Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Sarah Greichen, Chief Information & Innovation Officer at Sedgwick County Health Center

Transcript

Sarah Greichen, Chief Information & Innovation Officer at Sedgwick County Health Center · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  - Every health system executive right now is being
• 0:04
  - asked to do something that has no useful
• 0:06
  - precedent,
• 0:07
  - make durable technology decisions in an environment that
• 0:10
  - looks meaningfully different every six months.
• 0:13
  - The pace isn't slowing,
• 0:14
  - the vendor landscape isn't getting simpler, and the
• 0:17
  - cost of missteps
• 0:18
  - keeps rising.
• 0:19
  - Becker's eleventh annual IT and Revenue Cycle Conference,
• 0:23
  - The Future of AI and Digital Health, exists
• 0:25
  - for exactly this challenge.
• 0:27
  - Here, you'll find more than 2,500 executive level
• 0:30
  - attendees,
• 0:31
  - 600 plus speakers, and four days of sessions
• 0:34
  - built around the questions leaders are actually wrestling
• 0:36
  - with.
• 0:37
  - How to scale AI responsibly,
• 0:39
  - how to protect increasingly complex systems,
• 0:42
  - how to bring more performance out of the
• 0:44
  - revenue cycle, and how to make tech investments
• 0:46
  - that hold up over time.
• 0:48
  - Join us September fourteenth through the seventeenth at
• 0:51
  - the Hilton Chicago.
• 0:53
  - You can register on our events page at
• 0:55
  - beckershospitalreview.com
• 0:57
  - by clicking on the events tab in the
• 0:59
  - upper right.
• 1:01
  - This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
• 1:04
  - podcast.
• 1:05
  - I'm thrilled today to be joined by Sarah
• 1:06
  - Grecian, chief information and innovation officer at Sedgwick
• 1:10
  - County Health Center. Sarah, it's a pleasure to
• 1:11
  - have you on the podcast today.
• 1:14
  - Thank you for having me. It's great to
• 1:16
  - meet you.
• 1:17
  - Absolutely. Now I'm I'm excited for our conversation
• 1:19
  - and just to really learn a little bit
• 1:21
  - more about what you're doing at Sedgwick County
• 1:23
  - Health Center. But before we dive in, can
• 1:24
  - you introduce yourself and just tell us a
• 1:26
  - little more organization?
• 1:29
  - Yeah. Definitely.
• 1:31
  - So Sedgwick County Health Center is located in
• 1:34
  - rural Northeastern
• 1:35
  - Colorado in Western Nebraska.
• 1:37
  - We are a critical access hospital with three
• 1:40
  - clinics, a nursing home, and an assisted living.
• 1:43
  - And the community that we serve is largely
• 1:46
  - agricultural
• 1:47
  - and frontier population.
• 1:50
  - In my role, I oversee
• 1:52
  - IT, clinical informatics,
• 1:54
  - and digital patient experience.
• 1:56
  - I've been with Sedgwick County Health Center for
• 1:58
  - a little bit over three years. And during
• 2:01
  - that time, we've gone from focusing primarily on
• 2:05
  - modernization
• 2:06
  - and foundational technology,
• 2:08
  - to being able to think now much more
• 2:10
  - strategically about innovation
• 2:12
  - and the future.
• 2:16
  - That's amazing to hear. You know, what a
• 2:17
  - fun position to be in to have that
• 2:19
  - more strategic thinking lens and,
• 2:22
  - you know, innovation
• 2:23
  - as it can be
• 2:24
  - very exciting, to think about the possibilities and
• 2:27
  - potential. But I'm curious, could we start off
• 2:29
  - the conversation, talk a little bit about some
• 2:31
  - of the forces shaping digital health and IT?
• 2:34
  - What are you seeing right now, and what
• 2:35
  - do you anticipate you'll
• 2:37
  - how things will evolve over the next couple
• 2:39
  - years or so?
• 2:41
  - Well, when I first came to SCHC, most
• 2:43
  - of our technology
• 2:45
  - conversations were about just getting the basics into
• 2:48
  - place.
• 2:49
  - For example, electronic health records systems.
• 2:52
  - At the time, we had had seven different
• 2:55
  - disparate EHRs across organization.
• 2:58
  - Our assisted living facility was completely on paper,
• 3:01
  - and we didn't have an internal IT department.
• 3:04
  - And then beyond that, we were missing many
• 3:06
  - of the foundational pieces to needed to manage
• 3:09
  - technology strategically.
• 3:11
  - So we've spent most of our time over
• 3:13
  - the past few years consolidating systems,
• 3:16
  - improving our network, our tech stack, building an
• 3:19
  - internal IT team,
• 3:21
  - creating an clinical informatics department,
• 3:24
  - and then creating a lot more clear processes
• 3:27
  - for how technology decisions were made
• 3:30
  - and managed across the organization.
• 3:32
  - Now three years later, our conversation around technology
• 3:36
  - has changed quite a bit bit from basically
• 3:39
  - trying to figure out how to catch up
• 3:41
  - to the organizations
• 3:42
  - around us to focusing how technology can help
• 3:45
  - us
• 3:46
  - work smarter and better to support our patients
• 3:48
  - and staff.
• 3:50
  - One of the biggest forces that are shaping
• 3:53
  - our decisions today
• 3:55
  - is that rural health care especially has to
• 3:57
  - do a lot more with less.
• 3:59
  - We have workforce shortages,
• 4:01
  - financial pressures, and then a lot of increasing
• 4:05
  - demands on staff that aren't going away anytime
• 4:08
  - soon. For example, whenever there's a regulatory
• 4:10
  - change, that's another hat that we have to
• 4:12
  - put on a staff member.
• 4:14
  - So because of that, we're constantly looking for
• 4:17
  - ways that technology
• 4:18
  - can improve
• 4:20
  - efficiency,
• 4:20
  - reduce administrative burden with the goal of preventing
• 4:24
  - burnout,
• 4:24
  - and then helping our teams
• 4:26
  - spend more time focusing on the most important
• 4:28
  - thing, which is patient care.
• 4:31
  - And then at the same time, another driving
• 4:33
  - force is that patients expect health care to
• 4:36
  - work a lot more like the rest of
• 4:38
  - their lives. For example, being able to just
• 4:40
  - buy something with one click on Amazon.
• 4:43
  - They want it to be easier to schedule
• 4:45
  - their appointments,
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  - communicate with their care team and their provider
• 4:49
  - to receive information, and then navigate the very
• 4:52
  - complex health care systems.
• 4:55
  - So those expectations are becoming a major driver
• 4:58
  - for
• 4:58
  - technology investments for us,
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  - but we also have to balance that with
• 5:04
  - being in a rural community with an older
• 5:07
  - population where some patients still have,
• 5:10
  - flip phones, for example. So figuring out that
• 5:13
  - balance between
• 5:14
  - more convenience
• 5:15
  - using technology but still accommodating
• 5:18
  - our patient
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  - population.
• 5:21
  - The last driving force for us is cybersecurity
• 5:24
  - and regulatory requirements.
• 5:27
  - Rural hospitals face the same threats and
• 5:31
  - compliance requirements that the larger health systems
• 5:34
  - do, but with far fewer resources.
• 5:36
  - So we just have to be very intentional
• 5:38
  - about balancing
• 5:40
  - innovation
• 5:41
  - and risk management.
• 5:43
  - And then looking ahead into the next year,
• 5:46
  - the driving force that we're focusing on is
• 5:48
  - AI and automation
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  - continuing to play a much bigger role,
• 5:53
  - especially in helping us stretch our already limited
• 5:56
  - resources.
• 5:57
  - So So we're already seeing a lot of
• 5:59
  - value from things like ambient documentation,
• 6:01
  - and we'll continue
• 6:03
  - looking for ways to reduce administrative burden and
• 6:07
  - improve workflows
• 6:08
  - without breaking the bank.
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  - So for me, the biggest change over the
• 6:12
  - past few years is we're finally in a
• 6:14
  - position to think beyond modernization,
• 6:17
  - and we can spend more time asking how
• 6:20
  - technology can improve
• 6:21
  - patient outcomes and then support the long term
• 6:24
  - sustainability
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  - of our organization
• 6:27
  - and rural health care as a whole.
• 6:31
  - I think that makes a ton of sense.
• 6:33
  - And I love how you put that finding,
• 6:34
  - you know, all of the right balances between
• 6:37
  - technology and and the financial pressures between innovation
• 6:40
  - and compliance and really, you know, looking at
• 6:43
  - how all of those things come together with
• 6:45
  - the best interest of the patients and the
• 6:47
  - community in mind. And I'm curious, you know,
• 6:49
  - as you're going through some of these decision
• 6:51
  - making processes, obviously, it's always important to think
• 6:54
  - about resources and and, what's gonna have the
• 6:57
  - most value or bring back the most value
• 6:59
  - long term for the organization. But what are
• 7:01
  - those conversations like with your, c suite team?
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  - How do you kind of manage all of
• 7:07
  - this, especially given,
• 7:09
  - as you alluded to, the,
• 7:11
  - less resources that, you know, rural health care
• 7:14
  - facilities typically have when compared with others across
• 7:17
  - the country?
• 7:18
  - Oh, whenever we have these conversations, we have
• 7:21
  - to
• 7:22
  - bring in multiple diverse perspectives. Like, we'll bring
• 7:25
  - in,
• 7:26
  - myself from the IT perspective, our chief medical
• 7:29
  - officer, our chief financial officer,
• 7:32
  - and then other varying departments depending on what
• 7:35
  - the decision is.
• 7:37
  - And we have everyone give
• 7:40
  - their thoughts and their perspectives,
• 7:43
  - and then make a decision from there. And
• 7:45
  - we'll oftentimes
• 7:47
  - bring in
• 7:48
  - other organizations
• 7:50
  - that have done something like that before. Like,
• 7:52
  - we'll always look to a lot of our
• 7:54
  - here
• 7:55
  - rural hospitals
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  - if they have already made
• 7:58
  - a decision like that. For example, implementing a
• 8:01
  - new EHR is a massive decision.
• 8:03
  - When we were making those calls, we would
• 8:05
  - go to those similar sites, see how it
• 8:08
  - worked in their environment,
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  - and then bring it back to the table
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  - with all those
• 8:12
  - leaders from diverse perspectives and then make a
• 8:15
  - decision together.
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  - And that's where I think it's really cool
• 8:19
  - in rural health care. We're small,
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  - and we wear a lot of hats, but
• 8:23
  - in that way, we're also
• 8:25
  - not siloed, and it's easier for us to
• 8:28
  - make
• 8:29
  - those decisions together and bring something
• 8:32
  - brainstorm something together as a team.
• 8:37
  - I love that. It makes a lot of
• 8:38
  - sense. You know, it's really helpful to have,
• 8:41
  - those
• 8:42
  - other colleagues from other organizations to lean against
• 8:45
  - and, you know, have discussions to to make
• 8:48
  - those connections and understand
• 8:50
  - what things are are like in practice.
• 8:52
  - Now could you tell us about a big
• 8:53
  - project or a big swing that you took
• 8:55
  - in the last year that paid off? What
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  - did you do, and what were the results?
• 8:59
  - Yeah. One of the biggest risks that we
• 9:01
  - took in the past year was we
• 9:04
  - completely changed how IT works at our organization.
• 9:08
  - For about twenty years, we relied on the
• 9:10
  - same managed services model. And while that approach
• 9:13
  - had served the organization
• 9:15
  - well for a long time, we have reached
• 9:17
  - a point where we needed technology to play
• 9:20
  - a more strategic role in supporting the organization's
• 9:23
  - goals instead of the classic break fix.
• 9:27
  - Historically,
• 9:28
  - most of our technology decisions were driven externally
• 9:32
  - because IT was entirely outsourced, and we wanted
• 9:36
  - to bring technology strategy
• 9:38
  - back into the organization
• 9:40
  - and then ensure that it was aligned with
• 9:42
  - the broader organization goals.
• 9:45
  - So today, we now own the technology strategy
• 9:49
  - internally. So we're the ones that establish
• 9:52
  - priorities, define milestones, measure progress, and then we
• 9:55
  - work closely with our partners
• 9:57
  - to execute that strategy.
• 9:59
  - So technology is no longer something that just
• 10:02
  - happens to our organization.
• 10:04
  - It's something that we actively use to help
• 10:06
  - move the organization forward.
• 10:09
  - The timing was challenging because we were also
• 10:12
  - asking a lot of our staff
• 10:14
  - over the last few years. We've replaced
• 10:17
  - or modernized almost all of our systems,
• 10:21
  - moved much of our technology environment to the
• 10:23
  - cloud, implemented entirely new workflows,
• 10:27
  - introduced all new tools and processes that didn't
• 10:29
  - exist before. So our staff have been through
• 10:31
  - a lot.
• 10:32
  - And change isn't always fun when you're in
• 10:34
  - the middle of it, especially when people have
• 10:36
  - been through a lot of change.
• 10:38
  - There are definitely times when they were tired
• 10:40
  - of another project or another system or go
• 10:43
  - live.
• 10:44
  - We did try and make it fun with
• 10:45
  - snacks and fun outfits and parties,
• 10:48
  - but we're now starting to see the payoff.
• 10:52
  - We've completely strengthened our cybersecurity
• 10:55
  - program,
• 10:56
  - improved visibility into our technology
• 10:59
  - environment. People actually know what's happening
• 11:01
  - in IT,
• 11:03
  - And then we've built a much stronger
• 11:05
  - relationships
• 11:06
  - across the organization
• 11:08
  - and then created a foundation that positions us
• 11:10
  - well for the future where we can bring
• 11:12
  - in,
• 11:14
  - new solutions.
• 11:15
  - So what I'm most proud of is the
• 11:17
  - shift in perception here.
• 11:20
  - Technology is no longer seen as the break
• 11:23
  - fix team that people call when something breaks.
• 11:26
  - Granted, they still call us when something breaks,
• 11:29
  - but that's no longer seen as our primary
• 11:31
  - purpose.
• 11:31
  - So today,
• 11:33
  - when a department is considering a major change,
• 11:35
  - for example, bringing in a new reference lab,
• 11:39
  - technology is involved from the very beginning of
• 11:42
  - the conversation.
• 11:43
  - A few years ago, we would get involved
• 11:46
  - after a decision had already been made, and
• 11:48
  - today we're getting to help make that decision.
• 11:52
  - And over time, that approach has built a
• 11:55
  - lot of trust
• 11:56
  - and fundamentally changed the role that IT plays,
• 12:00
  - in our organization.
• 12:01
  - And we're not just
• 12:03
  - supporting the business
• 12:04
  - anymore behind the scenes.
• 12:07
  - We're actually helping shape where it's going.
• 12:13
  - I I love that. And I think it's
• 12:14
  - so key. When you look at the the
• 12:16
  - business of health care and the whole organization,
• 12:18
  - what it takes in order for it to
• 12:20
  - run efficiently and effectively, I mean, having the
• 12:23
  - technology as a backbone and,
• 12:25
  - powering a lot of what's going on there,
• 12:27
  - whether it's the clinical care or the administrative
• 12:29
  - operations.
• 12:30
  - You know, it can make a big difference
• 12:32
  - to have
• 12:33
  - a strategic minded,
• 12:35
  - CIO and IT leaders who can really see
• 12:38
  - that big picture and then bring it into,
• 12:40
  - the organization smartly.
• 12:42
  - And, you know, when you look at that,
• 12:44
  - change management, obviously, you mentioned, you know, it
• 12:46
  - was a little bit different at the beginning.
• 12:48
  - And then now people understand the the value
• 12:50
  - of having,
• 12:51
  - technology leaders there and working more strategically.
• 12:56
  - What do you think was most effective in
• 12:58
  - in making that change, or or what kind
• 13:00
  - of ways did you communicate out initially and
• 13:02
  - then, you know, as time went on to,
• 13:06
  - I guess, become efficient and effective with it?
• 13:08
  - I
• 13:09
  - would say the most effective thing that we
• 13:12
  - did was have each department, each leader really
• 13:15
  - own their own area,
• 13:18
  - and understand the why behind it. Like, for
• 13:20
  - example, when we were implementing our new EHR
• 13:23
  - a couple of years
• 13:24
  - ago, we went to every single leader and
• 13:27
  - we were like, hey. What is your purpose
• 13:30
  - for implementing this and implementing it well?
• 13:33
  - And every single leader from there on out
• 13:36
  - had that why so that even when
• 13:39
  - things got really hard or they had to
• 13:41
  - do
• 13:42
  - or they had to work an extra ten
• 13:44
  - hours that week, they had that why behind
• 13:48
  - it.
• 13:49
  - Another piece of it is we made it
• 13:50
  - fun. Whenever we do a large project, we
• 13:53
  - always
• 13:54
  - add a theme to it. We add fun
• 13:56
  - food,
• 13:57
  - some fun outfits. Like, during our EHR implementation,
• 14:01
  - we did a Trolls theme, which all the
• 14:04
  - staff had voted on.
• 14:06
  - So we made a bunch of Trolls headbands
• 14:08
  - for everyone,
• 14:09
  - and they wore them during all of our
• 14:11
  - events in go lives.
• 14:13
  - And you can't be mad at someone when
• 14:15
  - they're wearing a troll's headband. So it made
• 14:18
  - it a lot of fun for the consultants
• 14:20
  - that came on-site and then our staff and
• 14:22
  - really kept morale up.
• 14:25
  - Food bribery
• 14:26
  - was also a very effective thing.
• 14:29
  - People were laughing and having a good time
• 14:31
  - with it while also
• 14:33
  - feeling like they had,
• 14:35
  - that ownership in the project. And I would
• 14:37
  - say that was the most effective thing for
• 14:40
  - change management.
• 14:43
  - That what a great example of keeping things
• 14:45
  - light, but also being able to troubleshoot the
• 14:47
  - issues and and, you know, really clearly getting
• 14:49
  - done what needs to get done.
• 14:51
  - Now that you are you know, have been
• 14:54
  - able to make that shift and that transition,
• 14:56
  - what's the most important problem that you're trying
• 14:58
  - to solve with AI or technology today, or
• 15:01
  - or or do you foresee in the next
• 15:02
  - couple years?
• 15:04
  - The most important problem that we're trying to
• 15:07
  - solve right now and also into the future
• 15:09
  - is capacity.
• 15:11
  - Like many other rural health care organizations,
• 15:14
  - we have workforce shortages, limited resources,
• 15:18
  - and a lot of people that are wearing
• 15:20
  - many hats.
• 15:21
  - We don't have large departments where we can
• 15:23
  - easily be redistributed.
• 15:25
  - So when we can save someone some time
• 15:28
  - or remove administrative burden so they can go
• 15:30
  - on vacation,
• 15:32
  - it has a very real impact. So that's
• 15:34
  - what we're mostly focusing on when it comes
• 15:37
  - to
• 15:38
  - implementing AI and new technologies.
• 15:41
  - For example, we just implemented
• 15:44
  - ambient documentation
• 15:46
  - to reduce documentation burden
• 15:48
  - on providers. With that, we've seen a significant
• 15:52
  - reduction in after hours charting, and all of
• 15:54
  - our charts are being completed within twenty twenty
• 15:57
  - four hours, which also makes our CFO really
• 15:59
  - happy.
• 16:01
  - And then we're also leveraging AI for smaller
• 16:03
  - things like meeting summaries, drafting documents, other administrative
• 16:08
  - tasks that no one wants to do and
• 16:10
  - takes away from patient care and strategic work.
• 16:13
  - And then on the patient side of things,
• 16:15
  - one of the biggest themes that came
• 16:18
  - out of our community health needs assessment
• 16:21
  - was that patients want better communication
• 16:24
  - from us and then also easier access to
• 16:26
  - care.
• 16:27
  - So in response, we're implementing a new patient
• 16:31
  - communication platform that will support things like better
• 16:34
  - appointment reminders, scheduling,
• 16:36
  - digital communication with our care team.
• 16:40
  - And yeah. And then at the end of
• 16:42
  - the day, we're not implementing AI or any
• 16:44
  - of these solutions because they're exciting.
• 16:47
  - We're implementing technology where it helps solve real
• 16:50
  - problems.
• 16:51
  - So for us, that means helping our staff
• 16:54
  - spend more time on meaningful work, helping patients
• 16:57
  - access care more easily, and then hopefully making
• 17:00
  - the organization more sustainable in the long term.
• 17:07
  - It makes a ton of sense. And I,
• 17:09
  - you know, love that idea of,
• 17:12
  - really looking at ways you can leverage technology
• 17:16
  - in AI,
• 17:17
  - so that the work has that real impact
• 17:20
  - across the board. I think it's just
• 17:23
  - so important to
• 17:25
  - improve that capacity and then figure out where
• 17:27
  - people are gonna be excited to,
• 17:29
  - you know, to to use it and leverage
• 17:32
  - it. Now before we wrap up here, what
• 17:34
  - are you most curious about for the future?
• 17:37
  - What I'm most curious about is what the
• 17:39
  - role of AI will ultimately be in rural
• 17:42
  - health care and how we can use it
• 17:44
  - to strengthen rural health care without losing that
• 17:47
  - human element that makes it so special and
• 17:50
  - is essentially the brand's essence of rural health
• 17:53
  - care. And everyone is talking about AI right
• 17:55
  - now, and I think it has tremendous potential
• 17:57
  - in health care. It can help address workforce
• 18:01
  - shortages,
• 18:02
  - reduce administrative burdens, improve access to care,
• 18:05
  - and then give organizations like ours capabilities
• 18:08
  - that might have previously only been available to
• 18:11
  - much larger health systems because we would have
• 18:14
  - had to hire a whole bunch of people
• 18:16
  - before.
• 18:17
  - But what interests me just as much is
• 18:19
  - the people side of it.
• 18:21
  - Rural communities often have older patient populations
• 18:25
  - and varying levels of comfort with technology.
• 18:28
  - The challenge isn't just implementing the new technology.
• 18:31
  - It's implementing it in a way that people
• 18:34
  - will actually use it and trust it.
• 18:37
  - So I think the real challenge
• 18:39
  - is finding that balance. How do we use
• 18:42
  - AI and automation to make health care more
• 18:45
  - sustainable without losing the relationships
• 18:48
  - that are really the heart of rural health
• 18:50
  - care?
• 18:51
  - And in many rural communities,
• 18:53
  - the hospital is one of the largest employers,
• 18:56
  - if not the largest employer
• 18:58
  - in the area, and health care is deeply
• 19:01
  - personal.
• 19:01
  - Patients know their providers.
• 19:04
  - Providers know their patients. A lot of the
• 19:06
  - times, it's neighbors taking care of neighbors.
• 19:09
  - And I don't think the future is about
• 19:12
  - replacing people with technology. I think it's about
• 19:15
  - using technology to reduce
• 19:17
  - burnout, give people
• 19:19
  - time back, and then help them focus on
• 19:21
  - the work that only people can do.
• 19:24
  - And if we can use AI to strengthen
• 19:26
  - those relationships
• 19:27
  - instead of replacing them, I think it could
• 19:29
  - be one of the most powerful tools rural
• 19:32
  - health care has seen in a long time.
• 19:35
  - Historically, rural health care has often had to
• 19:38
  - wait for innovation to trickle down from the
• 19:41
  - larger organizations, so I'm excited to see whether
• 19:44
  - AI changes that equation
• 19:46
  - and helps smaller organizations
• 19:48
  - do things that simply weren't possible
• 19:52
  - before.
• 19:53
  - Wow. That that's really cool to think about.
• 19:55
  - And, you know, AI is such a powerful
• 19:58
  - tool, but, you know,
• 20:00
  - like you mentioned, certainly,
• 20:01
  - it is is not always easily accessible,
• 20:04
  - across the board, especially in healthcare organizations.
• 20:07
  - So, you know, when you think about rural
• 20:09
  - healthcare and and how,
• 20:11
  - innovation
• 20:12
  - can be most useful,
• 20:15
  - where do you see AI being able to
• 20:16
  - just make things easier or or bring that
• 20:19
  - innovation
• 20:20
  - quicker,
• 20:21
  - into the rural setting? What are some of
• 20:23
  - the possibilities, I guess, that as you're thinking
• 20:26
  - through what the future could look like best
• 20:27
  - case scenario, what are the possibilities that come
• 20:29
  - to mind?
• 20:32
  - I see a lot of possibilities
• 20:33
  - on the
• 20:34
  - revenue cycle side.
• 20:36
  - It's
• 20:38
  - really hard for rural health care
• 20:41
  - facilities to hire staff, especially especially hiring them
• 20:44
  - to come on-site because a lot of these
• 20:45
  - towns are so small.
• 20:47
  - So I see a lot of opportunity in
• 20:49
  - the rev cycle side just because the talent
• 20:51
  - pool tends to be a little bit smaller
• 20:53
  - in those areas, and that tends to be
• 20:55
  - a area where we always need more people.
• 21:00
  - I also see a lot of opportunity
• 21:03
  - in
• 21:04
  - on the operations
• 21:05
  - side of things.
• 21:06
  - We have so many tasks every day, like
• 21:10
  - regulatory reports, for example,
• 21:12
  - that are paid and can take people weeks
• 21:15
  - at a time.
• 21:16
  - And a lot of our staff that are
• 21:18
  - providing patient care or
• 21:22
  - critical operational roles in the organization just don't
• 21:25
  - have time
• 21:26
  - to do those things even though they need
• 21:28
  - to. So I see that as another area
• 21:31
  - of reducing
• 21:32
  - the amount of time
• 21:34
  - that staff,
• 21:36
  - would need to work on that.
• 21:39
  - A few other areas is in ambient documentation
• 21:44
  - on the nursing
• 21:45
  - and CNA side. We've seen a lot of
• 21:47
  - success
• 21:48
  - with the providers.
• 21:50
  - So I would like to see something similar,
• 21:53
  - in that area. And then also
• 21:55
  - lab and radiology, we haven't implemented
• 21:58
  - any AI solutions with
• 22:00
  - lab and radiology, but I do see a
• 22:03
  - lot of opportunity
• 22:05
  - there where we could reduce some cost and
• 22:07
  - then also
• 22:09
  - increase our ability
• 22:11
  - to take care of our patients quicker.
• 22:15
  - Fantastic. Sarah, thank you so much for joining
• 22:16
  - us on the podcast today. This has been
• 22:18
  - a really fun discussion, you know, very informative
• 22:21
  - and inspirational as well, thinking about the future
• 22:23
  - and how technology and AI, can really make
• 22:26
  - a difference, especially in the rural space. I'm
• 22:28
  - excited to keep the conversation going at our
• 22:30
  - health IT and revenue cycle conference coming up
• 22:32
  - in September. I know you'll be a speaker
• 22:34
  - there and and talk more deeply into some
• 22:36
  - of these themes we touched on today. So
• 22:38
  - looking forward to seeing you in person and,
• 22:41
  - hearing more.
• 22:43
  - I'm looking forward to it as well. Thank
• 22:44
  - you so much for having me.