Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Balaji Raman on AI, Epic Transformation and Revenue Cycle Strategy

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Balaji Raman on AI, Epic Transformation and Revenue Cycle Strategy · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  - There's a small circle of people who truly
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  - understand what it takes to lead a health
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  - system right now. The decisions are enormous.
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  - The variables are constantly shifting, and the stakes
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  - of getting a call wrong don't stay contained.
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  - That's not a complaint. It's a structural reality.
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  - And it's why the most effective c suite
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  - leaders are deliberate about where they go to
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  - pressure test their thinking.
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  - Becker's fourteenth annual CEO and CFO roundtable
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  - brings together more than 1,500
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  - executive level attendees
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  - and nearly 400 speakers for four days built
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  - around growth, financial sustainability,
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  - workforce strategy, and the leadership questions that don't
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  - have easy answers.
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  - Join us November second through the fifth in
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  - Chicago.
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  - For the agenda and event details,
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  - visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  - and click on the events tab in the
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  - upper right.
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  - Hello, and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast.
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  - My name is Chanel Banger, and today I
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  - have the pleasure of speaking with Balaji Ram,
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  - the enterprise executive director at Westchester
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  - Medical Center Health, who joins the podcast today
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  - to share insights in those background, health care
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  - trends he's keeping an eye on, and a
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  - bit more. Balaji, thank you so much for
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  - joining me today. Thank you, Chanel. Thank you
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  - for having me. It's a pleasure to meet
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  - you and also to be a part of
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  - this podcast.
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  - Likewise. Well, to get us started out, could
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  - you please introduce yourself, tell us a bit
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  - about your career in health care and Westchester
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  - Medical Center Health?
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  - Sure. So, obviously, my name is Balaji Raman.
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  - I have spent more than twenty five years
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  - in health care technology, primarily focused
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  - on revenue cycle, enterprise applications, and operational transformation.
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  - Today, I'm helping lead WMC
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  - Westchester Medical Center Health's epic transformation
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  - across revenue cycle, AI, and automation.
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  - Westchester Medical Center Health is a complex academic
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  - health system serving a broad and diverse population
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  - across multiple hospitals and ambulatory locations.
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  - And, basically, in Upper Upper New York, so
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  - it's the Westchester, Valhalla area going all the
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  - way up to to the Delaware borderline.
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  - And, you know, our work is not simply
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  - implementing n u h n u a EHR.
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  - It's an opportunity to standardize how we operate,
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  - simplify the experience for our patients and staff,
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  - and build a stronger technology foundation
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  - for the future.
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  - Got it. Got it. And now that we
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  - have a sense of your background and the
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  - mission of Westchester Medical Center Health,
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  - let's get into it a bit. Could you
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  - please tell us a bit about the trends
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  - that you're watching either in health IT or
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  - in health care abroad?
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  - Sure. So, obviously, I I think everyone
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  - the majority
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  - of those in health care would agree is
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  - that the trend that I'm really focusing on
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  - is the rapid expansion of AI across the
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  - revenue cycle. I know AI is actually kind
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  - of a little bit more
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  - global, where it's just not rev cycle. It's
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  - also clinical and then also from a reporting
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  - perspective as well.
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  - But there's I feel that there's significant potential
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  - in areas such as prior authorization, coding denials,
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  - financial clearance, and also patient engagement.
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  - But, one of the things that I'm really
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  - starting to focus in on is that organizations
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  - that need to separate meaningful capability from marketing.
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  - I'm also additionally
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  - keeping an eye out for is greater enterprise
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  - standardization. Health systems can no no longer afford
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  - to maintain different workflows, technologies, and definitions across
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  - every facility. The challenge is determining where standardization
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  - creates value and where local variation stokes.
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  - And, basically, you know, AI may accelerate the
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  - work,
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  - but I don't think it it will never
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  - correct a poorly designed process. So AI is
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  - always going to enhance,
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  - but, really, you know, the process needs to
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  - be solid for for for organizations
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  - to reap the rewards of AI.
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  - Got it. Got it. Yeah. It's impossible to
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  - have a conversation about health care in 2026
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  - without talking about AI.
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  - And as we round out the end of
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  - the year, what are you most focused on
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  - and excited about?
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  - Well, I have my plate,
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  - pretty full for the next twenty months or
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  - so. Obviously, it's really focusing on the Westchester
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  - Medical Center to help build build a unified
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  - revenue cycle foundation
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  - through our, obviously, through our EPIC transformation. It's
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  - just not the revenue cycle. I think it's
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  - more broader than that.
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  - EPIC, I think, will bring a big, a
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  - overall cultural change,
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  - to the health system. What I'm really specifically
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  - excited about is bringing this to bringing technology
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  - operations and also clinical leadership together to make
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  - enterprise decisions, not simply replicate legacy processes in
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  - the new system.
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  - What I'm most proud of is the foundation
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  - we've established,
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  - with regards to our implementation, which is an
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  - integrated governance structure,
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  - strong operational engagement. I think everyone's
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  - really excited
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  - all the way up to the c suite,
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  - about implementing epic, the progress on standardizing web
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  - design, and a team that continues to develop
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  - its epic enterprise. I think the most visible
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  - milestone
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  - will not just be the implementation,
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  - but the more important accomplishes building the organizational
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  - discipline needed to sustain it. So the real,
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  - you know, the real, you know, kind of
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  - transformation is really not the technology.
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  - It's getting the organization to make decisions as
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  - one health system.
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  - Absolutely. And now I'm curious to hear what
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  - advice would you give to evolving leaders looking
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  - to either get into rev cycle or just,
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  - health care executive leadership?
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  - I think it's really about learning the business
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  - and also about
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  - building relationships.
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  - Leaders cannot effectively transform revenue cycle or clinical
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  - operations if they do not understand how the
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  - work is actually performed. Right? So it's basically
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  - kind of
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  - not just being a an effective leader and
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  - trying to make change,
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  - but it's also about knowing the people and
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  - knowing how they work and what what drives
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  - them. Right? What gets them up in the
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  - morning to come to work?
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  - I think second is listen before prescribing a
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  - solution. You know, if you speak to any
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  - any leader who comes into an exec executive
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  - leadership
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  - role, normally, the first
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  - ninety days
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  - is just listening. It's basically listening listening to
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  - what works, what doesn't work, where the struggles
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  - are, where the pain points are. The people
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  - close to the work often understand the problem
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  - better than anyone else because they they live
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  - they they they live through it day by
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  - day. Day day in and day out, they
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  - live they live it. And then finally, don't
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  - wait too long to lead.
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  - Obviously, build relationships, communicate clearly,
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  - take accountability. You know? I think every effective
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  - leader is always you know, holds themselves accountable
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  - and holds their leaders accountable.
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  - Become become someone that people can trust when
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  - the situation
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  - when when a situation becomes difficult.
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  - Technical knowledge may may open the door, but
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  - credibility, judgment, and ability to bring people together
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  - is what sustains leadership.
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  - So leadership is less about having every answer
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  - and more about creating the environment where the
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  - right answers can emerge.
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  - Absolutely. That's excellent advice. Well, Balaji, I've enjoyed
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  - our time today. But before I let you
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  - go, is there anything else that listeners should
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  - know?
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  - I'd say take your time. You know, try
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  - to grow into leadership. Don't try to just
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  - jump automatically.
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  - It's always good to have great mentors. I've
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  - had a multiple great mentors throughout my career
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  - that has helped really helped shape me to
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  - the leader that I am today.
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  - And then, obviously, always always kind of trust
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  - your team. Trust your instincts and trust your
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  - team. I think that's really the best way
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  - to really have a a great working environment
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  - as well as, you know, just team chemistry.
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  - That's a great message to end on. Balaji,
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  - I wanna thank you once again for your
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  - time today and for sharing your insights on
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  - the Becker's Healthcare podcast. Thank you so much.
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  - Thank you, Chanel. Great great to meet you,
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  - and thank you again.