The Big Unlock

In this episode, Tim Skeen, SVP and CIO of Sentara Healthcare, discusses how he determines his technology priorities and initiatives for driving digital transformation. Norfolk, VA-based is an integrated, not-for-profit healthcare system comprising 12 hospitals. As CIO for Sentara and its affiliated health plan (Optima Health), Tim focuses on driving synergies through technology to improve member/patient experiences, manage population health, and drive efficiencies.

Tim explains how data is the foundation to drive better healthcare outcomes and how the right data sets can identify care gaps, lower the cost of care, and improve overall healthcare outcomes. He discusses their strategic partnerships for cloud-enabled data and analytics with Microsoft, including their investments in industry consortium Truveta. He also talks about their cloud transformation journey and the IP they have developed for cloud migration that they intend to monetize through a commercial venture. Take a listen.

In this episode, Kristin Myers, CIO of Mount Sinai Health System, discusses topics related to the digital transformation journey at Mount Sinai – telehealth and access, digital patient experiences, remote care, home health, and more. Kristin also talks about the multi-year cloud transformation journey at Mount Sinai with Microsoft and the key themes that her team is focused on this year.

Kristin discusses why telehealth and virtual health are critical components of healthcare in the future and provides insights into how she makes technology choices in a rapidly changing landscape. She reflects on the changing role of the CIO in healthcare and why she decided to rename the IT organization. She concludes with advice for startups looking to partner in Mount Sinai’s digital transformation journey. Take a listen.

In this episode, Justin Norden, Partner at GSR Ventures, shares his personal story to inform the investment thesis behind GSR Ventures’ health tech-focused venture fund. Justin is both a physician and a computer scientist by training and has a real passion for the Medicaid sector. He discusses the many challenges in healthcare for startups and points to the potential that lies with the Medicaid population and how technology can help turn it into an opportunity. GSR Ventures specializes in funding early-stage digital health companies.

Justin talks about the digital health funding environment and why he thinks that in 2022 we won’t see the same levels of investment as in previous years. He shares his advice for founders looking to launch digital health companies and what it takes to successfully sell to and partner with health systems. He also offers thoughts on how the entry of big tech in healthcare will open new opportunities for startups. Take a listen.

In this episode, Brian Davis discusses the perfect storm of competition for patients, labor, and medical supplies that even a small hospital in remote Mississippi, such as Magnolia Regional Medical Center now faces. Brian describes Magnolia as a large ambulatory facility that happens to own a hospital. He explains how he uses federal grants and state programs for rural broadband access to drive telehealth and improve technology adoption among patients and caregivers.

As a long-time user of Meditech EHR, Brian talks about their deep commitment to Meditech and their efforts to build mobile experiences for patients and caregivers. He also shares his thoughts on the recent Meditech partnership with Google Health. Brian shares his excitement on the emerging technologies such as voice in making care accessible and convenient for consumers. He also muses on how emerging entrants, less limited by geographic boundaries, could be extremely disruptive to their primary care services and, ultimately their referral path into their specialty services. Take a listen.  

In this episode, Paula Turicchi, Chief Strategy Officer, Parkland Community Health Plan (PCHP), talks about how the organization went from a completely outsourced service model to taking more control over their operations. PCHP primarily serves a Medicaid population of pregnant women and children in North Texas. Paula discusses how they use digital engagement tools and technologies with their members to improve the quality of care and health outcomes. She outlines how economic factors such as rising gas prices impact their members and their ability to afford access to healthcare.

Paula also discusses their data and analytics programs in partnership with their sister organization PCCI, and how they have repurposed existing applications to serve emerging healthcare needs over the past couple of years (listen to our podcast episode with Steve Miff, CEO of PCCI).

Paula advises startup founders to have a good business case before they approach them with a solution for their target audience. She discusses at length the various considerations for digital engagement for their member population and the risks/trade-offs that they must address while making investment choices. Take a listen.

In this episode, Matthew Warrens, Managing Director at UnityPoint Health Ventures, shares some of the learnings from their portfolio companies, and how UnityPoint Ventures approaches digital health investments.

UnityPoint Ventures invests in startups at various stages of their growth. Matt discusses their investment themes, what they look for in startups, and how they leverage the UnityPoint Health ecosystem to help their portfolio companies scale and grow – while clarifying that portfolio companies are not guaranteed a commercial contract with the health system.

Matt discusses the ongoing labor shortage and how that is reshaping priorities, the emerging competitive landscape for health systems, and the overall VC funding environment for digital health. Take a listen.

In this episode, Lee Kim, Senior Principal, Cyber Security and Privacy at HIMSS, discusses the findings of their annual survey of cybersecurity. She talks about the emerging landscape of cyberthreats, the current state of security controls, and the heightened risks due to the interconnectedness of healthcare with other sectors. She also shares her thoughts and observations on the new threat that has emerged in the wake of the Ukraine crisis and what she is hearing from HIMSS members.

Lee discusses the onslaught of ransomware and phishing attacks from expanded networks of the nation-state and non-state actors and how a greater dependence on electronic information, forced by the circumstances of the pandemic has created a positive inflection point for improving our preparedness and responses to cyberthreats.

Lee talks about how HIMSS enables information sharing among “trusted circles” that include agencies and other non-provider organizations to help healthcare enterprises achieve greater maturity levels. Take a listen.

You can download the HIMSS healthcare cybersecurity survey report here.

In this episode, Dr. Ashis Barad, Clinical Lead, Digital Health at Baylor Scott & White Health, discusses their digital patient engagement journey, their highly rated best-in-class homegrown patient mobile app, and how they are creating a seamless digital experience for patients and consumers.

BS&W is the largest not-for-profit health system in Texas and is a pioneer in digital patient engagement. Dr. Barad discusses their focus on consumer expectations and consumer research at length and how that drives their digital investments. He discusses the challenges involved in gaining acceptance from clinicians for launching and implementing digital health, and the need to invest in ongoing research to understand consumer needs.

Dr. Barad talks about their digital investment priorities for 2022, their data and analytics partnership with the Truveta consortium, challenges with harnessing technology innovation, and how the talent shortage is impacting the pace of digital transformation. Take a listen.

In this episode, Jackie and Phil discuss Epic’s Cosmos research database that covers over 130 million patients across 800 health systems in 50 states – the largest single healthcare dataset of its kind. They discuss the role of database in driving the Epic Research initiative, specifically in public health, and explain how they ensure privacy protections and safeguards for the data.

Jackie and Phil also discuss Epic’s recent expansion into newer market segments such as retail healthcare and health insurance, and Epic’s new CRM product, titled Cheers.

Epic is one of the largest healthcare IT companies today and has a significant influence in healthcare operations across the country. Jackie and Phil discuss how the Cosmos dataset could power new innovations and research, and also highlight advocacy efforts with regulatory agencies to reduce coding and documentation burdens on clinicians, at a time when the healthcare industry is facing a shortage of workers.

Andrew Le started Buoy Health after he realized healthcare consumers were relying on Google search and other sources to make decisions about their care. After seeing bad outcomes from consumers relying on inaccurate information or failing to seek timely care, he decided to build an AI-powered service that helps consumers manage their health in a more informed way.

Andrew believes that everything, besides the act of healing, can be automated away. He takes pains to clarify they are not trying to replace a doctor but replacing what today is a very rudimentary system with a search engine that narrows things down for a whole host of different things.

In the conversation, Andrew and Paddy discuss a range of topics from the long sales cycles for digital health startups, their expansion plans for their core product, the trust deficit with big tech firms and consumer data, interoperability challenges, and much more. Take a listen.