← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Neil Tanna, MD, MBA, FACS, Senior Vice President of System Perioperative Services & Strategy at Northwell Health
00:14:15
Loading summary
Transcript18 lines
- [00:01]
A
This is Laura Deardel with the Beckers Healthcare Podcast. I'm thrilled to be joined by Dr. Neil Tanna, Senior vice President of system perioperative Services and Strategy at Northwell Health. Dr. Tanna, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
- [00:13]
B
It's great to be here.
- [00:15]
A
Absolutely. Now, I'm excited for our conversation because I know at Northwell you're doing some really innovative things. So we'll dig into that a little bit and then your perspective on how you're thinking about the future. But before we dive in, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself as well as Northwell?
- [00:32]
B
Yeah. So, you know, I am a practicing surgeon. My specialty is, you know, plastic surgery. I think that's important because, you know, you have to lead by example. I mean, that's really, really important in anything we do. And, you know, within the domain that I'm in, it's, you know, looking at the perioperative space, so the operating rooms. And we're a large healthcare system. You know, we are in, in the entire, you know, in the northeast region, and we span, you know, various practice sites, various disciplines, various geographies. And it's an exciting time.
- [01:12]
A
I love that. And, you know, as it is a very exciting time, a lot happening in healthcare space today, and you're really, truly evolving more quickly than ever before. So what are some of the trends that you're currently watching? What's top of mind for you as you think about where you're at today as well as where you're at?
- [01:29]
B
Yeah, so I, it's interesting. This is one of those few times in, in history that all disciplines are facing the same disruptive innovations. And that, that's artificial intelligence. So that is first and foremost. And how do we incorporate artificial intelligence, you know, how do we leverage it to efficiency, to reduce workload, to improve outcomes, whatever those may be. And, and unfortunately there's a lot of noise. Right. So it's trying to decipher what is real and what's not real, what is going to be a benefit, what is not going to be a benefit. It's, it's incredible. And then you've got some major players, tech players that I think we're going to see some exciting things from as well. So I would say artificial intelligence is going to be a potential game changer.
- [02:38]
A
I love that. I think that makes a lot of sense. And when you think about AI, there's so much potential right now, but I know also some anxiety around it too, just because a lot is unknown about AI and how it could work in the healthcare space. And so at Northwell, what are some of the ways that you are using AI? How are you thinking about it, especially in the clinical space? And what are you excited about as well as what makes you nervous?
- [03:03]
B
Yeah, I think, I think anytime you're dealing with, you know, protected health information and technology, it can be a little, you know, scary or, you know, you have to proceed cautiously. And then, you know, at the end of the day, you know, what AI doesn't give you is accountability. Right. And that, that can be also a source of fear or anxiety. You know, we're, we're utilizing it in various clinical spaces, you know, ambient listening, you know, with artificial intelligence, helping our clinicians, you know, helping our providers effectively document their encounters with patients, reducing the workload better notes, you know, essentially eliminating the cost and overhead of a scribe or, you know, the cumbersome nature of, of some of that documentation. So that's just one area. I think that there's other, you know, areas on the horizon. You know, for example, in my space, in the perioperative space, you know, I think what's going to be great is that, you know, just imagine how great the aviation industry is in terms of, you know, a plane taking off, the next plane coming to the gate, the next plane going, you know, and, and being very pretty close. You know, I know for the, for the avid flyers, you may have stories or horror stories of flights being delayed and whatnot, but it is quite much more accurate than we are in the operating room. So now imagine using AI to understand, you know, patient factors that, and, and be better able to understand what the length of the surgery is going to be, which will then translate into more efficient, you know, operating room time or, you know, better utilization. So I think, you know, these are on the horizon, potential applications that, you know, will, will change the destiny of health care.
- [05:07]
A
That's really exciting. It definitely will be a lot of fun to see how certainly, obviously some challenges to work through, but at the end of the day, makes, you know, the healthcare experience better. Now, could you tell me a little bit about a project or initiative you're most proud of from the last six to 18 months or so? What did you do and what were the results?
- [05:30]
B
Yes, you know, one of the areas in a large integrated healthcare system is to consider the site of surgery. And, you know, not all surgeries have to be done at the same place. Right. And so, you know, creating brand identity, creating a program, that's what a patient wants is sometimes Beneficial, you know, and that's, that's also beneficial in terms of outpatient versus inpatient surgery. So something that I'm proud of personally is a program that we created at Northwell called the CATS Women Surgery Center. And it's a program designed specifically for women who are having breast surgery or gyn surgery. And it really encompasses not just great clinical outcomes by providing clinical expertise, but it integrates that care. So a woman is able to have her breast surgery, gyn surgery, done at the same time, it provides psychosocial services. It really allows for a woman to understand the operation, understand what that means for her in terms of intimacy and what that means for, you know, how do I tell my co workers or you know, what ancillary services and, and also integrate non surgical specialties, you know, like a woman who's, you know, having her ovaries removed. What does that mean in terms of fertility or menopause. Right. So looking at the full spectrum of patient care through the lens of a program or the lens of a problem, instead of, you know, we're taking care of that entire woman instead of just a body part. So I think that that's something that just resonates in the last 12 to 18 months, is to see how we can create a successful program and look at it through, you know, various aspects, not just clinical outcomes, but philanthropy, marketing, patient access, patient experience, etc. So it's exciting. It's very exciting.
- [07:29]
A
That's amazing to hear it. You know, I haven't really had a conversation about that in the past. I haven't heard of other organizations that are doing it similarly. But that's really cool and seems to make a lot of sense to bring together so many different aspects of how the health system runs in the business. In addition to the clinical side. I'm curious, was there anything, I guess, surprising that you've uncovered or learned throughout the process of standing up, standing this up, that would be helpful or interesting for our listeners who might want to try something like this at their own organizations to know about.
- [08:03]
B
Yeah, I think, you know, what is key is stakeholder engagement. And so what that means is you, you know, quite, you know, quite often you, you have an idea, inception, and you bring a group of people to the table and you put the, you know, pen to paper and you write out the idea. The key though is to understand that to make it truly successful, you have to have the buy in from all stakeholders. And if you leave someone out and you try to bring them on secondarily, then, then the, the plan is flawed from the beginning. So what we learned is it's better to have those conversations, leverage those relationships and in the idea, the inception, the beginning, to bring those stakeholders together. And they don't all have to be in one meeting at one time point, but definitely have those series of meetings, think about every single stakeholder and even things like the community, right? Because healthcare is about delivering care to patients, the people in the community. And sometimes if we just design a program or a plan or an initiative with the stakeholders in the room, in the, in the building, in the, in the healthcare system, we may fail. You know, so that's just, even that was surprising is like, you know, we sometimes have to bring the community stakeholders into, into the room. So I would say what was very surprising or what was very telling, and it's quite intuitive in retrospect, is that bring all the stakeholders to the table and think hard, think twice and really make sure you've gotten every single stakeholder, otherwise the plan is flawed.
- [09:57]
A
That's such good advice and it's so, so helpful to really make sure something like this is, is successful in the future. Is there anything else you're most focused on or excited about when you think about the future? Where do you really see some of these additional initiatives? I know you mentioned going outpatients, side of surgery. Huge, huge topic across the board. And so anything else along those lines that you're focused on and excited about when you look into the next 12 months or so?
- [10:27]
B
I think data, I think data is going to be really, really key. I mean, we are in an era just forget about even medicine or health care. I mean, you know, you ask an athlete or you know, any sports industry, you know, performance data, they can rattle it off. You know, can we can rattle it off about athletes? Look at even wearables, right? We can tell how much we slept, what's our heart rate, how many steps we've had. I think that same continuous, easy to access, reliable data is really what is going to shape the decisions and the outcomes that we, you know, make in, in healthcare. So I think, and it's got to be continuous, it has to be accurate and it has to be easy to obtain. Those are really the key elements that I think are, are what we need and, and what I'm excited for in the next 12 months.
- [11:31]
A
That makes a lot of sense, a really cool to have that data and then the AI alongside of it makes a difference. Now, before we wrap up, I'm curious, what advice would you give evolving leaders today, especially trying to elevate their careers and really put themselves into positions to make a big difference within their organizations.
- [11:51]
B
I think, you know, two things. I think, you know, data technology, artificial intelligence, those are all. They augment the strategy, the thinking. I would say that, you know, don't forget relationships, right? It's. It really is, you know, the data technology and artificial intelligence supporting the relationships. Right. And that's, that's something that's really, really important, you know, and if you're approaching a group, approaching an individual, you know, you bring data. Don't forget it's the relationship that's, you know, behind that data or in front of that data that's going to really help achieve those objectives and shared goals. And then I would say probably the other thing is, and this is a very hard one, is just learn to love the gray Lear. Learn to love the ambiguity, right? And I think the mind is, especially in this era with the readily available data, you know it and, you know, the on demand, anything you want, whether it's car, service, food. You know, I think sometimes we have to, in healthcare understand that there is going to be ambiguity and there is going to be gray. And it may not be a yes or no today, it may be a maybe. And, and we have to learn to accept that and be comfortable with that.
- [13:18]
A
That makes a ton of sense. Dr. Tanner, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. This has been such a valuable conversation. I think you made so many excellent points in terms of looking at technology. Really, it's integrating into the workflows today and how elevating care within the whole organization and community as well. So I appreciate your time today. It's been exciting to speak with you. I look forward to seeing you as well at our Peri OP summit coming up in September. I think it's going to be a lot of fun speaking. We'll continue this conversation there.
- [13:55]
B
Looking forward to it. And thank you for having me.