A Revolutionary Framework for Smart Care Technology with Steve Lieber, an Independent Consultant

[00:00:00] Hey everybody, welcome back to the Outcomes Rocket. I'm so excited to have Steve Lieber back in

[00:00:09] the podcast. I learned so much from Steve every time we hang out and every time he's on

[00:00:14] the podcast, so I'm excited to have him back. For those of you that haven't had a chance

[00:00:18] to know about Steve, first of all, be surprised. But if you haven't, let me tell you a little

[00:00:23] bit about him before you kick off today's podcast. He's a seasoned healthcare management

[00:00:27] executive with 40 years plus of experience in healthcare. Primarily in the healthcare association

[00:00:34] management area, he served as president and CEO at HIMS for nearly 18 years and currently works

[00:00:40] as an independent consultant with notable clients such as Care AI, the healthcare information

[00:00:45] management executives, also known as CHIME, and other well-known entities. If you haven't had

[00:00:51] a chance to listen to our last podcast, I'll link it up in the show notes because it was a really

[00:00:56] good one. Steve, so glad you're back. Thank you so much, Solids. It's great to be back with you.

[00:01:01] I always enjoy the chances we have to connect and talk about things that are going on in healthcare

[00:01:06] and really happy to be back with you today. Yeah, likewise. And Steve, you always, I don't know,

[00:01:11] you're just really good at staying ahead of the game. Not necessarily going to where the

[00:01:15] puck is going, but you have a lot to do with directing where the puck goes and certainly excited

[00:01:22] to be chatting with you yet on another topic. Today, we're going to be covering this idea of

[00:01:28] creating this smart hospital maturity model. It's a new concept that just came out. Talk to us

[00:01:33] a little bit more about it. I'm going to digress maybe 15, 20 years here, but it'll be quick.

[00:01:41] In back in 0 2004, 5, 6, that era, we looked at what was happening in healthcare and at that point,

[00:01:49] electronic medical records were really starting to catch on in terms of people recognizing the

[00:01:56] importance of digitizing health records and that sort of thing. So at HEMS, we developed the EMR

[00:02:02] adoption model. That was the executive responsible for the creation of HEMS analytics, which was

[00:02:07] the birthplace of MRAM. Well, now fast forward to the current time period. And this past fall

[00:02:15] at the time fall form, I was talking with Shakri Taledi, who's the founder and CEO of KRAI.

[00:02:23] KRAI is company in the virtual nursing smart care facility ambient monitoring space and all.

[00:02:30] And Shakri and I were talking about it and he said, I know your background with MRAM. What do you

[00:02:35] think about coming up with some way of measuring how facilities are adopting smart care technology?

[00:02:43] So we started talking about it and what has happened is what we just have announced very recently,

[00:02:49] which is the development of the smart hospital maturity model. And the idea here is there's a lot

[00:02:57] of noise in this space. It's a new area. And yeah, you're right. It is directing the direction that

[00:03:04] healthcare is going that sort of thing by emphasizing things like we did with MRAM. And the idea

[00:03:10] is to try to bring some common sense to this area of smart care facilities and technology.

[00:03:18] What is it that systems ought to do in terms of bringing about a smarter way of doing healthcare?

[00:03:28] And that's that smartness is going to be measured on a couple of dimensions. One, of course,

[00:03:33] is clinical care. Let's be smart about it so that we are utilizing the best care processes,

[00:03:39] the best technologies to achieve the best outcome. It's also about efficiency. When we think about

[00:03:47] using smart technologies in our homes, for example, it makes us more efficient. We have the

[00:03:54] intelligence of devices doing things for us and therefore we're more effective as well as

[00:04:00] more efficient. It's bringing order to all of that instead of hospitals and care facilities

[00:04:08] being left on their own just thinking, okay, what do we do? And there's so much here. You start out

[00:04:14] with the buzzword of the month, AI and you and I both were at Vive recently and people were throwing

[00:04:21] that term around like candy. And what does it mean? And it quite honestly, it means different things

[00:04:25] to different people. Well, let's bring some better knowledge, some intelligence into this whole

[00:04:32] area. And that's the concept behind the mob. I really love this idea, Steve, and really

[00:04:39] the opportunity that health system leaders have to start putting some logic and organizational

[00:04:45] principles and a measurement scale around where do I sit? And how do I progress? Who's involved in

[00:04:51] this? And like who's putting the work together? Tell us a little bit more about the work being done.

[00:04:57] Sure, as I mentioned, it's Shakri Teleti at Kariai is really the person who birthed the concept.

[00:05:03] And so he said, Steve and your role as an independent consultant, would you work with us?

[00:05:08] You've got a background with Emram. You know what it takes to put something like this together.

[00:05:14] They brought meat on to work on this project full disclosure. I was already working with them

[00:05:19] on some other things. And Kariai is bankrolling this. They're providing the financial

[00:05:24] underwriting for this. But in one of our objectives, or actually the better word here is guiding

[00:05:32] principles, is this is objective? It is vendor neutral. Kariai may be providing the financial

[00:05:39] resources to bring this all together. But the clear direction from them is this is not about Kariai.

[00:05:47] This is about the area of smart care teams and smart care facilities. So we went to chime.

[00:05:55] Again, as you mentioned in my introduction, an organization that I'd done some consulting work with.

[00:06:00] And in fact, I served as their executive vice president and chief analytics officer for about three years

[00:06:07] after I left him's helping them build their capabilities in this area of survey research

[00:06:13] and help upgrade and bring into a more current status their digital health most wired survey.

[00:06:19] So we went to chime and said, okay, chime, we're interested in doing the sponsorship with you because

[00:06:25] you've got platforms that will help make this more visible to hospitals. You've got great relationship

[00:06:33] with the CIO community and getting their engagement's going to be a key part of this. And so

[00:06:39] we Kariai signed a sponsorship agreement with chime to help leverage their executives who are

[00:06:46] involved in survey research and have the experience with digital health most wired. As a matter of

[00:06:51] fact, the guy over there, Lauren Pettit used to work with me at him's analytics. He's got a background

[00:06:56] with M-RAM. So again, there's expertise there that Chimes bringing into the project. We've got

[00:07:02] over 40 healthcare executives from around the country. So MDs, RNs, CIOs, digital officers,

[00:07:10] innovation officers, CEOs, CEOs wanting to make sure we really cover the whole area of all of

[00:07:19] the professions that are involved in the care process to be advisors to us on this project.

[00:07:26] Yeah, I've got experience. But I needed frontline people really playing the more significant role

[00:07:33] of what's the model look like? What are the areas we're going to cover and that sort of thing? And so

[00:07:39] as I'm over 40 advisors that are working on this in from every major healthcare system that you

[00:07:45] can think of, not for profit, huge national systems to small regional systems and specialty

[00:07:54] hospitals, like children's hospitals and such. And so really we have an entity. It's also not

[00:08:01] a group that were finished assembling. We are welcoming others to come into the project

[00:08:06] to help guide us on this. So it really is a very broad group that's directing the project in terms

[00:08:13] of the subject matter and the details. And then we've also reached out to some other organizations,

[00:08:19] American organization, nurse leaders, AOML, HFMA, which is financial management group,

[00:08:25] Elite Frog. Those are three organizations that we have talked to and they have now put an

[00:08:32] individual on the advisory panel. I don't want to overstate their involvement. There's not

[00:08:37] organizational endorsement but at this point, but they do want to participate in it. They see

[00:08:42] the value of what we're doing. And so that's the group that really is involved in this. And it's

[00:08:49] a almost a year-long project from conception to our really completing our first cycle. We're in

[00:08:57] the process right now of defining what is the model itself. What's this scope, how far in terms

[00:09:05] of breadth, how deep do you go in terms of topics and that sort of thing? And we've got some elements

[00:09:12] that we've already landed on that I'm glad to share with you. But just one other thing in terms

[00:09:17] of high level. What? The model is one thing in terms of coming up with a measurement as you mentioned.

[00:09:25] We also want to be able to provide back to the facilities that participate in the survey

[00:09:32] which drives the scoring of the model, with an analytical piece back to them. We want to be

[00:09:38] able to show them here's where your opportunities are, here's where your gaps are, here are the things

[00:09:46] you ought to be thinking about in terms of next steps. And certainly a key objective is finding

[00:09:53] a credible designation for smart care facilities, but it's also about providing them with actionable

[00:10:00] analysis that illustrates their strengths and weaknesses. And so I say we're in this process

[00:10:06] and what we will be doing is this summer we will have finished the model for what I'll call

[00:10:14] first round or beta testing when we'll send the survey out and anyone new facilities can

[00:10:20] participate in it. It's not limited to just those who've been involved in the project

[00:10:25] so that by the time fall form this coming November, we'll be able to talk about what we found,

[00:10:32] what's going on out there. And really I think bringing some significant insights into the market

[00:10:38] is to what really is going on here more than just simply anecdotal comments that we hear along the

[00:10:46] way. Well, Steve, that's very exciting and what a great crew you guys have assembled

[00:10:52] and still open to recruiting more. So for anybody listening that is intrigued by this project

[00:11:00] is thinking about these things around smart hospitals, ways to improve them and optimize.

[00:11:05] Certainly a fantastic opportunity to learn more. In the show notes, we'll leave ways to reach out

[00:11:11] to Steve and the group on ways you could get engaged. But Steve, as people think about this,

[00:11:16] the insights that are going to come out of this sounds like also maybe a benchmarking component

[00:11:20] so that they know where they stand in terms of the maturity model. Why should people want to learn

[00:11:28] more? Why is this so important? I think clearly we see the value of having an element of machine learning

[00:11:40] have a role. Now, being somewhat careful here and selecting my terms just one because we're so new

[00:11:46] in understanding what role will machine learning take in healthcare. We know that having computing

[00:11:55] power that can analyze mountains of data that we could never process through our own

[00:12:02] labors, we need machines to help us plow through all that to find trends and patterns and

[00:12:07] that sort of thing. So the value is to help them to understand how that can be done

[00:12:17] and how others are doing. And as you say, there is an element of a benchmarking here.

[00:12:23] But it's also helping organizations understand where within the facility,

[00:12:32] these sorts of technologies can be utilized and what the benefits are in different places.

[00:12:38] So the model is built around three major components. Humans, so recognizing that in the care process,

[00:12:47] there are people involved, of course. And they're really two types, patience and care team. We've got

[00:12:53] elements of the model that's focused on how you use smart technology in support of patience

[00:13:01] and the family care circle around them. We also want to explore how smart technology

[00:13:08] impacts and it can be utilized by the care teams. So that's the people dimension. The next dimension

[00:13:16] is in environments. So we have locations where technology is going to be used.

[00:13:21] Common areas. So waiting rooms, what do you do in waiting rooms in terms of having smart technology

[00:13:28] in terms of kiosks and other sort of things? You have the emergency department, you have

[00:13:36] your inpatient rooms, you have ambulatory facilities clinics and labs and that sort of thing.

[00:13:43] You have long-term and post-acute care facilities, still part of the care continuum.

[00:13:49] And then you have what we're going residential spaces. That's not only the home but it's also places

[00:13:55] like hospice and such. When we start to think about healthcare in a big macro sort of perspective,

[00:14:04] not just simply what goes on this one incident you go and see a doctor or admitted to a hospital,

[00:14:11] there is a huge continuum that technology and smart technology can run all the way through.

[00:14:17] And then we also have things that we got to be taking into considerations such as the actual

[00:14:22] technologies themselves, infrastructure, how are the facilities both hospital or clinics or what

[00:14:28] wire to even accomplish all of this sort of stuff. And then we've got processes so the third dimension

[00:14:35] humans, environments and processes. So we've got things like strategy, you know what's the facility

[00:14:41] stretch? So in all of these areas we're going to go through a process of examination. Now again

[00:14:48] it's a lot of areas and you've got we've got to avoid survey fatigue of people seeing a survey

[00:14:54] and it's like I just can't even tell this or so many questions. It's really working at finding

[00:14:59] the key questions so that on all of these dimensions an organization can see what's happening

[00:15:07] and where they are and what the opportunities are. So that's why it's going to be in depth,

[00:15:12] it's going to be insightful and it's really going to help them think about where they're going

[00:15:18] as they look at adopting new technologies, smart technologies and ultimately looking at future.

[00:15:27] How far do we go in having intelligent technologies influence processes in health care,

[00:15:37] both administrative as well as clinical. So it covers a lot and that's what the value is back to

[00:15:44] an organization is not just looking at the one place where care AI is with an ampute. It's not

[00:15:51] that it really is looking across the whole spectrum of health care. That's really insightful Steve

[00:15:57] and I love the framework of people, environments and process and really just putting it in these

[00:16:05] buckets that really drives after an operational strategy, the approach that an organization's taking

[00:16:13] and then are we left with a playbook? Like does this become a playbook, Steve?

[00:16:17] Maybe and it has to take there and saying yes. The way we're designing the scoring is that

[00:16:26] it does show a progression, it's going to start out with very limited to know and smart technologies

[00:16:36] up to the highest level which will be the vision I think is probably the best word here

[00:16:44] of the advisory panel of what the future of health care will be as it relates to smart care

[00:16:51] facilities. It will be a level that no one there will not be a single facility in the world,

[00:16:59] which will be that we really are wanting to try to lay out a vision. Now it's not going to be so

[00:17:07] detailed as to exactly where and what and that sort of thing because we don't know if there's a learning

[00:17:11] process and the definition of that ultimate level will change over time, but each of the levels

[00:17:19] do build upon the one before. In a sense, yes, there is a roadmap. It's just to give a quick example

[00:17:27] at the lowest level you're really measuring what are called point solutions, a solution that solves

[00:17:34] one problem. That's really the lowest level of technology in this space. From point solutions,

[00:17:42] then you then go to platforms and platforms are a combination of point solutions all feeding

[00:17:49] into a common command center or platform. So you start to get a sense of how we're building

[00:17:57] this framework that really does build upon the one before. And so in that respect, it is sort of

[00:18:04] a roadmap. It will not be so detailed as to say you should or must start here. The next thing

[00:18:11] you add is this and then the next you add is that it's more of a conceptual framework or

[00:18:17] road. Yeah, it's a conceptual framework that shows progression, right? If you're maturing

[00:18:22] in the model, love that. Not super interesting, Steve. I love how you think about things.

[00:18:29] I think it's great. This initiative is a fantastic one to really help a lot of

[00:18:34] organizations seeking this type of definition and ways to put handles on something that doesn't yet

[00:18:40] to progress in these efforts to become better, efficient, more tailored to patients

[00:18:46] and the clinician burnout, which is really key. Yeah. And as we're in your references early on,

[00:18:52] we're all learning this kind of at the same time. Yeah, there are a few places that are a little

[00:18:58] farther along and we're certainly tapping into them. They sit on our advisory panel. But nobody

[00:19:03] has this figured out. There is no one who knows where we need to end up. And so it's a learning

[00:19:10] process and that's a key role for associations is bringing together people that

[00:19:18] under ordinary circumstances might have competitive interests, both on the company's side as well

[00:19:23] as on the provider side. But bring them together in the interest of serving a common good. And

[00:19:30] that's what associations do is bring together people, bring minds together so that you come out with

[00:19:37] things that really benefit society as a whole. That's fantastic, Steve. I can't thank you

[00:19:43] enough for coming on to share this exciting news with all of us. If anybody wants to learn more

[00:19:51] or participate, what's the best place for them to reach out to do that?

[00:19:56] Directly to me, I'm the one who's leading the project and so I'm the point person

[00:20:01] for folks to reach out to learn more about it, to see about getting involved. And as say by

[00:20:07] we're aiming for roughly July, we'll be out with the survey and we'll certainly through our

[00:20:13] various avenues promote participation, which will be no charge. This is all about building

[00:20:21] knowledge. And at that point, you certainly another opportunity because it is going to be

[00:20:27] something of an iterative process. We're going to learn from first round of surveys of things that

[00:20:33] we want to spend more time on and such. And so engaging in this and being apart now

[00:20:39] or this summer when we start to do data collection, there's great benefit to healthcare in general

[00:20:45] and I think specifically to those that participate. Love it, Steve. I certainly want to thank you again

[00:20:50] and folks. If this is of interest in the show notes, we'll leave best ways to get in touch with Steve.

[00:20:56] Steve will share those with us and in the show notes, you'll find them there. If you're driving

[00:20:59] and this sounds interesting, hit pause, pull over, send them a note or if you're on a jog, maybe

[00:21:04] that was a time for a break. But certainly some fantastic work being done here. Become a part of it.

[00:21:10] That's the best way that you two can help shape the future of healthcare. Steve, thank you so much

[00:21:15] for sharing this with us today. Always a treat, so thank you.