In how many jobs can you say data saved a life? Research and analytics in healthcare are starting to catch up on the vast amount of available or unused data.

Before Black History Month ends, Straight Out of Health IT had to have this conversation around the challenges and triumphs of African American CIOs. Christopher wants to highlight the living legends in this industry with special guests Cletis Earle, Yuri Campbell, and Chani Cordero. With very different backgrounds, our guests ended up working in healthcare IT and as they mention during the episode, Black CIOs can be counted with hands and toes.

Black CIOs are the most underrepresented community across all industries, and these spectacular guests share their thoughts on why it is important to diversify these leadership positions. Specifically for healthcare, the more diversity, the better outcomes that can be delivered. The need for more diversity responds to one thought: communities are diverse. Leadership positions should truly reflect the communities they serve.

Some of the barriers that BIPOC CIOs face daily are unconscious bias and racism, and each of them shares a particular challenge. From learning to connect with other people, to educational access, and the historic racism Black people have suffered, they are still affecting them in one way or another. They also touch upon mentoring and coaching African American CIOs in the healthcare industry.

Tune in to this episode with the most amazing guests discussing African American CIOs in today’s world!

In how many jobs can you say data saved a life? Research and analytics in healthcare are starting to catch up on the vast amount of available or unused data. There’s also the development of strategies and technologies to gather data from their patients’ EHRs and import external information that could fill in blanks in their social determinants of health. In this episode of Straight Outta Health IT, Rachini Moosavi, Vice President of Enterprise Analytics at UNC Health, talks about the value of health and environmental data and how their insights can drive transformation in healthcare for better outcomes.

Christopher brings to the table the issue of access to quality care, another challenge related to social determinants of health for many patients. He reads an excerpt from a Wellesley Institute document on how healthcare institutions must build health equity throughout care planning, delivery, and investment that specifically address disadvantaged populations or key access barriers. Rachini mentions the importance of equity and inclusion groups to ensure that the processes, technology, and people working in a health system are doing their best for every patient. She also believes it is vital for the medical workforce to be representative of the communities it serves.

Rachini explains how at UNC Health, data is gathered with an understanding of social determinants of health and how acknowledging them can positively impact outcomes. Its leaders believe in the power of data, enabling its research community with it. They are interested in ensuring that all their entities are supported and that the people and processes in their workforce have the required information to be successful. She speaks of the implementation of UNC Health’s EHR and the construction of a robust data warehouse that allows them to do better research. After COVID, she also realized how sharing data dashboards across health systems can help data-driven leaders to do more.

Rachini began her career interested in the clinical side of healthcare, but after some time, she found a home in healthcare data and analytics. She shares how, for her, a career is a journey with twists, turns, and several stops where one finds their passion.

Tune in to this episode and be open to receiving significant healthcare data and analytics lessons from Rachini!

We need to talk about the state of pediatric care in America. Unfortunately, the quality of care has decreased in recent years since more and more hospitals have decided to increase their adult care units, leaving little to no room for growth in pediatrics. In this episode of Straight Outta Health IT, we have the pleasure of hosting Dr. Alana Arnold, a leader in pediatric emergency medicine and a physician in this area.

Dr. Arnold first got in love with pediatrics thanks to the kids’ honesty and humor. This taught her that providing high-quality care for children could change their lives forever. Mixing this with the thrill of the ER environment and the plethora of procedures that could be done ignited a passion in Alana’s professional life. Children who don’t get proper care are transferred outside the system, resulting in increased costs and delays. It was under these premises that Alana started Premier Pediatric Solutions, her consulting business.

Mental health has also been a crisis item to be addressed when it comes to pediatric medicine. In mental and physical health, there aren’t enough tools and doctors to deliver proper care to children, and hospitals are being stretched thin. Alana mentions some solutions that could help bring people into pediatric care, recognizing that training and low income at the beginning are possibly two reasons that are not appealing for many. She also highlights how delivering good care could start by increasing the pediatric focus for ER residents.

Pediatric care is also affected by the inequities in social determinants of health. Dr. Arnold gives specific examples of how the Black kids community has a higher death rate from mistreated asthma than their white counterparts. The inequities among communities are a threat to the pediatric ward; this is only a micro example of what’s happening at the macro level of healthcare. She also walks us through the preventable components that could potentially decrease the death rate among BIPOC communities regarding pediatric care.

Advocacy is a really great discussion topic, especially among the BIPOC community, in which, in many cases, they are dismissed. Alana shares some tips on advocacy, establishing that it’s the physician’s job to explain what is going on to every patient. Dr. Alana also shares the technology she is developing in her consulting work that’s helping some ED/ERs to increase their revenue sevenfold.

Tune in to this beautiful episode about pediatric care, and do not doubt to reach out to Dr. Alana if you have any questions!

We're honored to have on this week's episode of "Straight Outta Health IT" the dynamic and unconventional Dr. Kameron Matthews, MD.   This amazing clinician has dedicated her life's mission to the equitable delivery of healthcare and the adoption of health policies impacting underserved communities. 

Dr. Kameron Leigh Matthews is the Chief Health Officer of Cityblock Health, a transformative, value-based healthcare provider integrating medical, behavioral, and social services for Medicaid and dually eligible and low-income Medicare beneficiaries. A board-certified Family Physician, Dr. Matthews has focused her career on underserved and vulnerable communities, having held multiple leadership roles in correctional medicine, federally qualified health centers, and managed care. Most recently at the Veterans Health Administration, she led transformational efforts focused on integrated, Veteran-centered models of care including the implementation of the MISSION Act of 2018 and the EHR modernization effort. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. In addition to other non-profit and advisory board positions, she serves as the Vice-Chair of the board of directors of the National Quality Forum. As a passion outside of work, she co-founded and co-direct the Tour for Diversity in Medicine, an initiative seeking to bring premedical enrichment activities to underrepresented minority high school and undergraduate students across the country.

In this episode, she shares her journey into healthcare advocacy after taking a detour from med school to earn a law degree which sparked her passion for helping underserved communities. Social determinants of health like zip code, education, and income really do affect access to care. Dr. Kameron reflects on how she started working at Federally Qualified Health Centers and for her, being a physician of color absolutely made the difference.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not just buzzwords according to Dr. Mathews.    A diverse healthcare workforce can directly impact the quality of care and the equitable treatment of patients of color.   

Her passion now is leading CityBlock Health.  Their mission is to create safe and supportive environments for the delivery of holistic care to our most vulnerable and marginalized citizens.   

Tune into this thought-provoking conversation and feel free to share your thoughts on this topic!

Today, we’re taking another point of view on healthcare, and that is through the lens of the Student Loan Forgiveness Program the US government has deployed. We are honored to have Emeka Oguh on Straight Outta Health IT for this episode. Emeka is the Founder and CEO of People Joy, a company that partners with employers to manage student debt and relief strategies at the intersection of gender, racial and wealth gaps.

Student Loan debt is hard to navigate; that’s why Emeka founded People Joy to help others deal with this excruciating topic. He also shares insights on why paying these loans is a challenge for graduates today. The White House, under President Biden’s administration, has extended the payment deadlines a couple of times now since March 2020, with the latest moratorium being December 31st, 2022.

Employees will always look up to their employers for financial solutions regarding wellness. This is one thing that People Joy helps organizations do: share different ways to offer financial wellness to their employees. He also touches upon the gender wealth gap in the United States and how women are staying longer in schools and getting more advanced degrees but not getting equal pay.

Learning about the student loan forgiveness programs is like doing your taxes: you can do them on your own if you want to, but it’s always better when you have company and guidance. There are resources and help out there that can guide you, so take them, use them, and learn about them! Tune in to this incredible episode!

Health plans are now driving technology disruption in healthcare, that is a fact that we need to take into account when moving into conversations about health topics. In this episode of Straight Outta Health IT, Unmesh Srivastava, another incredible thought leader in our field, shares his valuable two cents as having worked on the value-based care and tech-enablement of care delivery field for quite a while.

The road to a better customer experience in healthcare has been led by providers, the general population, and physicians demanding change, specifically, a new technology adoption. Other industries are adopting healthcare by the minute, but the problem with healthcare lies in compliance and the regulatory issues that come with our field. Even though the system has been built to ease administrative operations, the trend is now towards the customer and their experience.

Unmesh shares how the company he’s working with, Clever Care Health Plan, is championing the preventative aspect of medicine for folks that cannot access proper care due to language and cultural barriers and disparities. America, as the diverse nation that it is, has cultural and language barriers that affect people when it comes to healthcare access. The population from the Eastern part of the world has a more preventative approach to health, while America is accustomed to being reactive all the time.

Yet there are disparities in the approaches to healthcare, Unmesh brings to light how they are converging and the Western and Eastern medicines are getting closer by the minute. This merger will substantially help patients get a holistic approach to healthcare experiences.

Tune in to this incredible episode about technology adoption, health plans, and the future of care!

The opioid epidemic is something tangible that is affecting many populations and taking away a significant number of lives. On today’s episode of Straight Outta Health IT, we are honored to have two industry experts, Amar Setty and Bryan Marascalchi, talking about the opioid epidemic and what we can do to improve these drugs when used in pain management treatments.

Then, Dr. Bryan Marascalchi shares a little bit of his journey in anesthesia and pain medicine and then dives deep into how communities and organizations can address the social determinants of health around the opioid epidemic. Together, Dr. Marascalchi and Dr. Setty talk about the mental health factor around the abuse of opioids, restating that if patients stick to the regime their physician has provided, they will be safe.

Patient Premier started as the link between technology and the several ways to improve the opioid addiction epidemic. Even though we believe pain is ultimately subjective, there are several ways to have metrics and analyze it. Through data analysis, Patient Premier is helping insurance companies and payers find the best ways to pay for the treatments and medications patients require. Both co-founders share their thoughts on the future of data and technology leveraging in the pain management space, stating their improvements, challenges, and expectations.

Tune in to this incredible episode about a well-misunderstood topic that everyone in the space needs to be aware of.

Joe Drygas is not only one of our industry’s most renowned leaders, covering telecommunications and technologies associated with virtual care but he is also a great friend of ours and he is here today on this episode of Straight Outta Health IT! Under Joe's leadership, AT&T healthcare provides solutions customized for healthcare systems, including the largest healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, payers, and life sciences companies worldwide.

Joe’s passion for healthcare, innovation, and helping people gets him out of bed daily. In today’s world, it’s very rare seeing someone stay in the same company for more than a couple of years; in Joe’s case, he’s been with AT&T for 21 years. He reflects on how his work, duties, challenges, leadership team, and more changed over the years but his passion and mission have stayed the same.

Boiled to a couple of words, AT&T is in healthcare to provide secure connectivity, even though they work in the background of it all. Joe explains how AT&T works with different actors in the space and he deeply reflects on addressing the social determinants of health for some populations that don’t have reliable access to the internet. AT&T has partnered with the American government to increase access by creating affordable plans that take broadband internet to underserved and rural communities. Access, as Joe explains, is every day getting cheaper, more secure, better, and faster.

But to understand how to deliver better care to patients, one must take into account not only the social determinants of health but the political determinants of health. AT&T also has a couple of initiatives that Joe shares and he stresses how expensive it is to run a telecommunications business. He then talks about the security aspect of it all, saying that they test their connectivity not only to be fast and reliable but secure.  They also end the conversation by discussing AT&T’s positioning within other companies as their trusted advisor, customer experience, AI, robotics, and what the future holds!

Make sure to tune in to this incredible conversation about telecommunications and healthcare!

Danielle is a terrific mentor, leader, and educator, initially inspired by her mother - an unofficial nurse - that took care of people through a premise of love. Even though pursuing medicine crossed her mind, Danielle wanted to take care of people immediately. This took her down the nursing path as a profession. She recalls when her track coach propelled her to space after being brought down by her guidance counselor. It was at that moment that Danielle understood that it didn’t matter where she came from, her background, or the money in the bank account, she could take the world by storm.

She then goes deep into her experience in the nursing profession, sharing how it has changed over the years, and her thoughts on the great exodus occurring right now in the field. She recognizes that keeping people motivated to enter or stay in nursing is a multifactorial issue. Employers today need to consider payment, education, and how institutions can give professionals a good environment to thrive.

DNPs of Color is Danielle’s passion and purpose, and she reflects deeply on how she started the organization, its mission, and where they are right now. Finding people that look like you, and have a similar if not the same background, is hard for people of the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ community, that’s why Danielle started DNPs of Color. The nonprofit has three pillars: networking, mentorship, and advocacy, and Danielle shares how these are key to success within the community.

Every profession has a good, bad, and ugly part to it, but Danielle explains why nursing is beautiful and fulfilling. She also talks about entering the nursing world, how it needs to be important to consider the future you want to have, and then working backwards from that point.

Tune in to this wonderful story of never giving up and pushing boundaries!

Mary Branch has gone through high highs and low lows. Growing up in a town where everybody cared for each other and where race and color didn’t matter was decisive in how she would lead her life and her healthcare career. Ultimately, we are all part of the same community, so we must care for each other. Mary reflects on her education and the impact of social constructs in the United States.

Life can be messy sometimes, but when one sets expectations that can truly be achieved, it will get easier.