The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new sense of urgency and creativity within patient care and provider support. Dr. Amy Nguyen Howell with Optum’s Office for Provider Advancement discusses ways to improve the provider and patient experience.
Telehealth and telemedicine are just the beginning of a new future of serving patients where they need it most. Optum's Office for Provider Advancement embodies it's three pillars of research, excellence and partnership to better the provider and patient experience. In this episode, Dr. Amy Nguyen Howell from Optum's Office for Provider Advancement, discusses:
Evan Sweeney
Hello, and welcome to UnitedHealth Group’s Weekly Dose podcast, where we'll get you up to speed on the latest trends shaping the future of health care. And remember to subscribe on Apple and Spotify to get the newest episodes as they release each week. Americans and their physicians face any number of challenges when it comes to health care, ranging from high costs to limited access to services. In a recent survey, 48% of Americans said their view of the US health care system has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. And 30% said they'd skip treatment due to cost. Likewise, physicians have their own challenges which shaped their experience and in turn, the patient care they deliver. Collectively, this creates a number of opportunities to improve the health care experience for everyone that interacts with the system. Joining us today to discuss what's needed to enhance the patient provider and consumer experience is Dr. Amy new and Howell, Chief of the Office for provider Advancement at Optum. Dr. Nguyen Howell, welcome to the podcast.
Amy Nguyen Howell
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Evan Sweeney
So Dr. Nguyen, can you maybe start by telling me a little bit about your background as a physician and what led you to your current role at Optum?
Amy Nguyen Howell
Yeah, happy to so I started at Optum August 2020. So in the middle of this wonderful global pandemic, and I'm a family physician, by training, and I've practiced for over two decades and really having grown up in Washington, DC. I learned quickly that our health care and our economics is very closely tied in with policy and politics, American policy, and politics. And so I, I got into health policy, and prior to coming to Optum, I was the Chief Medical Officer at America's physician groups. And we worked a lot on the hill and with the administration to really advance value based care and Value Based Payment for, for physician groups. I also have an MBA and I teach at the sole Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California on quality of care. So quality, value, everything about experience, patient and provider is is really in my DNA as a family physician.
Evan Sweeney
Yeah, interesting. So you're coming at this from a number of different perspectives here. So I'd love to get your thoughts on, you know, we sort of hear a lot of stories about people, both consumers, clinicians, who really face challenges or obstacles when they interact with the health care system. I'm sure you have seen it many times. But from your perspective, why is that? And what kind of contributes to those challenges?
Amy Nguyen Howell
Yeah, that's a great question. And I think, I think why is that because health care we've heard is complicated has many different angles about it, especially in our, in the context of of our country, right, ever since the ACA was passed, our health care is highly regulated, and highly scrutinized in that respect, and I think, why, you know, from the perspective of the consumer, health care is different from the perspective of the patient, health care is different, and from the perspective of the provider, health care is different, because one goes through different scenarios, different circumstances, when one is a patient, when one is a physician, and our provider and or clinician, and when is, is a consumer, right? So for example, if you're a patient, you are not at your optimal health, and you may be in pain, you may be in dire need for health care services right away. So you may not be wanting to purchase health care, in the same lens, or in the same vein as a consumer who may be healthy, who may not need health care, extremely emergency or urgently. And then from the provider, the physician perspective, I think health care is also different in that experience is different because they are providing that care they're trying to care for the patient and or consumer, and they may understand the health care system, or see it from a different lens. So I think it's important for all of us to understand the framework, the foundation, from which that perception is viewed.
Evan Sweeney
So even the idea of an experience is different, depending on the perspective that you're coming
Amy Nguyen Howell
Yeah, and I've been I guess I would like to encourage folks listening to look at this as the human experience. We're all humans and we all on different days, different scenarios we’re business folks we’re leaders we’re parents, we’re caretakers, we’re physicians, we’re providers we’re clinicians, we, too are consumers. And we too can be patients. However, what is the common thread, the common bond, if you will? And for me, you know, to look at this, especially at Optum is really the human experience and how can we, as human beings, use our compassion, our kindness, the things that are very innate to us as humans? How can we use that to unite our tenants unite our values together so that it's that that cultural experience that brings us together to really connote convey that human experience for all.
Evan Sweeney
Do you think that that that human experience or that health care experience has changed at all in the last two years, when you sort of look at, you know, an entire system has come under significant stress? And, you know, likely many more people have interacted with the health care system than maybe they had previously?
Amy Nguyen Howell
Yes, yeah, absolutely. I mean, we are still in this global pandemic, I don't think it is, we have reached to that endemic stage where we just live with it, right, just like the flu. So absolutely, I think this this global pandemic COVID-19 has really opened our eyes to what the health care system can bring can offer and where are the opportunities? So the human experience has definitely changed, it's changed us from what we need to that sense of, you know, urgency and the capabilities that I think technology has brought to bear to help provide for these needs for the patient. So and how providers, you know, have truly stepped up and, and helped to evolve technology to serve the patients because I think, prior to two years ago, I think if you were to talk about telehealth and telemedicine, we were really in the infancy stage. And I think this global pandemic has accelerated, been that catalyst that we have all been waiting for, to really service the patient when and where they need it most.
Evan Sweeney
How does that provider experience sort of intertwined with an impact the patient experience?
Amy Nguyen Howell
Yeah, great question. And I think, for me, as I look at it, it's really the yin and the yang and hand in hand, because if one is not cognizant of, for example, the five tenants of patient experience, right, know me warm and welcoming, trusted, simple and compassionate, one cannot deliver on the patient experience as a provider. And if one cannot do that, then are we missing opportunities there? And are we are we truly fulfilling our Hippocratic oath as physicians and our oath and commitment as providers and clinicians to? And would that fully satisfy us and fully give us the fulfillment, right of our of our career as, as the provider experience? So it definitely goes hand in hand. And I think we've done research within Optum and the Office for Provider Advancement on you know, I mentioned the five tenants a patient experience, what are those tenants from a provider experience? Right? And what providers have told us in the research is that supportive, innovative and adaptive, compassion and patient focused are the tenants that providers go for and commit to and really would love to abide by as it relates to delivering the patient care?
Evan Sweeney
Can you talk a little bit more about what Optum office for provider advancement is, is doing to contribute to this or just sort of provide those support mechanisms?
Amy Nguyen Howell
So in OPA the office per provider against we have three pillars of excellence, we are governed by the physician, Executive Council, the PC, who really determined the priorities for us and we execute on these priorities. We have three pillars of excellence research, as I mentioned, to support the research at the care delivery organizations. It's so important as a physician, clinician led organization at Optum care that we truly do research on the wonderful accomplishments of our clinical leadership and clinical care teams. To basically let the world know both patients and the clinical community know our wonderful research advancements. Then we have our experienced pillar of excellence where patient and provider experiences house and we are Really furthering initiatives to support patient experience NPS access standards, five tenets of patient experience. And also provider experience, the tenants of provider experience, burnout, really enabling them to do their best work, you know, in giving them sharing best practices to do that across the entire network of care delivery organizations across the country, providing technology that helps to decrease, work after hour, work after hours on the EMR. And our last pillar of excellence is partnership. And it's really around the partnership program, and professional development and leadership programming and courses that a provider physician can take along their continuum of their career,
Evan Sweeney
or their one or two sort of initiatives or things that that maybe you're most excited about, you know, in this moment.
Amy Nguyen Howell
Yeah, I think one of the greatest things that I think we're really embarking on with provider experience, and to really help with the issue of burnout. And to improve provider experience among our providers is our an opportunity with what's called the dragon ambient experience. We in short, we call it DAX, and it's a tool, an ambient tool, it's an ambient transcription tool that helps create the clinical note with a direct provider dictation into data entry. So, it's, it's different than a scribe, and it really helps the physician, the provider, decrease that that time on the computer, while not compromising their documentation, their coding any of those elements that are important to, to manage care. But we really are excited about that and expanding that. So, we currently have it in in two markets and hope to expand that throughout the year. And then I think the other thing that we're very excited about is the increased programming that we have for professional development, and leadership, and a, a potential programming on mentoring, coaching, and sponsoring providers. I think it's important that providers, physicians get connected within our highly matrixed organization. And I think that's the key word is connection. How do they feel connected as a care delivery organization as a frontline, physician and provider to the bigger UHG enterprise to the bigger Optum enterprise? And can they tap into the resources, the myriad right of rich resources that we have in this organization, to leverage to maximize their strengths, and also the strength of the organization collectively. So, we're looking to those two things, as just as examples of have to come for this year,
Evan Sweeney
we started sort of talking about the impact of the pandemic and sort of, you know, still in the midst of that now, but just looking ahead a little bit, and I think we're all hopeful that we can get to a sort of endemic phase of this. But looking ahead, I am curious if you know, what you think of sort of the future of the provider, the consumer, the patient experience and kind of how that evolves, as we sort of, you know, go into a new stage of the last two years?
Amy Nguyen Howell
Yeah, that's a great question. And I think I would just end it with what I think for the human experience patient provider consumer is missing, still today in our American health care system is the opportunity to really go through the continuum of their health care. Without hiccups, there's still opportunity for a robust coordination of their care. I think coordination of care is a key component that we have an opportunity in our country, especially in light of this global pandemic, and then moving forward. And the tools and resources initiatives, programs that we that we bring to light as an organization should help support the coordination of care. So I'm not just talking about navigators or are others, but it's a true coordination of the American health care system is is a great opportunity for all of us.
Evan Sweeney
Yeah, Well Dr Nguyen thank you so much for joining the podcast.
Amy Nguyen Howell
Thank you so much for inviting me I enjoyed it.
Evan Sweeney
that's it for this week's episode of UnitedHealth Group's Weekly Dose podcast and don't forget to subscribe on Apple and Spotify thanks for listening and have a great rest of your week.