Becker's Hospital Review

52 CIO / HEALTH IT NYU Langone Health is replacing the hub-and-spokes model of innovation with a 'neural network' of interdepartmental collaboration By Andrea Park T homas J. Graham, MD, is the direc- tor of strategy and innovation in the department of orthopedic surgery at NYU Langone Health in New York City. In this role, Dr. Graham, formerly the chief innovation officer of Cleveland Clinic and a founding member of the Healthcare Inno- vators Professional Society, pursues a goal of "value-based innovation," advancing the de- velopment of solutions to treat wider swaths of the patient population more quickly, effec- tively and affordably. One value-based innovation project currently in the works centers on the idea of "embedded innovation." It pushes back against the idea of a centralized innovation hub for the entire health system, installing instead individual innovation centers within each department, beginning with the NYU Langone Center for Orthopedic Innovation. In this way, Dr. Gra- ham explained to Becker's Hospital Review, "innovation at NYU Langone is more of a 'neural network' that allows all innovators to access resources and permits collaborations to occur organically. It also allows innovation to flourish." Another project will focus on "business engi- neering," which will leverage NYU Langone's brand, innovation and clinical expertise to help grow and commercialize early-stage healthcare companies. Beyond providing guidance, NYU Langone will also serve as a strategic investor, helping some of the com- panies bridge the "capital gap." Here, Dr. Graham further discusses NYU Langone's approach to innovation, which he describes as a team sport: "It thrives at the in- tersection of knowledge domains where cre- ative collisions foster idea exchange," he said. Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edit- ed for length and clarity. Question: What does innovation look like at NYU Langone Health? What are your goals and priorities for your role? Dr. omas J. Graham: At NYU Langone Health, innovation is an enterprise imperative. Putting ideas to work is the responsibility of all of our caregivers from across our entire system. Our goal is to leverage our creative culture to improve and extend human life while providing economic opportunity for the individuals and communities we serve. Several years ago, I coined the term "val- ue-based innovation." What that means is NYU Langone is solving big problems for large populations in faster and more efficient ways, and exercising fiscal responsibility and sensitivity to ultimate cost. We've shown that, contrary to popular be- lief, innovation does not increase the cost of healthcare. It's incumbent on innovation leaders to consistently emphasize and defend this fact. We have to show that innovation de- livers the margin of difference to address the modern challenges related to access, outcome experience and cost. e goal I have is for NYU Langone Health to maintain a culture of creativity and be the premier laboratory to develop and deploy the types of novel advancements that stem from the "virtuous cycle" — taking innovations from the bedside or laboratory bench to real- ity in order to help patients. Q: What are some barriers to health- care innovation? How do you over- come these obstacles? TG: First, we need to remind everyone in the ecosystem that innovation is hard: It's nonlinear, long to success and fraught with failure. Oen, it's as much about the journey as the result. I believe that there are two major barriers that innovation leaders must recognize and strive to overcome if they are to champion a culture of creative thought at their institutions. e biggest barrier is that resources and pa- tience can run out before an adequate inno- vation architecture is established or the full force of becoming a "high innovation envi- ronment" can be demonstrated. You see some Viewpoint: Lack of EHR interoperability keeps fax machines alive in hospitals By Jackie Drees F ax machines have remained an integral way for hospitals and health systems to securely exchange patient health data in lieu of proficient in- teroperability between different EHR systems, according to Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine. In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Dr. Minor argued that despite new tech- nology advances in medicine, EHR interoperability has yet to increase. "In a world where the Apple Watch is being deployed in medical studies, why do we still rely on a clunky beige box that peaked in popularity around the same time as the Walkman?" Dr. Minor wrote. He attributed the prevalence of fax machines to the abundance of siloed in- formation in healthcare. Siloed information prohibits hospitals and healthcare organizations from electronically sharing information, which created a medical environment that over relies on faxes, mailing information and requiring pa- tients to deliver their paper records from one provider to the next. In addition to providing a way to work around lack of EHR interoperability, fax machines also feature easier-use interfaces and targeted information as opposed to data overload, Dr. Minor wrote. However, to finally abandon the use of fax machines in healthcare, EHR systems must enhance vendor-wide standardization and interfaces. n

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