially, as you mentioned,
15:16
seeing a a potential increase in patient demand
15:20
and need for patient services while at the
15:22
same time, you know, struggling to figure out
15:24
how you can reach those folks and provide
15:26
the needed care, I think is,
15:29
something that a lot of organizations are,
15:32
thinking about and trying to troubleshoot and understand
15:36
what they're gonna need to do,
15:37
in the next year. Is there anything new
15:39
you're going to try, or is that still
15:41
something you're working on with your executive leadership
15:43
team?
15:46
So,
15:48
you know, South Coast
15:50
recently released its,
15:52
its economic analysis of the impact to the
15:55
community,
15:56
but also joined with community partners
15:59
to look at
16:00
additional areas of collaboration.
16:04
Yeah. There are areas where we can be,
16:08
a site of delivery of clinical excellence, but
16:11
there are other areas where we can either
16:14
convene
16:15
or we can coordinate or we can navigate.
16:20
And and we're looking for those opportunities with
16:22
community partners.
16:25
It's it's really important to recognize this as
16:27
a community mission. And while we're, you know,
16:30
dominant in the market,
16:32
we are not the entire market, and
16:35
and and and we recognize the capabilities of
16:38
many excellent community based organizations.
16:41
So,
16:42
you know, our challenge is going to be
16:44
finding
16:45
those areas of common,
16:48
you know, common effort.
16:52
Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense.
16:55
Now before we wrap up here, I wanted
16:56
to ask about growth as well. Where are
16:58
some of the best opportunities that you're seeing
17:00
for organizational growth?
17:03
So, you know, we expect organic growth of
17:06
five to 10
17:08
in in our core areas.
17:12
However,
17:13
we see the best opportunities
17:15
in those collaborations
17:16
with health partners
17:18
that I mentioned. Some may be AMCs.
17:21
Some may be community based organizations,
17:24
such as FQHCs
17:26
and colleges.
17:28
Some may be,
17:30
companies and chambers of commerce, like our South
17:33
Coast One Chamber of Commerce. And in some
17:35
cases,
17:36
even state and local governments.
17:39
You know, we've been able to partner
17:41
with the city of New Bedford, for instance,
17:43
on innovative
17:45
recovery coaching
17:46
programs
17:48
and with a number of organizations
17:50
on,
17:52
neonatal
17:52
abstinence syndrome
17:54
and
17:55
and getting babies home with families
17:58
when
17:59
there's been exposure to,
18:02
substance use.
18:05
So there there are a number of areas
18:07
we see,
18:08
opportunity for growth.
18:10
And
18:12
we're looking very carefully where we have complementary
18:15
services, whether they be clinical navigation,
18:18
education, or research
18:20
because we recognize we can't do it all
18:23
by ourself.
18:25
We're looking for trusted,
18:28
open, and collaborative partners,
18:31
and and we want to be,
18:33
that trusted, open, and collaborative partner that's that's
18:36
easy to work with.
18:38
So a great example
18:40
is our multiyear partnership with Boston Children's Hospital,
18:44
including on-site faculty in emergency medicine hospital, medicine
18:48
family centered unit
18:51
care.
18:52
And that keeps,
18:54
families, children in the area
18:57
and also allows us access
18:59
to highly specialized tertiary
19:02
services should we need to
19:04
transport children
19:06
to Boston Children's facilities.
19:09
It's been incredibly
19:11
fruitful, and
19:12
and we meet quarterly to review our progress.
19:16
That's one of my favorite,
19:17
meetings.
19:20
Other examples
19:21
include our primary stroke
19:23
care
19:24
partnering with an LVOT center in the region.
19:28
We have really excellent services now available timely,
19:32
throughout the region.
19:34
And it's that recognition,
19:36
that you can do more together even sometimes
19:39
with competitors.
19:41
Definitely, our clinical trials, we're seeing gains.
19:46
We're not an AMC. We don't do early
19:48
phase trials. But by partnering
19:51
with an AMC, we get access to high
19:54
quality early phase trials.
19:56
And then on the education front,
20:00
you know, building the pipeline
20:02
of of our workforce,
20:05
we educate over 300
20:07
physicians,
20:08
nurse practitioners,
20:09
physician assistants, and nurses in collaboration with medical
20:12
schools,
20:13
colleges,
20:15
nursing programs,
20:17
and and other,
20:18
programs.
20:20
And those collaborations
20:22
are really essential for the the health of
20:25
the, you know, the workforce
20:27
in the future.
20:28
You know, we're seeing very low avoidable turnover,
20:32
in in our system,
20:34
but
20:35
it it requires work,
20:37
both on the experience side, but also these
20:39
collaborations
20:40
which enhance,
20:42
you know, the experience of the workforce.
20:47
That's amazing to hear. Doctor Heckner, thank you
20:49
so much for joining us on the podcast
20:50
today. This has been such an inspiring
20:52
conversation, and I look forward to seeing you
20:55
as well in April for our annual meeting.
20:57
I know you're gonna be speaking there, and
20:59
it'll be such a great opportunity to connect
21:01
and learn from one another and really dig
21:02
deeper into some of the challenges as well
21:04
as solutions that you've been talking about today.
21:06
So I look forward to that.
21:08
Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking forward to learning from
21:10
others at the meeting. It's it's a really
21:12
rich
21:13
meeting,
21:14
and and I always come away with something
21:17
able to bring back to the health system.
21:21
A good example of that is our electronic
21:23
whiteboards,
21:24
which came out of, a chance encounter,
21:27
and and being able to test some of
21:29
the technology.
21:31
So, really encourage folks to attend the conference.
21:34
It's a wonderful
21:35
conference.