Dr. Tim Riddell, Chief Medical Officer of multiple Ochsner Health regions

Summary

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: In-Depth Summary of Episode Featuring Dr. Tim Riddell

Release Date: August 3, 2025
Host: Laura Dardel
Guest: Dr. Tim Riddell, Chief Medical Officer, Ochsner Health

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Introduction and Background

Laura Dardel opens the episode by introducing Dr. Tim Riddell, the Chief Medical Officer overseeing multiple regions for Ochsner Health, including Baton Rouge, Acadiana, North Shore, and Mississippi. Dr. Riddell provides an overview of Ochsner Health's extensive footprint across Louisiana, southern and central Mississippi, and parts of Alabama, highlighting its 80-year legacy as a multi-specialty group practice.

Notable Quote:
"Ochsner has a statewide footprint throughout Louisiana, into southern and central Mississippi, and even some locations in Alabama. We've been a multi specialty group practice for the last 80 years here in Louisiana."
— Dr. Tim Riddell [00:42]

Recent Successes and Achievements

Dr. Riddell outlines several key accomplishments from the past year. A significant partnership with MD Anderson has expanded cancer services, while continuous growth in clinics, hospitals, and services has elevated Louisiana's standing in national health rankings. Notably, Dr. Riddell emphasizes the improvement in team engagement scores, increased commitment, and a remarkable reduction in staff turnover, particularly among nurses, which now stands in the single digits.

Notable Quote:
"We've been able to dramatically increase our engagement scores, continue to grow our team's commitment, and reduce our turnover in the face of really challenging workforce environment."
— Dr. Tim Riddell [02:33]

Strategies for Reducing Staff Turnover

Addressing the critical issue of nurse turnover, Dr. Riddell attributes the success to providing clinicians with tools that streamline their workflows. By adopting technologies that minimize bureaucratic tasks, such as AI-driven ambient listening and pre-populated forms, nurses and physicians can dedicate more time to patient care.

Notable Quote:
"We work really hard to give them tools to make their job easier, to make their job more efficient."
— Dr. Tim Riddell [02:49]

Technology Integration and Clinician Adoption

Dr. Riddell discusses the integration of new technologies and the positive reception from clinicians. As a family physician himself, he initially had concerns about technology adoption but observed that tools like ambient listening have significantly extended physicians' careers by reducing administrative burdens. The implementation of technology has led to an 80% reduction in in-basket volume for some physicians, allowing them to focus more on patient interactions.

Notable Quotes:
"Almost as soon as we implemented, we've had physicians who've approached us and said this has added years to my career."
— Dr. Tim Riddell [04:24]

"We've lowered their in basket volume in some cases close to 80% using technology."
— Dr. Tim Riddell [05:14]

Current Focus Areas and Challenges

Dr. Riddell outlines the primary areas of focus:

1. Patient Experience: Striving to provide a VIP experience that exceeds patient expectations both during appointments and within facilities.
2. Access to Care: Expanding access through electronic visits, digital monitoring, e-consults, and streamlined appointment booking systems.
3. Cost Containment: Reducing healthcare waste to ensure sustainable, high-quality care amidst rising costs.

He emphasizes the importance of integrating technology to enhance patient interactions and streamline access, all while maintaining cost efficiency.

Notable Quote:
"How do we give patients that VIP experience? ... Provides them with things that they wouldn't expect when they come into a hospital or a clinic setting."
— Dr. Tim Riddell [06:03]

Future Growth and Opportunities

Looking ahead, Dr. Riddell envisions significant growth in outpatient care and home health services. He identifies "metabolic medicine" as a key area, addressing the rising prevalence of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The development of new treatment resources aimed at improving diet, exercise, and overall metabolic health is expected to reduce hospital admissions and complications.

Notable Quote:
"One of the key places is going to be in what I term metabolic medicine... we're going to continue to see an explosion of new treatment resources."
— Dr. Tim Riddell [10:19]

Evolution of Healthcare Organizations

Dr. Riddell discusses the necessary cultural shift within healthcare organizations to embrace change. He illustrates this by contrasting the static appearance of his family medicine practice with the dynamic future of healthcare delivery. Emphasizing the importance of patient-centric care, he advocates for leveraging technology to foster deeper connections with patients rather than allowing screens to dominate interactions.

Notable Quote:
"We have to continue to create a culture that is not just accepting of change, but is excited about those changes."
— Dr. Tim Riddell [13:04]

Leadership for a Thriving Future

In addressing leadership, Dr. Riddell highlights the importance of cultivating a culture that prioritizes both patients and providers. He underscores the necessity of taking calculated risks to drive transformation, acknowledging that not all technological investments will yield immediate returns. Effective leadership will involve embracing these risks, learning from failures, and maintaining a patient-centered focus.

Notable Quote:
"A culture that recognizes that we can put patients first and providers first at the same time, that they're not mutually exclusive efforts."
— Dr. Tim Riddell [15:06]

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Conclusion

Laura Dardel wraps up the conversation by expressing gratitude to Dr. Riddell for his insights, hinting at continued discussions in future events such as the CEO CFO Roundtable. Dr. Riddell reciprocates the appreciation, indicating eagerness for ongoing collaboration and dialogue.

Note: The closing remarks and mentions of the CEO CFO Roundtable are omitted as per summary guidelines to exclude non-content sections.

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This episode of Becker’s Healthcare Podcast offers a comprehensive look into Ochsner Health's strategic initiatives under Dr. Tim Riddell’s leadership. From leveraging technology to enhance clinician satisfaction and patient experience, to focusing on outpatient growth and metabolic medicine, Dr. Riddell provides valuable insights into navigating the evolving landscape of U.S. healthcare.

Transcript

[A]

This is Laura Dardel with the Beckers Healthcare podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Tim Riddell, who's the Chief Medical Officer for Baton Rouge, Acadiana, North Shore and Mississippi for Ochsner Health. Dr. Riddell, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.

[B]

It's really great to join you today. Thank you.

[A]

Now, I'm excited for our conversation because I know now is such a unique time in healthcare. There's so much happening to boost patient care as well as, you know, look at really how you can have a better environment for clinicians. But I know there's also some real challenges. So I'm looking forward to spotlighting some of the cool things you're doing at Ochsner Health and getting your perspective on the future too. But before we begin, can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit more about Ochsner Health?

[B]

Yeah. So I'm the Chief Medical Officer for all of our regions outside of New Orleans. Ochsner has a statewide footprint throughout Louisiana, into southern and central Mississippi, and even some locations in Alabama. We've been a multi specialty group practice for the last 80 years here in Louisiana.

[A]

Wow, that's amazing. Truly great history there in a legacy to build upon. Now, could you tell us a little bit about some of your biggest wins or success story from the last year?

[B]

We've had a number of of big wins and successes over the past year. We've successfully kicked off a partnership with MD Anderson that has allowed us to significantly grow our cancer services for our individuals here. We've been able to continuously grow, adding new clinics, new hospitals, new services, and that has allowed us to really participate in bringing Louisiana to further along and higher in the national health rankings, which is an important goal for us. But I think the thing that I'm most proud of over the past year is the, the work that we've done with our teams. We've been able to dramatically increase our engagement scores, continue to grow our team's commitment, and reduce our turnover in the face of really challenging workforce environment. Our turnover right now for our nurses is in the single digits.

[A]

Wow, that's extremely impressive. And you know, when you look at those efforts, what do you really attribute the staying power to? How have you transformed and been able to meet the mark? For those nurses especially, that's a tough area to be in.

[B]

You know, for all of our clinicians, our nurses, and our physicians, we work really hard to give them tools to make their job easier, to make their job more efficient. A lot of that is how we adopt Technology and bring technology to bear to reduce the bureaucratic work that we see our nurses and physicians do and continue to increase their ability to spend time with patients and focus on patient care. That ranges anywhere from AI tools like ambient listening to simpler tools like forms being pre populated and pre filled out for our staff.

[A]

That's amazing to hear and it's such a cool wind to have. On the technology side especially, I think technology certainly is a huge investment and something that is important to have, but also I know it can sometimes be a challenge to make sure it's integrated correctly across the system. So as you've been working with clinicians, how excited have they been on this new technology? What has it taken for them to adopt it and really see the benefits?

[B]

As a family physician myself, I was excited, but also a little worried about how some of our physicians would appreciate some of this new technology. And the technology really allows us to bring the physicians closer to their patients and I think that's what they've really appreciated. I'll use some of the ambient listening technology as an example. Almost as soon as we implemented, we've had physicians who've approached us and said this has added years to my career. That's not something that we've heard coming out of the pandemic. And so for us to be able to have that type of excitement is really valuable for us. And then another part of this that we've been able to have success with is we've taken a lot of in basket work that the physicians don't have to do and really found people who can do those things for them. And that has allowed us to reduce the amount of time they're spending after hours by, by double digit percentile as well as taking hours away from work with unnecessary requests, unnecessary burdens that they've been doing. We've lowered, we've lowered their in basket volume in some cases close to 80% using technology, using the ability to triage messages with technology in ways that have made a real difference to their in basket. And you know, doctors very seldom leave their practice. I think they leave their in basket. I think that's one of the things that we see happening right now.

[A]

Absolutely. You know, it's such a great point and you know, a really great way of putting it when you think about the stress that can come on just from the extra work. So I think cool to hear how you've been able to support clinicians that way and extend careers. What are some of the top issues that you're focused on right now? What Are you really spending a lot of your time on?

[B]

So, yeah, I don't think any of the issues that I'm spending time on are going to come as a big surprise. Number one is the experience our patients have. And how do we give patients that VIP experience? I think, you know, all of us who work in an administrative role understand that sometimes we're kind of that VIP concierge, right? You get that phone call that says, I need you to help me get an appointment, and you're able to assist that person. How do we have that kind of VIP experience for all of our patients? And then when they're in our facilities, how do they. How do they really receive hospitality that goes beyond. It becomes unreasonable, Unreasonably good, Right. And provides them with things that they wouldn't expect when they come into a hospital or a clinic setting. Everybody who comes in to see us, they're missing something, they're there, while something else they'd rather be at is going on. And how do we make up for that gap for them? And I'd say second is wanting to really work on access, access, access. And I think it fits hand in hand with the overall experience. You know, we provide exceptional quality to our patients, exceptional safety to our patients, but unless they get a chance to come receive care from us, it's hard for them to receive that high quality. And so how we continue to expand their access. And once again, technology plays a role here. We have instituted electronic visits which allow us to provide visits asynchronously. Not just virtual visits, but visits in which we can go back and forth communicating with a patient until we've solved the problem for them. We can provide digital monitoring of their hypertension and their diabetes, where they have a dedicated coach who interacts with them entirely in a digital manner and extends their contact with their care team. We can provide econsults so that we used to call this a curbside consult, where you would check in with a specialist and say, hey, I've got this patient. What do you think I should do here? Now, in a large system where people are spread across a wide geography, we can do that electronically and make those connections. Then lastly, we can continue to enhance our templates that allow us to increase the availability of our physicians directly to our patients. It's as simple as I hop online and I book an appointment and doesn't go through six calls, 25 clicks, but allows us to do that. And then lastly, and in a lot of ways, this may be the most important, we have to do all of this in a setting of constant cost containment. The care we provide is expensive across the entire country, but it also has a lot of waste, and it's our responsibility to eliminate that waste for the good of our patients, the good of our community, and frankly, the good of the country.

[A]

Absolutely. Yeah. You know, I think that's such a great point because certainly, you know, in health care, there's not a lot of resources to go around anyway. So in trying to make sure you're not being wasteful or making sure, whether it's financial or that time, resource is really critical for care teams, too, to make sure they're able to work to the best of their abilities and serve patients in a meaningful way. I'm curious, you know, when you look over the next couple of years, where do you see some of the biggest opportunities for growth? I know we've talked a lot about technology in ways that we can really or currently, you are looking at making things more efficient and effective and streamlining that care experience. How do you see things continuing to transform?

[B]

You know, I think gone are the days of bigger and bigger hospitals, and there's a real focus on how we can bring care to people from an outpatient perspective. Now some of that is around how do we better provide care for them at home through home health resources, through some of the remote monitoring that I described, through ideas like hospital at home and allows us to shorten that person's stay in the hospital. But continuing to provide, provide and bring care to the outpatient setting is going to be paramount as we move forward into the rest of this decade. I see a lot of growth in outpatient procedures, outpatient care, and our ability to take care of people in new and unique ways. One of the key places is going to be in what I term metabolic medicine. As we approach the epidemic of metabolic disease and metabolic disease I describe as things like obesity, diabetes, and all of the complications that go along with those metabolic diseases. We're going to continue to see an explosion of new treatment resources that allow us to not just treat people in the traditional way, but of improving their diet, increasing their exercise, but also having more tools that allow them to be successful in those efforts. We're seeing that a little bit with some of the tools at our disposal now, but that is going to continue to grow and explode. And our ability to treat those individuals is going to have a ripple effect that's going to dramatically reduce hospital admissions, dramatically reduce complications associated with, with those metabolic diseases and illnesses.

[A]

That's great to hear. What an amazing future that you're painting in terms of looking at just how you can streamline patient care. Obviously, more outpatient and in care at home will be critical for the patients as well as clinicians and just continuing to provide care in a really elite way. I think when you look at, like, reducing hospital admissions and thinking through what that means for the kind of legacy or traditional hospital infrastructure that we've had, how do you see organizations and systems evolving differently? What are you thinking about at the executive level as you're trying to manage this change?

[B]

Yeah, I think we have to continue to create a culture that is not just accepting of change, but is excited about those changes. And that's going to be a real challenge. Medicine is a place where we have done it one way for many, many years. I think about my own practice of providing family medicine. When you walk into my clinic, except for the computer sitting on the desk, it looks like the same clinic it looked like for the predecessors who started my practice back in 1965. The room looks the same, the building looks the same, and the future of how we deliver that care is not going to be the same. It's going to involve a much different environment for the patients. How we really adapt and adopt those changes is going to be paramount and really important for us as leaders and executives to help people move in that direction in a way that is effective, comfortable, but still keeps the patient and consumer at the center of what we do. This new technology, this new growth in technology is going to allow for something that we haven't really done in a while and may not seem obvious at first glance. It's going to allow us to really connect, to connect back to patients and not only be focused on the screen in front of us, but be focused on the person in front of us.

[A]

I love that that's such a important message, especially when you're thinking through how you're planning for the future. Really critical. I think we've gotten into this a little bit, but I wanted to ask before we wrap up here, about leadership, too. What will it take to lead a thriving organization over the next five years? And how should current as well as emerging leaders think about their roles?

[B]

You know, we've spent a lot of time talking about culture today, and I think. I think the culture that we create is going to continue to matter. A culture that recognizes that we can put patients first and providers first at the same time, that they're not mutually exclusive efforts. And that combination is going to be something that has to be led by our healthcare, by our provider leaders, our Physician leaders, our APP leaders, our nursing leaders, who have spent their careers dedicated to those patients, but at the same time, recognize the multiple challenges that we face as clinicians. To be able to provide that care at the same time that we do that, we're going to have to be able to take calculated risks. There's going to be many things that come down the pathway that we're following that are going to take us in a transformational direction. And you don't transform what you're doing without some calculated risks in that. And risk taking is not something that we typically do in health care. It's not something that we're typically good at. And so how we adopt that methodology is going to allow us to really transform the care that we provide people, because not all of this technology is going to come to us with the same return on investment. We're going to have to make choices in this technology that allows us to move forward and be successful many of these times. We're going to have to fail and fail quickly. Learn from that and move forward.

[A]

That's such a great reminder. Dr. Riddell, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. This has been such a fun and fascinating conversation, and I look forward to connecting with you again soon.

[B]

Thank you for having me. I am really honored to get to talk with you and talk with all the listeners as well.

[A]

Absolutely. And you know, I'm looking forward to seeing you at our CEO CFO Roundtable in November, too. We'll keep this conversation going as well as touch on so many more important topics that are really critical for maintaining that success in healthcare today. So I'm looking forward to seeing you there.

[B]

Me too. Me too. It's going to be a great conference.