Carrie Nelson, MD, MS, FAAFP, serves as System Vice President, Population Health and Health Outcomes for Advocate Aurora Health; Chief Clinical Officer at Advocate Physician Partners.
On April 7th, Dr. Nelson will serve on the panel "Social Determinants of Health" at Becker's Hospital Review 11th Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place on April 6-9, 2020 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Dr. Nelson's session, click here.
Question: What, from your perspective, is the biggest challenge about the future of work for hospitals, and what can they do about it? (i.e. automation, desire for more flexibility, clinician shortages, etc.)
Carrie Nelson: The biggest challenge for hospitals that I see is to find a new business model in a value-based reimbursement world. To do so health systems must align with physicians and post-acute providers that are committed to performance excellence in value-based care. Then they must develop a model for how to be rewarded in these payment structures while also finding innovative ways to drive efficiency in daily operations. Make no mistake – it’s a heavy lift.
Q: What do you see as the most exciting opportunity in healthcare right now?
CN: I believe one of the most exciting opportunities in healthcare now is to relentlessly identify and remove waste. It is clear that overuse, including over-diagnosis, over-testing and over-treatment, creates harm as well as wastes our precious healthcare resources. These are categories of harm we must tackle but will be a direct affront to our “more is better” American perspective.
Q: Healthcare has had calls for disruption, innovation and transformation for years now. Do you feel we are seeing that change? Why or why not?
CN: The change is progressing but has not happened quickly enough. There are myriad explanations for this including reimbursement mechanisms, cultural resistance and what I see as an inadequate innovation competency that exists within healthcare organizations. However, the pace of change is increasing, largely driven by external forces that are pressuring traditional healthcare organizations to change or die.