← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
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- [00:03]
A
@ Athenahealth, we know your ambulatory practice wants healthier, a healthier business, healthier care teams and healthier patients. But the complexities of modern healthcare tech make it hard for you and your care teams to focus on what matters most. That's where athenahealth can help our AI native all in one solutions reduce administrative burdens, streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights when clinicians need it most. That means fewer clicks, more time for patients, stronger bottom lines. Practicing medicine is complex, but running a practice can be that Much simpler with Athenahealth. See how simpler is healthier at athenahealth.com.
- [00:45]
B
Hi everyone, this is Scott King with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. Thrilled today to be joined by a very special guest, Reid Smith, Chief Consumer Officer with Ardent Health. Reed, how you doing today? Thanks so much for joining us.
- [00:56]
C
Yeah, thanks for having me. Good to be here.
- [00:58]
B
Yeah, I think we're going to dive into some kind of big topics and conversations happening right now in healthcare, Reid. But before we get started and get to some questions, can you just tell us a little bit about your background and your work in healthcare, please?
- [01:11]
C
Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's funny, it feels like not very long ago, but it's been probably close to 25 years now. I took my first job in healthcare as the director of marketing at a hospital in Central Texas. And over the years I've spent time at the Texas Hospital association and consulting and at different places and now have been here at Ardent Health for the last four years or so leading everything that's consumer facing. So I've got a little oversight of marketing communications. A lot of our consumer faced technology, our contact centers, referral teams, all that kind of fun stuff.
- [01:50]
B
That's wonderful. I think it's a really interesting career trajectory you've had. Actually, let me ask you about starting, starting out or being a director of marketing early in your career and like you said, having some communications experience, how does that kind of pave the way for the rest of your career?
- [02:05]
C
You know, it's funny, I think back to that point in time and a lot of people will probably appreciate this, they're listening to the podcast. But we had recently signed on with the Studer Group and we're doing a lot of experience based initiatives. And at the time that was kind of handed to me as the quote unquote initiative champion. And I remember at the time thinking, as the director of marketing communications, why in the world would I be leading an experience initiative? And I know that sounds weird today, but at the time those felt like two totally different things. And so I've been very fortunate, I guess in a lot of ways that some of the things and some of the opportunities I had early on, turns out this day and age, it's really hard to delineate where one starts and the other one stops. And I think we're seeing that a lot across the industry, certainly in and amongst our organization. As you think about what used to be maybe siloed departments or functions within the organization, it's much more of a cohesive way that we think about things, especially as it relates to the consumer.
- [03:13]
B
Absolutely. And getting to your role now and things that are happening in healthcare right now, what opportunities and headwinds do you have your eye on as we speak?
- [03:24]
C
Yeah, I mean headwinds are probably not much different than everybody listening is dealing with. With a lot of the uncertainty in the space. Not sure in the, I guess long term especially, but even the near term, what payment models or kind of how that's all going to be structured and thought about. And that does create certain level of uncertainty. I think I'm more optimistic in the sense that I can see the tailwinds, I can see the expectations of the consumer in our ability to potentially meet people where they are, you know. And so you think a lot about virtual care and some of the evolution of that over the last few years, certainly on the telehealth side, but even remote patient monitoring, the shifting sites in care and really just you know what people want out of the healthcare system. I think we're uniquely positioned, and a lot of us in the industry are uniquely positioned to deliver on that through some of the evolution in technology. We're only a couple of minutes in and I'm going to say the word AI, but I think we've got a lot of opportunity both to help those that are delivering the care and receiving the care. And so I do, I think there's a lot of great opportunity and I feel like we're in a place where both we understand it as an industry of what the opportunity is, but also the expectation and the desire from the consumer is there as well.
- [04:54]
B
Yeah, I think you make a great point and my follow up question to that is just with everything going on with patients and health systems in today's climate, how vital is it to kind of approach issues with a solution based mindset, kind of that optimism that you were speaking of?
- [05:12]
C
Yeah, I think it's important now I want to I guess carve out a little bit here a piece where it's like, you know, I don't want to be solution oriented where I've got a solution looking for a problem. Right. So again, we have to make sure that we're identifying the value that we would be creating both for the customer and for the organization. Right. And so, you know, there's a lot of really cool shiny objects out there and a lot of people doing some really cool things and interesting things. And it may or may not be a fit for us or just because it is, it doesn't mean it is for someone else. But I do think the opportunity is to look for friction. We talk about a lot internally, but friction with the experience or with the journey a patient or a consumer may be having. And how do you reduce that, how do you eliminate that in their lives as they interact with us is kind of how we think about it.
- [06:17]
B
Absolutely. And in your role as a chief consumer officer, you mentioned kind of the shiny new object. I think we're seeing a lot of those in healthcare with the way technology has advanced things. How do you and your system really kind of that what you call the shiny new object, that new maybe piece of technology or, or tool that the system might invest in. How do you kind of do your homework and vet that before investing?
- [06:41]
C
Yeah, absolutely. I'm probably the worst culprit, to be honest, relative to wanting to try something new. But you try not to get just enamored with the product necessarily, but look for, again, what's the opportunity, what's the value? And so really understanding the voice of the customer. So that could be a physician referring into the organization, that could be a patient looking for care. It could be a large employer, but whoever the consumer is, the stakeholder is, you know, where are they seeing, what do they need, where are they giving you feedback and how do you use that to better a process? And I think if you can align around, you know, what the outcome or what success looks like, you know, where are you, what's the goal? I think then you can back into is there technology or is this a process and people and bandwidth, I guess, solution to solve for. Right. And so now once you get to a place that yes, maybe technology is the solution or is part of the solution. I'm not sure it's ever the solution, but part of the solution, I think you've got to look at and look at a lot of solutions or providers out there, talk to other people that are in the space using technology, get, get real world feedback. I would say, you know, technology outpaces our ability to really see it mature in a Lot of times. And so the idea that anything's going to come in and be exactly what you thought and solve every problem you have is probably slim to none. And you got to be okay with that and be willing to be nimble and pivot when needed.
- [08:19]
B
Is there one specific risk or investment you think is worth making this year for your system?
- [08:24]
C
You know, I think in any case, that you can put an experience in front of the consumer that matches up to their expectation, or maybe better said, what they already expect based on the rest of their life is a great place to lean in. And so, you know, portals are nothing new. But how do you drive people into these experiences and have some sort of a mobile environment that they're used to, you know, engaging with? You know, a really good example, simple example, but is, you know, in every way, shape and form, people can pay their bill or pay their copay. Are they able to do it with, you know, Apple or Google Pay, for example? Again, something small, but something people are used to doing. You don't have that well, then you've, you've created an extra layer, an extra friction point that takes people out of the course of what they would normally do when engaging with someone from a financial transaction. So I think if you can think about those types of scenarios, I think about a kiosk, I think about, you know, obviously checking in, scheduling online, all of that kind of practical ways that people engage with you, those are certainly places to lean in. I think the other piece of it is around data and data hygiene. More and more of what we see, especially online, really has a prerequisite for data. And so if you think about what you're seeing now with search and answer engines and all of the ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, those types of things that people are using, it requires, those answer engines require good data and citations that they can trust. And so that's a great place to lean in as well.
- [10:11]
B
Yeah, I agree. It certainly seems like data is a key investment and things people are looking to hone in on right now from who we talk to. And something else I wanted to ask if you don't mind putting your glasses to the future on. Where do you see the best opportunities for growth in the future?
- [10:31]
C
I think it's going to be through the lens of virtual. I think again, especially as you go on the lower acuity end of the spectrum of care, people are prioritizing, obviously, convenience. This is nothing new. This is obviously why urgent cares have become popular. But people want to get the care they need in, out and move on. And so I think if you're looking at entry points to the healthcare system, primary care, urgent care, virtual care, it's going to be through the lens of a kind of virtual type scenario. I think the other piece of that is the connectivity relative to all of that. So you think about wearables, remote patient monitoring, et cetera. I think our ability to be able to manage people's lives and the care that they need and need to receive is going to require us to have this connectivity. And so that's where I think a lot of the future is going to be. I think we'll see the social determinants of health and how we better take care of the wellness of our communities, not just the sick care. We've said that for some years now, but I think that's also a place where we need to be investing, certainly, and then a place that we'll see a lot of, I think, heightened focus.
- [11:54]
B
The last question I have for you, Reid, how have you evolved as a leader?
- [11:59]
C
Oh, man, what a great question. I mean, I think you can point to the obvious things, you know, post Covid with remote workforce or hybrid and things like that. I think, you know, evolving as a leader is really requiring, you know, you to think about the whole person that's on your team. You know, you may not be able to solve every issue or appease everybody, so to speak, but I think the idea that, you know, we think about things like burnout with our clinicians, this is true for really everybody in the space. And so how do you look at, you know, leading with purpose and example and trying to heighten the way that we look for ways to reward and recognize folks and provide gratitude and grace even in and amongst all of that. So, again, I think it's, you know, a special way to hopefully take care of your team where people are energized, ultimately to take care of patients.
- [12:58]
B
Reed, thanks so much for joining us on the podcast today. It was a great conversation. I look forward to working with you again soon.
- [13:03]
C
Thanks for having me.
- [13:06]
A
At athenahealth, we know your ambulatory practice wants healthier, a healthier business, healthier care teams and healthier patients. But the complexities of modern, modern healthcare tech make it hard for you and your care teams to focus on what matters most. That's where athenahealth can help our AI native all in one solutions, reduce administrative burdens, streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights when clinicians need it most. That means fewer clicks, more time for patients, and stronger bottom lines practicing medicine. Is complex, but running a practice can be that much simpler with athenahealth. See how simpler is healthier at athenahealth. Com.