Jeff Lawrence – Why Data is a Strategic Imperative | This Week in Surgery Centers
Here’s what to expect on this week’s episode. 🎙️
🎙️ When you have access to the right data, you can access savings opportunities at your fingertips.
Jeff Lawrence is the VP of Business Development at Envi / Inventory Optimization Solutions (IOS), and he’s on the podcast this week sharing why data should be at the core of your surgery center’s strategy if you want to continue to thrive and uncover hidden cost savings you might be overlooking.
📊 ASCs have unlimited #data to analyze related to patients, products, chargemasters, preference cards, vendors, etc.; you need to know how to leverage this power for good. Data requires software systems and tools, and those software systems and tools need to support your business processes.
💉 Start with a robust practice management and inventory system. Ensure that the products and supplies that feed into that inventory system are clean and accurate, analyze your preference cards, and use that intel to frequently determine case costs (not just once a year or randomly!)
💰 One example: Run an extract of all your purchasing history, send that data to your #GPO, and ask your rep to identify products you are buying today that they might have pre-negotiated rates for that are lower than what you are currently paying.
Other topics covered? Supply chain spend management, implants, purchased services, and more!
Find the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube to hear all the details!
Episode Transcript
0:08
we’ll start the episode off by sharing
0:10
an interesting conversation we had with
0:11
our featured guests and then we’ll close
0:13
the episode by recapping the latest news
0:15
impacting surgery centers we’re excited
0:18
to share with you what we have so let’s
0:20
get started and see what the industry’s
0:22
been up to
0:23
[Music]
0:27
hi everyone here’s what you can expect
0:30
on today’s episode
0:32
Jeff Lawrence from Envy is here this
0:34
week to talk all about data clean robust
0:37
and actionable data should be at the
0:39
core of your surgery center strategy if
0:42
you want to continue to thrive we’ll
0:44
dive into the tools and systems you can
0:46
use to pull the data and most
0:48
importantly chat through how you can use
0:50
it for savings opportunities
0:54
and in our news recap we’ll cover a few
0:56
nursing schools that are offering free
0:58
tuition in exchange for a pledge to work
1:01
post-graduation
1:03
exciting news from SCA Health how
1:05
providers are attempting to tackle
1:07
health care for the homeless and of
1:10
course end the new segment with the
1:11
positive story about AI software that
1:14
has been successfully trained to detect
1:16
breast cancer
1:18
hope everyone enjoys the episode and
1:20
here’s what’s going on this week in
1:22
surgery centers
1:24
[Music]
1:27
Jeff welcome to the show ah pleasure to
1:31
be here pleasure to be here Nick
1:32
appreciate it
1:33
Jeff you tell our listeners a little bit
1:35
about your current role
1:37
um and you know some of your overall
1:39
experience in the ASC industry yeah so
1:42
um I’m currently a vice president of
1:44
Business Development with envy and so
1:47
I’m responsible for business
1:48
Partnerships and the uh the sales team
1:52
um I’ve been in healthcare software for
1:54
22 years now with uh kind of a small
1:57
stint in between for uh data cleansing
2:00
delivery so uh very very focused in this
2:03
uh small little area I’ve been with Envy
2:07
for about 14 years now and as part of
2:11
envying kind of in that in that same
2:12
role in with Envy we’re basically a
2:16
materials management system cloud-based
2:18
materials management system for the
2:20
healthcare space and specifically
2:23
um kind of a focus in that ASE space so
2:26
the past 14 years with Envy has been
2:29
very focused on ases and Clinics Supply
2:33
chain optimization
2:35
fantastic 20 years in healthcare
2:37
technology is enough to uh to know what
2:40
you’re talking about I’ve seen a lot of
2:45
in in Jeff wanted to drill in with you
2:48
today and talk a little bit about the
2:51
operational data categories and data
2:53
elements specific to ASE operations and
2:56
and running facilities more efficiently
2:58
and in reducing costs and so as we think
3:02
about those kind of overarching data
3:05
categories that ASC should be thinking
3:07
about how do you think about that at
3:09
kind of the highest level yeah and so I
3:11
always kind of start with you know
3:13
understanding the importance of you know
3:15
data and I I really kind of the picture
3:17
I have in my mind is kind of data is the
3:19
DNA of the supply chain so it’s
3:21
absolutely foundational and core to kind
3:23
of everything that you do from there
3:27
um and actually maybe a quick disclaimer
3:29
as well because like when I when I look
3:31
at a commitment to data that’s also like
3:33
a commitment to technology and
3:35
automation so they’re really kind of all
3:37
tied together because when I look at
3:38
data it is the foundation of your
3:41
software so in order to maximize the
3:43
value of your software you have to
3:45
optimize you know your data within those
3:48
software systems in order to get the
3:51
most from your software but then that
3:52
will be driven by kind of the data that
3:55
you’re managing within those systems
3:57
they can practice management you know I
3:59
think purchasing systems like those are
4:00
the ones the data that I’m referring to
4:03
right I think that’s a good disclaimer
4:06
you know especially on hey we can’t talk
4:08
about data unless we talk about systems
4:12
and software systems and tools we can’t
4:14
really talk about
4:15
software systems and tools unless we
4:17
talk about business processes that those
4:20
tools support and so I think those all
4:22
three are definitely interlinked Okay so
4:25
we’ve got the disclaimer and then going
4:29
back to the data and kind of the
4:30
categories of data what do you think are
4:32
the foundational categories yeah so when
4:35
and kind of like when I’m looking when
4:37
I’m looking at data too there’s there’s
4:39
kind of multiple different systems that
4:41
are kind of been playing in ASC right
4:43
um and kind of like the outcomes that we
4:45
want to drive are going to be hey we
4:47
want to make sure that we are driving
4:49
accurate case costing so the data
4:52
related to driving that accurate case
4:55
costing is kind of specifically what I’m
4:56
looking at so you know hey you have
4:58
patience you have products you have
5:00
prices you have you know kind of charge
5:02
Masters you have you know kind of the
5:03
related preference cards that are
5:05
related to that so all that data related
5:08
you know to those practice Management
5:09
Systems
5:11
um and then kind of that other major
5:12
component is going to be kind of supply
5:14
chain spend manage so kind of having
5:17
that system or that database which is
5:19
that complete repository of all of the
5:22
products and services that you’re buying
5:23
and so then it’s the related data to
5:26
support that purchasing so think of like
5:29
the different products and the reorder
5:31
numbers the units measure the pricing
5:34
all of that information that is you know
5:36
kind of at the lowest level that will
5:38
feed up to the software and the
5:40
processes that need to be in place to
5:42
kind of run accurately
5:44
oh great so so let’s let’s take that
5:48
outcome of of case costing which really
5:52
kind of informs you know the huge piece
5:54
of the the P L of an ASC right you’ve
5:57
got your Revenue which is driven by
5:58
cases then you’ve got the cost side of
6:00
it
6:02
um and so let’s talk about that case
6:03
costing and see if we can break it down
6:04
a little bit uh so we have preference
6:07
cards right which align at the facility
6:10
uh in terms of the cases being performed
6:13
and the inventory in the in in the
6:16
pieces and the products that go into
6:18
delivering that case right yeah how how
6:22
well do you think that the industry is
6:24
doing preference cards today and what’s
6:27
been your experience does everybody have
6:29
those nailed or do you see subcenters
6:31
sub-centers that do it great in some
6:33
centers that have opportunity yeah well
6:36
said some that have opportunity
6:38
um it is it is not a universal uh
6:42
accurate uh you know kind of database
6:44
which drives you know accurate case
6:46
costing I’ve seen way too many times
6:48
when people will you know calculate
6:50
their case costs every other year it’s
6:52
like once every two years of determining
6:54
what their case cost is just because
6:55
it’s too much work
6:57
um and that’s where I think we really
6:58
kind of need to change kind of
7:01
philosophy that this really needs to be
7:03
a key strategy because you have to have
7:06
accurate data which is informing your
7:08
cases which is informing kind of what
7:10
your case cost is and I would probably
7:12
say we kind of have to take one step
7:14
back from there to start because when I
7:16
look at some of those different systems
7:18
that are in place in in an ASE one is
7:20
how you need to be purchasing so if you
7:22
initially focus on hey I want to make
7:25
sure that all of my purchasing data so I
7:28
have like a single repository right for
7:30
all of my purchases so I have a single
7:32
repository so my product my products are
7:35
accurate my descriptions are accurate my
7:37
reorder numbers my costing so the
7:39
products that I’m buying accurate now
7:42
let’s make sure that that information is
7:44
also feeding kind of that that clinical
7:47
and practice management system so if I’m
7:49
buying the right products at the right
7:51
prices and I’m focused on that data and
7:53
then I use Integrations you know and or
7:55
you know kind of just like you know
7:57
elbow grease and making sure that you’re
7:59
kind of doing it you know properly the
8:00
first time it’s going to feed the
8:03
products and the prices that are in the
8:06
uh clinical system the practice
8:08
management system which will then inform
8:10
the cases and the products that are tied
8:12
to those preference cards so I mean it’s
8:14
not just like oh hey let’s keep accurate
8:16
preference cards we have to take that
8:18
step back right let’s make sure that we
8:20
know all the products we’re buying we
8:22
know the information we know the price
8:23
associated with those that then needs to
8:25
inform my clinical system which feeds up
8:28
into my case costing through my
8:30
preference cards
8:32
does that make sense why I said that
8:34
it does so the inventory has to be
8:37
accurate to be accurately reflected on
8:41
the preference cards and and where where
8:43
do you see
8:44
um because that makes a lot of sense
8:46
where do you see the breakdowns when
8:49
when there’s inefficiency in an ASC
8:51
setting where do you see the breakdowns
8:52
is it on hey more often than not the
8:55
preference cards aren’t accurate with
8:57
the right uh inventory components and
9:00
supplies it’s a bit of a snowball
9:02
because as soon as the information
9:04
associated with those products starts to
9:07
become inaccurate then all of a sudden
9:09
it becomes less relevant for people to
9:11
feel that they need to maintain the
9:14
proper products on those preference
9:16
cards so it’s kind of hey make sure you
9:18
have the right data in the system and
9:21
all the relevant products that you’re
9:22
purchasing is available and so then when
9:24
like folks are building those preference
9:26
cards the data is available and relevant
9:29
and accurate and complete it makes it a
9:31
lot easier for them to feel that it’s
9:33
relevant for maintaining the preference
9:35
cards
9:36
yeah
9:39
great and
9:40
how do you kind of advise customers to
9:43
to think about this or maybe if they’re
9:45
setting it up for the first time you
9:47
know maybe in a de novo setting is an
9:49
example how should they think about the
9:52
products that they’re gonna have and the
9:55
data the cost data the other data that
9:58
they want to be capturing around those
9:59
products yeah so I mean in
10:02
this is where you really need to start
10:03
leveraging some of your partners as well
10:05
like you know every ASC is going to have
10:07
a primary distributor they’re gonna have
10:08
a good relation they’re gonna have
10:09
direct suppliers they’re going to have
10:11
reps associated with that they’re going
10:12
to have GPO Partners you know that can
10:15
kind of help so it’s understanding the
10:17
importance of the data and working with
10:19
those suppliers in order to make sure
10:21
that the products that you’re going to
10:22
be buying that they’re ready to supply
10:24
you with but that is also going to be
10:26
informing like in that de novo setting
10:28
that’s also going to be informing the
10:30
data that’s get let’s get loaded into
10:31
the system to start because data is
10:34
always accurate at one point it’s what
10:36
happens after that right so at the
10:38
beginning it feels a little bit easier
10:40
hey here’s all the products I’m buying
10:41
and I can get a file from my suppliers
10:45
of hey here’s the products that I’m
10:46
buying and or I need to buy and that can
10:48
inform what it is that I’m going to load
10:50
into my system
10:52
got it so you start with this start with
10:55
the products and the suppliers of the
10:56
products feed that into your inventory
10:59
system that feeds into your preference
11:01
cards which feeds back into your
11:04
practice management system as the
11:05
overall kind of system of record of your
11:07
Revenue expenses is that kind of the
11:09
it’s just that portable yeah exactly
11:11
that’s simple
11:12
this is hard yeah
11:16
um do do customers ever get hung up in
11:19
terms of that data flow across the
11:21
different systems because oftentimes as
11:23
you mentioned sometimes Inventory
11:24
management system is different than
11:26
practice management system yeah right
11:28
yeah so are there any best practices to
11:30
getting that that flow and that data
11:33
flow to work well yeah and and I I would
11:36
say you know it’s kind of the uh measure
11:38
twice cut once kind of philosophy so as
11:41
you go in and you’re thinking about what
11:43
is my strategy it’s thinking about and
11:46
evaluating though so like you know lots
11:48
of people use a purchasing system that
11:50
is different than their practice
11:52
management system so when you do that
11:54
there’s a lot of efficiency that’s
11:55
driven with that for like that best of
11:57
breed purchasing system well you need to
11:59
ask that question up front hey do you
12:01
integrate with my practice management
12:04
system and if the answer is no you’re
12:07
gonna you’re not gonna have an optimized
12:10
supply chain and data strategy when the
12:12
answer is yes then it’s like okay let me
12:14
look closer at this because I need to
12:16
ensure at the front end that my partners
12:18
my different systems are going to be
12:20
able to talk to each other
12:21
yeah
12:23
makes sense
12:24
tell me a little bit Jeff about the
12:27
contract utilization component of this
12:30
and when we’re talking about inventory
12:32
and inventory management and tying back
12:35
to the contracts and the overall
12:37
contract utilization optimization how
12:40
does that work yeah this is a this is a
12:42
really interesting one
12:44
um because we think about an inventory
12:46
system we need to make sure that we have
12:48
all of the products that we’re buying or
12:50
we need to optimize because like one of
12:52
my goals I kind of put out in the
12:53
beginning with data is kind of spin
12:55
management as well right so when we kind
12:58
of optimize and we know what products
13:00
we’re buying and we consolidate all that
13:03
information into one system we can then
13:05
use that data to share with those
13:07
partners that I was referring to kind of
13:09
like your distributor direct supplier
13:11
goes you can share that information with
13:14
those Partners so that those Partners
13:16
can help you identify where there’s
13:18
Contracting opportunities specifically
13:20
for you in the Contracting opportunities
13:22
is what’s really going to enable you to
13:24
kind of maximize your contract
13:26
utilization and that contract
13:28
utilization should be able to drive your
13:30
pricing down when you have data and
13:33
you’re able to share that with the
13:34
partner so they know exactly what it is
13:36
that you’re buying
13:37
great do you have an example of that you
13:40
can you can share in practice of a time
13:43
when a center kind of worked
13:45
collaboratively with their Partners yeah
13:47
it’s probably good added the information
13:48
let’s bring an example here an image for
13:51
people’s minds here so they think about
13:54
you have all of your purchase history
13:56
information uh within a system and you
13:58
run a data extract so it’s like hey here
14:01
Partners let me share with you and I was
14:03
like starting like with uh with the GPO
14:05
Part Group purchasing organization uh
14:08
because there’s several large gpos and
14:11
they have contracts with pre-negotiated
14:13
products on a lot of the products that
14:16
are being purchased by ases so I take my
14:18
data and I send it over to my GPO
14:21
partner rep and say hey can you analyze
14:23
that for me and so what they would do is
14:25
they’re going to take this purchase
14:26
history file which is all your line
14:27
level purchases they’re going to take
14:29
their GPO contract file and they’re
14:31
going to push those together and they’re
14:32
going to identify for you hey here’s
14:34
products that you are buying today that
14:37
are organ organization is pre-negotiated
14:39
rates that are better than what you’re
14:41
paying would you like to activate some
14:43
of these contracts which will be able to
14:46
drive your products product price down
14:48
and so by doing that analysis they’re
14:51
able to compare exactly what you’re
14:52
buying to exactly where their savings
14:54
opportunities and some of them are easy
14:56
right you know it’s a it’s a contract
14:58
that’s the exact same product that
15:00
you’re buying Zach’s immunity to measure
15:02
it’s easy yet if I can save money let’s
15:04
activate the contract others of those
15:05
might be more
15:07
um you know you you might have to
15:09
um convert so you might have a product
15:11
that’s similar to something else that’s
15:13
on contract is it worth converting to
15:15
save the doll you know the amount of
15:17
money that they’re able to identify and
15:18
the answer many times is no but it’s
15:21
really looking at all of that and then
15:23
there’s going to be an output from that
15:24
analysis which is going to be and here
15:27
are the products that I can’t help you
15:29
with and that’s what you take and go to
15:32
your you know distributor or not your
15:34
distributor but you’re a direct supplier
15:36
and so you say hey my implant vendor let
15:39
me go talk to my synthes and say hey
15:41
here are the products that if I
15:43
negotiate directly with you I’m going to
15:46
be able to drive costs down so when you
15:47
look at those two buckets like a GPO
15:48
bucket and like that direct or local
15:51
contract bucket that direct local
15:53
contract you can save between five and
15:55
twenty five percent of the cost of those
15:57
products and on the GPO side it’s
15:59
similar to about five to about 17
16:01
percent cost savings opportunities there
16:03
so it’s well worth capturing the data
16:07
sharing it with the partners working
16:09
with them in order to see if there’s
16:11
savings opportunities because a lot of
16:13
ASCS are not as proactive and they don’t
16:16
have access to as good data and the
16:19
suppliers don’t really have to come to
16:20
the table quite as easily you know you
16:22
don’t really even know what you’re
16:23
buying from them those cost savings seem
16:26
meaningful
16:27
um
16:28
and are there certain product areas or
16:31
product categories when you where you
16:33
tend to find more savings opportunities
16:35
whether that be implants or some of the
16:37
bigger ticket items implants are always
16:39
way at the top right because I mean
16:42
especially depending upon the size of an
16:44
organization and what their Leverage is
16:47
going to be how much they give them
16:48
product are they you know what that
16:49
volume is going directly to those
16:51
suppliers they’re very willing to have
16:54
uh those conversations and if you
16:56
consolidate you’re spending that given
16:58
category with that implant vendor
17:00
they’ll give you much better pricing
17:03
um and then kind of flipping over to the
17:04
GPO side one of the areas that I’ve seen
17:06
a lot of savings recently because this
17:09
is obviously on a lot of people’s minds
17:11
right now I’m having a lot of
17:12
conversations with people that are
17:13
saying Hey I want to use the data from
17:15
my purchasing system envy and share that
17:19
with Partners in order to drive savings
17:21
um but it’s like a category called
17:23
purchase services so think like HVAC and
17:27
it and elevator maintenance and you know
17:31
Waste Management in all these areas that
17:34
you know are a little bit of an
17:35
afterthought there’s a lot of savings
17:37
opportunities in that area as well where
17:39
a lot of people aren’t digging for
17:41
savings
17:42
um so love the implants love like
17:44
purchase Services where people have not
17:46
been focused uh traditionally and then a
17:48
lot of the standard Med search products
17:50
you’re going to be able to get you know
17:51
uh contract savings through your GPO for
17:54
sure there
17:57
fantastic
18:00
um
18:00
Jeff super helpful one one more question
18:03
for you we do this with all of our
18:04
guests every week what’s one thing our
18:08
ASCS can do this week to improve their
18:11
surgery centers one thing so it all
18:13
comes down to this
18:15
um I’m gonna stay on topic and what I’ll
18:19
say is pick up the phone and call two of
18:22
your partners and Supply Partners right
18:24
so make that your GPO rep and make that
18:26
your highest spend uh direct supplier
18:29
rep and just know that relationships
18:32
matter and you know having those
18:34
relationships having those contacts
18:36
these organizations are there for the
18:38
ases to help them and when shown the
18:42
right data they can help you save money
18:43
as well so just pick up the phone or go
18:46
sit down for a cup of coffee
18:48
excellent Jeff thanks so much for
18:50
joining us today thanks appreciate it
18:52
Nick
18:54
[Music]
18:57
as always it has been a busy week in
18:59
healthcare so let’s Jump Right In
19:02
nursing schools are offering loan
19:04
forgiveness programs in an attempt to
19:07
offset the increased demands on Health
19:09
Care Rising turnover and nursing
19:11
shortages so I have three examples to
19:14
share the first is the University of
19:17
Rochester nursing Scholars Program so
19:20
starting in the fall of 2023 they will
19:23
cover the tuition for students pursuing
19:25
a year-long accelerated bachelor’s
19:28
degree in nursing and sweetened the deal
19:30
with a guaranteed job at one of two
19:33
hospitals in the area upon graduation
19:37
a second example is the
19:39
pennsylvania-based UPMC School of
19:42
Nursing who began offering tuition loan
19:45
forgiveness for its 16th month diploma
19:48
program just this past January and
19:51
students are eligible to receive up to
19:53
seven thousand dollars a semester once
19:56
they complete their first semester in
19:58
exchange for a three-year commitment to
20:01
work at a UPMC facility of after
20:03
graduation
20:05
and then the third example is
20:07
Chamberlain University in New Orleans
20:09
they teamed up they teamed up with lcmc
20:13
health through the call to care Scholars
20:16
Program to offer three years of tuition
20:18
in exchange for a pledge to work three
20:20
years at lcmc health
20:24
um so you’ll kind of see that theme
20:26
throughout right like we will pay for
20:28
you to get your degree uh if you commit
20:31
to working for us upon graduation which
20:34
is so crazy to think
20:36
how things have just changed so much
20:39
like never in a million years did I
20:41
think we would be at the place where we
20:43
would be
20:44
asking telling people we’re going to pay
20:46
for your degree and then we’re gonna
20:48
give you a job you just have to commit
20:50
to working
20:51
um it’s really
20:53
fascinating and interesting how the
20:55
industry has evolved however the U.S
20:59
Bureau of Labor Statistics projects
21:01
projects that more than 203 000 yearly
21:04
job openings for registered nurses will
21:07
be available by 2031. so it makes
21:10
complete sense why why we’re going down
21:13
this route and doing anything that we
21:14
can to get more nurses and get more
21:16
Health Care staff again just just kind
21:19
of wild
21:20
um so anything that these universities
21:22
and institutions are able to offer even
21:24
if it is just a drop in the bucket will
21:27
certainly make an impact on their local
21:29
communities and I commend them for
21:31
thinking outside the box and at least
21:33
putting the wheels in motion and I’m
21:35
sure there are a lot of other programs
21:37
as well those are those are just three
21:41
in our second story today exciting news
21:43
from SCA Health Caitlin Zula has been
21:46
named CEO of the east region for Optum
21:50
health and they have named Jason Strauss
21:53
as their next CEO so Caitlin joyed SCA
21:56
in 2015 and has successfully served as
21:59
CEO since December of 2019 and in the
22:02
company’s press release they shared all
22:04
of her many successes which is
22:06
definitely worth the read including her
22:09
exceptional leadership and role in
22:11
evolving the organization from an
22:13
ambulatory surgical care business into a
22:15
leading National Specialty care provider
22:19
um and Jason Strauss has been with SCA
22:21
for 15 years so he is no stranger and
22:24
having served in several different roles
22:26
most notably Chief Operating Officer and
22:29
most recently president uh so
22:31
congratulations to both Caitlin and
22:33
Jason on their new positions and can’t
22:35
wait to see what the future holds
22:38
our third story is an inspiring one uh
22:42
more than 580
22:44
000 individuals are experiencing
22:46
homelessness in the U.S right now and
22:48
providers in three major cities La
22:51
Boston and Chicago are actively rolling
22:54
out street medicine programs to help so
22:58
again three examples here the first is
23:00
the UCLA health homeless Healthcare
23:03
collaborative they started uh with just
23:06
two vans that would travel to different
23:08
homeless encampments and shelters to
23:11
provide people with free health care
23:12
services such as preventative care
23:15
Primary Care Medical screenings and
23:18
referrals to Social Services and last
23:21
year UCLA’s Vans recorded 6 000
23:24
encounters with homeless patients and
23:26
delivered medications more than 1500
23:28
times which is amazing
23:32
um the second example is the Boston
23:33
healthcare for the homeless program
23:36
um they operate a little differently and
23:38
actually have 600 employees and they are
23:41
considered a federally qualified Health
23:43
Center so an fqhc they see roughly 11
23:47
000 patients each year
23:49
using a primary care model that
23:52
prioritizes addiction care and mental
23:54
health services and by being proactive
23:57
in their Community they’ve seen really
24:00
um great success and they’ve been
24:02
recognized by the state and the city for
24:05
the work that they’re doing they were
24:07
able to get ahead of very treatable
24:09
issues most notably
24:11
um uh
24:13
uh and they were seeing a trend of a
24:15
Meningitis outbreak and they were able
24:17
to get ahead of it and stop the outbreak
24:20
from spreading so by being proactive
24:23
they’re able to not only help their
24:25
homeless Community but but help other
24:28
people in the city as well
24:30
and lastly over in Chicago UI Health has
24:34
the better health through housing
24:35
program which helps patients who
24:37
frequently visit the emergency
24:39
department and suffer from chronic
24:41
conditions like heart failure kidney
24:43
disease mental illness and addiction
24:46
um and through grants they were actually
24:48
able to house more than a hundred
24:49
patients
24:51
um who they would frequently see that
24:54
they knew did not have a place to live
24:56
so all three of these program leaders
24:59
urged the government on on every level
25:01
and also payers to increase their
25:03
involvement in health care for the
25:05
homeless and really start to consider it
25:07
a public health issue and not a social
25:09
issue and even
25:11
um kind of reframing it like that makes
25:14
you understand why obviously Healthcare
25:17
leaders on all level need to be involved
25:19
in helping to to care for the homeless
25:21
as much as possible
25:24
and to end our new segment on a positive
25:27
note AI software shows promising results
25:30
and detecting breast cancer missed by
25:32
doctors in Hungary Chiron medical
25:35
Technologies has been feeding its AI
25:38
systems of millions of mammograms from
25:40
patients whose diagnoses are known as
25:44
well as images labeled by Radiologists
25:46
to teach the AI tool to detect cancerous
25:50
growth by their shapes locations and
25:52
density
25:53
and in 2022 after testing more than 275
25:58
000 breast cancer cases Chiron said its
26:01
AI Tech can spot cancer at least as well
26:04
as the doctors can
26:06
um and additional testing found that the
26:08
AI software was able to identify more
26:12
issues increasing the cancer detection
26:14
rate by 15
26:16
it’s super important to note though that
26:19
this technology is meant to be used
26:21
alongside doctors not in lieu of but
26:25
just more exciting news about the future
26:27
of AI and helping keep patients safe and
26:29
healthy
26:31
and that news story officially wraps up
26:34
this week’s podcast thank you as always
26:36
for spending a few minutes of your week
26:38
with us make sure to subscribe or leave
26:40
a review on whichever platform you’re
26:42
listening from I hope you have a great
26:45
day and we’ll see you again next week
26:49
[Music]
26:52
please
we’ll start the episode off by sharing
0:10
an interesting conversation we had with
0:11
our featured guests and then we’ll close
0:13
the episode by recapping the latest news
0:15
impacting surgery centers we’re excited
0:18
to share with you what we have so let’s
0:20
get started and see what the industry’s
0:22
been up to
0:23
[Music]
0:27
hi everyone here’s what you can expect
0:30
on today’s episode
0:32
Jeff Lawrence from Envy is here this
0:34
week to talk all about data clean robust
0:37
and actionable data should be at the
0:39
core of your surgery center strategy if
0:42
you want to continue to thrive we’ll
0:44
dive into the tools and systems you can
0:46
use to pull the data and most
0:48
importantly chat through how you can use
0:50
it for savings opportunities
0:54
and in our news recap we’ll cover a few
0:56
nursing schools that are offering free
0:58
tuition in exchange for a pledge to work
1:01
post-graduation
1:03
exciting news from SCA Health how
1:05
providers are attempting to tackle
1:07
health care for the homeless and of
1:10
course end the new segment with the
1:11
positive story about AI software that
1:14
has been successfully trained to detect
1:16
breast cancer
1:18
hope everyone enjoys the episode and
1:20
here’s what’s going on this week in
1:22
surgery centers
1:24
[Music]
1:27
Jeff welcome to the show ah pleasure to
1:31
be here pleasure to be here Nick
1:32
appreciate it
1:33
Jeff you tell our listeners a little bit
1:35
about your current role
1:37
um and you know some of your overall
1:39
experience in the ASC industry yeah so
1:42
um I’m currently a vice president of
1:44
Business Development with envy and so
1:47
I’m responsible for business
1:48
Partnerships and the uh the sales team
1:52
um I’ve been in healthcare software for
1:54
22 years now with uh kind of a small
1:57
stint in between for uh data cleansing
2:00
delivery so uh very very focused in this
2:03
uh small little area I’ve been with Envy
2:07
for about 14 years now and as part of
2:11
envying kind of in that in that same
2:12
role in with Envy we’re basically a
2:16
materials management system cloud-based
2:18
materials management system for the
2:20
healthcare space and specifically
2:23
um kind of a focus in that ASE space so
2:26
the past 14 years with Envy has been
2:29
very focused on ases and Clinics Supply
2:33
chain optimization
2:35
fantastic 20 years in healthcare
2:37
technology is enough to uh to know what
2:40
you’re talking about I’ve seen a lot of
2:45
in in Jeff wanted to drill in with you
2:48
today and talk a little bit about the
2:51
operational data categories and data
2:53
elements specific to ASE operations and
2:56
and running facilities more efficiently
2:58
and in reducing costs and so as we think
3:02
about those kind of overarching data
3:05
categories that ASC should be thinking
3:07
about how do you think about that at
3:09
kind of the highest level yeah and so I
3:11
always kind of start with you know
3:13
understanding the importance of you know
3:15
data and I I really kind of the picture
3:17
I have in my mind is kind of data is the
3:19
DNA of the supply chain so it’s
3:21
absolutely foundational and core to kind
3:23
of everything that you do from there
3:27
um and actually maybe a quick disclaimer
3:29
as well because like when I when I look
3:31
at a commitment to data that’s also like
3:33
a commitment to technology and
3:35
automation so they’re really kind of all
3:37
tied together because when I look at
3:38
data it is the foundation of your
3:41
software so in order to maximize the
3:43
value of your software you have to
3:45
optimize you know your data within those
3:48
software systems in order to get the
3:51
most from your software but then that
3:52
will be driven by kind of the data that
3:55
you’re managing within those systems
3:57
they can practice management you know I
3:59
think purchasing systems like those are
4:00
the ones the data that I’m referring to
4:03
right I think that’s a good disclaimer
4:06
you know especially on hey we can’t talk
4:08
about data unless we talk about systems
4:12
and software systems and tools we can’t
4:14
really talk about
4:15
software systems and tools unless we
4:17
talk about business processes that those
4:20
tools support and so I think those all
4:22
three are definitely interlinked Okay so
4:25
we’ve got the disclaimer and then going
4:29
back to the data and kind of the
4:30
categories of data what do you think are
4:32
the foundational categories yeah so when
4:35
and kind of like when I’m looking when
4:37
I’m looking at data too there’s there’s
4:39
kind of multiple different systems that
4:41
are kind of been playing in ASC right
4:43
um and kind of like the outcomes that we
4:45
want to drive are going to be hey we
4:47
want to make sure that we are driving
4:49
accurate case costing so the data
4:52
related to driving that accurate case
4:55
costing is kind of specifically what I’m
4:56
looking at so you know hey you have
4:58
patience you have products you have
5:00
prices you have you know kind of charge
5:02
Masters you have you know kind of the
5:03
related preference cards that are
5:05
related to that so all that data related
5:08
you know to those practice Management
5:09
Systems
5:11
um and then kind of that other major
5:12
component is going to be kind of supply
5:14
chain spend manage so kind of having
5:17
that system or that database which is
5:19
that complete repository of all of the
5:22
products and services that you’re buying
5:23
and so then it’s the related data to
5:26
support that purchasing so think of like
5:29
the different products and the reorder
5:31
numbers the units measure the pricing
5:34
all of that information that is you know
5:36
kind of at the lowest level that will
5:38
feed up to the software and the
5:40
processes that need to be in place to
5:42
kind of run accurately
5:44
oh great so so let’s let’s take that
5:48
outcome of of case costing which really
5:52
kind of informs you know the huge piece
5:54
of the the P L of an ASC right you’ve
5:57
got your Revenue which is driven by
5:58
cases then you’ve got the cost side of
6:00
it
6:02
um and so let’s talk about that case
6:03
costing and see if we can break it down
6:04
a little bit uh so we have preference
6:07
cards right which align at the facility
6:10
uh in terms of the cases being performed
6:13
and the inventory in the in in the
6:16
pieces and the products that go into
6:18
delivering that case right yeah how how
6:22
well do you think that the industry is
6:24
doing preference cards today and what’s
6:27
been your experience does everybody have
6:29
those nailed or do you see subcenters
6:31
sub-centers that do it great in some
6:33
centers that have opportunity yeah well
6:36
said some that have opportunity
6:38
um it is it is not a universal uh
6:42
accurate uh you know kind of database
6:44
which drives you know accurate case
6:46
costing I’ve seen way too many times
6:48
when people will you know calculate
6:50
their case costs every other year it’s
6:52
like once every two years of determining
6:54
what their case cost is just because
6:55
it’s too much work
6:57
um and that’s where I think we really
6:58
kind of need to change kind of
7:01
philosophy that this really needs to be
7:03
a key strategy because you have to have
7:06
accurate data which is informing your
7:08
cases which is informing kind of what
7:10
your case cost is and I would probably
7:12
say we kind of have to take one step
7:14
back from there to start because when I
7:16
look at some of those different systems
7:18
that are in place in in an ASE one is
7:20
how you need to be purchasing so if you
7:22
initially focus on hey I want to make
7:25
sure that all of my purchasing data so I
7:28
have like a single repository right for
7:30
all of my purchases so I have a single
7:32
repository so my product my products are
7:35
accurate my descriptions are accurate my
7:37
reorder numbers my costing so the
7:39
products that I’m buying accurate now
7:42
let’s make sure that that information is
7:44
also feeding kind of that that clinical
7:47
and practice management system so if I’m
7:49
buying the right products at the right
7:51
prices and I’m focused on that data and
7:53
then I use Integrations you know and or
7:55
you know kind of just like you know
7:57
elbow grease and making sure that you’re
7:59
kind of doing it you know properly the
8:00
first time it’s going to feed the
8:03
products and the prices that are in the
8:06
uh clinical system the practice
8:08
management system which will then inform
8:10
the cases and the products that are tied
8:12
to those preference cards so I mean it’s
8:14
not just like oh hey let’s keep accurate
8:16
preference cards we have to take that
8:18
step back right let’s make sure that we
8:20
know all the products we’re buying we
8:22
know the information we know the price
8:23
associated with those that then needs to
8:25
inform my clinical system which feeds up
8:28
into my case costing through my
8:30
preference cards
8:32
does that make sense why I said that
8:34
it does so the inventory has to be
8:37
accurate to be accurately reflected on
8:41
the preference cards and and where where
8:43
do you see
8:44
um because that makes a lot of sense
8:46
where do you see the breakdowns when
8:49
when there’s inefficiency in an ASC
8:51
setting where do you see the breakdowns
8:52
is it on hey more often than not the
8:55
preference cards aren’t accurate with
8:57
the right uh inventory components and
9:00
supplies it’s a bit of a snowball
9:02
because as soon as the information
9:04
associated with those products starts to
9:07
become inaccurate then all of a sudden
9:09
it becomes less relevant for people to
9:11
feel that they need to maintain the
9:14
proper products on those preference
9:16
cards so it’s kind of hey make sure you
9:18
have the right data in the system and
9:21
all the relevant products that you’re
9:22
purchasing is available and so then when
9:24
like folks are building those preference
9:26
cards the data is available and relevant
9:29
and accurate and complete it makes it a
9:31
lot easier for them to feel that it’s
9:33
relevant for maintaining the preference
9:35
cards
9:36
yeah
9:39
great and
9:40
how do you kind of advise customers to
9:43
to think about this or maybe if they’re
9:45
setting it up for the first time you
9:47
know maybe in a de novo setting is an
9:49
example how should they think about the
9:52
products that they’re gonna have and the
9:55
data the cost data the other data that
9:58
they want to be capturing around those
9:59
products yeah so I mean in
10:02
this is where you really need to start
10:03
leveraging some of your partners as well
10:05
like you know every ASC is going to have
10:07
a primary distributor they’re gonna have
10:08
a good relation they’re gonna have
10:09
direct suppliers they’re going to have
10:11
reps associated with that they’re going
10:12
to have GPO Partners you know that can
10:15
kind of help so it’s understanding the
10:17
importance of the data and working with
10:19
those suppliers in order to make sure
10:21
that the products that you’re going to
10:22
be buying that they’re ready to supply
10:24
you with but that is also going to be
10:26
informing like in that de novo setting
10:28
that’s also going to be informing the
10:30
data that’s get let’s get loaded into
10:31
the system to start because data is
10:34
always accurate at one point it’s what
10:36
happens after that right so at the
10:38
beginning it feels a little bit easier
10:40
hey here’s all the products I’m buying
10:41
and I can get a file from my suppliers
10:45
of hey here’s the products that I’m
10:46
buying and or I need to buy and that can
10:48
inform what it is that I’m going to load
10:50
into my system
10:52
got it so you start with this start with
10:55
the products and the suppliers of the
10:56
products feed that into your inventory
10:59
system that feeds into your preference
11:01
cards which feeds back into your
11:04
practice management system as the
11:05
overall kind of system of record of your
11:07
Revenue expenses is that kind of the
11:09
it’s just that portable yeah exactly
11:11
that’s simple
11:12
this is hard yeah
11:16
um do do customers ever get hung up in
11:19
terms of that data flow across the
11:21
different systems because oftentimes as
11:23
you mentioned sometimes Inventory
11:24
management system is different than
11:26
practice management system yeah right
11:28
yeah so are there any best practices to
11:30
getting that that flow and that data
11:33
flow to work well yeah and and I I would
11:36
say you know it’s kind of the uh measure
11:38
twice cut once kind of philosophy so as
11:41
you go in and you’re thinking about what
11:43
is my strategy it’s thinking about and
11:46
evaluating though so like you know lots
11:48
of people use a purchasing system that
11:50
is different than their practice
11:52
management system so when you do that
11:54
there’s a lot of efficiency that’s
11:55
driven with that for like that best of
11:57
breed purchasing system well you need to
11:59
ask that question up front hey do you
12:01
integrate with my practice management
12:04
system and if the answer is no you’re
12:07
gonna you’re not gonna have an optimized
12:10
supply chain and data strategy when the
12:12
answer is yes then it’s like okay let me
12:14
look closer at this because I need to
12:16
ensure at the front end that my partners
12:18
my different systems are going to be
12:20
able to talk to each other
12:21
yeah
12:23
makes sense
12:24
tell me a little bit Jeff about the
12:27
contract utilization component of this
12:30
and when we’re talking about inventory
12:32
and inventory management and tying back
12:35
to the contracts and the overall
12:37
contract utilization optimization how
12:40
does that work yeah this is a this is a
12:42
really interesting one
12:44
um because we think about an inventory
12:46
system we need to make sure that we have
12:48
all of the products that we’re buying or
12:50
we need to optimize because like one of
12:52
my goals I kind of put out in the
12:53
beginning with data is kind of spin
12:55
management as well right so when we kind
12:58
of optimize and we know what products
13:00
we’re buying and we consolidate all that
13:03
information into one system we can then
13:05
use that data to share with those
13:07
partners that I was referring to kind of
13:09
like your distributor direct supplier
13:11
goes you can share that information with
13:14
those Partners so that those Partners
13:16
can help you identify where there’s
13:18
Contracting opportunities specifically
13:20
for you in the Contracting opportunities
13:22
is what’s really going to enable you to
13:24
kind of maximize your contract
13:26
utilization and that contract
13:28
utilization should be able to drive your
13:30
pricing down when you have data and
13:33
you’re able to share that with the
13:34
partner so they know exactly what it is
13:36
that you’re buying
13:37
great do you have an example of that you
13:40
can you can share in practice of a time
13:43
when a center kind of worked
13:45
collaboratively with their Partners yeah
13:47
it’s probably good added the information
13:48
let’s bring an example here an image for
13:51
people’s minds here so they think about
13:54
you have all of your purchase history
13:56
information uh within a system and you
13:58
run a data extract so it’s like hey here
14:01
Partners let me share with you and I was
14:03
like starting like with uh with the GPO
14:05
Part Group purchasing organization uh
14:08
because there’s several large gpos and
14:11
they have contracts with pre-negotiated
14:13
products on a lot of the products that
14:16
are being purchased by ases so I take my
14:18
data and I send it over to my GPO
14:21
partner rep and say hey can you analyze
14:23
that for me and so what they would do is
14:25
they’re going to take this purchase
14:26
history file which is all your line
14:27
level purchases they’re going to take
14:29
their GPO contract file and they’re
14:31
going to push those together and they’re
14:32
going to identify for you hey here’s
14:34
products that you are buying today that
14:37
are organ organization is pre-negotiated
14:39
rates that are better than what you’re
14:41
paying would you like to activate some
14:43
of these contracts which will be able to
14:46
drive your products product price down
14:48
and so by doing that analysis they’re
14:51
able to compare exactly what you’re
14:52
buying to exactly where their savings
14:54
opportunities and some of them are easy
14:56
right you know it’s a it’s a contract
14:58
that’s the exact same product that
15:00
you’re buying Zach’s immunity to measure
15:02
it’s easy yet if I can save money let’s
15:04
activate the contract others of those
15:05
might be more
15:07
um you know you you might have to
15:09
um convert so you might have a product
15:11
that’s similar to something else that’s
15:13
on contract is it worth converting to
15:15
save the doll you know the amount of
15:17
money that they’re able to identify and
15:18
the answer many times is no but it’s
15:21
really looking at all of that and then
15:23
there’s going to be an output from that
15:24
analysis which is going to be and here
15:27
are the products that I can’t help you
15:29
with and that’s what you take and go to
15:32
your you know distributor or not your
15:34
distributor but you’re a direct supplier
15:36
and so you say hey my implant vendor let
15:39
me go talk to my synthes and say hey
15:41
here are the products that if I
15:43
negotiate directly with you I’m going to
15:46
be able to drive costs down so when you
15:47
look at those two buckets like a GPO
15:48
bucket and like that direct or local
15:51
contract bucket that direct local
15:53
contract you can save between five and
15:55
twenty five percent of the cost of those
15:57
products and on the GPO side it’s
15:59
similar to about five to about 17
16:01
percent cost savings opportunities there
16:03
so it’s well worth capturing the data
16:07
sharing it with the partners working
16:09
with them in order to see if there’s
16:11
savings opportunities because a lot of
16:13
ASCS are not as proactive and they don’t
16:16
have access to as good data and the
16:19
suppliers don’t really have to come to
16:20
the table quite as easily you know you
16:22
don’t really even know what you’re
16:23
buying from them those cost savings seem
16:26
meaningful
16:27
um
16:28
and are there certain product areas or
16:31
product categories when you where you
16:33
tend to find more savings opportunities
16:35
whether that be implants or some of the
16:37
bigger ticket items implants are always
16:39
way at the top right because I mean
16:42
especially depending upon the size of an
16:44
organization and what their Leverage is
16:47
going to be how much they give them
16:48
product are they you know what that
16:49
volume is going directly to those
16:51
suppliers they’re very willing to have
16:54
uh those conversations and if you
16:56
consolidate you’re spending that given
16:58
category with that implant vendor
17:00
they’ll give you much better pricing
17:03
um and then kind of flipping over to the
17:04
GPO side one of the areas that I’ve seen
17:06
a lot of savings recently because this
17:09
is obviously on a lot of people’s minds
17:11
right now I’m having a lot of
17:12
conversations with people that are
17:13
saying Hey I want to use the data from
17:15
my purchasing system envy and share that
17:19
with Partners in order to drive savings
17:21
um but it’s like a category called
17:23
purchase services so think like HVAC and
17:27
it and elevator maintenance and you know
17:31
Waste Management in all these areas that
17:34
you know are a little bit of an
17:35
afterthought there’s a lot of savings
17:37
opportunities in that area as well where
17:39
a lot of people aren’t digging for
17:41
savings
17:42
um so love the implants love like
17:44
purchase Services where people have not
17:46
been focused uh traditionally and then a
17:48
lot of the standard Med search products
17:50
you’re going to be able to get you know
17:51
uh contract savings through your GPO for
17:54
sure there
17:57
fantastic
18:00
um
18:00
Jeff super helpful one one more question
18:03
for you we do this with all of our
18:04
guests every week what’s one thing our
18:08
ASCS can do this week to improve their
18:11
surgery centers one thing so it all
18:13
comes down to this
18:15
um I’m gonna stay on topic and what I’ll
18:19
say is pick up the phone and call two of
18:22
your partners and Supply Partners right
18:24
so make that your GPO rep and make that
18:26
your highest spend uh direct supplier
18:29
rep and just know that relationships
18:32
matter and you know having those
18:34
relationships having those contacts
18:36
these organizations are there for the
18:38
ases to help them and when shown the
18:42
right data they can help you save money
18:43
as well so just pick up the phone or go
18:46
sit down for a cup of coffee
18:48
excellent Jeff thanks so much for
18:50
joining us today thanks appreciate it
18:52
Nick
18:54
[Music]
18:57
as always it has been a busy week in
18:59
healthcare so let’s Jump Right In
19:02
nursing schools are offering loan
19:04
forgiveness programs in an attempt to
19:07
offset the increased demands on Health
19:09
Care Rising turnover and nursing
19:11
shortages so I have three examples to
19:14
share the first is the University of
19:17
Rochester nursing Scholars Program so
19:20
starting in the fall of 2023 they will
19:23
cover the tuition for students pursuing
19:25
a year-long accelerated bachelor’s
19:28
degree in nursing and sweetened the deal
19:30
with a guaranteed job at one of two
19:33
hospitals in the area upon graduation
19:37
a second example is the
19:39
pennsylvania-based UPMC School of
19:42
Nursing who began offering tuition loan
19:45
forgiveness for its 16th month diploma
19:48
program just this past January and
19:51
students are eligible to receive up to
19:53
seven thousand dollars a semester once
19:56
they complete their first semester in
19:58
exchange for a three-year commitment to
20:01
work at a UPMC facility of after
20:03
graduation
20:05
and then the third example is
20:07
Chamberlain University in New Orleans
20:09
they teamed up they teamed up with lcmc
20:13
health through the call to care Scholars
20:16
Program to offer three years of tuition
20:18
in exchange for a pledge to work three
20:20
years at lcmc health
20:24
um so you’ll kind of see that theme
20:26
throughout right like we will pay for
20:28
you to get your degree uh if you commit
20:31
to working for us upon graduation which
20:34
is so crazy to think
20:36
how things have just changed so much
20:39
like never in a million years did I
20:41
think we would be at the place where we
20:43
would be
20:44
asking telling people we’re going to pay
20:46
for your degree and then we’re gonna
20:48
give you a job you just have to commit
20:50
to working
20:51
um it’s really
20:53
fascinating and interesting how the
20:55
industry has evolved however the U.S
20:59
Bureau of Labor Statistics projects
21:01
projects that more than 203 000 yearly
21:04
job openings for registered nurses will
21:07
be available by 2031. so it makes
21:10
complete sense why why we’re going down
21:13
this route and doing anything that we
21:14
can to get more nurses and get more
21:16
Health Care staff again just just kind
21:19
of wild
21:20
um so anything that these universities
21:22
and institutions are able to offer even
21:24
if it is just a drop in the bucket will
21:27
certainly make an impact on their local
21:29
communities and I commend them for
21:31
thinking outside the box and at least
21:33
putting the wheels in motion and I’m
21:35
sure there are a lot of other programs
21:37
as well those are those are just three
21:41
in our second story today exciting news
21:43
from SCA Health Caitlin Zula has been
21:46
named CEO of the east region for Optum
21:50
health and they have named Jason Strauss
21:53
as their next CEO so Caitlin joyed SCA
21:56
in 2015 and has successfully served as
21:59
CEO since December of 2019 and in the
22:02
company’s press release they shared all
22:04
of her many successes which is
22:06
definitely worth the read including her
22:09
exceptional leadership and role in
22:11
evolving the organization from an
22:13
ambulatory surgical care business into a
22:15
leading National Specialty care provider
22:19
um and Jason Strauss has been with SCA
22:21
for 15 years so he is no stranger and
22:24
having served in several different roles
22:26
most notably Chief Operating Officer and
22:29
most recently president uh so
22:31
congratulations to both Caitlin and
22:33
Jason on their new positions and can’t
22:35
wait to see what the future holds
22:38
our third story is an inspiring one uh
22:42
more than 580
22:44
000 individuals are experiencing
22:46
homelessness in the U.S right now and
22:48
providers in three major cities La
22:51
Boston and Chicago are actively rolling
22:54
out street medicine programs to help so
22:58
again three examples here the first is
23:00
the UCLA health homeless Healthcare
23:03
collaborative they started uh with just
23:06
two vans that would travel to different
23:08
homeless encampments and shelters to
23:11
provide people with free health care
23:12
services such as preventative care
23:15
Primary Care Medical screenings and
23:18
referrals to Social Services and last
23:21
year UCLA’s Vans recorded 6 000
23:24
encounters with homeless patients and
23:26
delivered medications more than 1500
23:28
times which is amazing
23:32
um the second example is the Boston
23:33
healthcare for the homeless program
23:36
um they operate a little differently and
23:38
actually have 600 employees and they are
23:41
considered a federally qualified Health
23:43
Center so an fqhc they see roughly 11
23:47
000 patients each year
23:49
using a primary care model that
23:52
prioritizes addiction care and mental
23:54
health services and by being proactive
23:57
in their Community they’ve seen really
24:00
um great success and they’ve been
24:02
recognized by the state and the city for
24:05
the work that they’re doing they were
24:07
able to get ahead of very treatable
24:09
issues most notably
24:11
um uh
24:13
uh and they were seeing a trend of a
24:15
Meningitis outbreak and they were able
24:17
to get ahead of it and stop the outbreak
24:20
from spreading so by being proactive
24:23
they’re able to not only help their
24:25
homeless Community but but help other
24:28
people in the city as well
24:30
and lastly over in Chicago UI Health has
24:34
the better health through housing
24:35
program which helps patients who
24:37
frequently visit the emergency
24:39
department and suffer from chronic
24:41
conditions like heart failure kidney
24:43
disease mental illness and addiction
24:46
um and through grants they were actually
24:48
able to house more than a hundred
24:49
patients
24:51
um who they would frequently see that
24:54
they knew did not have a place to live
24:56
so all three of these program leaders
24:59
urged the government on on every level
25:01
and also payers to increase their
25:03
involvement in health care for the
25:05
homeless and really start to consider it
25:07
a public health issue and not a social
25:09
issue and even
25:11
um kind of reframing it like that makes
25:14
you understand why obviously Healthcare
25:17
leaders on all level need to be involved
25:19
in helping to to care for the homeless
25:21
as much as possible
25:24
and to end our new segment on a positive
25:27
note AI software shows promising results
25:30
and detecting breast cancer missed by
25:32
doctors in Hungary Chiron medical
25:35
Technologies has been feeding its AI
25:38
systems of millions of mammograms from
25:40
patients whose diagnoses are known as
25:44
well as images labeled by Radiologists
25:46
to teach the AI tool to detect cancerous
25:50
growth by their shapes locations and
25:52
density
25:53
and in 2022 after testing more than 275
25:58
000 breast cancer cases Chiron said its
26:01
AI Tech can spot cancer at least as well
26:04
as the doctors can
26:06
um and additional testing found that the
26:08
AI software was able to identify more
26:12
issues increasing the cancer detection
26:14
rate by 15
26:16
it’s super important to note though that
26:19
this technology is meant to be used
26:21
alongside doctors not in lieu of but
26:25
just more exciting news about the future
26:27
of AI and helping keep patients safe and
26:29
healthy
26:31
and that news story officially wraps up
26:34
this week’s podcast thank you as always
26:36
for spending a few minutes of your week
26:38
with us make sure to subscribe or leave
26:40
a review on whichever platform you’re
26:42
listening from I hope you have a great
26:45
day and we’ll see you again next week
26:49
[Music]
26:52
please
Don’t miss out on the good stuff – Subscribe to HST’s Blog & Podcast!
Every month we’ll email you our newest podcast episodes and articles. No fluff – just helpful content delivered right to your inbox.