Becker's Health IT + Clinical Leadership + Pharmacy: 3 Questions with Patrick Woodard, Chief Medical Information Officer for Renown Health

Patrick Woodard, MD, serves as Chief Medical Information Officer for Renown Health.

On May 3rd, Dr. Woodard will serve on the panels "Saying No - How to Smartly Allocate Technology Spend" and "Amazon, Apple, and Big Tech - What to Expect in Healthcare" at Becker's Health IT + Clinical Leadership + Pharmacy conference. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place May 2-4, 2019 in Chicago.

To learn more about the conference and Dr. Woodard's sessions, click here.

Question: Tell us about the last meaningful interaction you had with a patient.

Patrick Woodard: I am fortunate to still be able to see patients. It isn’t every week, but sitting at the bedside reminds me of our mission and my own values. Hospitalized patients and families are especially vulnerable, and it is my privilege as a hospitalist to help them along their journey. A family that stands out in my mind is a young grandfather who had recently retired and now was having trouble walking. A rare spinal tumor seemed to be the source. A CT-guided biopsy and genetic tests gave the diagnosis, but he, his wife, and his daughters needed old-fashioned communication. As I sat in his room, huddled around the bed with his whole family, nothing else about our health system mattered—just the human connection.

Q: What one strategic initiative will demand the most of your time and energy in 2019?

PW: I believe health care is fundamentally a human enterprise—and our job as a health system is primarily to support our caregivers as they do the real work of caring for our patients. In 2019, that means a year of integration, whether data, applications, or our electronic medical record. Last year focused on EMR standardization, which set us up nicely to be able to now use that as our primary platform as we undergo application rationalization and improve data accessibility. This year we plan to streamline the way we deliver our IT services to make it as easy as possible for our clinicians to create meaningful, human relationships with their patients.

Q: Healthcare takes a lot of heat for not innovating quickly. What's your take on this?

PW: Three quick thoughts: risk, atypical market forces, and capacity. First, no industry really wants to be disrupted, but if hailing a cab is replaced by an app or the supply chain is managed by a machine, failure is measured in dollars and jobs, not human lives. The stakes are simply higher in healthcare. The thought of a patient’s untimely death rightly leaves decision makers twitchy and nervous. The delivery of health care to a patient and family is very complex. Beyond the patient, family and providers, third-party payers are also involved in decision-making and payment. Insurers, and sometimes large employers/coalitions, get to choose which products, services and provider groups/hospitals to purchase and support. These arrangements are often slow to respond to market forces and clinical advances. Lastly, what is the role of health system leaders? We must assume some of the risk accepted by innovators in other markets. We must convince our board members to support and fund investments in innovative projects and people.

Here at Renown Health in Reno, Nevada, I am inspired by the innovative work of our CEO, Dr. Tony Slonim, and our board on the Healthy Nevada Project. With more than 35,000 study participants enrolled in just two years, the Healthy Nevada Project has become the fastest-enrolling genetic study in the country. Because of Renown’s innovative spirit, we are now returning clinical results—including familial hypercholesterolemia, BRCA positive 1/2, and Lynch syndrome, a precursor to colon cancer—to study participants. This has been possible due to Renown Health’s collaboration with Desert Research Institute, the world leader in environmental data. It is possible to innovate in healthcare—with the dedication and commitment of our leaders.

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