Modern Healthcare’s Healthcare Insider Podcast

Workforce shortages remain a top concern for healthcare organizations. In order to meet patient demand, providers need to focus on new and innovative approaches. Leora Westbrook, president of workforce strategy and optimization at AMN Healthcare, explains the key tenets of a successful and effective workforce management strategy, including the important role of data and predictive modeling. Westbrook also shares examples from healthcare organizations seeing lower turnover and cost savings with their workforce optimization initiatives.

Amid growing pressure for healthcare organizations to embrace environmental sustainability, addressing emissions directly from facilities is key, with data showing it makes up about 17% of the industry’s carbon footprint. In this new podcast episode, Mark Kenneday, director of market strategy and development for healthcare at Gordian, explains how healthcare organizations can begin their environmental sustainability journey today. Tune into the podcast where he shares: ROI

Amid fierce competition, healthcare organizations must embrace new methods for sourcing and engaging top candidates. The latest episode of Healthcare Insider features David Ellis, head of healthcare sales, North America, at LinkedIn, joining us to discuss hiring in the face of clinical talent shortages and the ways in which LinkedIn supports healthcare professionals and talent leaders. Ellis shares insights on job search and engagement activity among the nearly 8 million U.S. healthcare professionals using LinkedIn, closing out with a real-world success story from Christus Health. For more information, please visit LinkedIn.com/modernhealth.

Most technology innovation in healthcare has so far focused on clinical decision-making, overlooking operational functions. As a result, hospitals and health systems still face inefficiencies and waste, leading to financial constraints, poor patient health outcomes and high staff turnover. In this podcast, featuring Rom Eizenberg, the chief revenue officer of Kontakt.io, we discuss how healthcare providers can leverage technology to unlock the patient journey — and everything else — to achieve operational efficiency. Eizenberg will share why understanding how patients navigate the health system is fundamental to true transformation and the role of technology in realizing this goal.

Direct sourcing has emerged as an effective staffing solution for hospitals and health systems as they continue to face labor shortages, competition for talent, and financial pressures. In this podcast, Richey Brownfield, vice president of enterprise solutions at AMN Healthcare, describes:

In the year ahead, the value-based care landscape is expected to be more challenging for healthcare providers as new regulations from the federal government take effect. A key strategy to manage and thrive in this increasingly complex environment is leveraging technology. In this episode, Dr. Matt Lambert, chief medical officer of Curation Health, will detail best practices for healthcare leaders to implement technology that will help ease the transition to value-based care, describing how automation and other applications can significantly help with risk management, care coordination and data. In addition, Lambert discusses the overall value-based care landscape and his predications for 2024.

Attracting and retaining quality clinical talent will remain a top focus for healthcare leaders in 2024. In this episode of Healthcare Insider, Robert Crowe, founder of Matchwell and executive vice president of per diem and local workforce strategies at Medical Solutions, outlines strategies to better utilize the existing workforce while appealing to new local professionals. He delves into considerations for leveraging AI in the hiring process, meeting candidates’ needs and creating a positive workplace culture, starting with recruitment. Listen to the full episode below.

Value-based care programs are not immune to the challenges the healthcare industry experiences with data, as providers overwhelmingly struggle to leverage the right data, at the right time to realize better patient outcomes at a lower cost. To solve this issue, healthcare providers should take a data minimalist approach, which focuses on seamlessly presenting frontline caregivers with only the relevant, actionable data they need at the point of care. In this episode, Kevin Coloton, founder and chief executive officer of Curation Health, shares how providers can achieve data minimalism, describing the needed technology investments and collaboration with frontline workers. He also explains success stories from providers working towards data minimalism.

Today’s healthcare consumers expect a seamless experience free of confusion, frustration and delays -- barriers that affect not only the patient, but payer and provider employees as well. In this episode of Healthcare Insider, Robert Connely III, healthcare market leader at Pegasystems, and Jennifer Zellinger, vice president of product development at enGen, share how they proactively engage patients and members across all channels of communication. They also discuss the potential for adaptive AI to help create customer-centric experiences with fewer operational silos, better care outcomes and lower costs.

Automation and artificial intelligence can help healthcare organizations navigate staffing shortages while maximizing financial outcomes – if personnel are trained and skilled appropriately. In this episode of Healthcare Insider, Susan Gurzynski-Wells, director of product management at HealthStream, discusses opportunities for AI to be leveraged in revenue cycle management, along with strategies for ensuring the workforce is prepared to use these technologies most effectively. She also shares critical insights about operationalizing AI in revenue cycle management, ensuring the smooth integration of new tools, and helping the next generation of professionals achieve their career aspirations.

Innovations in technology have enabled the creation of point-of-care ultrasound, which allows clinicians to gather images at the first patient assessment, improving care quality by reducing wait times for diagnosis. Despite the benefits of point-of-care ultrasound, wide-scale adoption hasn’t been achieved, with many providers still using traditional standards of care — for example, the chest x-ray for lung assessment. In this episode, Dr. Davinder Ramsingh, vice president of clinical research and product development at Butterfly Network, shares: This podcast includes forward-looking statements regarding Butterfly Network’s standalone educational app, ScanLab, that is not yet available but will be coming soon to Butterfly users in the United States.

There is an ongoing war for talent in healthcare. Employees are reassessing how, where and how they work. In order to withstand the changing nature and uncertainty of today’s workforce, healthcare leaders must be agile. In this podcast episode, John Rothwell, senior vice president of enterprise and strategic solutions at AMN Healthcare, describes how healthcare organizations can create a workforce management strategy that responds to evolving demands. He also shares the important role of technology and partners to establish a workforce strategy.

The healthcare supply chain continues to face repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic, with shortages of vital raw materials leading to disruptions in pharmaceuticals and other essential products. In this episode, Jon Pruitt, senior vice president of CHC Supply Trust, joins the podcast to explain innovative practices community hospitals should implement to respond to supply chain concerns, emphasizing the importance of partnerships with distributors, group purchasing organizations and internal stakeholders. Pruitt is responsible for overseeing a comprehensive supply chain management strategy for Community Hospital Corporation, which partners with hospitals to help them remain community-operated and governed.

Nationwide, hospitals and health systems continue to face serious staffing shortages, severely impacting patient care and the bottom line. In this installment of Healthcare Insider, Dr. James Swift, chief executive officer of Pediatrix Medical Group, shares the key considerations for providers as they work to rebuild the physician workforce including how to leverage partnerships with medical groups and non-physician staff. The episode also uncovers strategies to improve the continuum of care.

Despite the healthcare industry implementing value-based payment models for well over a decade, healthcare providers and payers still face challenges in the execution and expansion of pay-for-performance programs. In this episode of Healthcare Insider, Kevin Coloton, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Curation Health, and Dr. Matt Lambert, Chief Medical Officer of Curation Health, share practical tips for providers and payers to be successful in value-based care wherever they are in their journey – whether that be starting a value-based care program from the ground up or how to expand current efforts. Coloton and Lambert also describe the common pitfalls to avoid as healthcare organizations continue on their value-based care path such as investing in a myriad of technology solutions in an effort to maximize insights from data.

Over the last year, leading health systems are reporting negative financial results, largely due to rising expenses, shifting market dynamics and deteriorating payer mix. To respond, health systems must create opportunities for sustainable financial growth. In this episode, Richard Bajner, partner and payer and provider leader of Guidehouse, explains the framework healthcare leaders should be applying to improve financial resilience. He also shares how leaders can balance short-term budget constraints while at the same time addressing larger macro trends.

As community hospitals across the country face inflation, rising costs and labor shortages, now is the time to implement innovative delivery models for long-term sustainability. Jim Kendrick, president and CEO of Community Hospital Corporation, shares how partnerships, enhanced staff training, and the Hospital at Home care model can improve the outlook for community hospitals. Kendrick also explains how the Rural Emergency Hospital designation impacts community hospitals and the trade-offs to consider.

Too often, hospital leaders view IT simply as a business function. But IT can meaningfully help organizations meet strategic business goals if leveraged appropriately, argues Brian Doerr, senior vice president of information technology and security and privacy officer at Community Hospital Corporation. In this podcast episode, Doerr explains why community hospitals and other providers should take an enterprise approach to IT, laying out a proven roadmap hospitals can adopt to begin their journey. Doerr also provides real-world examples from community hospitals that have transformed their IT and seen meaningful improvements.