Catalysts of Change: Dr. David B. Nash Discusses the Upcoming 23rd Population Health Colloquium

From its humble origins as an academic gathering of a few attendees, the Population Health Colloquium has evolved into a diverse gathering of brilliant minds in the field of population health and value-based care. In this episode of Value-Based Care Insights, we sit down with Dr. David B. Nash as he discusses the Population Health Colloquium taking place September 18-20^th in Philadelphia. We dive into the colloquium’s focus on value-based care, health equity and AI’s innovation within population health.  Speakers will discuss the crucial link between delivering value and transforming the future of healthcare.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• An exceptional panel of transformational leaders will explore the role of the population health officer.
• Speakers will explore social determinants of health, health equity, and delivery value through community-based population health initiatives.
• AI (artificial intelligence) can be used as a powerful tool to improve healthcare, reduce care variation, improve quality, and address complex patient challenges.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE:

 

 Transcript:

Daniel J. Marino: 

Welcome to Value Based Care Insights. I am your host, Daniel Marino. We have a very special program today where we're devoted to talking about the 23rd Population Health Colloquium in Philadelphia, September 18th through the 20th. If you've never been to the Colloquium before, it's a fascinating event. I had the opportunity to attend the Colloquium back in 2017. And one of the things that really impressed me was the ability to gather folks together who have really at different places in their journey in population health. Some folks were very experienced and been doing it for a number of years. Others had just sort of gotten involved in it in the last couple of years. And the ability to create a networking type of an event with experts that you feel comfortable having conversations with and really learning a lot of the lessons and hearing a lot of the bumps and the bruises that folks have had along the way. It was just fascinating to me.

Well, I am really pleased today to have on the program. Dr. David Nash. Dr. Nash is the founding dean emeritus of Jefferson College of Population Health. He's faculty professor of health policy at the Jefferson College of Population Health. And believe it or not, he’s led the coordination of now 23 population health colloquiums, Dr. Nash, welcome to the program. 

Dr. David Nash:

Thank you, Dan. Great to be together. And I'm smirking because I'm probably the only person on the planet who's been to all 23 events.

Daniel J. Marino: 

I venture to say so, that's amazing. You know, so 23 and clearly, you know, you you've been involved in population health, you probably started a lot of the you know, the principles of population health over the years. How has the colloquium changed over the years to where it is today?

Dr. David Nash:

Yeah. Wow. What a great question. So 23 years ago we had 50, 60 people in an auditorium on our campus. And you know, I remember it vividly there was a large number of people. And they were the only people who could, first of all, spell colloquium that was one prerequisite for attending. And back then, of course, it was disease management, then chronic care management, and then population health colloquium. So we changed the name over the two and a half decades. And then the heterogeneity of the audience increased back then. It was only academics because nobody else knew what we were talking about. Uh, then I became editor in chief of the only scholarly journal in the field, population, health management and so that got expanded. And then by the time our 1st textbook in population health came out, we're now in the 4th edition. So the overtime we left the campus, we went to a small hotel on the riverfront. And then finally, we ended up at the Lowe's hotel right downtown, a big, wonderful place. That's been good to us over a long period of time. But yes, I mean, we went from 50 to at one point over 700 people attending right before Covid. 

Daniel J. Marino:

Well, you definitely have. Influenced and I would probably venture say, led a lot of the population health initiatives. And, you know, when you look at the agenda I'm really impressed by the speakers, the topics that are there, you know, it seems to me, there's 3 overarching themes that are really as key takeaways from the colloquium I think one is really value-based care and equity, right? And I think social determinants of health play into that. But health equity, something everybody in population health is very attuned to. I think the 2nd thing is around value-based performance, right? And delivering value-based care. And then the third area, which I'm really interested in, is innovation, and in particular, how artificial intelligence is really driving a lot of the population health models, outcomes, and a lot of, I think, our ability to be more proactive. Thoughts around those themes.

Dr. David Nash:

Well, that's really great that you could discern that from the agenda. That means we've done a good job organizing it. Look, the colloquium, historically, especially in the last five years, Dan, is very deliberately a newsworthy event. Meaning, there is not a single theme that ties it all together. And the reasons are, we start the planning nearly ten months in advance, so it's hard to know you know, what will be on top of people's minds. So we try to keep it as newsy as possible. And certainly the three themes you elucidated are on everybody's mind. And we'll get into it today, of course, but you know, value-based care, the social determinants, artificial intelligence, chat GPT, innovation. I mean, these are the drivers in our field today. 

And per your previous question, of course, none of this existed 23 years ago, right?  

Daniel J. Marino:

None. These are the top-of-mind issues that are driving every individual, every organization that's involved in population health.

Dr. David Nash:

Right. So this vocabulary is completely different. And, you know, speaking personally, to give you some insight. 

When we opened the doors to the College of Population Health, which wasn't until 2009, in fact, 9-9-09. So it's got a certain, you know, fen shui, easy to remember. I spent two years on campus, on my own campus, explaining to people what the heck is population health, right? And a little history lesson attached to that. Of course, it wasn't until March of 2010 and the launch of Obamacare I was at AHA meeting in Chicago giving a plenary talk and Congress voted to approve Obamacare and off we went. 

I mean, it was a celebratory day in many levels, but selfishly super important. Because people then started to say, okay, you know, I get this.

Daniel J. Marino:

Well they started to think about care differently, right? Less episodic care, more around the populations, more around driving change on an outcome basis, as opposed to, like I said, an encounter or an episode basis.

Dr. David Nash:

That's right. And it wasn't until USA Today. 2017 story, right? So, seven years after Obamacare, front page story, USA Today, the most important journal in medicine, had a whole article about, wow, keeping people out of the hospital is a good idea. Good thing,

Daniel J. Marino:

Right? Good thing. Amazing. I'm excited to talk about the speakers and in full transparency I'm very fortunate and really excited to be speaking at the colloquium myself. 

My presentation is on, September 19th. But 1 of the things that I want to dive into, you know, you've got 2 really interesting panels and the 1st panel, which is on Tuesday, it's Insights of the C Suite Chief Population Health Officer panel. I have to tell you, Dr. Nash, population health officers didn't exist a few years ago.

Dr. David Nash:

That's correct. So, give you the thumbnail history here. So, first of all, thanks for pointing that out and kudos to our faculty leader, Dr. Mitch Kaminsky - wonderful. He's the chief of our population health programming and he'll be moderating the panel. And you're right, the CPHO sounds like C3PO from Star Wars. 

The CPHO is a really, you know, new term, a new member of the C suite, and it's called different things in different places, but pretty much people understand now what that is. I want to give credit to my longtime colleague and good friend, Dr. Rita Numeroff at Numeroff and Associates in St. Louis. She and I have collaborated on probably the most comprehensive annual survey that's been published in Modern Healthcare and referred to in multiple places where we really sort of said, Whoa, wait a minute. 

There's a new sheriff in town, and she's called the CPHO, and we started that discussion, gosh, six, seven years ago, and then having it come full circle to the colloquium and bringing these leaders people like, you know, Dr. Jamie Reedy, and others. I mean, it's going to be spectacular. 

Daniel J. Marino:

and it's going to be fascinating because when you look at this, you have four chief population health officers coming from different segments, so Dr. Reedy, who I had the opportunity to work with her, you know, a number of years ago. You know, she's the CPHO for horizon blue cross. And then, you know, Dr. Walker is with the Children's Hospital. So you've got such a great diverse group. I can't wait to hear that conversation. 

Dr. David Nash:

And the good news for both of those leaders is that, they could practically walk to the event. They can commute. That's for sure.

Daniel J. Marino:

Yeah. They could. The other one that, is definitely, it's a little bit different and I think the focus, is something that's near and dear to my heart. It's on the, I believe it's on Tuesday. 

It's the Chief Quality Officer panel, where you actually have brought together a number of Chief Quality Officers. You know, Dr. Dean from the Emergency Department of Mount Sinai, but you also have Dana Steiner, who's from the Nebraska Health Hospital Association.

Dr. David Nash:

You bet. So a little history here. 

And again, special kudos to our faculty, Dr. Mary Cooper, who leads our entire, quality programming. Remember, too, that the college was the second such school in the country to have a master's degree in quality and safety. And we created that from the get go, our partnership with the American Association of Physician Leaders. 

Mary. is a former Connecticut Hospital Association executive. She's the real deal, MDJD. She's amazing. She's on the editorial board of our journal, American Journal of Medical Quality. So, you know, Dan, quality and pop health, those have been our two core competencies at the college.

Daniel J. Marino:

Oh, absolutely.

And, I would venture to say it's really the foundation for any organization that truly wants to succeed in population health. You know, we work with many of the organizations around the country, a lot of physician groups, a lot of hospitals, looking at outcomes, looking at quality. And I would say that is the key driver in any prospective care model.

Dr. David Nash:

Well, for sure, we take that real seriously. I mean, our listeners. Appreciate here we are in 2023, and all the major national quality measures post-covid are all in the wrong direction, as you are most likely aware, and depending on who you read, sadly. Medical error remains the fourth leading cause of death in America, right? 

Heart disease, cancer, covid and medical error. That's where we are today. Pretty sad.

Daniel J. Marino:

Well, if you're just turning in today, I am Daniel Marino and you were listening to Value Based Care Insights. I am here. Talking with Dr. David Nash, and we're going over the upcoming 23rd population health colloquium that's in Philadelphia, September 18th through the 20th. 

Dr. Nash, I want to dive into a little bit of some of the other speakers that you have, because again, I'm pretty impressed with the level. Tom Lawry, wrote a great book, on hacking healthcare and looking forward to hearing his perspective on artificial intelligence. Thoughts?

Dr. David Nash:

Sure. I got to know Tom very well over this past summer. I read his book, Hacking Healthcare, and I thought, we got to have this guy present. Now, what I didn't appreciate is that he was Microsoft's number one AI guy, so it's a little hard to wrangle, but now with his book tour, literally he is all over the world. I don't think I've ever talked to him when he's in the US. But he's coming to Philly. We're really excited. He's a down to earth. The book is easy to understand. It really is clear AI machine learning where we're going. And what I really like about Tom is that he links AI to reducing variation in care, improving quality, all the things we just talked about.

Daniel J. Marino:

Yeah, well, and that is so key and especially, you know, as many providers, many physicians struggle with just getting their arms around managing all of the data and the elements there, a tool like artificial intelligence could just be an unbelievable asset to physicians as they really start to think about conquering these challenges with the complex patients and understanding the impacts of social determinants of health, all of those things.So I'm really excited about hearing him.

Dr. David Nash

And Tom is a real optimist as am I and he believes like, I do that it's a tool that will help reduce burnout. Improve outcomes, improve safety. I hope I'm around long enough to see it all happen. That's my current wish. Yeah, but Tom is going to be one of the stars of the show about hearing him.

Daniel J. Marino:

Yeah, I'm excited about that. Another speaker you have and he's really opening up the conference as the keynote is Dr. Jeffrey Brenner his keynote address. Are we there yet? Detours on the road to better care at lower costs. I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Brenner probably about seven, eight years ago, but the article, that he was a part of with Atul Gawande back in 2011 was so influential to me on my career. It was really the first time back in 2011 where I realized the importance of data and how data and information could really change healthcare delivery outside of the clinic, right? It's all social determinants stuff, which wasn't called social determinants

Dr. David Nash:

Certainly not. Well, you press the button. So I'm going to tell the audience a very quick story. Okay. So, Jeff Brenner, what a great guy, of course, McArthur genius awardee. Let's not forget that. Right. So, Jeff Brenner is probably now, you know, he's almost 15 years younger than me. 

Made an appointment to see me a number of years ago. We had a deep connection that we both went to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. I was in the second co-educational class. That's a separate story, but Jeffrey came to see me as a fellow alum and I'll never forget. It looked like a typical family doctor, you know? Had kind of a shirt that wasn't exactly pressed and shoes that were scuffed. He literally was a storefront family doctor. And in his briefcase, Dan, were the initial data set showing that these people, certain key patients, the recidivist patients in Camden, New Jersey, We're clogging every ER, and it was a small number of patients responsible for the vast number of ER days and subsequent spending. And he said to me, what should I do with this data? I mean, and I said, my goodness, this is red hot stuff and you've gotta take it and run with it. And boy, I really am grateful that he showed up at my doorstep. Of course, I take no credit for Jeff other than saying to him, go home and get busy. 

Daniel J. Marino:

Well, way back they had to just be fascinating to have that conversation. I mean, here you have a young doctor and it's like, okay, we have something. What do we do with it?

Dr. David Nash:

Right. It was like my conference room table was on fire. That's what I remember. And then I talked to Atul who I know pretty well. And got them connected. And the rest is history. All I did was make the connection.

Daniel J. Marino:

You had a part to play. Wow. I'll tell you, that was a fascinating article. One that definitely was a major influence on my career. And that is really what kind of got me started in population health

Dr. David Nash:

It’s the term hot spotting,

Daniel J. Marino:

Absolutely. The other speaker that really comes to mind is Nwando Olayiwola

Dr. David Nash:

Yeah, Dr. O.

Daniel J. Marino:

Don’t know if I got her last name right, but yeah, Dr. Nwando.

Dr. David Nash:

Yeah, so we call her Dr. O. That's her nickname. She's amazing. Her ethnicity is from Nigeria. Parents are from Nigeria. She, of course, lives in Columbus, Ohio. So she's the top Humana national key health equity person. 

She's the face. She's the brains. She's the energy. I mean, she's pretty amazing. I won't tell you how young she is because it's embarrassing for me, but Dr. O is a powerhouse, and we're very fortunate. Of course, Humana recently gave Jefferson a staggering $15 million gift In the form of three endowed chairs. 

And we have the Dean of our college the Humana health equity officer and another title. And so Dr. O is coming to acknowledge in part, this amazing close relationship between the College of Population Health and Humana, and to talk about Humana's national strategy. The punchline of which is you can't have value-based care without health equity.

Daniel J. Marino:

Oh, absolutely. I'll tell you, you know, I'm based in the Chicago area. I've done a lot of work with different health systems, different, you know, community facilities and the health equity issues and just bringing care to the community is something that, you know, we've been passionate about for years. So I am really excited about you know, hearing her speak and just some of the things that she's looking to do. And also tied in with the direction of Humana, I think that'll be fascinating to hear.

Dr. David Nash:

Yes, it will.

Daniel J. Marino:

So, Dr. Nash, the agenda jam pack looks great. I think the speakers are phenomenal that the topics look really, really good. 

If there were, you know, one or two key takeaways that, you know, it would be important for the attendees to kind of think through or to walk away with. Anything come to mind? 

Dr. David Nash:

Wow. Sure. I mean, it's chock full as we've been talking about, but I guess from my perspective, you can't have value without equity. 

That's a major take home message I think. 2nd message is while cataloging the social determinants is certainly a great idea. We darn well better be able to do something about them. Otherwise, we're just going to frustrate patients and providers. And I guess my third take home is, buckle your seatbelt with, CHAT GPT and AI, you know, as you probably have heard, CHAT GPT got an 85% on the USMLE licensing exam. That's better than I did. So, you know, I think that's something to really pay attention to. And we got to harness that, you got to get that horse before it bolts out of the barn. So value-based care, social determinants, innovation, those are the take home themes I hope that everybody will take away. The 3 weeks from now. 

Daniel J. Marino:

Yeah, I agree with you. And just to kind of layer on top of that, the ability to network with these experts to network with the other attendees the takeaway is just the lessons learned and all of that just huge value add. I know that 

Dr. David Nash:

I'm glad you said that too Dan, because, as you know, this is not hymns, this is not your father's Oldsmobile. 

And we do it that way on purpose because it's small enough and intimate enough that you could actually speak to the speakers when they're done. So be prepared to be surrounded when your presentation is over. I think that's a fair warning. 

Daniel J. Marino:

Yeah, well, I am excited about it. And Dr. Nash, if any of our listeners, and I'm sure many of them are interested, where can they go to register? 

Where can they go to to learn a little bit more about the colloquium?  

Dr. David Nash:

Great. It couldn't be any easier. Just go to, you know, populationhealthcolloquium.com. And all the details are there. The agenda is final, all the registration information. It's at the Lowe's Hotel, beautiful downtown center city, Philadelphia. 

And we're really looking forward to seeing everybody and kickoff time is Monday, September 18th at 1 PM. So you could travel on a Monday and then we'll wrap it up noon on the 20th.

Daniel J. Marino:

Yeah, well, jam packed and just an exciting 3 days. I'm really personally looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to seeing you and then the many other guests that are going to be there.

Again, that is, populationhealthcolloquium.com for more information to register. Dr. Nash, loved having you on the program. Great conversation. thanks again for joining! 

Dr. David Nash:

Thank you for the opportunity and look forward to seeing everybody in person in our great city.

Daniel J. Marino:

Yeah, likewise. 

Likewise. I want to thank all of you for listening until our next infocyte. I am Daniel Marino bringing you 30 minutes of value to your day. Take care. 

About Value-Based Care Insights Podcast

Value-Based Care Insights is a podcast that explores how to optimize the performance of programs to meet the demands of an increasingly value-based care payment environment. Hosted by Daniel J. Marino, the VBCI podcast highlights recognized experts in the field and within Lumina Health Partners