Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Driving Value Through Digital Transformation at Jefferson Health with Dr. Luis Taveras

Transcript

Driving Value Through Digital Transformation at Jefferson Health with Dr. Luis Taveras · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  This is where health care leadership comes together.
• 0:04
  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500
• 0:07
  hospital and health system executives and nearly 800
• 0:10
  speakers to Chicago
• 0:12
  April.
• 0:14
  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,
• 0:22
  visit beckershospitalreview.com
• 0:25
  and click on the events tab in the
• 0:26
  upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
• 0:29
  in Chicago.
• 0:31
  This is Laura Dirdo with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:34
  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
• 0:36
  doctor Luis Tavares, executive vice president and chief
• 0:39
  digital and information officer at Jefferson Health. Luis,
• 0:41
  it's a pleasure to have you on the
• 0:43
  podcast today.
• 0:44
  It's great to be back. Great talking to
• 0:46
  you today.
• 0:47
  Oh, absolutely. I always appreciate our conversations because
• 0:50
  I think you've got such a a great
• 0:52
  energy and passion for what you do and
• 0:53
  certainly are on the forefront of a lot
• 0:55
  of the things that are happening in health
• 0:56
  technology today. So I'm excited for our conversation.
• 0:59
  But before we dive in, for those who,
• 1:01
  you know, are just starting to listen to
• 1:03
  Becker's Healthcare podcast, could you tell a little
• 1:05
  bit more about yourself and your background?
• 1:08
  Yeah. So I've been in health care. I
• 1:10
  hate to go back and think of it
• 1:11
  since 1987.
• 1:12
  So I've seen lots and lots of changes
• 1:14
  in health care. I have been a CIO
• 1:17
  for the last twenty five years, almost twenty
• 1:19
  six now.
• 1:20
  And I've been in various systems throughout the
• 1:23
  Northeast.
• 1:23
  Jefferson certainly being the the largest one and
• 1:26
  the most comprehensive one that I've worked for.
• 1:29
  But I've seen lots of changes from and
• 1:31
  I've mentioned before on the podcast from the
• 1:34
  time that
• 1:35
  IT was in the basement next to the
• 1:37
  morgue
• 1:38
  to now to the point where as a
• 1:41
  chief data information officer, I sit at the
• 1:42
  top, on the Top Floor. Right? So it's
• 1:44
  been lots of great changes and many, many
• 1:47
  things happening throughout those many years that I've
• 1:49
  been involved.
• 1:51
  Well, that that's great to hear. And, you
• 1:53
  know, I know Jefferson is a really unique
• 1:55
  organization,
• 1:56
  with just many facets and continues to grow.
• 1:59
  How many hospitals do you have now? What
• 2:01
  what it all comprises, what you're overseeing there
• 2:03
  on the digital front?
• 2:05
  So we're now at 34 hospitals,
• 2:08
  but Jefferson Enterprise is bigger than that, which
• 2:10
  is we have three lines of business, if
• 2:12
  you would, from that standpoint.
• 2:14
  It's the university,
• 2:16
  it's the health plan, and then there's the
• 2:19
  health delivery organization, which is the largest component
• 2:22
  of it. But those are three parts of
• 2:23
  the organization,
• 2:25
  and I oversee IT for all three parts.
• 2:28
  Oh, that's
• 2:29
  amazing. And, you know, I can imagine never
• 2:31
  a dull moment,
• 2:32
  for sure.
• 2:33
  So when you think of back of the
• 2:35
  last year or so, could you tell me
• 2:36
  about the most important initiative that you led?
• 2:38
  What did you do, and what were the
• 2:39
  results?
• 2:41
  So the the most important initiative really was
• 2:44
  continuing the integration
• 2:46
  of the Lehigh Valley Health Network and Jefferson,
• 2:50
  because we came together eighteen months ago now.
• 2:53
  We spent a lot of time
• 2:55
  making sure that we brought the teams together,
• 2:58
  that we merged the technologies, that we built
• 3:00
  the environment that was safe.
• 3:02
  Lots of focus on cybersecurity
• 3:04
  for both organizations and now the single organization.
• 3:07
  So, really, the biggest part
• 3:09
  was from that organization
• 3:11
  governance standpoint
• 3:12
  and implementing a lot of the process that
• 3:14
  we have today
• 3:15
  to make sure that we're making the right
• 3:17
  investments in the right solutions that are gonna
• 3:19
  bring the biggest value to the organization.
• 3:21
  And that's what we are. We're really focused
• 3:23
  on being a value organization.
• 3:25
  I mentioned before in other podcast that I
• 3:28
  don't think of
• 3:29
  IS and T, our organization,
• 3:31
  as a cost center like some people think
• 3:33
  about. We are a value center.
• 3:36
  The organization chooses to invest in the solutions
• 3:38
  that we provide, and we need to bring
• 3:40
  value back to the organization as a result
• 3:42
  of that investment.
• 3:45
  I love that. I think it's, so important
• 3:47
  to have the big picture in mind and
• 3:49
  thinking through, you know, what you need to
• 3:51
  do in order to continue to grow together.
• 3:53
  I know, having that systemness at Jefferson is
• 3:56
  very important and then becoming
• 3:58
  a value creator for the organization overall right
• 4:00
  now. When you think about especially putting together
• 4:03
  that governance structure and,
• 4:06
  making sure you're pulling through everything you need
• 4:08
  in order to become that value center, what
• 4:10
  did that look like for you? How are
• 4:11
  you able to, pull those things together then
• 4:14
  really make sure,
• 4:15
  all branches of the organization were able to
• 4:17
  follow them?
• 4:19
  So it really starts with creating that strategic
• 4:22
  plan, and that was the focus of the
• 4:24
  first three months together.
• 4:27
  And we put together a strategic plan that
• 4:29
  defines a a
• 4:31
  very clear journey
• 4:33
  from where we were at that point, which
• 4:35
  is really more of a reactive organization,
• 4:38
  to
• 4:39
  an operational excellence stage. And then our final
• 4:42
  journey is getting to being a high performance
• 4:45
  organization.
• 4:47
  Creating that vision over the next five to
• 4:49
  seven years,
• 4:50
  building the
• 4:51
  the the parts of the plan that says,
• 4:54
  here's how we're gonna get from here to
• 4:56
  there. And the critical part of that is
• 4:58
  the governance model.
• 5:00
  Making sure that everybody understands
• 5:02
  how we're gonna evaluate
• 5:04
  what comes our way, especially today with AI.
• 5:07
  Right? We're getting so many requests from everybody.
• 5:09
  What's the process for evaluating that this is
• 5:12
  the right solution that we should be invested
• 5:14
  in? That's very well defined.
• 5:16
  Engaging
• 5:17
  all parts of the organization
• 5:19
  in those decisions because the last thing that
• 5:21
  we want is for IT to be making
• 5:24
  those decisions.
• 5:26
  We're a services organization.
• 5:28
  We have to listen to what people want
• 5:30
  and satisfy those needs, but never forget that
• 5:33
  we're not an IT organization. We're a health
• 5:35
  care organization,
• 5:36
  and we're here to make sure that we
• 5:38
  provide the best health care to our patients
• 5:40
  and the best service to our members and
• 5:42
  students that we have. So we enable that
• 5:44
  to happen.
• 5:46
  We don't do IT and technology for technology
• 5:48
  and IT sakes. We do it because it
• 5:50
  means something to the business.
• 5:53
  I love that. I I think it makes
• 5:54
  a lot of sense. You know, it's really
• 5:55
  helpful to understand how you
• 5:58
  then dovetail in what you're doing on the,
• 6:00
  IT side into the strategic plan and everything
• 6:03
  that really makes Jefferson go. Now looking ahead,
• 6:06
  what are some of your big priorities and
• 6:07
  headwinds that you're focused on for 2026?
• 6:11
  I think the biggest one, and maybe a
• 6:14
  lot of people will be able to relate
• 6:15
  to this, is is just managing,
• 6:18
  AI
• 6:19
  and the impact that AI is going to
• 6:22
  have in everything that we do. But to
• 6:25
  do it in a way that
• 6:27
  we we always have a human involved in
• 6:30
  what AI does.
• 6:32
  AI is just another tool that our humans
• 6:34
  will do to make themselves better, to make
• 6:36
  the department better, and as a result, make
• 6:39
  the entire organization better. But we always have
• 6:42
  to have that human in the middle, especially
• 6:43
  when it comes to clinical solutions.
• 6:45
  We need to make sure that a clinician
• 6:48
  initiates the action,
• 6:49
  that AI is a tool that is used
• 6:51
  to accomplish what's what's planned to be accomplished,
• 6:54
  and that the clinician
• 6:55
  checks the results of that AI input
• 6:58
  before they act. So we always have a
• 7:01
  person
• 7:01
  in the middle of of the AI solution.
• 7:03
  But that that's the biggest thing, just managing
• 7:05
  that environment, continue the integration.
• 7:08
  But a lot of the integration work is
• 7:09
  revolving around how do we use AI, how
• 7:11
  do we manage AI across the organization.
• 7:15
  That's helpful to understand. And, you know, I
• 7:16
  think AI is so much on the tip
• 7:19
  of everyone's tongue today, especially in health care.
• 7:21
  And when you're looking at, you know, everything
• 7:23
  that it could do,
• 7:25
  what are some of the applications that you're
• 7:26
  most excited about? Where do you see being
• 7:28
  really spaces where AI can make a big
• 7:31
  difference, you know, even over the next couple
• 7:33
  of years?
• 7:35
  So on the operational side,
• 7:37
  definitely in revenue cycle, and the whole revenue
• 7:40
  cycle process.
• 7:41
  The other part is looking at enterprise share
• 7:44
  services and looking where we can streamline how
• 7:47
  we deliver those services to the organization.
• 7:50
  But the biggest bank is definitely gonna be
• 7:52
  on the clinical side.
• 7:54
  And the solution that is is making the
• 7:57
  biggest impact right now is Ambient.
• 8:00
  We started deploying Ambient in 2025.
• 8:03
  We started with the physicians, and we we
• 8:05
  have now moved on to, nursing.
• 8:07
  And I think the impact on nursing is
• 8:09
  gonna be equally as large and is, impactful
• 8:13
  as it was for the physicians.
• 8:15
  We're seeing the nurses be much more efficient
• 8:18
  in the way they document.
• 8:19
  We're seeing the nurses be much more conversant
• 8:23
  with their patients, which is absolutely critical.
• 8:26
  So it's it's gonna be many, many benefits
• 8:29
  associated with
• 8:30
  AI in the nursing space,
• 8:32
  same as we're seeing on the physician space.
• 8:36
  Got it. That makes a lot of sense.
• 8:37
  And, you know, I think when you're looking
• 8:39
  at AI and looking at, you know, everything
• 8:42
  that has the potential, I know there are
• 8:43
  risks too. Are there any,
• 8:45
  you know,
• 8:46
  I guess, challenges or things that make you
• 8:48
  nervous about bringing additional AI into the organization?
• 8:51
  How do you make sure, you know, the
• 8:52
  data is being used in the way it's
• 8:53
  supposed to be and and leveraged correctly?
• 8:57
  So the the area that we're very focused
• 8:59
  on because it is an area of concern
• 9:02
  is the development of agents.
• 9:04
  And how do we develop agents? How do
• 9:06
  we deploy agents? Especially in the clinical space,
• 9:09
  we have to make sure that there's no
• 9:11
  bias, that there's no harm to our patients,
• 9:13
  and that we're doing this exactly the way
• 9:15
  that we expect to do it and that
• 9:17
  the results that we're gonna get are the
• 9:18
  results that we're gonna that we expect. So,
• 9:21
  agents is something that we have to really
• 9:23
  manage.
• 9:24
  We definitely see a lot of value in
• 9:26
  the creation of various agents. We've seen the
• 9:28
  benefits of those agents already,
• 9:30
  but it needs to be carefully managed. Not
• 9:33
  everybody should be able to develop agents that
• 9:36
  are unchecked.
• 9:37
  So we have to make sure we have
• 9:38
  a process for validating that the agents are
• 9:41
  doing what they're supposed to be doing and
• 9:44
  that they're they'll cause no harm or
• 9:46
  create any cybersecurity
• 9:47
  concerns for us.
• 9:49
  That's so helpful to understand. And, you know,
• 9:52
  it's definitely,
• 9:53
  the the challenge there, being able to leverage
• 9:56
  AI correctly while also, you know, especially in
• 9:58
  the clinical setting, make sure there's not any
• 10:01
  of the biases or or the things that
• 10:02
  could cause harm. Now what do you think
• 10:05
  the hardest thing you'll have to do in
• 10:06
  the coming year will be?
• 10:08
  In in this year,
• 10:11
  the biggest thing is gonna be
• 10:14
  really continuing the the integration, but also
• 10:18
  begin to harmonize the processes that we have
• 10:21
  and rationalizing
• 10:23
  the environment. When we bring two organizations
• 10:25
  as large as Jefferson and we have our
• 10:27
  network together,
• 10:29
  we have a lot of duplications in terms
• 10:31
  of applications,
• 10:32
  in terms of infrastructure.
• 10:34
  And we've done really well with that, but
• 10:36
  we still have a a long way to
• 10:37
  go in terms of making sure that we
• 10:39
  streamline
• 10:40
  the process that we have, streamline the technologies
• 10:43
  that we have, and that we have the
• 10:45
  right number of applications in place, not like
• 10:48
  we started with, you know, lots and lots
• 10:50
  and lots of applications.
• 10:51
  So that's gonna be a big process that
• 10:53
  we have to continue, that rationalization process.
• 10:57
  Got it. That makes a lot of sense.
• 10:59
  And, you know, I I think it seems
• 11:01
  like there'd be a lot of benefits to,
• 11:03
  obviously,
• 11:05
  eliminating those duplications and and getting the rationalization
• 11:08
  right. But what does it take in order
• 11:09
  to do that? What type of resources from
• 11:11
  your team as well as the organization overall
• 11:14
  when you're looking at, you know, such an
• 11:15
  important thing that you need to do?
• 11:18
  So, really, our team is
• 11:20
  guiding and assisting in those, but we really
• 11:23
  have to stay focused on the departments and
• 11:26
  the folks that are gonna be the end
• 11:28
  user, the end result of those, rationalization process.
• 11:31
  For example, in the credentialing space, we're working
• 11:34
  very, very closely with the the medical leadership
• 11:37
  to make sure that we have a credentialing
• 11:39
  process that is the same throughout and that
• 11:42
  we're using the same solution to manage those
• 11:44
  processes.
• 11:45
  Right? So it's it's it's us working very
• 11:49
  closely with everybody out there to make sure
• 11:51
  that we are doing the right thing and
• 11:53
  rationalizing the environment,
• 11:55
  and then us providing the support to make
• 11:57
  sure the solutions that we provide
• 11:59
  for the final process, the final, ways that
• 12:01
  we're gonna do things,
• 12:03
  is exactly what the, the organization wants.
• 12:07
  Absolutely. I think that makes a lot of
• 12:09
  sense and is helpful to understand. Now before
• 12:11
  we wrap up here, I wanted to just
• 12:13
  touch on growth. Where do you see some
• 12:14
  of the best opportunities for organizational growth going
• 12:17
  forward?
• 12:18
  Oh, in terms of growth, obviously, we have
• 12:20
  a a great growth strategy. We've grown quite
• 12:23
  a bit in the last ten years,
• 12:25
  and we're still looking for ways to continue
• 12:28
  to grow. But, really, the focus is much
• 12:30
  more on making sure that what we have
• 12:33
  to get together to today,
• 12:35
  the 34 hospitals, the university, the health plan,
• 12:38
  that we fully, fully integrate those,
• 12:41
  vertically optimize those, but horizontally
• 12:44
  look across and see how we can leverage
• 12:46
  every part of the organization to make Jefferson
• 12:48
  better.
• 12:50
  I love that. Luis, thank you so much
• 12:52
  for joining us on the podcast today. This
• 12:53
  has been such a fun conversation. You know,
• 12:55
  it's always so informative to speak with you,
• 12:57
  and I look forward to seeing you as
• 12:59
  well at our annual meeting. I know you'll
• 13:00
  be speaking on a panel and, really bringing
• 13:02
  some of your expertise around technology, AI, and
• 13:05
  and strategic growth, to that. So excited about,
• 13:08
  you know, seeing you then, and and it'll
• 13:10
  be great to connect.
• 13:11
  Thanks, Laura. We'll see you. Thanks so much.