Q&A with Eugene Woods, President and CEO, Carolinas HealthCare System
Kaufman Hall: How does Carolinas HealthCare System [CHS] approach innovation?
Eugene Woods: Above all, we embrace smart failure. To paraphrase Edison, sometimes you have to find 10,000 ways that don’t work in order to find the one that does. We understand that taking risks means some of our projects will fail, but we also believe that the best learning experiences come from this process.
This ideal also subscribes to the Jim Collins concept of empirical creativity. First, we use our resources to fire bullets to test new technologies, services, and processes. Then, once we have a sense for what works, we put our resources behind firing cannonballs.
At a high level, our approach to innovation is a well-calibrated balance between being willing to try new things and ensuring that we’ve properly tested the water before diving in headfirst.
Kaufman Hall: How does CHS organize its various innovation initiatives?
Woods: We have three broad categories of innovation. One is business-model innovation, where we’re exploring how we can disrupt ourselves, rather than waiting for an outside force to do it. For example, we have developed an alternative approach to primary care called Proactive Health. This new care model involves shared decision making, health coaching, and online support. While we just recently launched the program, results from last year’s pilot suggest we’re on the right track. Within only 30 days, we were able to better manage 80 percent of patients with high blood pressure, and at a radically different cost structure. In a traditional practice setting, typically, only 30 percent of patients with high blood pressure are better managed within a 12-month period.
Another category is what we call human-centered design. These are initiatives that involve acquiring a deep understanding of the needs of our patients, families, teammates, and communities, and then co-designing and testing solutions. Our biggest success in this area is our work in virtual health. We’re constantly advancing the use of technology to deliver care to patients where they are and when they need us. For example, we offer virtual and e-visits, a cutting-edge mobile app and patient portal, and one of the nation’s largest virtual ICUs, where nearly 300 beds are monitored 24/7.
The third category is pursuing strategic partnerships that could help us achieve more rapid and cost-effective innovations. Partners might include academic researchers, corporate entities, healthcare organizations, and incubator or accelerator programs. An example of our work in this space is planning for the Patient Safety Center, a training center of the future with a concentration in healthcare simulation, augmented reality, and virtual reality. Accomplishing this work requires us to collaborate with many outside partners, including the FDA and 3M.
Kaufman Hall: What is an innovation at CHS that you believe is especially promising?
Woods: We have many promising innovations, but one I’m particularly excited about is MigrnXTM. In the U.S., more than 40 million people suffer from migraines, and only 20 percent are satisfied with their current treatment. Many times, these patients find themselves in a seemingly endless cycle of pain management and working with their provider to develop an action plan to help mitigate triggers and the depth and severity of pain.
We partnered with a small startup to leverage technology already available through our smartphones. Together, we have developed a cutting-edge application that records the time, pain level, and medication used for a migraine episode, and also captures relevant data like light, ambient noise, weather, and barometric pressure. All of this data is compiled into a monthly report and is then shared with the user’s physician.
As healthcare professionals, we know that the slightest omission of information can be the difference between good and bad outcomes, so this tool is revolutionizing the way we provide care to those with this condition. In fact, MigrnXTM is now part of the standard of care across all our neurology practices. Thousands of people are using this application, and as a result, we now have the largest clinically integrated migraine database in the world.
Kaufman Hall: How do you advise others to go about shifting the culture of an organization to embrace innovation and creative thinking?
Woods: First, each and every person within your organization should consider innovation and creative thinking to be an important part of their day-to-day work. One of our greatest assets at Carolinas HealthCare System is our more than 65,000 teammates—together, we have millions of great ideas. The best way to embrace a culture of innovation is to encourage each other to take risks, push boundaries, and test the limits of possibility.
Second, it’s important that your team realize that seemingly small innovations can have a large impact. During a recent visit to Levine Children’s Hospital, the leadership team was excited to show me that they had replaced all the standard elevator audio recordings with the voices of real patients. You see, someone had a great idea, and through the support of others, the team coordinated with Otis Elevator Company to make a vision become a reality. Otis was pleased and eager to support us—they said we were the first organization to make this kind of custom request. Something like this would have never happened if we didn’t have a culture that truly supports this type of innovative thinking at all levels.
Eugene Woods will take part in a panel presentation on October 18, 2017, at Kaufman Hall’s Healthcare Leadership Conference.