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- [00:00]
A
This is Scott King with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Mary Martin, Chief Operating Officer, Duke University Hospital. Mary, thank you so much for joining us today. How are you doing?
- [00:11]
B
I am lovely. Thanks for having me.
- [00:13]
A
Of course. You know, I think it's gonna be a great conversation. We're kind of going to touch on a lot of the big opportunities and challenges in healthcare today. But before we dive in, can you just kind of introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background?
- [00:25]
B
So, sure. So, Mary Martin, I'm the Chief Operating officer at Duke University Hospital, which is the thousand plus bed academic medical center here in Durham, North Carolina. I've been here for about six and a half years. Before that was the associate COO at Michigan Medicine up in Ann Arbor and basically spent 42 years in metro Detroit before I moved over here to Durham and Duke in the last six and a half years. So thrilled to be talking with you. You know, have experience from three different health systems, so hopefully can shine some light on the role and what challenges we're seeing in healthcare.
- [01:08]
A
As the COO at Duke, what do you see as your biggest responsibility?
- [01:12]
B
I see my biggest responsibility is making sure that those that take care of patients have what they need to do their job. So that falls into a few categories. Do we have the buildings and the facilities that folks need to do their jobs? Do we have the supplies and equipment that folks need? Do we have the appropriate level of staffing? Are we safe and secure? It's really about supporting our caregivers in their delivery of care to those patients and making sure we have a good experience for the patients and the staff.
- [01:48]
A
What accomplishment at Duke are you most proud of from the past year?
- [01:52]
B
So I would say at Duke, it's been a year of change, but we are expanding and growing. So I'm very proud of the fact that what once was a three hospital system is now a four hospital system. With the acquisition of our Lake Norman colleagues out in the metropolitan Charlotte market. And then we've also broken ground on Duke Health carrying, which will be a hospital coming online in 2030, Cary, North Carolina, outside of Austin, Texas is actually the fastest growing suburb in the United States. And so I'm thrilled to be helping to lead that project and really expand the excellent Duke care that we can provide for many more people in our community.
- [02:41]
A
Those are certainly some big accomplishments. I'm just wondering, can you even put into words, like, how much work goes into that kind of growth?
- [02:48]
B
Well, what's fascinating is not only the aspect of planning, what services will go there, but the actual planning and discussions with the town of Cary, you know, I know more about traffic signals and speed limits than I ever thought I would need to know. So I think just the logistical challenge of standing up a new site, all of the regulations that you have to go through. But now we're really into the fun part of design. And We've engaged over 200 of our employees and frontline staff to help us plan what we hope will be the hospital of the future. So really, how we're looking at technology and where we can use technology to help our caregivers spend more time with patients and at the bedside.
- [03:41]
A
Appreciate all that background, those great accomplishments. Curious. What were the big organizational goals you set for Duke in 2025 and how are you doing with those goals now? How's the progress?
- [03:51]
B
Yeah, so clearly with the previous conversation, it's a lot of expansion, but we also have some work that we're doing, I would say, in just blocking and tackling. So looking at our quality and safety, we perform very well, but we really are on a journey to zero harm. So how do we make sure that we are reviewing any quality or safety events and implementing permanent fixes to those problems, aligning our staffing. So we've been working a lot with Vizient the past year to make sure that we are beating and meeting benchmarks compared to what we should and our peers are doing. You know, length of stay continues to be a challenge. And I think what continues to be the biggest barrier is that post acute care change. So how we are placing patients has become much more difficult. Whether that's skilled nursing facilities, rehab, etc. We just don't have enough of them. And now that many more Medicare plans and Medicaid plans have gone to the advantage plans, it's taking us longer to place patients. And so we've really got to work on that continuity of care, I think just across the nation so that we have hospital space to treat those that need our care and can move those patients ready for discharge to the appropriate care setting.
- [05:19]
A
Are there any other headwinds or challenges you anticipate for the next year or so?
- [05:24]
B
Yeah, I mean, we have seen, and especially here at Duke, being so dependent on what is incredible research that we do that saves lives and impacts millions of people each year, the new restrictions from the federal government are going to continue to make that difficult. I think we're also seeing just a general decline in reimbursement. So the. The key is going to be needing to do More with less. And so how do we facilitate that in a way and use technology to really aid our caregivers so that they can do the tasks truly needed to be done versus spending, you know, hours documenting? So how do we use ambient listening technology that can document in patients charts while physicians or nurses, et cetera, are talking with patients? So I see it really heating up in this arena of what are the assistive technologies that can help our providers even without reimbursement declines? You've got a shortage of nurses and physicians across the country, and so this is going to continue to be our reality.
- [06:37]
A
How have you seen the role of a COO change in healthcare?
- [06:41]
B
Yeah, so it's gotten much more strategic. While we were always looking at efficiencies and how to make things better, more streamlined, I think this, you know, technology and AI, it's really causing us to think, what does the hospital of the future look like five years from now? How does healthcare delivery look different in 10 years? And so really having to play in that space with a bit of an unknown. I mean, for those of us with kids that are approaching, you know, high school, college age, trying to think about even what majors you're recommending, whereas, you know, where's AI going to be in the future? Are we going to need all of these professions versus other professions we may not think of? So I think there's just a lot of push to be more strategic and not just work on the efficiencies and daily operations of a hospital or health system.
- [07:41]
A
And my final question for you. How have you evolved as a leader?
- [07:45]
B
So I believe I've always been quick to change and try new things, but I think I need to be more nimble than ever in this environment. So whether it's a new regulation coming down from the federal government, a new technology, a new urgent thing that we're responding to in the environment, I think that that is critically important. I've also started, you know, I'm on the, what I would call the back half of my career. So what I want that legacy to be for me as a leader. And so really been thinking about that a lot more and hoping that I can be a significant contributor to what the hospital of the future and the future of health care delivery looks like.
- [08:36]
A
Mary, thanks so much for joining us on the podcast. This was a great conversation. I know we're really looking forward to having you speak at the annual meeting in April too. So looking forward to having you there. And thanks so much.
- [08:45]
B
Yeah, thank you. And it's exciting to be on a podcast the day after Taylor Swift did hers. So thanks for having me. And hopefully I can live up to the hype.
- [08:54]
A
Yeah, we didn't plug your album this time, your new album. But maybe we'll get to it next time.
- [08:59]
B
Thank you.
- [09:00]
A
Take care.
- [09:01]
B
You too. Bye. Bye.