Becker's Hospital Review

108 108 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP 4 questions with Kevin Conroy, CFO and chief population health officer at CareMount Medical By Virginia Egizio K evin Conroy serves as CFO and chief population health officer at CareMount Medical in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Becker's spoke with Mr. Conroy as part of an ongoing series that highlights healthcare leaders who are speaking or have spoke at our virtual events. Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for style and clarity. Question: What are the three top concerns for hospitals and health systems this year? Kevin Conroy: First and foremost, hospitals and health systems must look at how they are dealing with the pandemic and what they may need to do to address the aermath. As we move past the initial crisis, organizations must also consider what must be done to prepare for a second surge, should one come. Healthcare leaders must also stay ahead of the curve in terms of growth and preserving the long-term financial sustainability of their organizations. Given the difficult economic cycle and market uncer- tainties, enterprises need to constantly look for opportunities to ex- pand partnerships with other provider groups and payers in order to achieve their top-line growth goals. Leaders must also adapt to expanding value-based reimbursement models and embrace a path to value that drives efficiencies in the de- livery of care. To create a more efficient healthcare delivery system, organizations must take on increased risk and find ways to trim costs. Q: What's one lesson you learned early in your career that has helped you lead in healthcare? KC: Early in my career, I learned the importance of identifying in- credible talent and allowing them to excel at what they do best. It's also critical to allow team members to be part of something larger and contribute to the enterprise's overall goals. Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your orga- nization's value-based initiatives or highlighted their im- portance? KC: We are determined more than ever to continue on our path to global capitation and participation in full risk models. While weath- ering the instability of the pandemic, one lesson we have learned is that the revenue streams are much more predictable under capitated systems than fee-for-service models. Prior to the pandemic, we were fully committed to value-based care through our Next Generation ACO. Our strategic plan has been to as- sume full risk under Medicare Advantage by 2022 and that currently remains unchanged. What may change over time is the exact timing for participation in more integrated value-based models with com- mercial populations, though we anticipate it will become part of the conversation sooner than later. We've also had a robust care coordination and communication system in place for our patients and have employed risk stratification models to determine the frequency and extent of our interactions with certain patient segments, such as those with chronic conditions. When our area became a hot spot in the U.S., we realized the need to pivot our focus and look at a targeted cohort of members to include the most vulnera- ble patients in our population. Because we already had the infrastruc- ture in place, we were able to quickly shi gears and use our analytics capabilities to rapidly identify our highest risk patients and increase our frequency of interactions with them. We also use Salesforce as part of our patient engagement strategy, which gave us an efficient mechanism to communicate with these patients sooner versus later. Conducting annual wellness visits is one of the pillars of value-based care, but for several weeks we were unable to see patients in the of- fice. We quickly expanded our telehealth capabilities so we could stay connected with patients. ough we were not always able to conduct wellness visits as entirely as we did in person, virtual visits allowed us to stay in touch with our patients. Q: If you could pass along one piece of advice to another hospital leader, what would it be? KC: While it might be cliché to say this, I'd advise other leaders to make sure their organizations are ready in the event of a resurgence of the pandemic or another pandemic. More broadly, I'd recommend that leaders work with other provid- ers in their healthcare ecosystems to take better care of patients in a more holistic way. In the future, it will be more important than ever to work with care providers across the spectrum – from home health, physician groups, acute care, rehab, or post-acute care. We must create networks with multiple providers, allowing us to efficiently share cur- rent patient information and facilitate smoother transitions of care. By working with other providers across the healthcare spectrum, we can improve cooperation and communication, which ultimately benefits our patients. n

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