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October 29, 2024: Is healthcare drowning in pilot programs? In this episode, we delve into the world of small-scale innovations and the industry’s struggle to transform proof of concept into wide-reaching solutions. Join our hosts as they dissect why many pilot projects never make it beyond a single department and explore the hidden costs of pilot purgatory, including what healthcare leaders need to consider before jumping on the latest shiny tech. Will behavioral economics and patient engagement prove to be the missing links to scaling success, or are they just part of the pilot cycle? Listen in as we uncover the real barriers between promising tech and patient impact.

00:45 Challenges with Pilot Programs in Healthcare

04:25 Scalability and Implementation Challenges

06:44 Behavioral Economics in Healthcare

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Transcript

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   Today in Health IT, we are discussing does healthcare have too many pilots?

CIO for several healthcare systems, most notably within HCA and Optum, and now president of the This Week Health 229 Executive Development Community, where we host a series of channels and events dedicated to transforming healthcare, one connection at a time. Time. Today's episode is brought to you by Sure.

Test revolutionizing healthcare IT with automated testing solutions. Learn more at thisweekhealth.com/suretest. Today we are discussing Does Healthcare have too many pilots? And I am joined by Kate Gamble, a managing editor here at this week. Health Kate, welcome to the show. Thank you, Sarah.

Look forward to our discussion. Always, and this one was so interesting because we are constantly talking about what to put into play and at what point in organizations and platform versus point solutions and all the different components that surround that decision making process. This article specifically discusses the over reliance on pilot programs in healthcare, which often fail to scale into long term solutions, and many organizations are focusing on small scale innovation without translating successful pilots into broader system improvements.

AI is, of course, highlighted as a critical area of innovation that could solve capacity and engagement issues. But only if scaled effectively across healthcare systems. This comes from a conference recently where Dr. Samir Badlani, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer and Digital Health Officer at Minneapolis based Fairview.

So this is pretty interesting when we think about pilot purgatory with too many proof of concept subjects, and also scaling successful pilots being crucial for real challenges. AI can streamline patient engagement and preventative care, but it hinges on widespread adoption, something you and I talk a lot about in organizational change management and the adoption of the technology.

And then something we'll explore, behavioral economics, driving patient engagement with healthcare. And finally, focusing on practical scalable solutions that's essential for healthcare innovation. So tell me, Kate, does healthcare have too many pilots? Short answer is yes. I, really like how, Samir talked about there being too much reliance on small scale experiments and, proof of concept projects and in the piece, he even joked that healthcare has more pilots than the airline industry, which I loved, there's truth to that.

It's, so easy to fall in love with concepts and want to put them into play. But unless. These pilots are for solutions that align with the overall strategy. They're likely going to fizzle out. we've heard so many great people talk about how any technology that's piloted needs to have, needs to meet a clearly identified need, but.

It's more than that. And actually, we had a webinar recently, and one of the speakers is Lacey Knight, who's Information Officer at Piedmont Health, and he said that before adopting any technology, that the organization needs to ask some key questions like, yeah, short term benefit, long term benefit, but also what are the short term costs? What are the long term costs to continue in a sustainable way? where exactly do you start to implement it? How do you expand it? And all of that needs to be determined upfront. And I think that's really important

that, we really have to be looking beyond the cool pilot phase and looking at how this is going to fit into the organization strategy. I cannot agree with you more, and I love that Lacey shared that, because there are so many good ideas. There are several ways to solve a problem in any organization.

And when we get fixated on the technology looking to solve an identified problem versus really understanding, is it workflow? Is it staffing? Is it antiquated technology? Is there a better way of doing this? We don't always take the time to dig in to really understanding the problem we're trying to solve.

We say that often, and yet if you get too many pilots, a pilot can go fascinatingly well, and yet if it's really only going to be successful within a certain unit or within a certain part of the organization, you have to ask yourself, is that worth it? Because now you're going to need people to support and manage it in an ongoing basis.

That's something that We hear when you have conferences like health, there's a lot of really very cool, very shiny objects being talked about, but when we speak to the CIOs, the chief digital officers that we know, what we always hear from them is, is it scalable? And I think it becomes really hard for leaders because people go to these conferences and come back to them and say, hey, why aren't we doing this?

This is going to solve X problem. And I think that, our CXOs have to be the ones to say, okay, is it scalable? And really look at the details, before diving in. Yes, and that point, especially because as you think about some point solutions that may make sense in an area, let's just say that you're looking to recapture some processed claims that could have had additional coding with them, or you're looking for philanthropic assistance with some of your pharmacy programs, you realize that it has to have high ROI.

It has to have a low impact as far as implementation, and ideally a low lift from those that are affected. Not every. Pilot is going to meet that criteria. And yet, as you think about aligning with broader organizational goals and a clear path to scalability, if that's the intent of one of the products you're putting in place, this is specific with AI and patient engagement technologies.

And I say that because I recently had a conversation with Sherry D'Youville, who's CEO of Metagram. And she said. CISOs now having to think about AI security within applications is something that hasn't been discussed as often, and yet there's an entire regulatory component and standards component specific to how you bring these AI solutions into your facilities, and that level of awareness needs to come with this decision making process.

So it is legal. It is CISO. It is your CFO, etc. And so getting those players within your organization aligned on what it really means to bring these technologies in house, that equation continues to change, and CIOs are having to flex to it every single day. Yeah, and when we talk about scalability, the other part of this that's so critical is the patient component and making sure that patients are on board and are able to adopt and utilize these solutions.

And I really like how you brought behavioral economics into this. I think that's such an interesting area. And it looks at, how psychological, social, and emotional factors influence people's decisions. And unlike, traditional economics is pretty cut and dry, based on dollars and cents for the most part, behavioral economics looks at The choices people make, maybe irrational choices like not showing up for appointments, not getting medications refilled, and really looks at why they're making these decisions and taking into account things like bias.

And I think that is such a hugely important part of this, to really be looking at solutions that can influence behaviors among patients. 100 percent agree, because if you're nudging me with a patient reminder for an appointment or a default option for preventative screening, anytime you can frame a choice in a way that highlights immediate benefits, that's going to increase participation in wellness programs or medication adherence.

So I think about that whole behavioral economics component, driving better decisions, reducing burden, and improving patient engagement and outcomes. But again, if that's one of the consideration factors, where else is that occurring in your health system? Because I've literally seen and been a part of multiple departments or the health system and the insurer both going after that same population for reminders and all of a sudden the patient's getting inundated with yet somewhat disparate information trying to see the same problem.

So there's a responsibility that goes into also realizing that where else is this happening in my organization and anytime. Anyone believes that the CIO or any specific department knows everything that's happening in an organization, depending on the size of your organization, that can be a tall order because.

It doesn't take a lot for the pharmacy, as an example, to go and sign a deal with a product or a vendor that has a solution that in some cases could be relatively isolated to them, and then IT gets brought in after the fact. We've all been trying to get in front of that our entire careers, yet it still can't happen.

And that awareness of, are we over informing or over outreaching to our patients, also can become part of the challenge. So any pilot. There's multiple, criteria factors that are going to go into whether or not this is going to be good for us and good for our patients. , as you and I have discussed, not only does cybersecurity get into every conversation, but really, Interoperability too, and just making sure that everyone is aligned and on the same page and especially with anything as critical or anything as new as some of these AI tools, it's even more important to really make sure that you have that alignment across the board.

Sound perspective. So we fundamentally agree, yes, healthcare may have too many pilots and yet there are ways to ensure that the pilots you are putting into place have the right parameters to ensure the maximum benefit to your organization and to your patients. Kate, I always love having these conversations with you.

Thank you so much for joining me today. Remember to share this podcast with a friend or a colleague, use it as a foundation for daily or weekly discussions on the topics that are relevant to you and the industry. You can subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. That's all for now. Thanks for listening.

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