HIMSS 2024 Robin Goldsmith

Brian Urban:

Yes, this is the Healthcare Rethink Podcast live, unscripted at HIMSS 2024 where we're still talking to the biggest innovators, change makers and doers attending this year's event. And yes, we got another one, Robin Goldsmith of Verizon Healthcare. He is the Global Lead for Strategy and Health. Robin, it's good to see you in person.

Robin Goldsmith:

We're here in person. It's good to see you. Here we are.

Brian Urban:

We've been talking virtually, but now the day has come, we're finally here in person.

Robin Goldsmith:

We're here at HIMSS.

Brian Urban:

So right off the top, how has your HIMSS 2024 experience been?

Robin Goldsmith:

It's been good. This is, I think my fifth or sixth HIMSS, third with Verizon. It's busy, a lot of people. I've been really impressed with the booths and the amount of traffic. It's good to see old friends, new friends. I've been excited. It's a pretty good time.

Brian Urban:

That's excellent. I think it's a very common theme I'm hearing throughout today's conversations. So we have a few really big trending themes in healthcare right now across the ecosystem. Cybersecurity, of course, coming off the brink of one of the largest cyber attacks in history in the healthcare, happening to change healthcare. And then we're also talking about some big changes in digital transformation. Tons of different vendors, not only covering social determinants of health, but niche, virtual care models, medical device, everything in between. So I'm curious from the digital transformation here, what are some of the bigger themes that you're seeing this year being elevated? Is it engagement, is it closing digital divides? Is it digital disparities that are being addressed? What are you starting to hear that's a rising trend?

Robin Goldsmith:

I think we talked about this before, but every conversation I have, health equity access, how do we reach those who are underserved? I know you do a lot around the data part of that, which is awesome. Because at the end of the day it does come down to understanding that data and how to really see those folks and get to them early and service them as they should be serviced from a healthcare perspective. For us, from a connectivity and device perspective, we've got some really interesting programs in some of the Alaskan tribes. We're doing a project in Ketchikan, Alaska, which is an island-

Brian Urban:

Wow.

Robin Goldsmith:

... Goes from 18,000 folks, mostly Native Alaskans, Tribal to about 1.5 million people-

Brian Urban:

Wow.

Robin Goldsmith:

... When the cruise ships come in during the summer-

Brian Urban:

Wow.

Robin Goldsmith:

... But they have a lack of medical care or they don't have an MRI machine on the island. So we're putting up basically a stand-up network there. So that's really exciting.

We're working with UC Davis. We announced at VIVE two weeks ago, can't believe it was two weeks ago, a big project with folks who are receiving mental health care treatment while they're serving time in prison; when they get let out, how do I have that continuity of care with my therapist and how do we reduce recidivism? It's really interesting project there. And then work with unhoused folks that are in the catchment area for UC Davis, how do we give them a lifeline of connectivity and devices? So all kinds of really cool stuff. They're thinking about some really interesting things. So UC is doing great work with Dr. Atreja, is leading those charges, Dr. Nakagawa. And then another one, which is really interesting with the University of Rochester Medical Center around Upstate New York where I'm from, they're partnering with Five Star Bank, a community bank, and they're combining financial wellness [inaudible 00:04:03] with wellness.

And this is all coming out of how do I do something of service to my community? It's a community bank. URMC is the health system in that area. So it's utilizing the footprints, the real estate of the bank, putting in a healthcare kiosk station that has certain diagnostics like checking for diabetic retinopathy, which is very preventable for blindness; blood pressure, cough, all kinds of diagnostics. You can have a telemedicine visit right there.

Brian Urban:

Wow.

Robin Goldsmith:

And again, connecting folks as they're going into their community bank with a healthcare provider in the yard.

Brian Urban:

Wow.

Robin Goldsmith:

So just another access point for folks to go to. So those are three I'm really excited about. I think we have a big role to play in a lot of this.

Brian Urban:

This is amazing. Because I think about Verizon Healthcare, I think about technology enablement and now I think the impact that you're having in terms of digital transformation is huge. And it has to be at this programmatic project level-

Robin Goldsmith:

It does.

Brian Urban:

... To start taking real tangible, measurable impact in the different communities that you were mentioning across Alaska, California, Upstate New York. I think the last one you mentioned really addressing economic stability, possibly generational poverty as well. And when you think about community banks, when you think about small rural populations. Man, Verizon is getting deep and in an express way.

Robin Goldsmith:

Yeah, it's fun. We both talk to folks about health equity and all these topics, social determinants of health; that we have to stop talking about it and started doing some stuff. So these are small pilots that can be repeated, scaled. It's good to get the word out that we're doing these things and we're just a part of it. University of Rochester Medical Center, Dr Hasselberg, he's the brainchild behind that. Dr. Cherr at UC Davis. But we're just a part of this ecosystem that's doing this. So it's a privilege to be part of it.

Brian Urban:

It's amazing because this takes a team village approach.

Robin Goldsmith:

It does.

Brian Urban:

It's so funny. So we were talking to some other medical practitioners on the show here today, and we talked about payer-provider collaboration. We talked about overlaying the theme here at HIMSS '24 and digital transformation and trends. So are you seeing a lot of the technology that's being adopted in the different projects? And at a provider perspective, is that starting to influence the relationship or the change of relationship with payers? Are you seeing that from your purview?

Robin Goldsmith:

Yeah, going back to health equity, I think everyone wants to have more continuity of care. How do we bring the cost down by intervening in chronic condition care management? So the payers have a vested interest so do the providers, everyone wants to get better outcomes, lower costs. So I think remote patient monitoring, more care in the home with devices and connectivity, everyone wins if we could deploy those programs and we have a big role to play here. It's fun.

Brian Urban:

This is extremely exciting. So in terms of this show here, there's so many different vendors that we were describing.

Brian Urban:

They play so many different roles.

Robin Goldsmith:

So many.

Brian Urban:

Are we at an influx point here? Are we seeing a ton of people coming into this space to make an impact and also scale their own business? Are you anticipating seeing this many more organizations still returning next year? Or do you think we're at the place where, hey, we're really going to see who's helping and who isn't?

Robin Goldsmith:

Yeah, I think we'll see the big players, but I think those smaller companies... I was talking to a friend of mine, I think we're at a, I don't know, a reckoning was his term. [inaudible 00:07:45] if you watching that. But yeah, let's take any kind of care management platform, unless you have a good patient base and proof points with healthcare systems, there's no more throwing dollars at technology or platforms just for the sake of it. I think it really has to provide tangible value of course, and you have to have built into the clinical workflow. So partnering with a health system is critical now, improving it out and having patients utilizing the platform, I think is table stakes. No longer is it, I've got this great idea and I'm building it and looking for a solution. There's just not the money. People are far more fiscally conservative, I think. And so we're going to see kind of a tightening, and like everything else the good companies will grow and scale and rise up. But I think there's going to be some tightening.

Brian Urban:

And I think fiscally strategic as well. I think a lot of healthcare systems, small and large are looking for the next five plus years; and how they're advancing not only delivering care, but also how are they keeping themselves safe. So coming off the brink of largest cyber attacks in US healthcare, from a technology perspective, it's devastating. It's going to continue happening. It's never going to stop. Are you seeing a lot more thoughtful and continued investment into cybersecurity? Not like there hasn't been before, but all the downstream data sharing is an open door for a lot of attacks.

Robin Goldsmith:

Yep, it is.

Brian Urban:

How are you seeing maybe the strategy and thoughtfulness unfold in real time in terms of security?

Robin Goldsmith:

So unfortunately healthcare, unlike financial services and other industries, they've had higher priorities than security traditionally. And they haven't had the deep pockets to secure all of their attack services, as we call it. So if you start introducing more and more devices in the home, more and more machines in a hospital, in essence that's windows for bad actors to come in. Every health executive I've talked to, security's top of mind, they're rapidly trying to secure everything. It's tough. And the reason they're a huge target is two things, their critical infrastructure and the data that they're carrying is very valuable on the dark web. So it's kind of a one seat punch of, they haven't, legacy wise, secured it as much as other industries perhaps because they're here to deliver care, which is their top priority. So I think they've been exponentially doubling down on their security posture.

We have a big security practice. We publish a really cool report every year called the Data Breach Investigation Report, which by vertical, by industry, details-

Brian Urban:

Wow.

Robin Goldsmith:

... What are the big trends in healthcare? So is it social engineering, which Fin Thrive has probably done this for you guys, sent out emails, did you click on it? But it's becoming more evolved. And now with the rise of AI, I'm going to say it, I said AI, but AI is just advancing those capabilities that the bad actors have. So you got white hats and black hats, good guys and bad guys that are both using these tools. So it's top of mind for everybody. And I think it is arguably, not even arguably, the biggest cyber attack in healthcare's history period. They're the biggest impact.

Brian Urban:

Well, I love the breach report that you just mentioned. So that goes by industry and it goes by vertical.

Robin Goldsmith:

It does.

Brian Urban:

So it actually breaks down sub-segments. Obviously we can find that at Verizon.

Robin Goldsmith:

Yeah, the DBIR, Data Breach Investigation Report, its in 16th or 17th view.

Brian Urban:

Wow.

Robin Goldsmith:

Comes out every year. It's widely available. It's one of the best reports out there.

Brian Urban:

I think in terms of not only evidence, but also best practice guide of-

Robin Goldsmith:

100%.

Brian Urban:

... what could be learned going forward. It's a critical piece of content for a lot of security, chief data informatics science officers to be able to get in their hands and put in their strategy '24 and beyond. So Robin, I want to wrap things up by looking a little bit ahead. So what can you take from HIMSS 2024 that might be impacting your work the rest of this year and perhaps beyond?

Robin Goldsmith:

I think traditionally healthcare has been very siloed. I think to get to these really cool use cases that are being talked about here, I think you have to bring it all together and make that data integrated. Without good data, AI is kind of meaningless. So interoperability, bringing all the data together. And for me, Verizon obviously, we're focused on the connectivity piece. I think this wireless first movement that's happening in hospitals, in our world, that was fueled by the pandemic. I think with the rise of these next gen networks that we've invested heavily in, which is 5G and cloud computing coming together to move data in more and more real time is really exciting for us to be a part of that, to enable all the cool things in healthcare that you're seeing here at the show.

Brian Urban:

Do you think the pace of innovation might be a little bit slower due to the vulnerability of cyber attacks continue? Or is it going to shift focus?

Robin Goldsmith:

No, I think they have to innovate for a whole host of reasons because you've got no traditional healthcare coming into the mix. Patient experience, everyone's trying to make that more modern, more frictionless. Every health system wants to give their nurses and docs and employees a great experience, so they want to modernize their environment, retain their staff. We're seeing a lot of that. So I think there's a ton of innovation that's been happening, that was definitely fueled by the pandemic, that I think is going to continue to happen.

Brian Urban:

So still a balance of workforce and then digital transformation, securing now being more of a priority as well. So obviously you run a very big podcast, Verizon to Healthcare. Can you tease us with any guests you have coming on, any episodes coming out in the future here?

Robin Goldsmith:

Yeah. Well, our episode's coming up-

Brian Urban:

That's exciting.

Robin Goldsmith:

... That's not chopped out yet. This guy is amazing. I did nine podcasts from VIVE, and I'm just releasing them. I just did one with Dr. Nemanja Kovacev. He's like you, very educated guy. He's an MD MBA. He's with HTECH. That was all about the OR of the future. So what he's seeing and-

Brian Urban:

Wow.

Robin Goldsmith:

... What is real and what's here and now, and what's kind of hyped. So it was really cool to hear him as a practicing trauma orthopedic surgeon, talk about what is actually real, how far out are we from tools that can help docs in the OR. So that was pretty cool. And then just amazing guests. So over the next eight weeks, Healthcare On Air by Verizon, we will be dropping live from VIVE episodes.

Brian Urban:

I can't wait.

Robin Goldsmith:

Thank you for mentioning that by the way.

Brian Urban:

I have to. I can't wait. I like to try and model myself as Robyn Goldsmith in a lot of the podcasts that we do. So-

Robin Goldsmith:

Thank you, Brian.

Brian Urban:

Robyn Goldsmith, Global Health and Strategy Lead for Verizon Healthcare. Thank you for joining our little show.

Robin Goldsmith:

Great to be here.

Brian Urban:

Good to see you.

Robin Goldsmith:

Thanks.