Dr. John Lucio, Regional Chief Medical Officer, SSM Health

Summary

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Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: Dr. John Lucio, Regional Chief Medical Officer, SSM Health

Date: August 30, 2025
Host: Grace Lynn Keller
Guest: Dr. John Lucio

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Dr. John Lucio, Regional Chief Medical Officer at SSM Health (St. Mary’s Health System, Jefferson City, MO), shares key healthcare industry trends and innovations, with a focus on the impact of supply chain disruptions, payor market influence, advances in technology (especially artificial intelligence and wearables), and evolving labor strategies. The discussion also explores the transformative role of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), especially in orthopedics and pain management.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Current Industry Shifts and Trends

Timestamp: [01:38]

• Supply Chain Management:

  • Attention to vulnerabilities exposed by recent events (e.g., hurricane-caused IV shortage).
  • Ongoing shortages—even in basic items like disposable blood pressure cuffs.
  • Need for "not so much emphasis on a single supplier" and a broader, more resilient approach to sourcing.

  “One of the major areas that I do pay attention a lot now is our supply chain management...we have seen supply chain shortages even with the most common drugs that you would have never expected that to happen.”
  – Dr. John Lucio [02:08]

• Insurance Market Power:

  • Growing consolidation among payors requires active strategy adjustment by providers.
  • The need to rethink and renegotiate provider-insurer relationships.

  “It’s extremely important that they look at that ... start developing better and different, how to change your relationship with the payers at some fashion, positive or negative.”
  – Dr. John Lucio [03:10]

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Adoption:

  • AI mentioned repeatedly at the current conference.
  • Beyond diagnostics: AI now applies to automation (billing, administrative tasks) and emergent ‘health gamification’ (engaging patients through game-like health management tools).

  “There’s [AI] applicability ... not just diagnostic, but even we’re seeing it in terms of automation for billing ... what they refer to as health gamification—trying to engage the patients more in their health and well being by making it game kind of format.”
  – Dr. John Lucio [04:05]

• Workforce and Staffing Challenges:

  • Persistent labor shortages—nurses, front office, and more.
  • A shift from “hiring anyone who was available” to being “a little bit more selective,” including:
    • Offering flexible hours.
    • Upskilling and career development.
    • Better strategies for integrating gig/locum workers.
    • Emphasizing positive work environments for retention.

  “If they’re not, then they’re not going to stay with your organization or they’re going to rotate out for various reasons, even if you’re competitive in terms of salary and benefits.”
  – Dr. John Lucio [05:50]

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2. The Role of ASCs and Orthopedics in Modern Care

Timestamp: [06:23]

• Outpatient Shift Benefits:

  • Orthopedics and pain management are well-suited for outpatient and ASC settings:

    • Reduced risk (e.g., hospital-acquired infections).
    • More efficient, episode-based care.

  • Surge in entrepreneurial innovation by physicians, opening ASCs to a wider array of specialties.

  “Orthopedic and pain actually has allowed the entrepreneurial spirit of many physicians to bloom in ways that they couldn’t have had in the past... Orthopedics has actually been the groundbreaking specialty.”
  – Dr. John Lucio [07:17]

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3. Innovations and Promising Initiatives

Timestamp: [07:54]

• AI and Wearables:

  • Recognizes the importance of increasing patient accountability and engagement.
  • Current gaps in providing patient feedback/monitoring outside clinical settings.
  • Wearables for tracking metrics like blood pressure, glucose, activity; however, current utilization is still limited.

  “One of the variables that we never discuss hardly in healthcare is really the patient factor. … How do you get that feedback back to the patient and allow them to be involved in their care?”
  – Dr. John Lucio [08:06]

• Emerging Implantables:

  • Advances in implantable medical devices (smaller, more sophisticated pacemakers, stimulators, etc.).
  • Future emphasis on minimally invasive, tech-driven health monitoring.

  “I think that there’s going to be smaller and smaller gadgets that you can put in bodies and it makes people healthier and they can actually get better feedback with their well being.”
  – Dr. John Lucio [09:12]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Value of ASC/Outpatient Paradigm:
  “If you can safely bring the patient in, have the procedure and have a safe post-op period, it's a great, great way to treat patients. You don't subject them to hospital acquired infections, you don't subject them to all the other delays ... in a bigger institution.”
  – Dr. John Lucio [06:45]

• On Workforce Changes:
  “We’ve even started to embrace more the gig employees population … but we’ve discovered that if we don’t, we have to have a better strategy in order to integrate folks like that into our organization.”
  – Dr. John Lucio [05:32]

• On Patient Engagement Technology:
  “We do not have good systems that allow for patient accountability and feedback for their own care.”
  – Dr. John Lucio [08:40]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:55] – Dr. Lucio’s Background and Role
• [01:38] – Major Trends: Supply Chain, Insurer Power, AI, Labor
• [06:23] – Outpatient Care & ASCs in Orthopedics and Pain Management
• [07:54] – Innovations: AI, Wearables, and Implantables
• [09:27] – Closing Remarks

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Summary Takeaways

Dr. Lucio paints a picture of a healthcare system in ongoing transformation driven by supply chain lessons, shifting insurance dynamics, workforce challenges, and rapid tech adoption. He champions innovation in both provider strategy and patient engagement, emphasizing that future-ready organizations will focus on resilience, accountability, and embracing new models and technologies—both operationally and clinically. His perspective is candid, pragmatic, and rooted in hands-on frontline experience.

Transcript

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[Grace Lynn Keller]

Is Grace Lynn Keller with the Beckers Healthcare Podcast and we are recording live at the 22nd annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management Conference. I'm currently joined by John Lucio, who is the Regional Chief Medical Officer at SSM Health. John, thank you for being here. We'd love to start off by having you share a little bit more about yourself, your role and your organization.

[John Lucio]

Sure. Hi. Hello everyone. My name is John Lucio, I'm a physician and I'm the Regional Chief medical officer at St. Mary's Health System in Jefferson City, Missouri. Prior to that, I was in the Navy for 12 years, served as a flight surgeon and nuclear weapons engineer prior to going into medicine. And my current role now is I do somewhat clinical one day or two days a week, and then I also involved with hospital and outpatient operations in Jefferson City for our company.

[Grace Lynn Keller]

Wonderful. Well, thank you for taking the time to join me and let's start our conversation with what trends or shifts you're currently seeing now in the industry that you think are most important for leaders to pay attention to.

[John Lucio]

Okay. I'm from the perspective I have and my background was that I did have an outpatient practice and now I have an employed practice. I'm employed by the system and I have a perspective of looking at what shifts leaders need to look at, not from the outpatient side, but also from a more broader healthcare delivery system side. And one of the major areas that I do pay attention a lot now is our supply chain management. It's a very common word tossed around right now. Last year it brought to supply chain became a very popular topic once we had that hurricane and we had a shortage of IV infusions and throughout even before then we had periodic supply chain shortages and the most mundane things. And even since we partially recovered from the IV shortage, we have seen supply chain shortages even with most common drugs that you would have never expected that to happen. We even had one with disposable blood pressure cuffs for a while. So I think it's forced the systems and the physicians to kind of focus more on where the supply is coming from, not put so much effort and not so much put emphasis on a single supplier for many things that you need to operate. And I think that's been one of the biggest issues. The second one is we're watching very closely the market power of our insurance companies that does affect outpatient delivery care, does affect inpatient delivery care. And we've seen that a lot of the companies have merged and have gained market share. And so we watch this very closely and it's very important for everyone to understand why it's happening and they need to start developing better and different how to change your relationship with the payers at some fashion, positive or negative. This is not a judgment statement, but it's extremely important that, that they look at that. The next thing is of course the artificial intelligence. I've, since I've been in this conference for two days, I've seen it mentioned no less than 10 times a break session. So but there's very. The applicability to it is not just diagnostic, but even we're seeing it in terms of automation for billing for the diagnostics, of course. And one of the things that intrigues me the most is the what they refer to as health gamification, and anybody's used that term before. Basically it's allowing, trying to engage the patients more in their health and well being by making it game kind of format, something that they're familiar with. And so I've been watching that to see how, how if that takes shape and if that's going to be a practical solution. The other one is basically a lot of labor trends in terms of how we hire and who we hire. One of the biggest issues we've had in the hospital system as well as outpatient is just staffing issues. Problems seem to be endless. It's not just a shortage of nurses, but even front office staff that you typically would need just to answer telephones and provide way of finding for patients. The other one has to do with getting the right type of person. And in the past because of the shortage there was a big push to just take in whoever you, you could get into work and do the job. And now we've actually become a little bit more selective with that and some of the strategies we've used and that's not, this is nothing new is a lot of times we will look at flexible hours for a lot of our staffing upskilling in terms of Staff that want to promote their careers and advancement. We've even started to embrace more the gig employees population, which are these are folks that have been normally locums, they travelers. And we tried to minimize that, but we've discovered that if we don't, we have to have a better strategy in order to integrate folks like that into our organization. So those are the things we've done. And also too, we even have some of the soft skills that people call them soft skills. But you really have to make it a positive work environment for the employees. If they're not, then they're not going to stay with your organization or they're going to rotate out for various reasons. Even if you're competitive in terms of salary and benefits.

[Grace Lynn Keller]

Absolutely. Well, I guess we can move on to outpatient care as this continues to grow. How do you see the role of ASCs and orthopedics evolving within the broader healthcare ecosystem?

[John Lucio]

Well, I think it's fantastic actually. Orthopedics and pain management actually lends itself to this type of transition. It's a very episodic care delivery system where if you can safely bring the patient in, have the procedure and have a safe post op period, it's a great, great way to treat patients. You don't subject them to the hospital acquired infections, you don't subject them to all the other delays in care that you might receive in a bigger institution. And so orthopedic and pain actually has allowed the entrepreneurial spirit of many physicians to bloom in ways that they couldn't have had it in the past. And I find this very intriguing because now you're starting to see more and more discussion about developing, having other specialties, trying to be more involved with it. Historically they haven't been, but typically I think there were only four specialties that were mainly interested in outpatient surgery centers. Now you're starting to see more folks that are actually interested in being involved. So that's just Orthopedics has actually been the groundbreaking especially it's been able to do that.

[Grace Lynn Keller]

And as we round out our conversation, many organizations are exploring new technologies, partnerships or care models to improve efficiency and outcomes. So are there any innovations or initiatives that you found particularly promising?

[John Lucio]

Well, one of the most intriguing ones are the use of artificial intelligence and wearables. One of the variables that we never discuss hardly in healthcare is really the patient factor. You know, how does the patient, where's their accountability outside of listening to the advice of a provider in front of them, which by the way, they only retain 30% of how do you get that feedback back to the patient and allow them to be involved in their, their care? We have heart rate monitors now already and those things have limited applicability. But some things like blood sugar monitoring, exercise measurements, blood pressure, weight, so on and so forth, those things can actually help give the patient feedback and let them be more involved. I think that's one of the glaring things we have in healthcare right now is we do not have good systems that allow for patient accountability and feedback for their own care. Now the other things that are coming up with some of the new innovations. Innovations I'm seeing is sort of the implantables, which I'm fascinated with because I'm kind of a tech guy. We already have pacemakers, we have deep brain stimulators, but I think that there's going to be smaller and smaller gadgets that you can put in bodies and it makes people healthier and they can actually get better feedback with their well being.

[Grace Lynn Keller]

Okay, wonderful. Well, thank you for taking the time to join me. And again, we are recording at the 22nd annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management Conference.