On May 26th, Bryan will serve on the panel “Key Thoughts on Developing a Digital and Telehealth Strategy” 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 May 24-26, 2021 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Bryan’s session, click here.
Question: What, if anything, should hospitals be doing now given economists’ projections of a forthcoming economic downturn?
Bryan Arkwright: Getting quality high, waste low, and looking to innovative projects and partners who can usher in new revenue, cost savings, and cost avoidance opportunities with special attention to digital transformation (automation, AI, telehealth)
Q: How can hospitals reconcile the need to maintain inpatient volumes with the mission to keep people healthier and out of the hospital?
BA: Create a focus on the patient that follows them in and out of the hospital stay seamlessly, leveraging technologies and a digital presence for the patient that begins to give them a personalized experience. Sicker patients require more time and resources and don’t skimp on resourcing transformational initiatives like telehealth.
Q: What do you see as the most exciting opportunity in healthcare right now?
BA: The digital transformation at hospitals and large provider groups, primarily in the form of telehealth, really raising the level of quality, results/outcomes, access, and experience for both patients and providers (for patients, it’s more experience and quality, and for providers, making them efficient as possible with a focus on workplace satisfaction/happiness, addressing burnout).
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?
BA: Yes, but not by enough hospitals and health systems, the digital health vendor market is burgeoning but it’s quick scale and growth often comes across as confusing and challenging for hospitals to identify what they need and how to implement new technologies. The last 10 years, research/information on telehealth has been slowly growing/unfolding, but too often the primary source of education on telehealth for hospitals was done by vendors (who were sometimes inherently biased or incentivized to share partial info/truths) instead of vendor-agnostic or true research resources. Hospitals can now look to excelling telehealth programs and more published research on how to lead with process and strategy, not technology, and truly begin to maximize their return and value from a digital transformation or telehealth initiative. Programs like MUSC, Dallas Children’s, UMMC, UPMC, Atrium, Mercy Health and more have helped pave the way for telehealth best practices and lessons learned and can be applied to other hospitals and health systems. The systems that are succeeding are fundamentally resourcing these innovations, telehealth, and transformation initiatives mightily and seeing mighty returns/benefits, too often hospitals and health systems skimp on the resources for these initiatives. Don’t just dip a toe in the water, jump in the deep end, and resource appropriately for innovation, telehealth, and digital transformation.
“What’s one lesson you learned early in your career that has helped you lead in healthcare? The most important lesson I learned early in my career was that healthcare is a fast-changing world and the imperative was clear; in order to lead effectively I must master the art of change leadership. I learned to focus on people and processes to drive successful change. As a Revenue Officer and Chief Transformation Officer driving big change to help hospitals transform their bottom lines from red to black, I learned to engage the management team early on, along with getting key people into key positions (or removing them, in some cases) then the process part of change goes much smoother. It’s important to break big projects down into small wins to build momentum and celebrate the small victories.
Where do you go for inspiration and fresh ideas? Beckers, of course! In all seriousness, the conference speakers are the best in the industry and the sessions are relevant to leaders in hospitals both large and small. And I don’t have to look any further than my inbox daily for the most recent healthcare news and best practices.
What do you see as the most exciting opportunity in healthcare right now? The most exciting opportunity in healthcare today is the move to value-driven care with the patient at the center focusing on wellness and prevention instead of treating signs and symptoms with volume-driven sick visits and hospitalizations. Accountable care, the merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) and value-based payment programs are driving providers from volume to value-based care with incentives to reward both the physician and the patient!
Healthcare has had calls for disruption, innovation and transformation for years now. Do you feel we are seeing that change? Why or why not? Yes, hospitals that are driving change and transformation are receiving high marks in quality and patient-satisfaction. They are investing in technology to coordinate care and making access easier for their patients. At the same time, they are educating and preparing their workforce to be responsive to innovative change. The age of volume-driven fee-for-service medicine is gradually giving way to value-based care. Hospitals must transform to become organizations that reward value instead of volume and develop delivery methods that use evidence-based practices, procedures and technologies to attain optimal outcomes and achieve greater efficiencies. Many primary care providers have heard the call for value and are joining ACO’s and working to meet this demand. Sadly hospitals that haven’t transformed to ensure the highest quality patient-centered care and the most competitive prices are being bypassed by the primary care physicians, the patients and the payers. “
