For Your Innovation Podcast: Innovation trail with Dr. Patrick Conway

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Hello everyone and welcome to a special

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edition of FYI for your innovation. FI

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is going on an innovation trail across

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geographies of India and Philippines

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where we look at how innovation is

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driven in different contexts at each

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location. We'll understand how

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innovation is really driven on the

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ground and how that drives outcomes

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linked to the priorities of Optum. And

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for this special edition, I am delighted

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to have Dr. Patrick Convey, CEO of

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Optum. Patrick, really, really delighted

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to have you here. Uh, welcome to FYI.

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Really excited to hear about your vision

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of healthcare innovation.

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Yeah, thanks for having me. Look forward

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to the discussion.

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Thank you. Thank you. So, Patrick as we

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begin the India leg um I think it's

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important to set a little bit of a

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context. I think at an enterprise level

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Our priorities our north stars are very

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clear right how do we drive better

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health outcomes uh by making healthcare

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more uh accessible affordable and

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efficient right um and how do we make

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sure that you know that intent is

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translated into outcomes that we can

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deliver for the communities that we

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serve the populations that we serve and

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I think innovation plays a key role in

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that right uh innovation itself is

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focused on key priorities like consumer

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centricity customer centricity how we

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deploy technology, how we use

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responsible AI, how do we use talent uh

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globally across the organization and I

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think that all these themes and

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priorities aren't you know standalone

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priorities. These are interconnected and

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they define how we really uh make

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decisions across the company and how

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does you know how do we really translate

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the value back to our uh consumers

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that we serve uh you know through the

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questions that we have would love to get

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your thoughts your perspective on these

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uh these questions and

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I look forward to the dialogue.

1:56

Thanks a lot. Okay. So, first

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question, let's uh dive in, right? Um

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firstly, I just wanted to get your

2:02

vision for the future of healthcare

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innovation and how does that vision

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translate into the work that we do

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within Optum. How does that translate

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into the innovation that we drive within

2:12

OPTIM?

2:13

Yeah. So, I think about both populations

2:16

and the individuals and how we innovate

2:18

to improve care. Um so at our core as

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you know help helping people live

2:22

healthier lives helping make the health

2:24

system better for everyone which I think

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resonates from a mission perspective.

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Then if you think about our various

2:29

platforms we serve uh over a 100 million

2:32

people directly

2:34

their physical, mental, social, pharmacy

2:37

and financial needs and we can innovate

2:40

to care for them and all types of

2:42

settings. Uh, so we serve people in

2:44

clinics, in their homes, mental and

2:46

behavioral complex conditions, really

2:48

from birth all the way to death.

2:50

Yep.

2:51

Um, we're in an era now with innovation

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and artificial intelligence, which I

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think opens up a [clears throat] whole

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new realm of innovation. You know, if

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you think about our Optimum Insight

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business, we're making care simpler,

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faster, easier. You know, how do we get

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that claim paid? Uh, how do we get that

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service delivered? How do we answer that

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question digitally as opposed to through

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call centers but also call centers when

3:14

necessary and empowering people with the

3:16

right information at the point of care?

3:18

If you think about our pharmacy

3:19

innovation, you know, I like to give out

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uh both data and stories. Uh we

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developed something called specialy

3:26

savings IQ that saves money for

3:28

specialty medicines.

3:29

The median co-ay for patients went from

3:32

$88 to $5. saved over a billion dollars

3:35

for people out-of-pocket cost, AI

3:38

powered and enabled at the point of

3:40

care. Then I get an individual email

3:43

from a gentleman who said, "I was going

3:44

on and off my cancer treatment. Uh it's

3:47

now $5. I can afford it. I've stayed on

3:49

my treatment. Uh and I'm doing better.

3:52

I'm healthier." Uh so that's like the

3:54

impact we can have day-to-day. So

3:56

hopefully those are just a couple

3:57

examples of innovation and action. And

3:59

just you mentioned the geos. I I'm in

4:01

India today. Hey, we're going to go to

4:02

the Philippines.

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The [snorts] level of innovation uh here

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uh that I've seen today is just

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applicable across that whole system.

4:10

Thanks a lot. You you spoke about AI and

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you know AI driving innovation. I mean

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just at the scale and you mentioned the

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scale right that we have at Optum.

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I I don't think technology and AI are

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just about efficiency. I think they

4:22

define the way health care systems

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actually function and how do those you

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know really drive you know the final

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outcomes and the value that you know we

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have to deliver for our consumers. What

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from your perspective you know really

4:34

distinguishes technology based

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innovation that is really impactful.

4:39

Yeah. So I'd call it a couple areas. So

4:43

let's uh first call out some of the sort

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of administrative aspects of healthcare

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which can be simpler. Um it should

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function like other parts of our lives.

4:53

Y

4:54

simple on your phone when possible

4:57

digital empowered with the right

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information. You've got information

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about the quality, the cost, the

5:01

experience of care. Uh and so we we are

5:05

innovating to deliver that experience to

5:06

people each and every day.

5:08

Um now let's go into the clinical realm.

5:11

So I'm I'm still a practicing uh

5:13

physician on weekends. um very early in

5:17

my career took care of a child with a

5:19

very complex illness had gone all around

5:21

America came to our children's hospital

5:23

very thick chart paper uh get to page

5:26

283 realize oh my gosh this child has a

5:29

very rare metabolic disease well in

5:32

today's world we should be able to scan

5:34

that information tee up to the clinician

5:36

whether it's a doctor a nurse a

5:38

pharmacist did you consider this what

5:40

about these options the clinician's

5:41

still making the final decision uh but

5:44

much more fast, efficient, better for

5:46

the patient, better health outcomes at

5:47

lower cost. So, just a couple examples

5:49

of innovation in action.

5:51

I like I like what you said, you know,

5:53

making innovation simple and

5:55

simplifying, you know, the work um you

5:57

know, for our teams internally as well

5:59

as for the patients that we serve,

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right? And I think one of the themes

6:02

that we see is that uh innovation, you

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know, really really takes off when you

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are able to drive a lot of collaboration

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amongst teams,

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specifically you know, technology teams

6:11

and operating teams. um you know when

6:13

these teams come together have one

6:15

purpose you know shared agenda I think

6:18

that's where you know the magic happen

6:19

that's where the innovation happens what

6:21

are some of the ways that you've you

6:23

know really driving that and fostering

6:24

that culture of collaboration amongst

6:27

teams

6:27

yeah first just to call out to what I

6:29

saw this morning with the teams in India

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uh I didn't say this because you all

6:34

showed it to me the technology team when

6:37

businesses and processes work their best

6:40

the teams are seamlessly integrated

6:43

technology, operations, product, the

6:46

whole team

6:47

delivered around the customer, the

6:48

patient, the people we served. And

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that's what I saw this morning.

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And when that happens, the magic

6:53

happens, if you will, of people learn

6:55

faster. Um,

6:58

I like stories. So, uh, one of my very

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first jobs, I had a mentor named Dr. Uma

7:03

Kodigal,

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and I was improving care on one unit for

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15 children and families that went

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through that unit with a nurse partner.

7:10

And she had trained thousands of

7:11

healthcare leaders.

7:13

And I said, Uma, uh, you [snorts] know,

7:15

what did you learn? What what what made

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teams succeed? And she said, cycle time.

7:22

Said, tell me more. She said, cycle

7:24

time, testing and learning. The teams

7:26

and the people that test and learn

7:27

faster, they improve faster, they

7:30

deliver better care, better outcomes.

7:32

And I and I saw that this morning. you

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know, teams with a fast cycle time

7:36

working well together. That's what's

7:38

going to deliver the best outcomes for

7:39

the people we serve.

7:40

No, that's exciting. And I think uh

7:42

you're right, teams coming together have

7:44

an impact on cycle time. I think it also

7:47

ensures that you know you're looking at

7:50

the same problem with different mindsets

7:53

and different viewpoints and I think

7:54

that's when

7:55

you know that collaboration really

7:57

ignites that innovation, innovative

7:59

mindset, right? Um you know we spoke

8:01

about just global uh talent earlier and

8:05

companies are becoming more global in

8:07

the in the work that they do not just

8:08

the footprint but also how they leverage

8:10

talent across uh locations talent to

8:13

drive accountability innovation you know

8:15

all those things right so

8:17

uh what are some of the ways in which

8:19

you think the global talent can actually

8:21

drive healthcare innovation and what are

8:23

some of the things that the enterprise

8:25

leaders need to do to be able to really

8:27

tap into this potential

8:29

yeah look I think um you know Optum is a

8:32

global company and I it's one optimum

8:35

across the entire enterprise. Uh and I

8:37

think let's build on the theme we just

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talked about. How do our people in

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India, Philippines, other places

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work seamlessly with people in the

8:46

United States and all over to deliver

8:48

the products and services that deliver

8:50

better health outcomes, lower cost and

8:52

exceptional experience to the people we

8:54

serve. And that you know that's

8:56

missiondriven work that matters. Um it

8:58

should be birectional which I think I

9:00

saw a lot of today. Um you know I've

9:03

been reflecting on this as you get older

9:05

you reflect more. So uh um we we

9:08

probably need leaders in the US that not

9:10

only have been here but really have a

9:12

sort of global perspective.

9:13

Uh I shared earlier I traveled all

9:16

around India 22 years ago. I didn't

9:18

share I I grew up in Texas and we didn't

9:20

have uh we didn't have resources to

9:22

travel so I'd never been anywhere. Uh,

9:24

and then I got a scholarship to go to

9:26

college, which sent me to Italy,

9:28

and I learned there was a world outside

9:30

of the United States. Um, and now I've

9:32

traveled over 90 countries. Um, and, um,

9:37

it was, you know, often with a backpack

9:39

and a tent. Um, uh, including that's how

9:42

I travel around India, by the way. I I

9:44

shared earlier. And the third class

9:45

trains, I was not kidding. I was, I had

9:47

a little paper timetable. I don't they

9:49

have those anymore, but like to figure

9:51

out which train to get on. Um and um

9:54

look it opens your it opens your mind if

9:57

you will whether you're from the United

9:59

States or or India to the global uh

10:02

marketplace and learning globally and

10:05

then applying those learnings locally

10:07

and in our various products and

10:09

services.

10:09

Yeah. No, I love the stories Patrick u I

10:12

think that's what makes you know the

10:14

intent get converted into something

10:16

real. Yeah.

10:17

So thanks for that. uh we've covered you

10:19

know uh many topics right like

10:21

globalization like making sure that

10:23

we've got a global mindset technology

10:25

and you know how do we think about

10:27

healthcare innovation as a whole um that

10:30

will bring us uh bring the India leg to

10:33

an end we'll continue the conversation

10:35

in Philippines uh again thanks a lot for

10:37

sharing your thoughts thanks a lot for

10:38

sharing your perspectives

10:40

can I share you one thing and then you

10:41

can decide whether

10:42

look um interacting with the teams today

10:46

I was inspired Mhm.

10:47

Um

10:49

you get to see see people bringing their

10:51

best selves to work and actually also

10:53

inspired I mean you have people in India

10:56

missiondriven

10:57

y

10:59

delivering services that may that do

11:03

help people across the globe.

11:04

Yep.

11:05

That's inspiring. It's inspiring to see

11:07

it. It was inspiring to see the team

11:08

today and I look forward to continuing

11:10

to learn and help along the way.

11:12

No, absolutely. and the teams are

11:13

excited to see you hear from you and I

11:16

think that motivates them immensely. So,

11:18

thanks a lot.

11:19

Thank you,

11:23

Patrick. Thanks a lot for being here and

11:25

welcome to the Philippines leg of the

11:27

innovation trail, the special edition of

11:30

FI.

11:30

Yeah, it's great to be here. Thanks for

11:32

having me.

11:32

Thank you. Um folks um and viewers, this

11:36

is the second edition of Innovation

11:38

Trade. Um we did the first one in India

11:41

where Patrick um shared his perspective

11:43

and his views on innovation and the

11:46

enterprise themes. Uh he spoke about

11:48

innovation which is led by technology

11:50

responsible AI collaboration between

11:52

teams and how are we bringing data and

11:54

insights together to really accelerate

11:56

innovation. We'll continue that

11:58

conversation uh and that you know

12:01

foundation that he laid and talk a

12:02

little bit about how does innovation

12:04

really show up to drive improvement in

12:07

experience and care. Um those are three

12:10

key levers for us as we think about

12:12

driving innovation across the company.

12:14

Patrick once again thanks a lot for

12:16

being here and really excited to kind of

12:18

continue the conversation.

12:19

Yeah, look forward to the dialogue.

12:21

Absolutely. Uh Patrick, the first

12:23

question that I have and we spoke a lot

12:25

about uh experience, right? Um what are

12:28

some of the ways in which we are looking

12:29

at reducing the friction across the

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journey of our consumer and making sure

12:34

that we creating a seamless and a really

12:37

flawless experience for the communities

12:39

and the members and the providers.

12:41

Yeah. So a couple a couple thoughts. Um

12:44

you actually saw some of this in the

12:45

examples we just went through. You know

12:48

at first just the importance of

12:50

experience. So uh every time you all

12:55

those experiences whether they're

12:56

positive or they're one of the potential

12:58

failures or challenges is some

13:00

individual family person in the system.

13:02

So it's an opportunity for us to do

13:03

better. Uh two um every organization

13:07

I've been including this one I tap into

13:09

the so-called complaint system. Uh it's

13:12

an it's an opportunity for improvement.

13:14

It's not a complaint system. It's

13:16

actually an opportunity of how we

13:17

improve our system. And then if you

13:19

think about the future and we hit we saw

13:20

this in a bunch of these digital

13:23

um long ago for Andrew Witty I wrote

13:26

something about like an app a digital

13:28

interface that everyone in the world

13:30

it's actually world not just the US

13:33

could interface with and would navigate

13:35

them to care. I think we're getting

13:37

closer and closer to that and you saw in

13:39

some of these examples where any

13:42

individual for their physical, mental,

13:45

pharmacy, social, financial needs, we

13:48

would be able to navigate them to care.

13:50

We'd predict their needs using AI and

13:52

data. Uh we would make sure they don't

13:56

fall through the cracks in the system.

13:58

Uh and we do it at a much more

14:00

individualized basis because we truly

14:02

understand them. You know, uh, I often

14:06

talk about Mrs. Rodriguez with teams.

14:08

There's somebody's 90year-old

14:11

mother. Um, and a lot of people care

14:14

about her and she expects and her

14:18

caregivers expect that our various

14:20

systems, pieces and parts will be able

14:22

to innovate, care for her, understand

14:24

her needs each and every time. So that's

14:26

the journey we're on.

14:27

No, thanks a lot. uh just in this

14:29

example you know you spoke about how the

14:32

clinicians and the physicians are you

14:34

know looking at driving a better

14:35

experience in care uh and you've spoken

14:37

about this multiple times right just

14:40

alongside experience of our members and

14:42

providers the clinician experience is so

14:44

important

14:44

y

14:45

uh because how the clinicians work will

14:48

actually impact how healthcare is

14:50

actually delivered and uh you know

14:53

there's a lot of friction in that

14:54

clinician workflow there's a lot of time

14:56

that they spent on activities ities

14:58

which do not translate into the quality

15:00

of care that they actually provide.

15:02

Y

15:02

what are some of the ways that you see

15:04

in terms of innovation that is really

15:07

changing and improving the clinician

15:09

experience and in ways that it's

15:11

impactful and in ways that it'll be

15:13

sustainable.

15:14

Yeah. So um feel like I'm giving a lot

15:17

of clinical examples today but hopefully

15:19

uh let me give you the challenge and

15:20

then where we need to go. So um uh

15:23

earlier in my career I worked

15:24

internationally lots of places. So I

15:26

remember being in Ghana seeing 100 plus

15:28

patients a day um and understanding the

15:31

challenges of system and how to navigate

15:33

uh the patients in that system. Uh I

15:35

worked in a federally qualified health

15:37

center in the US where you'd see 50 plus

15:39

patients a day because there was a lot

15:41

of need and you'd hand them pieces of

15:43

paper realizing that many of those

15:46

doctors or behavioral health therapists

15:47

may not even return their call. You

15:49

didn't know which ones because you

15:50

didn't have a system. If you're a

15:52

doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist, whatever

15:54

kind of clinician, you trained because

15:56

you want to deliver amazing care to

15:58

people and our system doesn't always

16:00

support that. So, what we're doing at

16:01

Optum, and you saw once again examples

16:04

here, you know, how do we support that

16:06

doctor, pharmacist, nurse, whoever the

16:07

clinician is, provide them the

16:10

information at the point of care they

16:11

need for that patient, that family, that

16:13

person they're caring for so that they

16:16

can address their needs.

16:18

um you know the some of the

16:20

administrative so-called administrative

16:22

tasks that we you know just reviewed

16:25

when you resolve that claims issue

16:27

that's a person when you resolve that

16:29

call that's a person and when you

16:31

resolve the uh co-pay amounts um so I

16:36

you know honestly [clears throat] the

16:38

teams that we just witnessed are

16:42

crafting the future right now and I

16:44

think being in the Philippines just to

16:45

call out something we talked about Earl

16:48

you actually see our system across its

16:51

pieces and parts. You're you're an

16:53

excellent window into where we might

16:55

have failures in the systems and can

16:57

innovate to fix and address those

16:59

failures which ends up benefiting

17:01

millions of people.

17:02

Absolutely. Absolutely. And you talked

17:04

about the fact that we crafting the

17:05

future. I think the future is exciting.

17:07

It is

17:07

uh the future is something that will

17:09

definitely help us create a much better

17:11

experience for the members that we are

17:13

privileged to serve.

17:14

Yes. Um uh and you talked about you know

17:16

just the millions of transaction I mean

17:18

that's the unique part of the work that

17:20

we do of the ecosystem that we have

17:23

millions of calls millions of claims

17:25

millions of you know prior authorization

17:26

transactions

17:28

which basically means that we have a

17:30

many opportunities to be able to look at

17:33

the experience across the journey of the

17:35

member and the provider. uh and what are

17:37

some of the ways that you think we're

17:39

using technology and data to get much

17:41

deeper insights into these uh touch

17:44

points uh and make sure that we're not

17:46

just improving that moment but the

17:48

entire end to end journey of a member.

17:52

Yeah, [clears throat] I'll share a

17:53

couple examples but feel free to add on.

17:56

Um

17:57

you know in in Optim

18:01

uh we did work that uh continues to

18:03

improve today around specialy medicines

18:05

and how do you solve for the financial

18:08

aspect [clears throat] excuse me for

18:10

specialist savings IQ and AI powered

18:12

product uh over has saved over a billion

18:16

dollars uh of consumer out-of- pocket

18:18

cost over the last year. Um you know

18:21

lowering copay to $5. Then you get an

18:24

email, true story, from somebody who

18:26

says, you know, I can finally afford my

18:27

cancer medicine. Um, so I'm doing

18:30

better. Um, you know, in Optimum Health,

18:33

we have a lot of positive examples and a

18:35

lot of opportunities to knit that system

18:37

together. So the clinic to the home to

18:40

the therapist, you know, whether it's an

18:42

employed or a contracted physician, it

18:45

all knits together delivering and and to

18:47

be clear, we have a platform that's

18:49

delivering better quality, lower cost

18:50

experience today. Okay, but it's how do

18:52

you make that better? How do you make it

18:53

better faster? You know, you saw some

18:55

examples from our Optimum Insight and

18:57

Optimum Financial business where you

19:00

know uh for something like uh Optimum

19:02

Real or Optimum Integrity 1, you know,

19:06

how do we uh literally automate the

19:09

system in a digital way so that claim

19:12

and Optimum Real the payer knows what

19:14

they're going to pay, the provider knows

19:15

what they're going to be paid and it's

19:16

by the way the same

19:18

based on the same data and information

19:20

and the consumer knows what they're

19:21

going to be paid and it's not, you know,

19:24

49 9 faxes or paper mailed. I still

19:28

amazed at how much we fax and mail. It's

19:30

actually digital like other things on

19:32

your life on your phone. Um and you can

19:34

by the way settle it with Optimum

19:36

Financial if you choose to in your

19:37

Optimum wallet. Um so I mean we really

19:40

are crafting the future uh today. Um and

19:43

I think um just so exciting to see the

19:47

teams and uh hear your energy as you

19:50

talk about approaching a problem and

19:52

solving it together. Yeah, an

19:54

interconnected and a digital future that

19:56

provides a much better experience.

19:59

That's fantastic. Um, you know, just

20:01

just maybe you know talking u the last

20:04

question around innovation.

20:05

Yeah.

20:05

Um, you know, one of the things that

20:07

we've spoken about is that the only way

20:09

to sustain innovation is by making sure

20:11

that we are thinking about the culture

20:13

of innovation.

20:14

Yeah.

20:14

By making sure that we build a robust

20:16

culture which ensures that people are

20:19

thinking about innovation in their

20:21

day-to-day job. It's not a separate

20:23

task. It's not a project,

20:25

but it's something that you do that is

20:27

embedded into the operating framework of

20:29

the company.

20:30

What are some of the ways that you

20:31

think, you know, we can really foster

20:33

the culture of innovation across the

20:35

company?

20:36

Look, I think culture ends up becoming a

20:38

series of uh changes that you foster

20:41

over time. Bright ideas, is that what

20:43

you showed me the other day? So, like

20:45

that was a great example. So bright

20:47

ideas, you know, you're taking frontline

20:50

ideas that people have been put forward.

20:53

You have a set of principles on how

20:54

those are vetted. Then you implement

20:56

those that teaches and builds a culture

20:59

of you want people to test. You want

21:01

people to learn, you want people to

21:02

bring ideas forward, and you're going to

21:04

have a process that actually then

21:06

implements those ideas. Um, I do a lot

21:10

of frontline listing sessions. I did a

21:11

frontline listing session with coders

21:13

the other day which is probably how you

21:16

represent some of those people a lot of

21:18

them um and they brought forward some

21:20

ideas and then we actually implemented

21:22

some of those ideas. I got feedback

21:24

within like 24 hours they're like I

21:25

never thought that would happen like um

21:27

that I would tell you something and you

21:29

might actually listen and go to somebody

21:31

and it gets implemented. So look the

21:33

culture and it's not about me the

21:35

culture is you want that you want that

21:37

throughout the organization. Um

21:41

uh the last story I'll share there um

21:44

when I started at CMS

21:47

uh we were dead last in employee

21:49

experience in the federal government. By

21:51

the way, Philippines, you're very high.

21:53

So well done. Um you're a lot better. Um

21:57

but there was one question that said the

21:59

people at Medicare the they cared about

22:03

the mission. We did a lot of work over

22:05

years to tap into innovation, driving

22:07

change, losing lean, other tactics. Um,

22:11

and five years later, uh, Medicare and

22:13

Medicaid was top in the federal

22:16

government on experience. When you tap

22:18

into that innovation culture and people

22:20

believe, and I think we're doing this at

22:22

Optimum and you're doing it, this team

22:24

is doing it here, they believe they can

22:26

make a system better for the people they

22:28

serve and that they can drive a change.

22:31

That's when the magic happens. So that's

22:32

what I would share.

22:33

Fantastic Patrick. Thanks a lot for

22:36

answering our questions. Thanks a lot

22:38

for you know joining the enterprise

22:41

strategy to real world um examples, the

22:45

stories that you've shared uh and just

22:48

your entire perspectives of you know how

22:50

we should think about innovation as a

22:51

whole and thanks a lot for engaging with

22:54

the teams across India and Philippines

22:56

answering their questions in a very very

22:58

candid manner. I really really

23:00

appreciate you being here.

23:02

Thanks a lot.

23:03

Thank you for having me.