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This episode is brought to you by Pixel Health. Pixel provides strategic planning, clinical workflow optimization, and digital front door services to improve patient engagement and operational efficiency.

Leverage their human centered technology solutions to enhance both clinical and business outcomes. Ready to take your healthcare system to the next level? Visit thisweekhealth. com slash pixel health today and discover the power of Pixel Health's tailored solutions   Welcome to This Week Health. My name is Bill Russell. I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system and creator of This Week Health, where we are dedicated to transforming healthcare, one connection at a time.

Now, onto our interview

 Welcome to This Week Health. We have a interview with Barbara Casey from Pixel Health. She is the President, Strategy and Transformation. Barbara, welcome to the show. Thank you, Sarah. I'm so excited to be here. I'm excited to have you here too, mostly because we've known each other for so many years, and we're in new environments, and we get to share about what you're doing at Pixel Health.

So for our audience, can you introduce yourself with a bit more depth and your role within your organization? Sure. So I have been in this business, I don't want to say how long, I'll say 30 plus years. I've been in consulting and the industry and technology. So that's a little bit of background.

We at Pixel Health we design, plan, and implement technology based solutions with our clients that simplify and improve the way healthcare organizations operate. We collaborate with our clients. I feel like it's a very we've become an extension of their teams, basically, and that really served to elevate both patient outcomes as well as clinician experiences.

So we're real passionate about both of those things and we, you know, very simply, we facilitate facilitate the use of technology, simplify the process of using it, and help overcome the organizational constraints of optimizing adoption. Which is one of the key areas why most change efforts either fail or take much longer than people anticipate.

It's because of the adoption element of the technology and not necessarily understanding what it takes to get. The human designed components of all that workflow in the mix. And one of the things that you do really well is foster innovation within organizations. Tell us more about that. Yeah, so I love that you mentioned the human centered design approach because that's really where we start and we believe that starts with empathy.

And really keeping the end users in mind in terms of the experiences they actually want to have. So I kind of, take a page from Buddhism here with the beginner's mind and make sure that we meet those patients or clinicians, could be nursing, could be doctors, where they are and understand and walk in their shoes And I think it does actually help create more innovative solutions because you're not making assumptions.

I mean, I said, I've been in this industry a long time, but I don't actually assume that I know what that daily workflow is like, or what that patient experience is like. So we try to keep that very open mind and really get into the experiences, the emotions Really the psychological dimensions as well, so that we plan very well up front and that by the time it comes to actually designing and then actually creating and implementing solutions it's very well known what they are.

So success is much more attainable and adoption actually happens. I love that you touch on the fact that with 30 years of experience, and that's just you, that's an inclusive of your team, which is also very impressive. You don't assume to know what's happening inside of an organization. So while there are thematic needs in healthcare today, how do you address what's most pressing from an industry perspective and marry that with what the needs of the organization you're serving are facing as well?

Thanks for that question. We, I should say, we don't do everything, right? So the things that we focus on are things that our team has pretty deep specialization in and knows really well. So we've got four areas that we focus. One we call connected healthcare, which means that really everything is connected from the infrastructure up that you actually have connectivity.

And that the connectivity works. So think about that, like just either wifi or networking the data has to actually flow. So interoperability, things like that. And then that translates at the end user level. To really the staff having tools that work allowing them to do what they do best inside the workflow, really embedded in the workflow.

So things like clinical mobility, virtual nursing, telemedicine, those kinds of things at the bedside or even in a remote location. How do they actually access the tools they need to do their work? So that's one. Accessible healthcare is kind of our second pillar. And that's really about consumers and patients and their families and how they access the health system.

This is a huge issue in, at health systems today. I think all of us are patients. So we know, we wish it were as easy as it is to make a reservation at a restaurant to get a doctor's appointment, half the time I call at lunch and everybody's closed for lunch and, It's just not as easy as we expect it from working with other industries.

So we help health systems really create intentional service models that go with the care model or, the operating model that they have I think that's so important. So, intentionally creating that service model with that human centered design approach I talked about.

Another third one is IT foundations. So I mentioned infrastructure, the technology company I was a part of was Cisco. I was the global healthcare leader at Cisco for about eight years. And so that really taught me that if the infrastructure is not there, then everything else you want to do as an end user really won't work, it won't work well.

You have hiccups, you have problems, you have outages, you have, time barriers, things like that. So. The whole platform and architectural approach is so important, and we've got legions of experts who deal with a lot of the infrastructure as well, and we have services there. And the really finally, it's about innovation and adoption, kind of where we started our conversation.

That's where we offer, that's like the how we do it and how we work with our clients to teach them how to do design and product thinking and even organizational governance or change management. And that's, as hugely important. And it seems to be a gap, I think, in a lot of the technology.

Projects and work that's happening today. I hear it all the time, as you do, I think from CIDOs across the country, that, that organizational change management is a challenge. So we really do try to bring that to our clients in a way that they can consume and also learn and do after we're gone. So what I love about what you shared, Barb, and this is so key, is that you're like, hey, these are the four areas where we have expertise.

There's going to be elements, though, that have to be layered in to these efforts as you approach an organization. And with the years that you've experience that you have and the relationships that you do have to believe that partnerships are a big piece of success. So it may be you working with a couple of other agencies that bring a layer in that is necessary based on the specificity of a project.

How do you find these partnerships shaping the success of your solutions? Yeah, so it's interesting. We're often in a situation to help an organization choose a solution. So we do a lot of vendor selection as an example, part of our work with our clients, we have to maintain a certain level of neutrality or agnostic, you know, in the market, and we learn about lots of vendor.

I'll say point solutions or solutions that you would plug in a situation. So when we do, however, find an organization that I would say with true differentiation in the market and truly that market advantage, and we can defend that position with factual. information. We do form partnerships and maybe a good example of this that I can share is in that IT foundation area, we were looking for a partner that could really do a private hybrid 5G network and talk to all the carriers, talk to even some independent organizations we call, I think, three POs.

We ended up partnering closely with T Mobile because we learned more about their particular network, that it's 5G to the core, that it can be sliced, that it can be, really improved for quality of service for clinical teams, as an example. And so it was really an organization that could deliver a solution when no other And so we have partnered with them.

And it's because of those facts that I can share, maybe at a future time that really differentiates them in this space, at least for right now. Which is key, because to your point, sometimes the selection of the right partner or vendor to make sure that you are not just thinking about what the organization needs today, but that three to five year look ahead, which can be really tough.

And it's the way that things change so quickly in healthcare and post pandemic, even 18 months in some cases can be a pretty robust roadmap. And yet you still need to think about the implications that are coming. So when you think about the strategic areas that you focus on to enhance client performance, what's top of mind?

So I can give you a couple examples, and I did share the services that we are doing. I think two that stand out for me, and the ones that I participate the most in, one is optimizing access, optimizing how a patient gets to your organization, and then how do we really prioritize that, right? And most systems are increasingly prioritizing patient access.

Recognizing its critical role in delivering care. However, I would also say that everybody wants to be digital in that space, but, and sometimes that's holding an organization back because of the operational constraints that they have to go digital. But really, the digital solutions require a level of operational sophistication that they haven't achieved yet.

I'm thinking specifically like just online scheduling, take that as an example for a doctor's office. If they haven't optimized how their workflow is laid out in terms of scheduling templates and sessions and being open maybe even after hours, or there are, there might be certain.

operational constraints that don't really allow them to do online scheduling. We work with our clients to really get over those humps and create possibly more standardization or some negotiation in those particular operations that make some of the. as digital things possible. So we help them address those challenges, right?

And we kind of need to examine the intersection of the clinical model, the service model, and the tech stack to really uncover those strategies that align the operational and the technology efforts. So that's one. Another is, Spaces that care. So I love that term. I think I stole it from care AI or something like that.

But really thinking about ambiently aware spaces that are AI enabled, sensor rich and create automation for caregivers that where their lives are just, you know, lots of rote activities, if those can be automated, they can save time. And really create more time at the bedside with patients. So we're trying to create those very smart rooms and spaces where the room itself is actually like a member of the care team, because it's so technology enabled that it's allowing a lot of these things to happen in real time, either that's community.

Communication, or it's location services, or it could even be dictation for documentation, those kinds of things, that those things are happening and they really kind of reduce that cognitive burden or even just time burden from caregivers and clinicians in that environment. So that's, those are two areas that we're leaning heavily into with our clients and trying to solve for problems in the future.

And now and in the future. What I love about what you've shared is optimizing access, which has an element of the equity that goes along with that. We hear all the time that the number one priority of most is the ability to have access. And to your point, reducing that barrier that may be equity that's involved.

But what's super interesting and whether that's the scheduling component or to your point, I love that spaces that care is. All of this technology really just continues to inform us about where's the best place for the human to have the most impact. And they're still going to be a human. Every time someone says, Oh, is it going to take away a job?

I'm like, no, it's actually probably going to, in some cases, create more work, but a different lens of looking through what those outcomes are. When I say more work, it's more capability for the organization to absorb, because you're taking off some of those lower level details, which is pretty amazing. But if we flip back to, the adoption is, With how fast technology is moving, how does Pixel stay ahead of the curve, able to inform clients?

And what are some of the areas where you see yourself leaning into education or resources that maybe weren't as obvious as they were in the past? Yeah, I, that's a good question. I think we are doing lots of different things, right? I think all of us, if I think about the team I guess I should say, I read voraciously.

So that's one, a thing that I love to do. So I lean into that. We certainly go to all the conferences like everybody else, right? The Becker's Chime, Vibe, HIMSS, all those. And then have certainly enjoyed being with you all at This Week Health and your 229 events. I think those are fantastic. And just a whole other level Of intimacy, I would say, getting to know individuals across the spectrum of our industry and being really informed by them, which is fantastic. Certainly good learning. And, we're also working with lots of health systems across the country. So we're getting a lot of different perspectives.

We, we work with academic medical centers and children's healthcare organizations and community

hospitals. And so we're seeing.

For profit, not for profit. We're seeing a lot of different folks from across the country. And we're really able to see, well, what problems are they focused on? How are they facing them? What are their innovations that they're doing?

And so we're able to kind of take all of that, synthesize and catalog it, and then help others. learn from those experiences. So our work, I think, in multiple organizations also allows us to continuously learn and apply lessons across the industry. And it's fortunate to be in a place where you are, and having come from some literally, like, industry changing organizations in the past, realizing you could bring that lens closer.

By having your own organization and then being able to still go to all the conferences, have the conversations, hear what people are really thinking about and seeing every day, what is the future hold for healthcare IT? When you think about Pixel preparing for upcoming trends so that you can then serve your clients most effectively, what are you seeing?

You don't go anywhere without hearing AI, AI, AI, right? That's the biggest buzz. And and I always think of it as augmented intelligence as opposed to artificial intelligence, because I think like you said, it's really going to be there to help augment what people are doing.

And it's not necessarily going to replace jobs. It'll just augment those jobs and hopefully make a better But I think from our perspective I do think what we've been working on with 5G connectivity is We're betting on that, I think, to generate unconditional connectivity. So not only does it help to create connectivity inside spaces, so let's say inside acute care facilities, what's cool about it is if you set it up correctly, it's extremely extensible to remote care as well.

So either in ambulatory settings or in patients homes or other locations for example. That are remote. So I think for rural care or care that's been hard to access in the past, getting that connectivity in places where you can do remote patient monitoring or something like that is a huge benefit.

And so I see that as a future leaning something that we all should lean into. It's also better for cybersecurity because it bypasses the internet. So it's harder to get at in terms of ruining that connectivity for whatever needs to happen. So a lot less threat actors involved, at least at this point, I say that, right?

Knock on wood. and I think another thing would be just more migration to the cloud, right? We're seeing that a lot in healthcare, even though. I think the last spaces there are the clinical data like Epic and Oracle Health and all of that those spaces are not going to the cloud as fast, but everything else that's non clinical data is migrating to the cloud, and I think that really helps to decrease the burden of even just data center administration.

teams, but then I think that evolves to a different kind of work, kind of like you said, where it's not, then it's more about cloud management and, multi cloud and maybe what's happening in the private cloud versus the public cloud and how to negotiate that. I think data and analytics, I'm kind of moving up the stack here.

I don't think we've yet to see that promise fulfilled. I don't think the data has been liquid enough across like, let's say, operational, clinical, and financial domains to really create awesome and insightful analytics. Certainly it has, I'm sure some health I've figured out more than others, but I think more of that is going to be coming in the future, where we can really get good insights from the data because it's all going in the cloud and it'll be easier to access and more liquid.

So, and like I said, coming full circle to the augmented intelligence piece. I think that. That's really , the biggest driver of what's going to happen in the future, because I think it will completely change the way we work. I use it, right? We all are using it every day in our work, even if it's behind the scenes and we're asking some kind of chat GBD or a co pilot or something to help author things or even check us on what we're thinking or make us sound better.

So if you extrapolate that, I think that People's jobs are just going to get more informed, more efficient, more effective, kind of no matter what they are. And I think it has huge implications for what it can do in clinical workflow and just how we improve patient outcomes. So excited to see those future things.

You touched on some really core elements that I hear over and over again, with all the conversations I'm having with CXOs in our industry. migrating to the cloud, whether it's multi or other words, whether it's, private or hybrid, public, all these platforms, SaaS solutions, and really understanding where is my data?

How can I aggregate it in a thoughtful way to then put The right AI components on top to create new workflows and strategies and competitive differentiation perspectives, maybe in my own market, maybe beyond, except that all of that coming together, maybe in a systematic approach still lends itself to, okay, so how do I make good decisions with all of this information?

How do I know where to foster innovation? How do I know where my recovery points are going to be or what needs to come back up first and that whole continuity of operations. What else is important to share with our audience in terms of how you create that vision, know what projects to pursue and insights into healthcare IT so that the products are thoughtfully rolled out, they are adopted, they do have the desired impact and change within an organization.

Yeah this is one where I feel like I may sound old fashioned, but I think we gotta do more of like go slow to go fast, or you know what I mean? I think we have to focus more. I think the whole, the things that, that everyone knows are the important factors around organizational governance or good design, good change management, those are the kind of the hard things to get right.

Many of the complaints or even pressures that I see from our clients are that they need help with leadership, just even being excited about championing the huge initiative that has to happen. It could be an ERP system. It could be, an EMR switch from one to the other, but huge projects that Everyone has to be aligned in the organization to make happen.

Those are easier, frankly, the huge ones. And maybe there's some other really big ones that have access is a good example. If you have an access imperative across the health system, there might be eight to ten smaller projects that all have to come together to make that access imperative lift and improve and elevate right in the market.

And that's harder. It's harder to sort of get the oomph from either leadership or governance, to have the governance work to make that happen, since that's a very cross functional activity or initiative, because so many, every, if you sat in a room with healthcare leaders, who owns the patient?

Everybody would raise their hand, right? That's the way it would be. So it's hard because the ownership for that is very shared across the entire continuum. so you have to have that, you have to have the cross functional leadership capability and you have to have focus.

You have to really get rid of a lot of the noise in the system and focus on a couple of things, I think, to really get things done and executed. We have so many top priorities, we all do, and it's difficult to really understand. This is what we need to drive forward. So, I think going slow to go fast is kind of some good advice or things that we try to do.

You know, Even we mentioned with the design and, and the planning, and I think a little bit more time spent in that area actually helps you see, beat up later in execution. And when a client comes to you with a moonshot and you're like, that's amazing. I can get you there. Here are some things we need to think about first.

And what can be really valuable in that whole going slow to go fast perspective is you may not need to do all of it. There may be some really great ideas that are not for right now. Or that are great with one client that may not be great for another. And you can bring that thought partnership forward and say, actually, have you considered this instead?

So taking time to do the diligence, which heck, if we've all been through an M& A or divestiture process, which I think all of us have, that's where all of that fact finding happens. So when you do create the integration or the adoption, it is thoughtful in the approach. And if you go slower, it gives people a chance to really get comfortable with what's happening.

With them versus what's happening to them. That's absolutely, that's what change management is all about. So that's why we love having a partnership with you, with Pixel Health, with your team. Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us today. We look forward to continued collaboration and sharing more stories of success with Pixel Health.

Great. Thank you, Sarah. It's been a real pleasure to chat with you today, and I always love talking to you. Likewise. That's all for now. Thanks for listening.

Thanks

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