Lisa Blue:
Hi and welcome to happy hour happy patients. We are a healthcare innovation podcast that highlights ideas, trends, and innovations happening all around us in the healthcare system, and I’m your host, Lisa Blue. Today we’re privileged to have a distinguished guest Doctor. Chet Robson. Doctor. Robson is an accomplished physician and a pioneer in the realm of healthcare technology. Our show Happy Hour Happy Patients references the concept that focusing on our own health and happiness has a direct positive impact on the patients we serve. We created this space to talk with our extraordinary guests and hopefully these conversations inspire and re-energize you while sharing the exciting ways that you can take with you to make your next workday and patient interaction a little bit better.
Lisa Blue:
We all know that change happens incrementally so sharing these ideas can move us all towards improvement together. Now let me introduce the Doctor. Robson. He has an impressive background that spans medical practice, clinical leadership, and digital health intelligence and has dedicated his career to making a positive impact on the world of healthcare. His journey is a fascinating one from his early studies in music performance and education to pursuing a career in medicine. His educational background and wealth of experience have uniquely positioned him to drive innovation and transformation in the healthcare industry. As the former chief clinical officer at Walgreens he played a pivotal role in the global pandemic response.
Lisa Blue:
Today he continues his remarkable journey as the chief medical officer at mMDisrupt, an advisory firm that focuses on connecting healthcare organizations with emerging technologies to drive innovation in the healthcare industry. His insights and experiences are invaluable and we’re excited to Explore his journey and vision in our conversation today. Welcome, Doctor. Robsonadston.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Thank you, Lisa. It’s a very generous introduction. I appreciate that.
Lisa Blue:
Well I’m excited about our conversation. I know I certainly gave some background into your professional background, but can you us off with something that you would like the listeners to know about you that might be personal or professional.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Perhaps, you know, beyond clinical things. I’m also quite involved with the American Heart Association. That’s been a Movement that’s really important to me for a whole number of reasons. And then secondly, perhaps, more importantly, is that I’m also a grandfather And have really just a wonderful time, with my granddaughter, and and enjoy that very much.
Lisa Blue:
How wonderful. Thank you for sharing that. I’m so interested in hearing more about your core Current role as the chief medical officer at mDisrupt, and what is the vision of this work? If you could give us a little insight into What that looks like in your day to day and really that broader vision.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. mMDisrupt is a A very dynamic, young, but, dynamic group that’s growing, I think, quite well. So let me first give you a little bit of an overview of what we do at Indisrupt. It’s a company that connects, it has 2 kinds of primary objectives. The first It’s what we call experts on demand.
Dr. Chet Robson:
So it’s taking experienced health care professionals that bring their expertise and their experience And their professionalism. Then we connect them to companies, primarily digital health companies, that have the technology and the mission in the organization, But they don’t necessarily have some clinical experience. And we think that by helping to put those 2 together, that then it helps, To take some of that expertise and then help the digital company to develop, you know, even better products. The second thing that we’re working on is building a database of digital health companies, but the digital base database is a little bit different than some of the others out there. It’s Particularly focused on the evidence that they have generated on the clinical outcomes that they can demonstrate and on their medical leadership. And so having been able to look at the actual outcomes of these companies, and helping them to To move to to be able to demonstrate that those outcomes is is very very important, especially in healthcare.
Lisa Blue:
Absolutely. I think that that repository or that that That database that really houses all of those validated, right, tools, or that’s part of the work that you guys are doing. It sounds like it’s it’s Doing some of that validation to say this is really a tool that is driving outcomes and and is something that could, you know, If applied similarly, it could potentially drive outcomes for you, and and certainly that helps, I think, In some of the you know, there’s there’s a lot of different tools out there, and so, you know, really being able to to have some Some some validation, at least maybe start 5 steps down the road in that process when, when evaluating a tool so I think that’s a really valuable, valuable service. So maybe tell us a little bit more about if an organization has a tool or they have a Proven methodology that they’re really excited about and they’re getting those outcomes. How would they interact with your team at mMDisrupt? How would they become part of that trusted resource database?
Dr. Chet Robson:
Sure, so that’s a great question, I’d glad you asked that. So on our website, one of the things our engineering team has done over the last several months is We actually make it so, like, a company or an individual can go on the website. If they’re a health care professional, they can go and just sign up for free And put their name into the database. They’ll be evaluated, if they meet the criteria that mDisrupt is looking for. Gives them the opportunity to fill out that information and then become part of the expert network. On the client side, Same, same type of process. The client can go into our website, mdisrupt.com. They can Put in information about what types of experts or what type of problem they’re looking to solve, what kind of support they need, and then what that will do is it will help to present some potential solutions for them.
Dr. Chet Robson:
And, of course, then it connects us, You know, to our business development department, and that will drill down much more specifically about what they’re looking for, what kind of program makes the most sense for them So that they get the the very best type of expert or and sometimes, panel of experts, to be able to help either for just a specific project, To be an ongoing advisory board, perhaps be, a roundtable, where they can, pull ideas out of. So there’s a number of different solutions that they can use to utilize the experts to help depending upon what stage of development or what types of projects, you know, any company is working on.
Lisa Blue:
It’s a really well thought out plan to bring the the sharpest aspects of all of those different, parts of the field from the the technology and the the innovation and entrepreneurs To those that have been the doing the work and are doing the work that are closest to that and really understand what those Problems to Solve Our, you know, I I think back in my own program when I completed my in grad school and there was a healthcare technology program that I later went Back and in tTaught, which was really a lot of fun. The the the first the first part of that was really not The coming up with an idea was, you know, really drilling down into what is the problem, what is the problem to solve, and and being very Clear on on that problem statement and then working for the solution, so I think that’s really an important piece and it sounds like that is really at the root of the work that you guys are doing.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Yeah. I’m I’m really glad you brought that up because that quite often that is exactly, Some of the really important initial work that we do is it’s sometimes just really defining clearly what is the problem you’re trying to solve, Or sometimes for some of the companies, even, you know, your company, what is the problem it’s trying to solve? Because, sometimes what happens Is that companies develop really cool technology, and then they go out and look for a problem to solve with it rather than Saying, what is the problem I’m trying to solve, and how can I utilize this technology the best way to do that? So I love that you mentioned the importance of really establishing what that initial question is because so many times, We find that that is exactly the starting point that we have to begin.
Lisa Blue:
I couldn’t agree more, you know, the The the company that I work for, that’s really part of our process. Our founder talks about it’s a row one, right, what is that MVP, what are we trying to do? The technology is ultimately part of what is going to help us scale that, but how do we solve for that, and and how do we really think through that process? So I’m glad to hear that you guys are, that that’s part of your evaluation process, and maybe even if someone has a really cool All of you may be sending them back to think about what is the problem to solve. So throughout your career you’ve emphasized Trust, credibility, patient centric care across these roles. Can you elaborate on the importance of those types of principles when it’s, when there’s that, the crossover into health care technology, and maybe share some examples of how you’ve seen that in your work through the years.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Sure. I really appreciate you asking that because for me personally This is central to what I believe in and what I do. Let me kind of frame this for you a little bit first. The challenge with health care is that other than trauma, health care generally starts at home. You notice a symptom, there’s a cough, a pain, a bump, An ache, or whatever it might be, and you immediately have to determine at home by yourself, right, what’s the severity, what should I do next, How bad is it? Where should I go? Right? And so you tend to use your own knowledge, experience, you compare that with your Friends and family and coworkers, and you Google it and begin your search. And especially if it’s not only yourself, but A loved one, so you implicitly have to make the right decision. Right? And there is never time to do this. This is always interrupting your regular life, so where can I go that I trust that will cut, take the least amount of time, cost the least amount, And resolve this symptom as soon as possible? The 2nd category that we deal with all the time is, unfortunately, not things that we feel.
Dr. Chet Robson:
These are the processes that happen in our bodies like high cholesterol and cancer and, you know, some of these kinds of things, autoimmune conditions, that that many times become very severe and involved before they really ever present symptoms, right, For these types of conditions, by the time they present, right, it this is gonna require a major intervention. So in both of these scenarios, these are not things that we want. They interrupt our lives, so finding a trusted, credible source is paramount. Because you are entering a world of schedules, prices, and language, it is very confusing. Sometimes it’s irritating, it’s overwhelming, and for each patient, all of these elements we’ve mentioned varied. Each situation is unique and different. Right? So as a healthcare practitioner, it’s essential to be a trusted, credible source that treats that individual patient’s needs. But because every individual is different, and someone to spend a lot of time discussing matters, Some are extremely time limited, some want a lot of information, some simply want to make the quickest solution.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Right? Others need to deliberate for a long time. All of these patient differences require different delivery solutions and create the need for a trusted, cCredible patient centered care. Right? Also, so this is a never ending quest that because medical knowledge is constantly Expanding, trying to stay up to date with what’s actually improving health care and not just what seems to help is a constant effort, aAnd then tailoring that to each individual patient so that that patient achieves the outcome they are looking for, requires knowledge, Aand most importantly, relationship. So to me, trust, credibility, and patient centeredness Aare the very core of providing meaningful healthcare.
Lisa Blue:
Very well said. Certainly the the All of those important points, you know, when this interrupts life, you know, we think about health but Ooften times in our country, we don’t think about it until there’s an interruption in said health or, right, there’s something that comes up. And so, you know, being able to have that trusted, source and and that that relationship certainly is of utmost importance, But, you know, I I think the the other, some other variables as if there weren’t already enough in the answer you just presented, but, you know, even just navigating the system itself, right, I I always talk about that in my own life, but, You know I’ve been a nurse for over 25 years and the healthcare system is still confusing to me for myself as a patient or my loved ones, and so when you think of patients that have, any number of barriers to accessing that care, how that becomes infinitely more challenging, and so that’s something that, You know we always try to think about what is that what is that immediate next step, right, if I’m asking you to do something how do I make it as easy as Ppossible for you to do that, so building that trust and that guidance sort of all wrapped up into 1 I think is, a big ask but an important ask to to to build that trust and to maintain those relationships. So, as you just discussed the ways to really support patients through their health, through their illnesses, be it chronic or an acute event. You noted that there’s a lot of different preferences, needs, desires, and that changes over time, over situations, So you know when you think about the the concept of patient engagement, which is certainly broad and and nebulous, what does that, how do you see technology playing a role in in improving that and making it meaningful for patients, and and what strategies might you recommend to enhance their experience with a patient’s experience with that?
Dr. Chet Robson:
Yeah. I think this is really an important consideration now because all of us live our lives, with many aspects of our lives integrating with technology. You know, we order food, we go to the airport. We, you know, we order most everything that we get, you know, it all happens through Our phones and through our computers and and through technology. And one of the places that we utilize Technology the least, unfortunately, right now, is with health care. So I think the other thing that we see happening is more and more health care Jjust moving into the home and and not as much, you know, in the hospitals, in the doctors’ offices, and so forth. So much more of that information and how a patient makes decisions about what is happening by themselves at home, So having really good tools to make those decisions is absolutely essential. So I I I I think there’s 2 or 3 things that that, patients need to do and that health systems need to do and that companies need to do, To to make this work, for for a patient standpoint, I think it’s it’s, Again, kind of clearly defining, you know, what is the solution you’re trying to find, and then and then interacting with your health care providers Tto understand what kinds of resources they can can help you with.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Right? Second of all, is utilizing, you know, many of the The apps that are out there, and that’s part of what we’re working on at mDisrupt is being able to eventually make kind of a public facing Ssearchable database to help to guide people a little bit along that line. So I think it’s beginning to go, I’ll tiptoe into that technology to understand, you know, better how to use it. From a company and a health system standpoint, I think it’s Uutilizing the, you know, AI and some of the, you know, tremendous technology that’s out there To, again, like we talked about earlier, solve a particular problem for a patient. Right? To say, Hhow do we utilize this to streamline this experience for that patient who’s undergoing surgery or undergoing rehabilitation or Oon management for chronic disease or whatever it is that you use that technology to solve that problem, for them. So, you know and it’s a never ending course. It’s a, you know, it’s not like you ever get to that exact place, Bbut always continuing to think about sort of the direction you’re going and the bigger problem that you’re trying to solve gets you closest to that kind of a solution.
Lisa Blue:
Absolutely. Right? There’s no there’s no end, endpoint or destination There’s
Dr. Chet Robson:
no endpoint.
Lisa Blue:
To this journey ever ever evolving, but but certainly, you know, as you said, keeping the the problem or the the challenge to solve at the center of it is is a a good, tool to to keep us all focused on on what what matters most, you know, not only to the the healthcare system as a whole, but but certainly to our patients as well.
Dr. Chet Robson:
So an example that I’ve used, You know, a couple of things. What I think really illustrates when technology is used well is a few years ago, when I was practicing with one of the other doctors that I worked with, She had a patient come in, like, on a Friday, who was very concerned, you know, about, a potential breast cancer. So, So, of course, you sent the patient right away. They had the evaluation done. Right? And then and now it’s the weekend. And now you’re gonna have to wait till Monday to see what the outcome of this is. But because of the newer technology, the result of the imaging became available in the patient portal, like, you know, almost very quickly, almost that evening. Right? The doctor saw that the result was there, so she contacted the patient to say rather than waiting through the weekend, I’ll talk about what the results are.
Dr. Chet Robson:
You know, get your husband. You’re at home. Let’s talk about the results. Right. So we don’t have to wait an entire weekend worrying about, you know, what this outcome is. By helping to facilitate That relationship, that conversation by by, enabling that interaction to happen more quickly, It very much helped to relieve all of the anxiety. It helped to build trust between the patient and the physician, and, of course, it helped to get, you know, really timely care. So I think when technology is used in ways that help to enable that relationship, when it helps to Enable the information, to the right people.
Dr. Chet Robson:
It completely changes how healthcare is provided.
Lisa Blue:
That’s a perfect example. You know, I used to laugh in a previous role that the most Ttimely needs would come in on a Friday afternoon, and, you know, inevitably it was like a holiday weekend, so Monday was gonna be closed as well. It was Aalready our practice and so when you said that as a Friday afternoon, you know, that’s and as a patient, as Eeven, you know, putting ourselves in those shoes, if you had to wait for that information regardless of the outcome, would be a that would be a very long sSo that’s a beautiful example of how, you know, enabling the that flow of information and then, you know, building that relationship, the the Provider taking that opportunity to to assuage those concerns that that patient would have really been struggling with throughout the weekend, so that’s a great example. So I know we already talked about some of the things that, Some of these emerging technologies, right, more care within the home, things that the health care organizations could be leveraging in terms of AI on these large datasets of of all of those those Ppossible things and even some of the things I’m sure that that, you know, pass pass across your desk in in your day to day and and disrupt Disrupt. What things excite you the most? What do you see that you say, oh, this is something that I think is gonna have a really profound impact on shaping the future of health care or patient care.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Yeah. Well, we’ve kind of touched upon them, but to me, yeah, there’s 2 really, really big areas that we’re already seeing, you know, begin to, I’ll say, disrupt or evolve kind of care. The first, of course, we talked about is artificial intelligence AI. You know, that ability to aggregate and purposefully curate huge amounts of data and information, you know, that has the ability the potential to help not only with repetitive administrative tasks, Also, we’re providing additional up to date information, for the patient centered encounter, you know, by 1 patient at a time, you know, as we talked about earlier. This will be, This is just my words, but “in my opinion, artificial intelligence is actually kind of an outdated descriptor because I think this technology when curated and used appropriately, should be called aggregated intelligence that’s used for augmented decision making. Artificial intelligence is often positioned as something that is out in the vapers. It’s not. This is information that exists that’s been very quickly aggregated together and then presented to a patient or through a physician, a health care provider to help make decisions.”
Dr. Chet Robson:
It’s a much different understanding than, You know, something out in the vapor making decisions, having intelligence. Right? So, you know, And and especially as we’re going into times when staffing and labor time, you know, is creating really, really increased friction In being able to help you achieve that kind of value environment for improved outcomes at lower costs, At very least, digital and, artificial intelligence, solutions, I think are gonna play a Hhuge piece in that so that that the clinical decision makers, whatever they are, nurses, pharmacists, doctors, Therapists, you know, they can all have the ability to do what they do best, which is to have that relationship and make those decisions with the patient. And these other types of activities can be handled very, very efficiently in other manners. The second one we also talked about, which is this huge shift into care being provided at home, and it’s happening at the entire continuum from health to illness, you know, from prevention to management with medications. I mean, there’s more medication now. I think I heard it not too long ago. There’s something like over 700 medications that used to be by prescription that are now over the counter. Well, that means the patient has to make the decision about how to use this medication, you know, those kinds of things.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Of course, there’s lots of rehab that happens at home, And there’s even a hospital at home. Right? So more and more care across that whole continuum is shifting to home, And it kinda requires 2 major integrations and synchronizations and also payment considerations, Right. Because now you have both the episodic care facility, the hospital or the doctor’s office, as well as the chronic care facility Oof the home, or perhaps the nursing facility, and the home care providers, there’s so many more pieces of this. You talked earlier a little bit about continuity of care. We used to think of continuity of care as Kkind of a single provider, helping to care for the patient over a long period of time. But really, if you think about it, for most people now, First of all, the majority of our time is not spent in health care facilities. It’s not spent in a hospital, not spent in a doctor’s office. Most of our time f For even people who have chronic disease and complex disease, most of it is spent at home.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Right? And then they intersect with those other places from time to time. So the continuity of care is what that patient is experiencing at home, in the hospital, in the doctor’s office, The pharmacy, in the rehab, all that’s the continuity of care. Technology can help to integrate all of that information, can help to So together so all of those people that are working with that single patient have vision into all of the things that are going on. To me, That’s, again, a tremendous opportunity, first of all, to have patient centered care, 2nd of all, to have a continuity of care. Right? And 3rd of all, so that everyone that’s involved with that patient, including the patient, Has all of the same information that they’re dealing with. So those 2 those 2 things, use of AI and what can be done with that, and the and And to trying to better integrate the care at home are 2 things that I see really, really gonna impact health care over the next 15 years.
Lisa Blue:
Absolutely. The, you know, I I think oftentimes even when you hear the idea of of care at home, Maybe that is sometimes synonymous with, you know, maybe you just had a acute admission and now there’s There’s some care, but but to your point, even those with chronic conditions, most of managing that is happening outside of any care facility, whether it is an acute care facility, primary care facility, or any of those other Important roles that that you mentioned, and so being able to have that visibility and that shared information Ccertainly would have a dramatic impact on not only the the outcomes, but, you know, the the experience, and not just the patient experience, the care experience. Mhmm. Everyone who goes into health care, it’s fair to say that their desire is to positively impact their patients. Right? And, and that is, that is something that if, if you can have that, that communication really across all of those different settings and it’s Eeasy to do so and there’s that degree of visibility certainly that could only, improve that fundamentally from from some of the the disparate systems that that we all work within today. I also do want to mention that I really like your distinction and the definition of AI. Really, I I think that’s really important because words really do matter and how people hear things. I think artificial intelligence can sound scary and sort of the unknown, but you’re your Ppoint to 2 that you’re really I’m I’m aggregating all of this information that does already exist regarding your care or care of people with conditions like yours.
Lisa Blue:
So I think that was very well said, and it could really help bring an ease around the concept of how to use a tool as powerful as that. So as we wrap up today, I do want to just mention to all listeners that, Doctor. Robson’s contact information will be shared in the show notes, so He did mention early on how people could find him and the, the team at mdisrupt and so that information will be, available within the show notes, and if you have a great problem to solve or you’re an expert, that’s how you can find them. I would like to ask just 1 more question before we wrap up today’s conversation, and that is, you know, you’ve had a really impressive career and continue to do this really important work. So what advice do you have for someone anywhere in the the healthcare spectrum, whether they’re maybe a newer clinician or they’re an inspiring innovator, they’re doing this work and They’d like to see it done different or better, what what advice would you have for them, to help guide them on that journey?
Dr. Chet Robson:
Sure. Thank you for that question. So, I’ll answer this in 2 ways. Partly, that’s exactly what we’re trying to achieve at mIndistrupt, which is to provide advice and support to help companies achieve better patient outcomes, to help providers come in and be part of that. So that’s the simple answer. But in general, I think that the most important step we’ve kind of already talked about, Which is to start with the end in mind. Right? As a clinician, you know, you’re wanting to innovate as a technology company, you want to innovate. Start with what is the problem that you’re trying to solve for that patient, right, and then and then work to find out what are all the factors that make it a problem.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Not just the obvious ones, not just if they have problems with transportation, so let’s solve transportation. They might. That might be one of the problems, but there could be many, many, many, many, many others. Right? So look to find what all of the problems are. Right? Then begin that wonderful, process of iteration to say, let’s try this solution, this solution, this solution, this solution, right, And let’s see which are cost effective, and let’s set up these, you know, MVPs or whatever process you wanna use You see, right, when we do this, does this begin to have an impact and how and the reaction that we get from the consumer, right, from the patient, Is this solving their their problem, or is there a slightly different better way to be able to solve it so that you gradually fine tune it? Right? Rely upon the expertise around you, right, from clinicians, from technology, from, you know, all of the various People that you can draw upon to help to solve those things. And then, you know, just keep moving forward. You know, there’s a tendency to try things 2 or 3 times, and you go, I I don’t think we’re gonna find the right thing. A lot of times, you’re kind of on the verge of finding a really, really good solution.
Dr. Chet Robson:
You know, keep keep keep doing it. There are obviously important financial goals, social goals, career goals, and we all kind of struggle to work through those, but if you really keep focused on truly solving a real problem for a real patient, a All of those other financial, social, career things all tend to fall into line. Right? But you have to be very focused to make sure that you’re Ssolving a real problem and finding real solutions for that.
Lisa Blue:
Perfect way to end our discussion today. I think that’s really great advice, in terms of of staying the course, the iterative process, and Aall of those other factors that often do fall in line when when we keep the the focus on, you know, really driving the outcomes comes for, you know, the the most important people in this equation, our patients. So thank you so much for all of the great insights that you shared with us today and for your time in today’s discussion. I appreciate it, and I’m sure our listeners will as well, so thank you so much.
Dr. Chet Robson:
Great. Thank you, Lisa.
