Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / Paul Matsen, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Cleveland Clinic

Transcript

Paul Matsen, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Cleveland Clinic · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

• 0:01
  The Becker's team is excited to announce the
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  launch of our new CFO and Revenue Cycle
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  Tune in for conversations with finance experts from
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  the top hospitals and health systems. We'll discuss
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  key trends and ideas to drive meaningful change
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  in the industry. Look for Becker's CFO and
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  revenue cycle podcast wherever you listen to episodes.
• 0:24
  This is Laura Dirdle with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:26
  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
• 0:29
  Paul Matson,
• 0:29
  chief marketing and communications officer at Cleveland Clinic.
• 0:32
  Paul, it's a pleasure to have you on
• 0:33
  the podcast today.
• 0:35
  Thank you, Laura. Great to be with you.
• 0:38
  Now I am looking forward to our discussion
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  because I know Cleveland Clinic is on the
• 0:41
  forefront of so much happening in health care
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  today and particularly, obviously, technology, innovation,
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  and being able to expand and care for
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  so many different communities,
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  in Ohio and across the world. But before
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  we dive into my questions, can you tell
• 0:55
  me a little bit more about Cleveland Clinic
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  and what makes it unique?
• 0:59
  Yes. Cleveland Clinic is,
• 1:02
  over a hundred years old. We were founded
• 1:05
  in 1921
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  by four physicians
• 1:08
  who had practiced together in World War one
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  on the battlefield,
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  And they came away from that experience believing
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  that a team approach was the best way
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  to practice medicine,
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  and that ethos is still,
• 1:22
  the focus of Cleveland Clinic's culture today.
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  We we have a team based approach to
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  clinical care
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  that puts the patient at the center of
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  everything that we do, and then that team
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  based approach
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  carries over into all the other work that
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  we do. So within our organization, marketing and
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  communications,
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  we work in a fully integrated manner,
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  and
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  that team based approach,
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  I think, helps us bring more comprehensive,
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  more innovative solutions
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  to the
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  programs that that we pursue.
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  But one thing that's also unique about Cleveland
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  Clinic, we are a truly global health care
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  system.
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  You know, today, we have 23 hospitals, including
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  a hospital and cancer center in The United
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  Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi.
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  We have a hospital in London.
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  You mentioned we have a presence in Florida
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  and, of course, our main campus and system
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  in Ohio. So
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  it's incredible to see how the Cleveland Clinic
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  culture
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  takes root and gets adapted,
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  to different markets around the world always with
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  the patients first at the center of what
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  we do.
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  And that's fascinating to hear and really impressive
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  to see how Cleveland Clinic has grown over
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  the years and expanded into so many different
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  areas. And as you mentioned, having that Cleveland
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  Clinic culture as the centerpiece
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  of everything you do, I know it's a
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  critical part of that mission and expansion. And,
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  you know, when you do
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  have these so many different spaces where you're
• 2:56
  providing care in in so many different markets,
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  how do you ensure that culture,
• 3:01
  is front and center? How do you create
• 3:03
  that and instill that within so many people
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  across the world?
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  Our Cleveland Clinic caregiver office does a tremendous
• 3:11
  job,
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  instilling the culture in
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  Cleveland Clinic caregivers
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  from
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  the hiring process,
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  through their careers at Cleveland Clinic. There's a
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  constant focus on
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  training and development.
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  We, as an organization, invest a great deal
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  on communicating with our caregivers. That's something my
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  team is deeply involved in,
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  making sure that,
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  with transparency,
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  we're sharing all the information people need to
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  know about the health system,
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  what's changing in health care, and then the
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  innovative things that we're introducing
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  to,
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  improve patient care to improve quality and safety.
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  Just in the last month, we released our
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  annual state of the clinic broadcast, which our
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  CEO, Tom Halovich,
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  leads, and it comprehensively
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  covers everything
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  that was accomplished in the past year, but
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  more importantly,
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  everything that's ahead for the health system in
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  2025
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  and beyond.
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  And I think that goes out worldwide
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  to all caregivers. It's accessible through our internal
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  channels, through social media,
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  and I think that communication
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  keeps everyone deeply connected to who we are
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  as an organization.
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  I remember during
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  COVID how caregivers around the world commented how
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  deeply connected and supported they felt because
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  of the regular communications they were getting, including,
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  frequent videos from our CEO that that really
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  made them feel like, you know, he was
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  and we were paying attention to, you know,
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  what the the challenges they were facing. So,
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  I think those are some of the things
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  that that keep our culture alive and vibrant
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  and constantly
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  growing and evolving.
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  That's really helpful to understand and great to
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  to hear more about how you stay connected
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  and really spread that culture
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  across the enterprise.
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  Now and you're looking at the last year
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  or so, what accomplishment are you most proud
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  of?
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  We've been working for a number of years
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  to build our global brand using digital content.
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  We set
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  a goal back in 2021,
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  which looking back, the fact that we we
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  started it during the pandemic is unique and
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  impressive. We we set a goal in 2021
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  to become
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  one of the leaders in health care content
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  globally.
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  The centerpiece of that is that we've built
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  a health library.
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  It's comprehensive,
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  covers,
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  over 10,000 articles on different diseases and conditions.
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  We tried to make it fresh,
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  compared to other existing health libraries
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  and, have created
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  tremendous illustrations.
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  And recently, we've been adding,
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  significant video content to it as well. Over
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  a three year period, we've we've created over
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  10,000 articles with our team,
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  and we surpassed over a billion sessions
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  on our website last year,
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  which makes us one of the most visited
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  websites in the world.
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  And it's been a tremendous journey, a lot
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  of learning,
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  and,
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  it's taken a lot of teamwork
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  to make it happen.
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  Not only have we created what I think
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  is very valuable content that helps educate
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  patients worldwide. It's coming from a trusted
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  health care brand
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  that also helps the performance of the content.
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  And at the same time, we also,
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  because of the scale of our website,
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  had to
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  put it out on new
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  technology
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  platforms, new content management systems. So we've scaled
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  all of our content, but we've also scaled
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  our technology
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  platforms and really helps bring our brand to
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  life for people around the world.
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  And we have we have users and traffic
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  all over the world,
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  and digital content today
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  is the number one way
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  that,
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  patients find out about the Cleveland Clinic for
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  the first time.
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  That's amazing to hear. And what a huge
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  accomplishment building a library, as you mentioned, with
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  more than 10,000 articles, videos,
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  other types of content, but then more than
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  a billion sessions a year last year is,
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  incredible
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  To think about the digital traffic that it
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  takes and to build something like that, I
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  can imagine was no small task.
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  Now, you know, I think,
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  looking ahead for the next year or so,
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  where do you see some of the biggest
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  growth opportunities,
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  whether it's in, the additional continuing on with
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  the this, digital library or or other areas
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  for the health system that you really see
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  huge growth?
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  So,
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  it's impossible to talk about the future without
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  talking about generative AI and the impact it's
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  having on
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  the world around us, but particularly within marketing
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  and communications,
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  there are opportunities
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  to use generative AI.
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  We started a comprehensive
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  process
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  about eighteen months ago
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  to,
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  form a strategy for marketing AI.
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  We developed with the full participation of our
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  organization. We made sure we gave everyone a
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  baseline level of understanding
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  and training on AI,
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  and then we developed,
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  a focused number of use cases.
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  And we've spent the last year,
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  piloting those use cases,
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  a lot to that process
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  to select technology partners
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  to get those vetted by cybersecurity,
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  by,
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  legal, by IT,
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  and then stand those technologies
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  up.
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  But our use cases have included things,
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  like photo retouching,
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  managing our social media platforms,
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  helping us with podcast efficiency,
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  editing, and transcription.
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  Also writing, we've been experimenting using
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  generative AI, of course, for writing
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  and, also for some analytics functions as well.
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  So we're really beginning to develop some
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  significant learning about where the opportunities are for
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  more impact,
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  but also more efficiency. And, of course, in
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  health care today,
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  we're all seeking ways to become more efficient.
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  So we're very excited about what we accomplished
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  in the past year, and now we're looking
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  to the next stage of generative AI
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  and how we can,
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  make these technologies
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  an integral part of the work that we
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  do within marketing and communications
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  at Cleveland Clinic.
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  That's great to hear. And certainly,
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  having that generative AI technology,
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  has made such a big difference across the
• 9:49
  board with hospitals and health systems. And it's
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  cool to hear how you're using it in
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  the marketing capacity
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  to really make a big difference in those
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  you're reaching and the type of content you're
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  creating.
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  I'm curious. When you look at your teams
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  and generative AI coming in as a booster
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  for everything that you're doing,
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  across the board, how do you see the
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  roles and responsibilities
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  for health care marketing changing?
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  So that's something we're,
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  we're developing a better understanding
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  of. I think that, as I mentioned, we
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  want everyone in our marketing communications
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  organization to have
• 10:28
  a basic understanding of,
• 10:30
  generative AI and the tools and what the
• 10:33
  potential is for those tools. But I think
• 10:35
  we're also recognizing
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  that
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  not everyone can be a subject matter expert
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  on AI
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  and that, as we move forward
• 10:45
  to be successful, we may need to evolve
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  some of the roles within our organization
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  to train and have dedicated specialists
• 10:55
  who know how to get the most out
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  of these tools.
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  And,
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  and each of the tools is is different.
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  You know, there's some similarities, but but they
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  but they're each different. So I think we're
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  asking ourselves now as a marketing
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  communications leadership team, how do we get the
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  most out of these tools? What's the right
• 11:14
  way to organize ourselves
• 11:16
  in the future to to be impactful with
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  these tools? I think back to when we
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  really were focusing on becoming a digital first
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  marketing and communications team.
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  And,
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  you know, I was always exhorting the team
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  to think digital, think mobile, think measurable.
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  We had a lot of people who had
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  grown up in an analog world of design
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  and writing
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  and management. And
• 11:43
  over time, we help people make that transition,
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  but roles evolved. You'd had to have people
• 11:48
  who were specialized in social media,
• 11:51
  people who were specialized in search engine optimization,
• 11:55
  specialized in search engine marketing. So I think
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  AI is gonna present the same opportunities
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  to develop new roles that can really maximize
• 12:04
  the potential of these technologies.
• 12:08
  That's great to hear. And, you know, really
• 12:10
  a fascinating way to look at things and
• 12:12
  that evolution of technology, whether, as you mentioned,
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  going from analog to
• 12:16
  computer online and now integrating in AI has
• 12:19
  just been a fascinating transition and transformation.
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  I'm curious.
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  I I know there's a lot of opportunities,
• 12:26
  coming down the pipe based on our discussion
• 12:28
  today, but
• 12:29
  challenges as well. What are some of those
• 12:31
  big challenges that you're anticipating for the next
• 12:33
  year or two?
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  So we're,
• 12:37
  you know, working to
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  as I've mentioned,
• 12:41
  we're working to,
• 12:42
  get our team members as comfortable as possible
• 12:46
  with AI,
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  and we want people to recognize that it's
• 12:50
  a tool
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  to enhance the way we work. I heard
• 12:53
  a great I think perspective on AI that,
• 12:57
  someone showed it as a spectrum from
• 13:00
  fully AI to fully human. And and, basically,
• 13:04
  the the thought was very few things at
• 13:06
  least initially are gonna be going to be
• 13:09
  fully AI.
• 13:10
  But what but but many things don't need
• 13:13
  to be fully human. AI can help us
• 13:15
  advance or be more efficient. So how do
• 13:17
  we get people comfortable with finding where
• 13:20
  various things in the organization
• 13:22
  are on that perspective
• 13:24
  and to embrace these tools
• 13:27
  and not be intimidated by them. So I
• 13:29
  think that's
• 13:30
  one of the big challenges we continue to
• 13:32
  face. We're,
• 13:33
  you know, we're continuing to communicate and be
• 13:36
  transparent with the team about the things we're
• 13:38
  doing, and we want people to,
• 13:41
  understand them and engage with them as much
• 13:45
  as possible. I think, you know, the other
• 13:47
  challenges,
• 13:48
  you know, are just process challenges.
• 13:51
  Every time, you you know, we look at
• 13:52
  a new technology, it has to be vetted.
• 13:55
  Can it fit within the Cleveland Clinic's,
• 13:58
  IT,
• 14:00
  architecture?
• 14:01
  Is it safe from a cybersecurity
• 14:04
  perspective?
• 14:05
  What's the cost and benefit of AI? You
• 14:07
  know, we really have to make sure that
• 14:09
  if we're investing in these technologies that we
• 14:12
  are getting a positive return. So,
• 14:16
  as exciting as these technologies are, we we
• 14:18
  do need to approach them with a level
• 14:20
  of discipline
• 14:21
  to make sure that we get the intended
• 14:24
  benefits.
• 14:27
  That makes a lot of sense. And, certainly,
• 14:29
  I know so many organizations in health care
• 14:31
  and otherwise are are trying to navigate that
• 14:33
  similar challenge of making sure, one, new technologies
• 14:37
  are gonna be beneficial long term, but, two,
• 14:39
  their teams are comfortable and ready to embrace
• 14:42
  them in a way that is optimizing them
• 14:44
  as much as possible.
• 14:45
  Is there anything that you found that worked
• 14:47
  particularly well,
• 14:48
  in terms of getting this message across and
• 14:51
  and increasing the comfort level of your teams?
• 14:54
  Yes. I I think at the very start,
• 14:57
  we brought in,
• 14:58
  an outside partner who's an expert in generative
• 15:01
  AI,
• 15:02
  and we,
• 15:04
  held a
• 15:06
  briefing for for all the members of our
• 15:08
  marketing communications team worldwide.
• 15:10
  Everyone was invited to participate,
• 15:13
  and everyone got the same
• 15:15
  overview
• 15:16
  of the AI landscape. We'll probably repeat that
• 15:19
  process this year
• 15:21
  because so much has changed in the last
• 15:23
  fifteen to eighteen months.
• 15:25
  And now we can
• 15:26
  add to it a perspective on what we've
• 15:29
  learned,
• 15:30
  from the tools that we were using
• 15:32
  as well as a look forward in in
• 15:34
  terms of what our road map will be
• 15:36
  for 2025
• 15:38
  and hopefully beyond, but it's hard to look
• 15:40
  too too far down the road.
• 15:42
  But,
• 15:43
  you know, I think,
• 15:45
  I think we have to keep experimenting. We've
• 15:47
  tried in certain certain use case,
• 15:51
  examples. We've tried multiple technologies already because,
• 15:55
  you know, if we found something wasn't working,
• 15:57
  wasn't meeting our needs, we needed to adapt
• 16:00
  and and and move on. So in some
• 16:02
  cases,
• 16:03
  I think the, you know, phrase you you'll
• 16:05
  hear is, you know, fail fast and it
• 16:08
  may you know, if it's not gonna work,
• 16:10
  then make a decision and and find another
• 16:13
  solution. So,
• 16:15
  you know, it's we're still very much in
• 16:17
  the
• 16:18
  early stages of this, technology.
• 16:20
  And, you know, I think we know there's
• 16:22
  a a long way to go, so we
• 16:24
  have to stay open minded,
• 16:27
  stay,
• 16:28
  transparent,
• 16:29
  and, you know, see where it takes us.
• 16:32
  That's really helpful advice. I think, it makes
• 16:35
  a lot of sense. It's cool to hear
• 16:37
  that evolution even in just one year. So
• 16:39
  much has changed, but still, you know, you
• 16:41
  can bring in the experts as well as
• 16:43
  incorporate what you've learned, into
• 16:46
  how you're connecting and communicating with your broader
• 16:48
  teams, about AI as well. Now before we
• 16:51
  wrap up here, I'm wondering, what is the
• 16:53
  number one thing that you are doing right
• 16:55
  now to set, Cleveland Clinic up for long
• 16:57
  term success?
• 16:59
  So,
• 17:01
  when I saw this question, I I had
• 17:03
  to give it some thought, and I wanted
• 17:05
  to pivot away from,
• 17:07
  AI. I think, you know, I've I've spent
• 17:09
  a lot of time talking about that. But
• 17:11
  I think, you know, right now, we're we're
• 17:13
  coming out of a year in 2024
• 17:15
  and the prior year in 2023
• 17:18
  where a lot of organizations
• 17:20
  face
• 17:21
  stiff headwinds
• 17:23
  with the changing health care environment.
• 17:25
  And,
• 17:27
  you know, certainly, Cleveland Clinic, we weren't immune
• 17:29
  to that. We had to overcome
• 17:31
  some of those industry headwinds, and and we're
• 17:33
  still working through those processes.
• 17:36
  I think for for my organization,
• 17:38
  you know, to be successful long term,
• 17:41
  we have to have a deep understanding
• 17:44
  of
• 17:44
  the organization's
• 17:46
  strategy
• 17:47
  and how marketing communications
• 17:49
  support that. You know, we don't operate in
• 17:51
  a vacuum.
• 17:52
  We are an integrated part of,
• 17:55
  a highly integrated health care system. So
• 17:58
  one of the things that we're focused on
• 18:00
  right now
• 18:01
  is,
• 18:02
  as we go through organizational
• 18:04
  change,
• 18:06
  that we're continuing to meet
• 18:08
  regularly and consistently
• 18:10
  with leaders across our entire organization
• 18:14
  to understand what the needs are in their
• 18:16
  markets
• 18:17
  and for their service lines,
• 18:19
  and not to predetermine,
• 18:21
  you know, what the marketing or communication
• 18:24
  solutions might be.
• 18:26
  So, we're having great conversations across the organization.
• 18:30
  As I mentioned, market service lines, research, education,
• 18:34
  and how can we in marketing and communications
• 18:37
  help them
• 18:38
  achieve their goals. Ultimately,
• 18:40
  you know, that's our truest measure of success
• 18:42
  for the work that we do.
• 18:45
  That makes a lot of sense. And, you
• 18:46
  know, great to to hear and understand that,
• 18:49
  the marketing communications, as you mentioned, is really
• 18:52
  such a big part of the overall health
• 18:54
  system. It makes everything else work. And, truly,
• 18:57
  truly carrying that message forward is a huge
• 18:59
  responsibility,
• 19:00
  but one that it seems like is an
• 19:02
  exciting,
• 19:03
  exciting thing to come to work every day
• 19:05
  and really make happen.
• 19:07
  Yes. I mean, we're it it takes, you
• 19:09
  know, it takes teamwork. It takes,
• 19:12
  really having an ability to listen and understand
• 19:16
  before you try to work through solutions.
• 19:18
  One thing we're very proud of that's
• 19:20
  a product of that kind of approach to
• 19:23
  working is we just launched a brand new
• 19:25
  global brand campaign.
• 19:28
  It'll run across all of our markets in
• 19:31
  London, in Florida, and in Ohio,
• 19:34
  and,
• 19:35
  that's quite an accomplishment for our team. It
• 19:38
  was a different way of thinking of working
• 19:40
  for all the markets, but we've gotten great
• 19:42
  support.
• 19:43
  And I think that's really what a
• 19:50
  Fantastic. Well, Paul, thank you so much for
• 19:52
  joining us on the podcast today. This has
• 19:54
  been a really fascinating conversation, and I look
• 19:56
  forward to connecting with you again soon.
• 19:59
  Laura, appreciate it. It was great to be
• 20:00
  with you. Thanks for having me.