On September 13th, Dr. Patel will give a presentation on “Integrating Pharmacogenomic Data in Electronic Health Records and Clinic Workflow to Personalize Medication Management” at Becker’s Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle 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 on September 13-15, 2021 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Jai’s session, click here.
Question: What technology has taken on greater significance or value during the pandemic?
Jai Patel: I think most would agree that telehealth or telemedicine has been a gamechanger during this unfortunate pandemic. I work at a community-academic hybrid cancer center with a central hub and over 25 regional locations, including rural communities. Due to our unique set up, we implemented telehealth and remote patient monitoring years ago, to a certain degree. Now, with support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, we have been able to scale up these services and help care for patients at the comfort of their homes. While this has been an adjustment for providers, patient feedback has been very positive. Ongoing initiatives involve the use of electronic symptom tracking through mobile applications, with a focus on cancer- and COVID-19-related symptoms. This will allow for closer monitoring and rapid interventions when needed.
Q: What is the most underrated trait of the best leaders?
JP: The most underrated trait of best leaders is the cycle of hearing teammates’ input and acting on it. Teammates are most effective when they are heard and feel valuable. I follow a simple acronym: HAART. Hear; Assess; Act; Repeat; Transform. 1. Hear your teammates, understand their concerns, seek feedback on how to improve processes 2. Assess the situation or problem – how does the teammate feel we can improve a process? 3. Act on the teammate’s suggestion after evaluating it with the entire team 4. Repeat the process to ensure it yields positive and expected results 5. Transform the standard operation. Effective leaders do this on a routine basis and it allows for frontline teammates and leaders to improve efficiencies while encouraging all teammates to play an active role in team and system initiatives.
Q: What is one bold goal that you, your team or your organization is staring down for 2021?
JP: I have a particular interest in pharmacogenomics, or the study and application of genetics to improve medication management. We have led many initiatives and studies over the past several years focusing on all aspects of genomic medicine: gene discovery, validation, and prospective application into practice and policy. There is a concerted effort to develop an internal process to offer pharmacogenomic testing to our patients, with clinical decision support to ensure the highest levels of evidence drive medication management in a seamless manner. Although we have successfully conducted important pharmacogenomics clinical trials, it is time to translate and operationalize this work into the clinics and scale up to expand services across the entire health system.
At Becker's 4th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, taking place November 2–5 in Chicago, more than 1,500 hospital and health system executives tackle decisions that determine whether organizations thrive or merely survive: protecting margins under cost pressure, choosing where to grow, renegotiating payer relationships, stabilizing the workforce and proving real ROI on technology. This is where leaders work through them together, face-to-face. Apply for complimentary registration now.
