The Digital Patient Ep. 75: Ben Chao: Launching a Health System Venture Fund, Implementing Digital Care Journeys & Leveraging Asynchronous Digital Care

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On this episode of "The Digital Patient" podcast, hosts Alan Sardana & Dr. Joshua Liu speak with Ben Chao, President, CareConnect & Partner, MultiCare Capital Partners at MultiCare Health System, about "Launching a Health System Venture Fund, Implementing Digital Care Journeys & Leveraging Asynchronous Digital Care". Click the play button to listen or read the show notes below.
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Audio:

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Video:

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Guest(s):

• Ben Chao (@BerkChao), President, CareConnect & Partner, MultiCare Capital Partners at MultiCare Health System
• Dr. Joshua Liu (@joshuapliu), Co-founder & CEO at SeamlessMD

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‍Episode 75 - Show Notes:

[0:00] Introducing Ben Chao, President, CareConnect and Partner, Multicare Capital Partners at MultiCare Health System;

[2:10] How Mr. Chao gained an appreciation for digital care from a young age watching The Jetsons and recognizing the potential for digital care to improve access and ROI for the health system, and why he holds immense gratitude for Christi McCarron, MultiCare’s previous VP of Retail Health & Service Lines, for “taking a flyer” on him;

[05:50] How MultiCare Health System President & CEO, Bill Robertson, instilled a focus in Mr. Chao on First Touch Strategy wherein digital care is to be wrapped around consumers and their preferences, and why Mr. Chao and his team operate similar to a startup, measuring KPIs to ensure asynchronous care improves patient-centricity;

[09:55] Why MultiCare measures patient NPS around each encounter or visit and how the digital care program has achieved an NPS between 80-90 compared to the industry average of 20-40 in healthcare; 

[11:13] Why Mr. Chao and his team implemented SeamlessMD’s Digital Care Journeys to engage with patients every step of the way through procedural-specific care plans, as they required a robust solution that was not solely microtransactions (e.g. appointment reminders) but also contained contextual information through clinically-aware content & education specific to the procedure(s);

[15:55] How MultiCare’s investment arm–MultiCare Capital Partners–operates from an organizational philosophy of “sourcing, picking, and winning” wherein they search for complimentary opportunities to learn from, and partner with, new entrants whose views and technology enhance MCP’s digital consumer strategy (and sometimes forces them to adapt);

[19:45] Why MultiCare participates in various healthcare innovation networks such as The Scottsdale Institute and AVIA, to learn from organizations that have faced similar challenges such as regulatory barriers, to diversify opinions, and to identify emerging industry trends;

[22:42] How innovation networks provide ancillary benefits outside of garnering peer-reviewed feedback such as being able to ask around about specific vendors;

[25:22] Why mentorship is important and deeply personal to Mr. Chao because of the support he’s had along his career, how Mr. Chao views his mentors as his personal board of directors, and why he focuses on pushing his own mentees out of their comfort zones while reassuring them, as this dynamic is what he appreciates most from his previous mentors;

[29:09] How Mr. Chao fell into coaching youth wheelchair basketball and how he’s used this opportunity to learn more about fostering skill-building in others;

[35:35] Why Mr. Chao believes the term “model minority” denotes a comparative badge of honor that typically only recognizes one specific work style, why he celebrates various holidays to embrace people who’ve traditionally been marginalized, and how he’s grateful for MultiCare’s diverse leadership team;

[43:43] Why Mr. Chao is excited about the future of asynchronous care that emphasizes longitudinal care and leverages Natural Language Processing to distinguish between administrative tasks vs. clinical care, as well as some of the innovation coming out of China such as being able to setup modular hospitals in a matter of weeks;

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Fast 5 / Lightning Round:

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1. What is your favorite book or book you’ve gifted the most?
   “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Carol Dweck.
   
   

2. Which instrument did you play during your undergrad? Are you still playing?
   “Trombone. Not playing today, but it is my goal to pick it up again.”
   
   
3. Would you rather have Super strength, super speed, or the ability to read people’s minds?
   “Mind reading, unless you can't turn it off, in which case I’d go with Super Speed.”
   
   

4. What is something in healthcare you believe that others might find insane?
   “For folks outside healthcare: Faxing.
   For folks in healthcare: Look up "Certificate of Need"… You’ll think, ‘how is this what’s driving strategic decisions in healthcare today.’”
   
   

5. COVID-19 lockdown related – what is 1 hobby or activity you’ve gotten into since the pandemic?
   “Golf and… embarrassingly, Fortnite… it was early on and a way to connect with my friends.”