Novella W. Thompson, MBA, MA, ALM-C, FACHE, Hospital Administrator for Population Health, Post-Acute Care, and Continuum Home Health at UVA Health University Medical Center

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Guest: Novella W. Thompson, MBA, MA, ALM-C, FACHE, Hospital Administrator for Population Health, Post-Acute Care, and Continuum Home Health at UVA Health University Medical Center
Host: Scott Becker
Date: November 5, 2025
Episode Focus: Trends in population health, innovation in care delivery, leadership, and lessons from a decade of transforming care at UVA Health.

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Episode Overview

This episode features Novella W. Thompson, a long-standing leader at UVA Health, discussing the evolution of population health, the drive for integrated care beyond hospital walls, and her leadership philosophy. The conversation highlights how UVA Health has implemented innovative care models, weathered systemic challenges, and realized operational visions once considered aspirational.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Novella Thompson’s Background and UVA Health Overview

• [00:30] Novella describes her 15+ years at UVA Health, highlighting its four-hospital system anchored by a leading academic medical center.

  • UVA Health distinctions: Level One Trauma Center, Virginia's first NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, only comprehensive adult/pediatric transplant center in Virginia, and top-ranked pediatric hospital.
  • Her department's scope: Population health programming (adult & pediatric), post-acute and transitions of care, palliative and hospice care, and community-based integration.
  • Mission: Delivering coordinated, patient-centered care across all settings in Virginia.

  Notable Quote:

  “The focus for us has been extending beyond hospital walls to deliver coordinated patient centered care across the continuum throughout the Commonwealth.” - Novella Thompson [00:55]

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Remote Patient Monitoring and Hospital-at-Home Programs

• [02:07] Discussion around the sustainability and long-term vision for remote patient monitoring (RPM) and "hospital at home" programs amid federal regulatory uncertainty.

  • UVA has offered RPM since October 2017, maintaining continuity of care for patients despite challenges at the federal level.
  • Ongoing emphasis on systemic readiness and collaboration with revenue cycle teams to avoid service disruptions.

  Notable Quote:

  “There’s been no pause in the care that we’re providing while we manage or mitigate what’s happening on the federal level.” - Novella Thompson [02:46]

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Evolving Trends in Population Health

• [02:58] Novella shares four major areas of focus driving population health at UVA Health:

  • Behavioral health integration
  • Care beyond hospital walls
  • Digital transformation
  • Advanced data and predictive analytics

• These efforts are shaped by ongoing workforce shortages and shifting community health needs.

• Emphasis on addressing both persistent and emerging care gaps.

  Notable Quote:

  “All of those areas are integral—not only what’s happening at the federal and state level, but what is best for the communities we serve...” - Novella Thompson [03:37]

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Realizing a Vision for Integrated, Accessible Care

• [04:09] Novella reflects on nearly a decade of building UVA’s Population Health Department and seeing its vision realized.

  • Expansion from aspirations to operations: e.g., street medicine, home-based monitoring, and behavioral health integration are now fully functional.
  • During the pandemic, infrastructure allowed UVA Health to prevent 1,800+ hospital admissions when beds were critically scarce.
  • Recent achievements:
    • Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) screening now embedded in operational workflows.
    • Streamlined referral processes across pediatrics and adult care in collaboration with EMR teams.
    • Improved provider and patient experiences, expanding timely access to care.

  Notable Quotes:

  “Care beyond hospital walls isn’t an aspiration at UVA Health. It’s operational.” - Novella Thompson [04:29]
  “…Our infrastructure allowed us to prevent more than 1800 hospital admissions. When beds were scarce and needs were changing hour to hour, we were able to demonstrate the true value of innovation and readiness.” - Novella Thompson [04:48]
  “The services that we provide are operational, not aspirational.” - Novella Thompson [05:29]

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Personal Touch: Cavalier Pride

• [06:35] Scott humorously asks whether Novella supports the West Virginia Mountaineers or the Virginia Cavaliers.

  • Novella reaffirms her loyalty to the Cavaliers, expressing pride in their progress this year.

  Memorable Moment:

  “I love my Cavaliers in good times and in challenging times…” - Novella Thompson [06:47]

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Leadership Insights and Advice for Emerging Leaders

• [07:20] Novella shares her philosophy for healthcare leadership:

  • Build people and make them integral to your strategy.
  • Stay committed to your mission, lead through challenges and skepticism, and focus on innovation.
  • Remove barriers, ensure patient-centeredness, and create comprehensive, timely solutions.
  • Surround yourself with passionate collaborators, empower your team, and celebrate collective strengths.
  • Trust and elevate others for shared success.

  Notable Quote:

  “When you build partnerships, you trust people and you elevate others. The collective success will succeed what you could have ever imagined possible.” - Novella Thompson [08:28]

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “The focus for us has been extending beyond hospital walls to deliver coordinated patient centered care across the continuum throughout the Commonwealth.”
  [Novella Thompson, 00:55]
• “There’s been no pause in the care that we’re providing while we manage or mitigate what’s happening on the federal level.”
  [Novella Thompson, 02:46]
• “All of those areas are integral—not only what’s happening at the federal and state level, but what is best for the communities we serve...”
  [Novella Thompson, 03:37]
• “Care beyond hospital walls isn’t an aspiration at UVA Health. It’s operational.”
  [Novella Thompson, 04:29]
• “Our infrastructure allowed us to prevent more than 1800 hospital admissions...”
  [Novella Thompson, 04:48]
• “When you build partnerships, you trust people and you elevate others. The collective success will succeed what you could have ever imagined possible.”
  [Novella Thompson, 08:28]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:30: Novella’s background & UVA Health overview
• 02:07: Discussion on hospital at home and remote patient monitoring
• 02:58: Major trends in population health care
• 04:09: Vision realized—integrated care, operational accomplishments
• 06:35: Cavalier team loyalty, personal insight
• 07:20: Leadership advice for future healthcare leaders

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Episode Tone

Novella speaks with passion, humility, and deep commitment to innovation and her team. The tone is optimistic and inclusive, with a focus on real-world impact and collaboration.

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Transcript

[A]

This is Scott Becker with the Becker Healthcare Podcast. We're thrilled today to be joined by a leader from the University of Virginia Medical Center. We've got the brilliant hospital leader at the at the UVA Medical Center, Novella Thompson. Novella is going to talk about trends she's watching, things she's excited about and a lot more. Novella, you've been at UVA now for I think 15 plus years or so. Tell us a little bit about your career in UVA health and yourself.

[B]

Well, thank you. First, thank you for having me today. I'm looking forward to the conversation. So, yeah, I've been with UVA for over 15 years and UVA Health is a four hospital system anchored by our academic medical center. We have a level one trauma, our first Virginia's first NCI designated comprehensive cancer center, the only comprehensive transplant center for adults and peds in the state, and the number one pediatric hospital in the state, as well as two provider groups and the School of Medicine and School of Nursing. I lead the Department of Population Health which has been in place since January of 2016 and it encompasses adult and pediatric population health programming, post acute and transitions of care, adult and pediatric, palliative and hospice care health, community based care integration. And the focus for us has been extending beyond hospital walls to deliver coordinated patient centered care across the continuum throughout the Commonwealth. It's been an extraordinary 10 years and we have had many opportunities to really encompass the work that enables patients beyond hospital ed clinic walls to receive the care they need, tap into resources, ensure continuity and close gaps across the care continuum.

[A]

Thank you. And talk for a second about you talk about sort of, I think at least remote hospital or hospital at home and so forth long term? I know right now with the government shutdown, there's been some challenges on that. What do you see there longer term in terms of hospital at home?

[B]

Yeah. So remote patient monitoring for us has been around since October 2017. And so we find ourselves in a position where we continue to provide that care, those services and manage what's happening at the federal level through systemic impetus and working with rev cycle for our patients so that there's been no pause in the care that we're providing while we manage or mitigate what's happening on the federal level.

[A]

Thank you. When you look at population health, how is that changing currently? What are people thinking about in terms of population health? It seems like it's an area that is undergoing lots of change, particularly with lots of shortages of physicians and nurses and so forth. What are you seeing in population health? What are the big trends you're watching.

[B]

Yeah. I am currently very focused on four different areas. And yes, there are shortages and access has been an issue for years, not just the last several years post COVID pandemic, but I'm looking at behavioral health integration, care beyond hospital walls, digital transformation and advanced data and predictive analytics. All of those areas are integral. Not only what's happening at the federal and state level, but what is best for the communities we serve to address the needs that we are continuously learning about that in some ways stay the same and in other ways through resolution are constantly changing.

[A]

Thank you. And when you look at the rest of this year, moving into next year novella, what are you most excited about? What are you most focused on?

[B]

Yeah, what I'm most excited about is that after nearly a decade of founding this department, I'm so excited to see the vision of integrated, accessible population health care fully realized at UVA Health. Today. Care beyond hospital walls isn't an aspiration at UVA Health. It's operational. And from street medicine to home based monitoring to behavioral health integration, we're transforming how care is delivered and how healthy outcome are achieved. During the pandemic, our infrastructure allowed us to Prevent more than 1800 hospital admissions. When beds were scarce and needs were changing hour to hour, we were able to demonstrate the true value of innovation and readiness. And so today I'm excited that screening for sdoh, recognizing that you've got to understand the why to behavioral utilization of services and then the services that we provide are operational, not aspirational. What I'm most proud of, I have the most incredible team that does this work with me and none of it would be possible without them. There's 154 members of the department and over the past 18 months, my team of seven directors and several other team members collaborated with our EMR colleagues to streamline referrals across the health system. And so now it's easy for providers across pediatrics and adult care to refer patients seamlessly within their own workflows, removing barriers for our providers and the clinical teams who are ensuring that the continuity of care and access is available, which it improves timely access to care. It's been very exciting to see this come to fruition.

[A]

Thank you. I'm going to ask you about leadership in a second and advice for emerging leaders. Before I do that, I'm going to ask you the most challenging question of the day, Novella. And I want to know if you're ready for a seriously tough question.

[B]

Okay. Yes.

[A]

So here's the question. With your background. Do you cheer more for the Mountaineers or the Cavaliers? Where's your head at on west vs. Virginia?

[B]

I love my Cavaliers in good times and in challenging times. I love them and I'm so excited to see their constant work paying off in ways that I don't think any of us could have imagined this year.

[A]

No, we love that. Thank you so much. And let me ask you the next real question, which is about leadership. You've had this fantastic leadership career. You're incredibly centered, incredibly bright. You deal with people really well. What advice do you have for people that are emerging leaders?

[B]

I love that question. I think it's so important to build people, make them a part of your strategy. And I want to share that. If you believe deeply in your work, as I have over the last I've been in Healthcare for 32 years and at UVA Health for 15 plus. If you believe deeply in your work, hold steady to it. Lead strategically through the challenges, the skepticism which I've experienced and the resistance. But stay creative, stay innovative and focus on solutions that remove pain points and are as comprehensive as possible to address the right care at the right time, in the right place with the patient at the center of everything that you do. Recognizing the second half of that is that recognizing that it takes a village to do this work and to always be open to collaboration, learning, partnering, and surround yourself with people who share your passions, know them as people, empower them, invest in their growth and celebrate their strengths. And when you build partnerships, and I believe this wholeheartedly, trust. When you build partnerships, you trust people and you elevate others. The collective success will succeed what you could have ever imagined possible.

[A]

Novella, I think that's a fantastic perspective. Again, I want to thank Novella Thompson, hospital administrator, University of Virginia Medical center, also in charge of Population Health. Just an absolutely brilliant career and great to visit with Novella. Thank you so much for joining us.

[B]

Oh, Scott, thank you so much. It's my pleasure. Really exciting to be here. Appreciate all you do to keep us in the know.

[A]

We are trying, but we need people like you to do it. So thank you so much. Thank you.

[B]

Thank you so much.