Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Dr. David Marcozzi, Chief Clinical Officer at University of Maryland Medical Center and Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs at the School of Medicine
Transcript
- 0:01Every year, Becker's annual meeting brings healthcare leaders
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- 0:08And every year, those conversations shift in profound
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- 0:12This April, more than 3,500
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- 0:19Seven ninety five elite speakers will offer new
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- 0:29For the agenda and event details,
- 0:31visit beckershospitalreview.com
- 0:34and click on the events tab in the
- 0:35upper right.
- 0:38This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
- 0:40podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
- 0:42doctor David Marcozzi,
- 0:44chief clinical officer of the University of Maryland
- 0:46Medical Center and associate dean of clinical affairs
- 0:48at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
- 0:50Doctor Marcozzi, it's a pleasure to have you
- 0:52on the podcast today. Laura, thanks for thanks
- 0:54for asking me to be part of this.
- 0:56Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation because
- 0:59I know things are changing so quickly in
- 1:01the health care space, and I'm excited to
- 1:03learn more about some of the things you're
- 1:04doing at the University of Maryland. But before
- 1:06we dive in, can you tell me a
- 1:07little bit more about yourself and the health
- 1:09system?
- 1:11Sure. Well, as the chief clinical officer for
- 1:13the flagship
- 1:15academic medical center within our system,
- 1:17I work in partnership
- 1:19with our dyad my strongest dyad partner, our
- 1:22CNO, doctor Karen Doyle, on many portfolios
- 1:25that include clinical strategy,
- 1:27operations,
- 1:28quality, safety,
- 1:29graduate medical education,
- 1:31credentialing prefer of our providers,
- 1:34and candidly, physician alignment and care transformations
- 1:38across two campuses in our we have the
- 1:40medical center comprises two campuses and two in
- 1:43those campuses, there are two hospitals.
- 1:45So the work that I do services,
- 1:48for the for our flagship is one as
- 1:50one of the largest and most complex academic
- 1:53medical centers in the region. It delivers care
- 1:55to some of the highest acuity patients in
- 1:57the nation per Visient's q and a quality
- 2:00and accountability ranking.
- 2:01And my role
- 2:03bridges strategy and execution, partnering with physicians, nurses,
- 2:06operations, and analytics
- 2:08to translate organizational priorities into reliable, high quality
- 2:11care at the bedside.
- 2:13The medical center includes about 800 beds downtown
- 2:16and a 140 beds at Midtown. Those are
- 2:18the two campuses with over 1,200 attending physicians
- 2:22and close to 900 residents and fellows.
- 2:24We deliver highly specialized high acuity care spanning
- 2:28trauma, cancer, neurosciences,
- 2:30transplant, and more,
- 2:31and all of our physicians are faculty within
- 2:34the University of Maryland School of Medicine,
- 2:37tightly linking education discovery and care.
- 2:40We've got a high some high rankings, including
- 2:42our academic flagship scores very highly in the
- 2:45Visiant quality and accountability ranking in comparison to
- 2:47other academic medical centers.
- 2:49We've scored some of our specialties high on
- 2:52US News and World Report,
- 2:53and we're also very proud of our four
- 2:56time magnet designation,
- 2:58which is really among some very small percentage
- 3:00of hospitals across our nation for nursing excellence.
- 3:03So, Laura, a lot going on at the
- 3:05medical center, and thrilled to talk to you
- 3:07today.
- 3:08Well, that's amazing to hear. And and what
- 3:10a broad enterprise that, you have on Maryland.
- 3:13It is amazing to see all the different
- 3:15elements coming together and really truly serving the
- 3:18community in a strong way. Now when you
- 3:21think about the last year or so, could
- 3:22you tell us about an initiative that you
- 3:24led? What did you do, and what were
- 3:26the results?
- 3:27Yeah. You know, I'm gonna ask for some
- 3:29latitude. I'm gonna speak on not just one,
- 3:30but two. Our medical center is really focused
- 3:33on the highest delivery and the highest quality
- 3:34and the safest care, And we we started
- 3:37to implement a conceptual framework called HRO, high
- 3:39reliability
- 3:40organization,
- 3:41and really made it part of the fabric
- 3:43of how we deliver care,
- 3:45and made it essential to how we think
- 3:47about day to day practice. And that meant
- 3:49standardizing how leaders engage
- 3:51with safety data,
- 3:53responding to events rapidly,
- 3:55and escalating risk in accordance with our protocols
- 3:58and policies.
- 3:59This the we embedded the five principles of
- 4:02HRO into executive routines,
- 4:05unit level governance,
- 4:06and frontline workflows. So it went from the
- 4:09bedside to the boardroom.
- 4:11Practically, this included restructuring leadership safety reviews,
- 4:15clarifying escalation cascades,
- 4:18reinforcing just culture expectations, and holding dyads and
- 4:21triads. The The triads
- 4:23are nurse practitioners or PAs on units
- 4:26accountable for consistent safety behaviors at the unit
- 4:29and service levels.
- 4:31And this really anchored was anchored in a
- 4:33in a rollout that we were doing across
- 4:35our system, something called continuous learning for improvement,
- 4:39and that is education and applied
- 4:41using
- 4:43application strategies at the unit level and understanding
- 4:46lean lean strategies
- 4:48or,
- 4:49or performance improvement,
- 4:51educational training opportunities
- 4:53to be applicable at the line at the
- 4:56unit so we can have the greatest impact
- 4:58of where the work is done.
- 5:00The our results for HRO have been meaningful,
- 5:02and but we all know HRO is a
- 5:05never ending,
- 5:06effort. So we saw improvement in our safety
- 5:09reporting.
- 5:11We have,
- 5:12tangible examples of improved relationships between our dyads
- 5:15and triads and understanding what their priorities are,
- 5:19broader understanding of the data and more consistent
- 5:22leadership at the unit level, and then finally,
- 5:24very clear ownership of safety issues and faster
- 5:27escalation and resolution of risks.
- 5:31The la the second thing I'll talk to
- 5:32is about the work around access to the
- 5:35academic
- 5:35health system.
- 5:37This was a really major focus for our
- 5:39system and is particularly relevant for patients requiring
- 5:42highly specialized
- 5:43time sensitive care.
- 5:45As we are all experienced across our nation,
- 5:48really a supply and demand mismatch
- 5:50for health care demand,
- 5:53versus the the the supply that we have
- 5:56to provide that care. So we took that
- 5:58challenge head on by innovating how we move
- 6:01patients through the system
- 6:02to provide earlier access to academic level care
- 6:06with a specific focus on round trip transfers
- 6:10that enabled greater access
- 6:12to care
- 6:13without the constraint of an inpatient bed.
- 6:16And, really, over the past year, the medical
- 6:18center has managed hundreds of round trip transfers
- 6:21for a high acuity,
- 6:24high acuity care across our system.
- 6:26This was done through clear standards
- 6:29engaged to our physicians
- 6:30in how we're gonna do this. So there's
- 6:33clear expectations set.
- 6:35Really, we needed to improve our systemness, and
- 6:37we have very disciplined
- 6:39operational oversight.
- 6:40And of the 70 of of all of
- 6:42our requests that were that were made to
- 6:45the medical center, 70% of those requests
- 6:47for round trips were successfully completed. Some of
- 6:50them, the other 30%, some of them were
- 6:52not needed. Some of them we managed via
- 6:54telehealth.
- 6:55So we're really trying to think about a
- 6:57systematic way to get access to high acuity
- 7:00care that our medical center can provide, but
- 7:02not limited
- 7:03by bed capacity.
- 7:05And this has improved flow across our University
- 7:07of Maryland system
- 7:09and region, and it puts what we feel
- 7:11is that it puts care at the right
- 7:13location at the right time for our patients.
- 7:15So that's just two efforts that we've embarked
- 7:18on. We've embarked on a lot of efforts,
- 7:19but those are two I wanna highlight today,
- 7:21Laura.
- 7:23Well, that's amazing to hear. You know, both
- 7:25are impressive in terms of looking at the
- 7:26scale that it takes
- 7:28to, really have some of the those changes
- 7:31on the clinical workforce team, make sure they've
- 7:34got the right,
- 7:35structure in place for safety, reinforcing that culture,
- 7:38and bringing them all together for high reliability
- 7:41organization. And then secondly, looking at the things
- 7:43that you were talking about in terms of
- 7:45making sure expanding access to care, managing transfers,
- 7:48and and doing things a little bit differently.
- 7:50The results are impressive. I think in both
- 7:53cases, it seems like it took some change
- 7:54not only from the,
- 7:56process and and procedure side, but also I'm
- 7:59sure from the culture side and how, you
- 8:01know, the the,
- 8:03clinicians were approaching their work. So how do
- 8:05you do some of that change management with
- 8:07the broader teams and just make sure that
- 8:09everyone is on the same page and and
- 8:11doing the right things?
- 8:13Yeah. Clarity of expectations and roles was really
- 8:16one of those key fundamentals
- 8:18of who owns this,
- 8:20what is the work that needs to get
- 8:21done, how do we support that work to
- 8:23assure that the data is is understood,
- 8:26and then drive
- 8:28what I like the term I like to
- 8:29use quite often in many meetings that we
- 8:32have
- 8:33is decisive collaboration.
- 8:35So in academia and certainly academic medical centers,
- 8:38we we sometimes wonder who's making the decision,
- 8:41how is the decision made, and the process
- 8:43for that decision.
- 8:45And what we all have started to anchor
- 8:47on is we we embrace a who is
- 8:49the lead for this decision,
- 8:52how are we collaborating to make that decision,
- 8:55but we will make a decision to move
- 8:57forward in a and and allow us to
- 9:00continue to evolve, and we're not paralyzed by
- 9:02indecision.
- 9:03And that was really one of the things.
- 9:05And then when we put on that the
- 9:07priority of HRO,
- 9:09it was much clear understood from a structure
- 9:12standpoint
- 9:12how we're gonna make decisions and who's making
- 9:14them. From a process standpoint, a prioritization standpoint,
- 9:18what the process and the priority was, HRO
- 9:20and highest quality.
- 9:22And then the outcomes we're seeing throughout our
- 9:25hospital of folks understanding and escalating concerns,
- 9:28and it's having really a broad impact to
- 9:31patient care across our medical center.
- 9:33That's amazing to hear. Thank you so much
- 9:36for digging a bit deeper there. Now looking
- 9:38ahead,
- 9:39what are some of the big priorities and
- 9:40headwinds you're focused on for 2026?
- 9:43Yeah. Laura,
- 9:44Maryland is quietly doing what the rest of
- 9:47the country continues
- 9:48to think about,
- 9:50and we are using what's called the Maryland
- 9:52model, a waiver that was granted by the
- 9:54federal government, CMS,
- 9:56to support a statewide health care global payment
- 10:00and accountability
- 10:01system for our state's health care. And that
- 10:03has substantively
- 10:05shifted volume to value, and it has better
- 10:08aligned
- 10:09hospitals with physicians and communities.
- 10:11And the emphasis for this Maryland model has
- 10:14been around keeping people healthy,
- 10:16and assuring
- 10:17that our quality is the highest within our
- 10:19state. And lastly,
- 10:21our the Maryland model has demonstrated also it
- 10:24is starting to bend the cost curve, and
- 10:27Maryland continues to push that envelope forward. And
- 10:29in partnership with our federal government,
- 10:31we are we're gonna be soon,
- 10:34to innovate further than what we've done historically
- 10:37in the Maryland model and adopt
- 10:39the all pair evolution of the ahead model.
- 10:43For more than a decade, our state has
- 10:44demonstrated it is possible to control health care
- 10:47costs
- 10:47while improving quality and addressing population health outcomes.
- 10:52And that's a result that we feel as
- 10:54though many states and federal partners now view
- 10:56as a blueprint
- 10:57for national reform.
- 10:59The upcoming ahead model, I'll just quickly speak
- 11:01to that because a lot a lot of
- 11:03folks know about it, but our state is
- 11:05certainly embedded,
- 11:06in executing this successfully. The upcoming ahead model
- 11:10builds on the foundation of that Maryland model
- 11:12that I spoke to around total cost of
- 11:13care
- 11:14by providing and expanding the accountability beyond hospitals
- 11:18to total cost of care,
- 11:20quality, and equity across defined populations.
- 11:23It now makes even greater emphasis on prevention,
- 11:27care coordination,
- 11:28and appropriate utilization where that utilization
- 11:31is best
- 11:32served by the patient and the care providers.
- 11:34And finally, it holds systems accountable for those
- 11:37outcomes
- 11:38that extend far beyond simply the hospital walls.
- 11:41So really, Maryland is innovating. We realize ahead
- 11:44is a new frontier for us. It our
- 11:47Maryland model continues to evolve, and we think
- 11:50we serve as a potential,
- 11:52beacon for how we can shape health care
- 11:54delivery across our nation. So what's that mean
- 11:57for our our medical center?
- 11:59We're continuing to evolve how we deliver care.
- 12:01In fact, it's an imperative.
- 12:03Tighter clinical integration,
- 12:05stronger partnerships across
- 12:07the continuum of care from the outpatient side
- 12:09to the inpatient side and then back to
- 12:11our outpatient community.
- 12:13We really need to double down on how
- 12:15we're thinking through patient flow.
- 12:17And lastly,
- 12:19we have we we have to have a
- 12:20disciplined approach
- 12:22to limiting
- 12:23care variation, so standardizing care models, clinical practice
- 12:27guidelines, putting those in place. I'm not gonna
- 12:29didn't make any it's it's the the financial
- 12:31pressures are real. Workforce fatigue continues.
- 12:34Rising acuity, as I mentioned, the medical center
- 12:36is the second highest acuity,
- 12:39medical center academic medical center in the nation.
- 12:41But so we have our challenges. I'm not
- 12:43gonna say that we don't, but the challenge
- 12:45is executing at a high level locally while
- 12:48helping shape a model that could inform health
- 12:50care delivered nationally.
- 12:52So we feel as though we're really at
- 12:54the the tip of the spear with regard
- 12:56to where health care is going and really
- 12:58take that
- 12:59responsibility on
- 13:01with great excitement.
- 13:03That's great to hear. And I think, you
- 13:04know, super exciting, around both initiatives. I think,
- 13:07as you mentioned, it's something that so many
- 13:09different
- 13:10hospitals, health systems, and and states have been
- 13:12trying to figure out how to do smartly
- 13:14and in the right way. And so,
- 13:16it's fascinating to hear a little bit more
- 13:18about how you're doing things in Maryland and,
- 13:21you know, the outcomes for for patient care.
- 13:23It seems like it's been really beneficial. So,
- 13:27you know, when you were making these transitions,
- 13:29what did you have to do or what
- 13:31did you learn about going from the traditional
- 13:33fee for service to to more of these
- 13:35types of payment models and ways of thinking
- 13:38about care
- 13:39episodes?
- 13:40Well, I yeah. Thanks for asking that question.
- 13:42I think that one of the things that,
- 13:44you know, Maryland we when when folks interview
- 13:46for positions here, we are one of the
- 13:48questions we always ask is, do you know
- 13:49Maryland's different? And we always you know, the
- 13:51our our so our physician colleagues are nursing
- 13:53someone will ask,
- 13:55wow. And I said, well, the Maryland model
- 13:56really governs how we think about delivering health
- 13:59care about better outcomes, higher quality, but also
- 14:02around how that's linked to cost,
- 14:05and, and and how that cost curve can
- 14:08be bent by better outcomes, greater access into
- 14:10the ambulatory
- 14:12sector so the patient who receive care in
- 14:14the inpatient sector are the folks who really
- 14:16need that care, but supporting health overall outside
- 14:19the four walls of our hospital is really
- 14:22a mind shift,
- 14:24change for folks who might be coming in
- 14:25here in a typical fee for service model.
- 14:28One thing I'll just highlight is the emphasis
- 14:30around how our physicians and our hospitals work
- 14:34together to achieve what we're talking about now
- 14:36is improved outcomes.
- 14:38So our hospitals across our state are capitated,
- 14:41so we have a global budget for our
- 14:42hospitals.
- 14:43Our physicians are still fee for service. So
- 14:46it really emphasizes the importance of the work
- 14:48that we all do for physician leaders inside
- 14:51our state to align how our practices and
- 14:54our our physicians
- 14:55think about delivering care inside
- 14:58our hospital infrastructure that is that it has
- 15:00a global budget, and then aligning not only
- 15:03care quality, operations,
- 15:05and system design
- 15:07with how we our practices
- 15:09are delivering care inside their walls, and and
- 15:12that synergy
- 15:13has to be thought about with every decision
- 15:16we make with implementing, you know, the models
- 15:18like we have with the Maryland model and
- 15:20the head model upcoming.
- 15:21So it to me, the model helps
- 15:25importantly
- 15:25recognize the partnership
- 15:27between providers and hospitals moving forward. That's been
- 15:30one of the anchors that I found in
- 15:32this job that that is really essential
- 15:35to moving health care forward.
- 15:37That's helpful to understand. I mean, you know,
- 15:39really, really interesting context to think about how
- 15:42Maryland is doing things differently and and what
- 15:44it means for the patients. Now when you
- 15:46look at the next year too, what do
- 15:47you think the hardest thing that you'll have
- 15:48to do will be?
- 15:50Yeah. Well, I just mentioned we have got
- 15:52a lot of we got a lot of
- 15:53changes in health care coming, and I think
- 15:54health care one of the only thing I
- 15:56one of the things I quite often say
- 15:58is the only constant thing in health care
- 15:59is change.
- 16:01And that's where we're so this year upcoming,
- 16:03I think the hardest challenge will be continue
- 16:04to innovate at a time when everyone in
- 16:06health care is carrying some degree of fatigue.
- 16:09You know, the need to evolve, as I
- 16:10just spoke to clinically, operationally,
- 16:13technologically is unavoidable. It's
- 16:15all driven by the access pressures, workforce constraints,
- 16:19and new accounting but new accountability models just
- 16:21like ahead. But at the same time, we
- 16:23must be delivered about how we introduce change
- 16:27and how it's paced,
- 16:29And that balance is so critical.
- 16:31Our team members are our most vital strength,
- 16:34and sustained performance depends upon their well-being.
- 16:38The work ahead requires prioritization
- 16:41that truly matters, eliminating low value work,
- 16:44and ensuring that innovation makes care better
- 16:48and work more sustainable,
- 16:50not harder.
- 16:52Leading through that tension with clarity and empathy
- 16:55will be one of the most important responsibilities
- 16:57this upcoming year, Laura. So balancing
- 17:00innovation
- 17:01with assuring that we have workforce support and
- 17:04wellness
- 17:05is one of our one of the gauntlets
- 17:07that we make sure we carry is the
- 17:08medical center leadership team moving forward.
- 17:12That makes a lot of sense. You know,
- 17:13it is really a helpful foundation to think
- 17:16about,
- 17:17preparing your teams for any types of uncertainties
- 17:19or new things that
- 17:21come your way. So
- 17:23that's really, really helpful to to see. Now
- 17:25when you think about growth as well, where
- 17:27do you see some of the best opportunities
- 17:29for the health system in the next year
- 17:30or so to continue growing?
- 17:33Yeah. I think
- 17:34my perspective maybe I'll triangulate some of the
- 17:37things we've kinda talked about to previously in
- 17:39the conversation to for for for for this
- 17:41question. I think one of the strongest opportunities
- 17:44lies at that intersection of
- 17:46workforce sustainability,
- 17:48implementation of the AHEAD model,
- 17:50and an a concept around automation.
- 17:53You know, AHEAD is gonna require us to
- 17:55think about total cost of care, not only
- 17:57inside the hospital, but outside the hospital,
- 18:00assuring highest quality and ensuring we address a
- 18:03degree of workforce support to do that work
- 18:06moving forward and implement so we're able to
- 18:08have a successful implementation.
- 18:10Key to this will be,
- 18:12how we think about where the right work
- 18:14is done by the right person at the
- 18:16right time.
- 18:17Automation and responsible use of AI could allow
- 18:20us to redesign care so clinicians and staff
- 18:22can operate at the top of their skill
- 18:24set. I don't think we think we we
- 18:26are embracing that entirely as health care delivers
- 18:30care right now. You know, for patients, this
- 18:32means improved and easier access,
- 18:34smarter triage, navigation across our care continuum,
- 18:38and multimodal
- 18:39forms of communication.
- 18:41For care teams, it means decision support for
- 18:43triage,
- 18:44diagnosis,
- 18:45and management planning along with automation of low
- 18:48value administrative work that can that contributes to
- 18:52our staff's burnout.
- 18:54I think our efforts will directly support workforce
- 18:56retention if we're able to implement the things
- 18:58I'm speaking to, Because when team members spend
- 19:01more time delivering care and less time battling
- 19:04administrative systems, our engagement rises,
- 19:08turnover drops,
- 19:09and folks are just happier coming to work.
- 19:12And as we adopt the AHEAD model, triangulating
- 19:14that with the AHEAD model moving forward,
- 19:16changes like this in
- 19:18in concert will be essential to maintaining a
- 19:21stable and supported workforce, which is to me
- 19:23fundamental
- 19:24to our imperative for high quality care
- 19:27and our provider and staff wellness.
- 19:31Absolutely.
- 19:32Well, fantastic.
- 19:33I I think thank you so much, doctor
- 19:35Norcosi, for joining the podcast today. I really
- 19:38appreciate your time and effort, and I look
- 19:40forward to seeing you at our annual meeting
- 19:41in April. I know you'll be speaking at
- 19:43the event, and so,
- 19:44this will be a great opportunity for us
- 19:46to share and continue to learn more about
- 19:48everything that's going on in Maryland.
- 19:50Laura, appreciate you. Happy Wednesday. I look forward
- 19:52to seeing you at the conference.