Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Russell Horton, DO, Medical Director of Clinical Innovation at Banner Innovation Group, Banner Health

Transcript

Russell Horton, DO, Medical Director of Clinical Innovation at Banner Innovation Group, Banner Health · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

• 0:00
  This is Laura Ddo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
• 0:03
  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Russell Horton,
• 0:05
  medical Director of Clinical Innovation with Banner Innovation Group,
• 0:08
  part of Banner Health. Dr. Horton,
• 0:10
  it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
• 0:14
  Yeah, thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
• 0:16
  Now, I know we have a lot to talk about.
• 0:18
  Banner is such an innovative health system,
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  and definitely I'm excited to dig into some of the things that you're working on
• 0:23
  right now and really how you're seeing healthcare move and evolve.
• 0:27
  But before we dive into my questions,
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  can you tell me a little bit more about yourself and your background?
• 0:32
  Yeah, happy to. Uh, I'm a general pediatrician by training, um,
• 0:37
  and did all my training out here in Arizona and, uh,
• 0:40
  joined Banner about 10 years ago in clinical practice and then moving into sort
• 0:45
  of physician leadership roles. Uh, did that for a while and,
• 0:49
  and really loved it. And then, um,
• 0:50
  as we went through covid started to work more with the Banner Innovation Group a
• 0:54
  little bit, and, uh, when an opportunity came open as their medical director, I,
• 0:58
  I jumped on that. And, um, you know,
• 1:01
  the Banner Innovation Group's role within Banner Health Banner's,
• 1:03
  a large health system. We're in six states, primarily Arizona. And, uh,
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  our role as the innovation group is to try to help, uh,
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  look at solutions for today's problems that are forward thinking and innovative,
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  but also, um, help to find solutions that we may need in 10 years.
• 1:20
  And, um, to help drive some of what we do with the strategy, what we do with,
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  uh, venture investing, what we do with, um, piloting, testing new technologies,
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  partnerships we wanna form with other companies. Um, so it's a wide, uh,
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  kind of swath of what we are involved in. And as the medical director,
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  my role is to really bring some clinical perspectives to what
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  the group is doing to make sure that we're clinically relevant,
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  that the voice of the clinicians and our clinical staff is really being heard,
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  um, at a, at a more corporate level.
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  And so I'm really honored to be that voice for the group, and I'm really, uh,
• 1:58
  doing some exciting things here.
• 2:01
  Well, that's awesome to hear. And, you know,
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  definitely seems like a really great place to be kind of in that intersection
• 2:07
  between the clinical care as well as the innovation, the technology,
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  and really seeing, you know, where healthcare is headed. Given your role,
• 2:15
  where do you see some of the big opportunities really for Banner and healthcare
• 2:18
  in general, as well as the headwinds that you have your eye on right now?
• 2:23
  Yeah, I think the opportunities are, are numerous, um,
• 2:26
  the healthcare landscape as it's changed in the past few years and more, uh,
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  competitors have gotten into this arena. And certainly, you know,
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  we had the Covid pandemic,
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  but also just everyday challenges that come up has really pushed us to,
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  to look at where our opportunities might be, not in the typical areas. Um,
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  so outside of just typical, we provide care, we deliver it,
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  and we get paid for it, you know, we wanna look outside of that. So, um,
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  I think an area that is certainly not, uh, news to anybody maybe,
• 2:58
  but that is huge for the, uh, a large health system like us, is our data.
• 3:02
  You know, we have a lot of data, we have a lot of patients, and we've, um,
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  helped them through a lot of things. And that's created this huge map.
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  And what's really cool about it is that if we can harness that in the right way,
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  and we can bring it into all the aspects of what we do,
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  it really just makes us better, more efficient, uh,
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  better providers for our patients. And so, um,
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  I see that as a huge area where we can, um,
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  really set banner up to be ready for whatever comes our way,
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  because we know what it means and how to deal with it. Um, so,
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  uh, we also have a, uh, a,
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  a really cool arm of our health system that's our insurance division,
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  and that is, uh, looking to help how, you know,
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  how do we become a payer as well as a provider,
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  and how do we, uh,
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  clinically integrate those together so that we are providing the best experience
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  for our patients so that we are providing the best value-based care for our
• 4:02
  patients. Um, and that we really create, uh,
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  what we like to think of as a truly integrated, uh,
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  health system so that we are helping you through every part of that journey,
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  not just one piece.
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  And I think that's what a health system will set up well to do. So those are,
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  are opportunities that I think have a lot of, um,
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  of reach and importance for us. And so, um, we're looking at that, uh,
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  very closely. You know, you mentioned headwinds. I think that as a clinician,
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  the first thing that I think about, of course, is staffing and our people. Um,
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  a lot of things have moved virtually or automated or AI driven,
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  but really it's about people. And so, um,
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  at Banner we have some of the best, um, clinical staff and, and, um,
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  operations leaders and providers that you can find. But you know,
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  they can only do so much, right?
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  And so we wanna make sure that we're setting up our teams to be successful.
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  And where the innovation group and my role really comes in is what is the role
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  of a provider? What's the top of our license, as we say,
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  and how do we make sure that our, our nurses, our MAs, our case managers,
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  our doctors, our nurse practitioners, uh, PAs,
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  everyone involved in care of a patient is really operating at the top of that
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  license. And so, um, where can we automate and innovate those things?
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  Where can we bring in, you know,
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  AI or a new company or a software to really help drive, um,
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  those staff members to be doing what they love and what they're best at,
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  and not being mired in the kind of small tasks that take up so much time,
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  but, um, they don't necessarily need to be doing, um, all day long.
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  So, um, I think that, uh, it's going to, it, it's a great opportunity,
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  but it is gonna be a headwind to try to think about as staffing becomes more of
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  a challenge, how do we, um,
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  find ways to push back on that and make sure that we are, of course,
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  bringing in new people all the time,
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  but also really helping the people we have to, to love their job.
• 6:04
  That's so fascinating, and I think especially the last thing you mentioned, um,
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  making sure that people love their job and getting them to a space where they
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  remember why they got into healthcare and,
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  and really the impact that they're having.
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  Is there anything that you're doing right now differently at Banner, uh,
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  to really help people, uh, you know, remember these things and,
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  and fall back in love with what it means to be in healthcare in a healthcare
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  provider? Or, you know,
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  how do you go about that in the current climate of healthcare in,
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  in given the tools that we have?
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  Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. And it, it's a, it,
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  it's a challenge with a lot of different answers, I think. And so, uh,
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  not to say that we've, we've got every single answer, but I think we've got a,
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  a, a good sense of where we want to go. And, you know,
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  part of the Banner Innovations group job in the last couple years was helping
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  Banner develop its strategic plan, right? What are the pillars of,
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  of what we do and how we want to do it. First, we help create a vision,
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  which is to be the most trusted healthcare partner for our patients.
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  But then now this strategic planning and one of our pillars, um,
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  there's three main pillars is is called one team. And our,
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  our one team pillar really is about what you just said,
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  which is we want teams to feel connected, teams to feel supported.
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  We want our staff at every level to feel like they're part of something that's
• 7:23
  big and great and, and working for the greater good. Um,
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  and supporting them in that way is huge. You know, I think, um,
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  just to pull out one example, I, I think the world of nursing is,
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  is woefully underrepresented in a lot of ways,
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  but especially when it comes to innovative technology, right? There's not,
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  um, there's a, there's a lot of things out there that will, um, allow, uh,
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  doctors and nurse practitioners and, and those types of providers to,
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  to streamline their day, to have better help through technology.
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  Nurses are still kind of out there just really slogging through it,
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  and they've got a really hard job,
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  and our nurses do an amazing job at what they do, but, you know,
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  could we help them more? And so I think on a, on a lot of levels, uh,
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  it's about saying, Hey, we're trying to help. Give us some time.
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  Let us work on it. We want your input. Uh,
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  we want to know how you feel about this.
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  And so we're always talking with the people in the field, right?
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  We don't wanna just stand up on a mountain and proclaim things because that,
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  that doesn't tend to lead to great results. So, um, you know, I think for us,
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  it's been great to help develop that strategy for the health system and then
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  also now be able to look at, okay, how do we actually do that?
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  And I think nurses are a great example.
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  Lots of other examples of the course out there, but that's, um, you know,
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  a big one at top of mind, I think.
• 8:45
  Certainly. Yeah. Yeah. I love that.
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  And that's so helpful to know and think through. Um, especially I, I,
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  I think every organization is really seeing similar things with our nurses,
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  so I appreciate, uh, your ideas and expertise there. Now,
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  when you think about, um, your role and,
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  and you've talked through some of the ways that you're continuing to grow and
• 9:03
  add value to Banner overall,
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  but is there anything else that you really wanna share with us? And,
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  and how do you really make sure that any of your initiatives or projects that
• 9:11
  you're working on really continue to add value overall?
• 9:17
  Yeah, I,
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  I think one of the first things just to like zoom out a little bit
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  on that question, um,
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  would be to really embrace what we're seeing with competition from other
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  areas, right? Because that, that competition from every,
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  everyone from Amazon to Walmart, Walgreen, you know, insurance pay writers, and,
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  um, we've got, uh, you know, best Buy jumping into healthcare. And, you know,
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  I think a lot of that kind of pushes me and our teams to think more
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  about how do we create new opportunities for ourself.
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  Cuz when I heard that Best Buy was going into healthcare, right?
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  I was thinking like, you know,
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  that's where I bought a DVD player in the nineties, and like,
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  why are they doing healthcare? But when I thought about it a little more,
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  it really makes sense and I, I, I feel like, um,
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  they are doing what we are trying to do, which is how can we get it,
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  provide better care to the people that we want to provide care to? And so, uh,
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  I try to look at it from a, a lens of, you know,
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  there's a lot of things happening out in the world in healthcare,
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  and that's hopefully pushing us and honing us into something even sharper. Um,
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  so, uh, that's kind of a, a zoomed out view. But then like, moving in,
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  I think what we want to do is really make sure that we are, um,
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  creating value-based care structures that matter and that are important for our,
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  our patients and the people that we care for and their families.
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  And that we are trying to be prepared for that in every way. So having the,
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  the, um, IT infrastructure, having the right kind of, um,
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  staff capabilities,
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  having the right kind of department set up so that we have this insurance
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  division and we have risk-based contracts and we have, uh,
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  value-based care that's kind of keeps creeping in little by little every year,
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  but are we gonna be ready for when that finally happens? And so I,
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  I think that's a great area for us to really grow and add value is,
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  is literally through value-based care, um,
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  because we all know it's coming and we have to be ready to, um,
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  to kind of have everything in place ahead of time because, you know,
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  there's still a lot of fee for service happening out there. But I,
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  I do think that Banner is really trying to be proactive in
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  this area so that we are creating value for our patients before we're forced to
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  do it. And so that we are, are not, um,
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  kind of struggling to play catch up when that time comes. You know,
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  I think another area that's,
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  that's really cool and something that we're working on right now and,
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  and as a system, but, uh, we've been tasked with a few,
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  a few challenges in the innovation group is, uh, to help, you know,
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  how do we build out what the hospital or the,
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  the hospital campus really of the future looks like. Um,
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  I think as these competitors that I was talking about have,
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  have brought new light to healthcare,
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  it's really shown how we as health systems are, are I think, set up,
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  um,
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  really succeed in this area because we are part of this community
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  where we've been around for a while, we're a trusted name, but, um, you know,
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  they, competitors like Amazon or Walmart are, have really created a,
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  a consumerism model that has taught people how to look
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  for all things in their life as what's the best gonna be for me, for my family,
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  um, and how can you provide me the best service that allows me to live the best
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  kinda life that I wanna live, right? And so what we're trying to design with,
• 12:49
  with sort of a hospital campus of the future is how do we create that new space,
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  um, because we're always gonna need a physical space in healthcare,
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  even though so much of it can be done virtually, and that's great,
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  but we're still gonna need physical spaces. Um,
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  and how do we design that so that, you know,
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  we're at the leading edge of what it means to be involved in your healthcare,
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  where it's comfortable, where it's inviting, where it's convenient as as can be,
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  and where you're going through maybe one of the hardest experiences of your
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  life, um, or of a family member's life,
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  but you feel like you're in a place that's safe and welcoming and is, and,
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  and you feel like you're in the right place. Um,
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  and so we're really excited to be working on some of that work as well within
• 13:30
  the innovation group and, and, and all that that entails.
• 13:35
  Absolutely. I think that's a really great point, and definitely getting,
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  you know, as you mentioned, uh,
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  a headstart on the work environment and the things that are really gonna be
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  important and beneficial to healthcare providers and workers, you know,
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  in the value-based environment is so crucial and so critical.
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  And it's great that, um, you at Banner have so much, uh,
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  of that data and information that you're able to, uh, utilize, I'm sure,
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  and leverage for some of the things that you're working on. And you know, too,
• 14:03
  as you've been talking through,
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  we've talked about some of the workforce shortages and some of the challenges,
• 14:08
  um, that, that organizations are going through on a large scale, but you know,
• 14:12
  certainly that you're experiencing too, uh, with, with the current environment.
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  So given the limited healthcare resources, whether it's the workforce or, um,
• 14:21
  on the financial side,
• 14:22
  where do you see as being an important area to continue to innovate and,
• 14:26
  and take risks and, and make investments, um,
• 14:29
  even in a year that's a little bit challenging for most?
• 14:34
  Yeah. Um,
• 14:36
  I think that certainly streamlining processes
• 14:41
  for our clinical teams is, is important. And again, you know, my,
• 14:44
  my bias is towards the clinical team, of course, but, um,
• 14:48
  I do think that as resources become stretched pretty thin and,
• 14:53
  you know, there's a doctor shortage, there's a nursing shortage,
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  and there has been for a while,
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  and there unfortunately probably will be for a while,
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  we have to make sure that we are really, um,
• 15:05
  designing workflows and technology for those people on the front
• 15:10
  lines so that their day is moving smoothly. Um,
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  they can see all the patients they want to see,
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  they can add in a patient if they need to because they know that we've got their
• 15:19
  back when it comes to better documentation, um,
• 15:22
  better coverage of all the different things they have to ACO measures and
• 15:26
  value-based care metrics and all the things that we also have to do, you know,
• 15:30
  answering messages, refilling prescriptions, um, you know,
• 15:33
  checking on a call light in the hospital. All this stuff, um, is,
• 15:37
  is an investment, but I think has to be made because one, um,
• 15:41
  someone will do it and we don't wanna lose people to,
• 15:45
  to another organization that has decided to be more, you know, more on the, uh,
• 15:49
  front edge of that. Um, but I think it's also about, um,
• 15:53
  making sure that we are, um, investing in,
• 15:57
  in things that maybe don't always have the, the biggest, um,
• 16:01
  ROI or the biggest kind of huge revenue impact number. Um, you know,
• 16:06
  we take a lot of pitches from a lot of companies and, um,
• 16:09
  that's always part of it, and that's important. You know,
• 16:11
  we need to make sure we can keep the doors open, keep the lights on, but, um,
• 16:16
  I think what we're gonna see is that it's gonna be hard to quantify the return
• 16:21
  on really investing in your staff in a monetary way. Um,
• 16:26
  and so, you know, there's ways to do it,
• 16:27
  and I think there's a lot of great companies out there trying to do that. Um,
• 16:31
  but I think it will be a risk, it will be a little bit of a,
• 16:33
  a leap of faith to say, you know, um,
• 16:35
  we need to do this because it's what's gonna make us continue to be a great care
• 16:40
  provider. And, um, I think, uh, that I,
• 16:44
  that banner is trying to do that in, in a responsible way, um,
• 16:48
  because there's a lot of people's lives that, uh, depend on banner, uh,
• 16:52
  from within and from without. And so, um, it,
• 16:55
  it's an interesting time certainly to be in this space because there's a lot of,
• 16:59
  of changes and a lot of, uh, cool things coming our way and,
• 17:02
  and we're just trying to sort those out.
• 17:05
  Absolutely. I, I think that's such an important point. And, you know,
• 17:09
  looking through, um, ways to keep your eye on the future and what's going to,
• 17:13
  you know, what you still need to build and, and grow, how do you, uh,
• 17:16
  think about that and measure some of those things that can be hard to see an
• 17:20
  immediate return on investment,
• 17:22
  but you know that down the line it is gonna make, uh,
• 17:25
  the organization even stronger a as we move forward and, you know,
• 17:29
  ideally get out of some of the challenges that we're in today.
• 17:33
  Yeah, yeah. And this is where I think data really comes back into the picture.
• 17:37
  I mean, it never really left the picture, but it, it's certainly there is, is,
• 17:40
  um, the better we understand how all the different little cogs of,
• 17:45
  of this big machine move and work and interact with each other,
• 17:49
  the better we can create, um, sort of a model of, hey, you know,
• 17:53
  if you gave a nurse some time back,
• 17:56
  or if you had a doctor who didn't have to spend so much time documenting,
• 18:00
  or you could do this procedure virtually at home, um,
• 18:05
  how would that impact, you know, the office so there are more rooms open, um,
• 18:09
  if those rooms are open, can we see more patients and help more people,
• 18:12
  you know? And, and, um, that's really,
• 18:15
  I think one of the things we're trying to get is that easy access to
• 18:19
  understanding all the things that maybe we didn't have to think about before.
• 18:22
  You know, a lot of,
• 18:23
  a lot of infrastructures is put into place for all of us years
• 18:28
  before, and, um, some of this stuff wasn't even on the horizon yet,
• 18:32
  and now we're having to think about it. But I think it is, it is possible.
• 18:35
  And I think that if we are smart about it, and I think, um,
• 18:40
  like banners trying to do with a group like ours and with these strategic
• 18:44
  pillars, you know, building on the, like I, the idea of one team,
• 18:47
  like we talked about, we want to be a personalized, integrated, easy to access,
• 18:53
  um, company for our patients. We want our, um, covered lives, our,
• 18:57
  our insurance members to feel like they are part of, um,
• 19:00
  a really easy flow chart that's gonna move them from their insurance selection
• 19:05
  all the way through their care for their whole life. You know,
• 19:08
  and those pillars really drive a lot of what we do.
• 19:10
  And so we're trying to make sure that on both sides of that we're creating the
• 19:14
  future. And, and I think, um, I think we are.
• 19:18
  Absolutely. I, I love it. And that's just so helpful to the, to think about and,
• 19:22
  um, you know, really keep an eye on the future and,
• 19:25
  and know how important that is. Before we wrap up our conversation,
• 19:29
  I wanted to dig a little bit deeper along those lines.
• 19:31
  Where do you see big opportunities for growth and development,
• 19:34
  whether it's within your role or the teams you work with over the next two to
• 19:38
  three years as healthcare continues to evolve and change?
• 19:43
  Yeah, I, boy, I think there's probably a lot of answers there. Um,
• 19:48
  I, I would say that for me clinically and in my role,
• 19:53
  I, I really want to see us, um,
• 19:57
  make that investment in, um, helping, uh,
• 20:02
  the clinical providers that we have really streamline what they do and decrease
• 20:07
  the burnout. That is such a problem now. Um, and you know, as you know,
• 20:11
  as most people know, um, healthcare burnout is a real problem.
• 20:15
  And so I, I wanna make sure that we're doing everything we can to do that.
• 20:19
  And I think the way we do that is, is everything we've been talking about. But,
• 20:24
  um, I, I feel like, um,
• 20:28
  what we are hopefully gonna be doing, um, within our group is,
• 20:33
  is helping to create a streamlined path for innovation, right?
• 20:37
  I think that every health system, uh, everyone, you know, in all,
• 20:41
  all fields of, of business really, um, want to innovate,
• 20:45
  want to be at the cutting edge of the future. And,
• 20:47
  and that's great what we want to do, um,
• 20:50
  because we are such a large health system and we have so many different delivery
• 20:54
  areas for care, so many different, um, ways that we touch people's lives,
• 20:59
  uh, I think a, a cool area for us and for me and our team is gonna be, um,
• 21:04
  how we create sort of this fast lane to innovation, right?
• 21:09
  And how we create a streamlined process where we are working well with our IT
• 21:14
  teams. We have great IT teams, but they get a lot put on them.
• 21:18
  And so how do we make sure that we're bringing them things in the right way with
• 21:21
  the right information they need? How do we, you know,
• 21:24
  access the data we have in the right way? How do we, um,
• 21:27
  take the infrastructure we have and um, and keep
• 21:33
  remolding that into, into something that's nimble and adaptable for the future?
• 21:38
  And so we're really trying to create that lane where, um, and I, uh,
• 21:43
  one of my colleagues, uh, calls it the fast lane. And,
• 21:46
  and I think that's exactly what we want it to be, right? That we have an idea,
• 21:50
  or a company or a project or someone from our insurance division
• 21:55
  comes to us and says, Hey, you know, we, we'd really love to be better at this.
• 21:59
  And we, we just go, we hit the gas pedal and,
• 22:02
  and we start figuring out what it's gonna be. Um,
• 22:05
  that's gonna take some time and that's gonna take a, a, a lot of work.
• 22:08
  But I think we're certainly at banners set up to do that, uh, and to see us, um,
• 22:14
  just even more leading the way into the future.
• 22:18
  I love that.
• 22:18
  That's such an amazing message and I can imagine inspires many within the
• 22:22
  organization. And Dr. Horton,
• 22:23
  thank you so much for joining us for this podcast episode.
• 22:26
  I really appreciate your time, and it's been great hearing from you.
• 22:30
  It's been great. Thank you so much.
• 22:32
  Absolutely.
• 22:33
  And I know we'll talk through many of these themes further at our Health IT
• 22:37
  digital Health and Revenue Cycle event in October. Um,
• 22:40
  I'm excited to see you there. I think it'll be a lot of fun and, and definitely,
• 22:43
  um, a great time to just keep an eye on, you know,
• 22:46
  innovation and technologies and where the field is headed.
• 22:50
  Yeah. I, I can't wait. I hope to see lots and lots of people there to,
• 22:54
  to keep pushing us into the future.