HLTH21 – Krish Ramakrishnan of Blue Jeans a Verizon company

Speaker 00:00:03 Today in. Speaker 00:00:03 Health it interviews from the health conference in Boston Speaker 00:00:06 My name is bill Russell. Speaker 00:00:07 I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system and creator of this week and Speaker 00:00:11 health it a channel dedicated to keeping health it staff current and engaged. Speaker 00:00:15 Just a quick reminder, I'm going to be dropping interviews Speaker 00:00:18 over the next couple of days. Speaker 00:00:20 And into next week from the floor of the health conference. Bill Russell 00:00:23 All right. Bill Russell 00:00:24 Another interview from the health conference in Boston, Bill Russell 00:00:27 and today we were with. Bill Russell 00:00:28 Rama Krishna. Bill Russell 00:00:30 Exactly. Bill Russell 00:00:30 I did that well, thanks. Bill Russell 00:00:32 Uh, well, welcome to the show. Bill Russell 00:00:33 I'm looking forward to the conversation. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:00:35 Yes. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:00:35 Thank you. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:00:36 Thank you for Bill Russell 00:00:36 having me. Bill Russell 00:00:37 And you don't have your title here, but you're with blue jeans Bill Russell 00:00:39 network, which is a part of Verizon. Bill Russell 00:00:42 W what's your, you have innovation and strategy. Bill Russell 00:00:45 Yeah. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:00:45 Well, the founder of blue jeans, there you go. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:00:47 And now I run strategy and the chief innovator for the telehealth Krish Ramakrishnan 00:00:51 space at, uh, Ryzen by blue Bill Russell 00:00:53 jeans. Bill Russell 00:00:54 Yeah. Bill Russell 00:00:54 And I'm looking forward to this conversation cause we've. Bill Russell 00:00:57 So many people come on to talk about, uh, uh, tele-health we, Bill Russell 00:01:01 uh, in fact, I ran into Dr. Bill Russell 00:01:03 Joseph Cavita or this morning over in the, uh, Omni hotel. Bill Russell 00:01:07 And we were just talking about the stats that he said, you know, during Bill Russell 00:01:10 the pandemic tele-health went up to 60, 70% of visits, some staggering number. Bill Russell 00:01:16 I asked them what the new baseline is. Bill Russell 00:01:17 He said, you know, it's slowly been coming down, but he said, it feels like Bill Russell 00:01:21 right now the baseline is like 5% of. Bill Russell 00:01:24 Visits at health systems has gone up. Bill Russell 00:01:26 I'm like, wait, that sounds low. Bill Russell 00:01:27 And he said, yeah, well backtrack a couple of years. Bill Russell 00:01:31 And that number was like, 0.0, something percent. Bill Russell 00:01:35 He said, so that's significantly, that's a significant rise. Bill Russell 00:01:37 And what he's seeing is a lot of health systems are evaluating now Bill Russell 00:01:41 with this experience where they can appropriately put tele-health in. Bill Russell 00:01:45 So I wanted to touch base with you and just talk about, uh, let's Bill Russell 00:01:50 start with the pandemic that. Bill Russell 00:01:52 Really crazy. Bill Russell 00:01:53 The amount of phone calls and work you guys had to do early on to get a debit. Bill Russell 00:01:57 Talk about that a little bit. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:01:59 Um, during the pandemic, it was really crazy, but Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:02 let me just step back a little bit. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:04 Blue jeans was always in the video conferencing business. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:08 They were selling to enterprise larger hospitals, universities. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:11 That's our core, uh, model, uh, compelling video content. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:15 So as it turns out during the pandemic, everybody wanted to have Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:18 a video tool that they can do. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:21 We had many hospitals reach out and say, we need to get our inpatient to remote Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:29 telehealth right now over the weekend. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:32 In fact, I will tell you, university of Pennsylvania over the weekend, they Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:37 said, next week we are shutting down. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:39 How are we going to do it? Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:40 We had to run a team out there, create a service improve capacity, 400%, 400% Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:48 one week in terms of not only telehealth. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:02:51 Yeah, that was during the pandemic and we saw people embrace tele-health. Bill Russell 00:02:59 Yeah. Bill Russell 00:02:59 W th they really didn't have a choice for the most part, not from a safety Bill Russell 00:03:04 standpoint, this became the preferred method, the preferred medium for all Bill Russell 00:03:09 health systems, uh, to, to move forward. Bill Russell 00:03:12 So it was a, I call it a pilot at scale. Bill Russell 00:03:17 I mean, it all, all of a sudden went from, Hey, we're playing around with. Bill Russell 00:03:21 Now we're going to do it across the entire health system. Bill Russell 00:03:23 Um, I mean, did that present different kinds of challenges? Krish Ramakrishnan 00:03:28 I actually, I would say it's more of an opportunity. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:03:31 Uh, we had to roll out video conferencing for everybody, but what we realized is Krish Ramakrishnan 00:03:39 video conferencing is a meeting tool, collaboration office tool, because Krish Ramakrishnan 00:03:43 it's not designed for tele-health. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:03:47 So when we became part of horizon, What if we can accurately look at video and Krish Ramakrishnan 00:03:54 in the context of teller tele-health and how can we repurpose bill for telehealth? Krish Ramakrishnan 00:03:59 And that's the innovation that blue Jean arrived and brings to the table. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:04:03 So we can talk about Bill Russell 00:04:04 that. Bill Russell 00:04:06 So we get, we get into the pandemic. Bill Russell 00:04:08 I assume what happens after the initial, uh, excitement of we've got Bill Russell 00:04:14 to get all this stood up very rapidly. Bill Russell 00:04:17 There's a. Bill Russell 00:04:19 We've got to integrate this better. Bill Russell 00:04:20 We've got to make it better for the workflow. Bill Russell 00:04:22 The physicians want it to be easier. Bill Russell 00:04:26 We want to make sure we don't drop any calls and that kind of stuff. Bill Russell 00:04:29 So talk a little bit about, as it matured, as it went along, Krish Ramakrishnan 00:04:33 what we realized is in order for tele health to be Krish Ramakrishnan 00:04:38 successful, the user experience has to be at the top notch. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:04:43 Right? Krish Ramakrishnan 00:04:44 So most people were using it. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:04:47 Uh, Some kind of ID support. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:04:50 We wanted to make sure that it worked the first time. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:04:54 Doctors are not, it support people now in Bill Russell 00:04:57 order Krish Ramakrishnan 00:04:58 they want to be, they want to be, but turned out initially. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:01 That's what happened. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:02 I cannot call. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:03 I can not hear, I have echo. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:04 We want to make that compelling. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:06 We, second thing we did, uh, innovation wise, we made it mobile without an app. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:12 Download just one, click and join a. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:18 And then we made it easier for the hospitals to launch televisits by Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:22 doing all of the EHR integrations so that we could have, uh, Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:28 the patient record pulled out. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:30 Then we looked at this and said, one is we can simulate a real world waiting room. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:37 After all, when you go into a real clinic, there's a waiting room. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:41 There is an intake form. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:43 Uh, Things that Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:44 you Bill Russell 00:05:45 need to do for Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:45 education, all of those things. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:47 So we created a, one of a kind waiting role where the patients Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:52 go in and they have intake form. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:54 They could look at all the videos and they can be notified. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:05:58 Even if the doctor is late, all of those things, those things Krish Ramakrishnan 00:06:02 we're missing an industry. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:06:04 That's something that BlueJeans brought to the table of revamp Krish Ramakrishnan 00:06:07 reading and then post visit. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:06:10 What are some of the. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:06:12 Uh, text messages, all those things were integrated so that we can build a, a very Krish Ramakrishnan 00:06:17 purposeful television application rather than using a collaboration application. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:06:25 I'll Bill Russell 00:06:25 tell you in the, I lived down in Florida and so, and Bill Russell 00:06:29 I moved into a neighborhood where they referred to me as the kid. Bill Russell 00:06:31 Now I'm 54 years old and they refer to me as a kid. Bill Russell 00:06:34 It gives you an idea of the people I'm living around. Bill Russell 00:06:36 And my neighbors were coming to me. Bill Russell 00:06:38 Oh, you're the healthcare guy. Bill Russell 00:06:40 I have a visit. Bill Russell 00:06:41 I have a telehealth visit today and I can't figure it out and Bill Russell 00:06:43 I'd go over to their house and they'd have an AOL browser. Bill Russell 00:06:46 And I kid you not an AOL browser AOL email address, and they're trying to connect. Bill Russell 00:06:51 And it was, there was a lot of friction in that experience. Bill Russell 00:06:55 And there was a special, one of the, one of the people I was helping was Bill Russell 00:06:59 had a meeting with a specialist at a prestigious hospital, and he ran Bill Russell 00:07:03 about 17 minutes late and we had no indication that he was 17 minutes late. Bill Russell 00:07:07 So. Bill Russell 00:07:08 10 minutes in we're troubleshooting. Bill Russell 00:07:10 We're trying to figure it out that that experience is, is critical. Bill Russell 00:07:15 And I would assume that a lot of health systems are really looking to, to, to Bill Russell 00:07:18 optimize that experience on both ends the, the patient side and the clinician side. Bill Russell 00:07:23 I Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:24 felt that, uh, experience that you just related Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:26 is not, uh, it's not uncommon. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:28 We have heard of about that lot at that point. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:31 I can, it's a perfect compliment blue jeans, the video app. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:36 Uh, couple with Verizon the network. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:38 So one of the macro trends that is happening across all Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:41 industries, not just tell how it service, it's moving to the edge. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:47 Right? Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:47 What I might mean by that in a thing, there is the network component there, Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:52 the computation element and where the service is rendered, more and more Krish Ramakrishnan 00:07:58 services are rendered at the home. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:00 That is the new edge, whether it be watching a compelling. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:04 Whether you want to eat at a gourmet restaurant that shows up at your Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:08 home, telehealth is no different. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:10 We want to make the experience of delivering tele-health Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:15 better than being there. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:17 Well, better than being there. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:18 That's the north star for blue Jean. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:21 And by coupling that with the network so we can deliver 5g Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:25 capability, no missed calls. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:27 Crystal clear video, no choppy audio. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:30 You're making the. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:32 That much better. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:33 And then you can then now with this integration of apple health data, Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:37 it minimize the amount of time. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:08:41 times you need to go to the clinic to deliver that. Bill Russell 00:08:44 You know, we're seeing a lot of, I saw entrepreneurs here Bill Russell 00:08:47 and they're talking about hospital at home for chronic conditions. Bill Russell 00:08:51 We see a medically home where, uh, Mayo and, uh, Kaiser, uh, Bill Russell 00:08:57 partnered essentially in medically home and they're taking stuff. Bill Russell 00:09:01 Best buy is announced. Bill Russell 00:09:02 They're a healthcare company. Bill Russell 00:09:03 They're standing up the home. Bill Russell 00:09:05 Uh, so I want to talk about the future because the future might be Bill Russell 00:09:10 communication through blue jeans, to the, the, the, essentially the Bill Russell 00:09:16 primary care docs and the others. Bill Russell 00:09:19 But the, the hospital room is, is my bedroom is my, my home Krish Ramakrishnan 00:09:24 on the, on the money bill. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:09:27 The new clinic is. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:09:30 Surrounded by satellite clients that are more like your community Krish Ramakrishnan 00:09:35 hospital, something of that nature. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:09:39 And then there's the four, the bigger one, the bigger hospital, but it Krish Ramakrishnan 00:09:42 going to be a three tier system. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:09:44 But the primary clinic is your home. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:09:47 And therefore you need some of those, uh, data collecting devices like remote Krish Ramakrishnan 00:09:52 patient monitoring, uh, Diller and I like apple, uh, And then compelling, uh, video Krish Ramakrishnan 00:10:00 communication to make it very immersive. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:10:03 Yeah. Bill Russell 00:10:04 Well, and that's, it's, we're entering a new world. Bill Russell 00:10:07 I've heard a bunch of the speakers here. Bill Russell 00:10:09 Talk about the fact that the things that are happening have happened through Bill Russell 00:10:12 the pandemic and will happen over the next two years will shape healthcare Bill Russell 00:10:16 for the next couple of decades. Bill Russell 00:10:17 And this is one of those areas where I think we're going to be talking to Bill Russell 00:10:22 our doctors a lot more through this. Bill Russell 00:10:24 We're going to be receiving a lot more of our care through this media. Bill Russell 00:10:26 So I'm excited to continue our conversation and hear how things progress. Bill Russell 00:10:31 This should be fun. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:10:32 Yeah. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:10:33 I'm excited too. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:10:34 One of the areas that really you're going to benefit from this is rural health Krish Ramakrishnan 00:10:39 bringing expertise to the rural area. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:10:41 I'd say Verizon mission blue didn't mention that is I'm very excited about Bill Russell 00:10:47 that. Bill Russell 00:10:47 All becomes about the network at that point. Bill Russell 00:10:49 Right? Bill Russell 00:10:50 So it's. Bill Russell 00:10:52 Uh, I talked to a CIO for the Cherokee nation and I said, Bill Russell 00:10:56 well, tell me about your teller. Bill Russell 00:10:57 Cause they ramped up. Bill Russell 00:10:58 Tele-health pretty significantly. Bill Russell 00:10:59 It was all over the phone. Bill Russell 00:11:01 They did no video because they were in such remote places, all across Bill Russell 00:11:05 Oklahoma that he goes, you know, we couldn't reliably do video visits. Bill Russell 00:11:09 And so it really is about the network. Bill Russell 00:11:11 At that point, if we had 5g and the promise of that bandwidth across Bill Russell 00:11:15 the entire country, we really would change the nature of employment. Bill Russell 00:11:20 Healthcare the nature of a lot of things. Bill Russell 00:11:23 So Krish Ramakrishnan 00:11:24 as I said before, the new edge is the home. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:11:27 Yeah. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:11:27 This allows 5g and mobile edge compute allows the rural home to be part Krish Ramakrishnan 00:11:36 of the edge and be, uh, be part of the smart home and smart clinics. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:11:41 And everything's smart about it. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:11:43 Or even educate remote education to the rural areas, no longer the laggard. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:11:47 And that's most exciting. Bill Russell 00:11:49 Yeah. Bill Russell 00:11:50 And I've often said, you know, if given the choice, if I get sick and you know, Bill Russell 00:11:54 I'd like to pick my health system based on what's the best one I have, maybe Bill Russell 00:11:58 it's Mayo, maybe it's Cleveland, maybe it's UCLA medical center for cancer. Bill Russell 00:12:02 And, uh, and I don't care that I live in Florida. Bill Russell 00:12:04 You know, when I have that kind of chronic disease, I'd like to Bill Russell 00:12:07 interact with the best care I could possibly find in the country. Bill Russell 00:12:11 And this, this really leads us in that direction. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:14 Gives us flexibility. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:17 And even the future, you may not have to pick between a or B. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:22 I think we are always confronted with these choices. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:25 Uh, should, should I go with one or two? Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:28 What can I be plethora of choices? Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:31 I have fought this. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:32 I'll go here for that. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:33 I will go there. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:35 Maybe for most of my care I'll be at home. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:38 Maybe I can walk to a neighborhood clinic, maybe for a check-in. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:41 I go to a hospital or even a remote location that. Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:46 This is what tele-health and rich communication is Krish Ramakrishnan 00:12:49 enabling for you in the future Bill Russell 00:12:51 for first. Bill Russell 00:12:52 Thank you for your time. Bill Russell 00:12:53 I really appreciate it. Bill Russell 00:12:54 Thank Bill Russell 00:12:54 you, bill. Bill Russell 00:12:55 Check back for Morris. Bill Russell 00:12:56 The, we continues. Bill Russell 00:12:58 A lot of great interviews, a lot of great conversations. Bill Russell 00:12:59 I'm looking forward to sharing them with you. Bill Russell 00:13:02 That's all for today. Bill Russell 00:13:03 If you know someone that might benefit from our channel, Bill Russell 00:13:06 please forward them a note. 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