Celebrating Sister Carol Keehan – A Career in Health Care Based in Faith

For the past 14 years, Sister Carol Keehan has led one of the largest hospital groups in the nation – the Catholic Health Association (CHA). Sister Carol has met with the Pope and cut deals with the President of the United States. Her career spans more than 50 years - from working in a children’s hospital in Florida to CEO of the CHA. She has been a key leader in health care policy decisions. On the eve of her retirement, Chip and Sister Carol share stories about how the health care delivery system has changed over the years, the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the importance of universal coverage.

The Importance of Health Care Interoperability with Ed Cantwell

While most other industries have made the transition from analog to digital, the US health care system has lagged behind. Ed Cantwell, the CEO of the Center for Medical Interoperability, talks to Chip about what his team is doing to drive plug-and-play interoperability among vital medical devices. Plus - they discuss the importance improving caregivers’ access to electronic health records, something that ultimately improves outcomes for patients and saves lives.

Going Beyond the Four Hospital Walls – HCA Healthcare’s Sam Hazen Discusses Future of Patient Care

Patient care is changing. No longer do you need to be within the four walls of the hospital to receive high quality care from your doctor. From free standing emergency rooms to outpatient clinics - Your community hospital is bringing care to you. In this episode, Sam and Chip discuss how hospitals are extending their reach into neighborhoods and rapidly becoming much more dynamic places to receive care. It is all part of a growing effort to meet patient expectations of having the best care, close to home.

Training a New Generation of America’s Doctors – How HCA Healthcare is Changing the Graduate Medical Education Landscape

HCA Healthcare is already the largest provider of graduate medical education in the country and it has plans to keep growing the program – doubling it in size in the next few years. Dr. Michael Cuffe, President of the Physician Services Group at HCA Healthcare, is in charge of training the next generation of doctors. Listen in as he and Chip talk about how they are preparing our physicians to treat patients with tomorrow’s medicine.

David Vandewater Discusses How Partnerships are Improving Health Care for Americans

As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers. David Vandewater, President and CEO of Ardent Health Services explores how the company is forming partnerships with other hospitals and health systems to better serve patients. These partnerships are ensuring access to high quality health care for communities across the country. Listen in as he and Chip talk about how hospital partnerships are key to improving health care for patients and essential for bringing new doctors and jobs to communities.

Ron Rittenmeyer Discusses How Hospitals are Changing the Continuum of Care

Right care, right time, right place – it’s something that Ron Rittenmeyer, Executive Chairman and CEO of Tenet Healthcare thinks about a lot. Hospitals are changing and patients have more options than ever on where they want to receive care. In this episode, Chip dives in with Ron on why Tenet Healthcare is focusing on the new ways they are able to deliver care to patients. Free standing emergency departments, outpatient departments, and urgent care centers are filling needs in communities coast to coast because like Ron says, not everything needs to be done at a hospital. Listen in to find out how hospitals are integrating these settings into the continuum of care for patients and raising the quality of care in the process.

Bill Carpenter Discusses Advances, Challenges in Rural Health Care

While more than 90% of the United States is considered rural, only about 20% of our population calls it home. The people in rural America face unique challenges when accessing health care like extreme distances and, in certain areas, severe weather events. In this episode, LifePoint Health’s Chairman and CEO Bill Carpenter talks with Chip about the creative ways their hospitals are overcoming the obstacles. They discuss how LifePoint is achieving its core mission of keeping people healthy and providing high quality health care. Ultimately, as Bill says, all patients deserve the same level of care regardless of their zip code.

This episode also coincides with the Federation of American Hospitals’ Rural Hospital Week. Please help us #StandUp4RuralHospitals and the people they serve by using our hashtag and sharing your story of care.

Mike Wargo Discusses How Hospitals are Preparing for Emergencies

From natural disasters to human tragedies, community hospitals have to be ready for anything and everything. Health care and hospitals especially have a role in every disaster that faces our country. In this episode, HCA Healthcare’s Mike Wargo, VP of Enterprise Preparedness and Emergency Operations sits with Chip in their brand new Emergency Operations Center in Nashville, TN.  They discuss how hospitals are preparing for everything from major weather events like Hurricane Michael to man-made disasters like electrical grid failures. After our original conversation with Mike in August, two major storms hit the US so we reached out to him again to talk about HCA Healthcare's response. Those stories of incredible cooperation are included in this episode.

Take a look at HCA Healthcare’s Emergency Operations Center in action during Hurricane Florence: https://www.facebook.com/HCACare/videos/274748799807478/

For additional information on how HCA Healthcare responded to Hurricane Michael click here: https://hcatodayblog.com/2018/10/11/hurricane-michael-updates/

Dr. Jonathan Perlin Discusses How Patients Benefit from the Use of Big Data

Medicine, technology, and data science have merged in the 21^st century. Using big data, hospitals and machines have come together to achieve better health outcomes for patients. In this episode, Chip talks with Dr. Jonathan Perlin, CMO and President of Clinical Services at HCA. They discuss how HCA’s size and scale is helping to collect, analyze and act on the wealth of information being collected in the hospital.

Stuart Altman Discusses the Future of Hospitals

Rapidly changing technology and turbulent politics are having a big effect on the health care industry – especially hospitals. The type of care that patients receive and where it is administered is evolving.  Health care financing and policies are also in constant flux. In part two of their discussion, Chip and Stuart Altman, a health care economist and professor at Brandeis University, look to the future of community hospitals.