Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Greg Townsend, Vice President of Business Intelligence and Analytics, Commonwealth Care Alliance

Today’s guest is Greg Townsend, the Vice President of Business Intelligence and Analytics at Commonwealth Care Alliance in Boston. Greg’s path to leadership in health analytics traces the coming of age of analytics in health care. Greg’s educational background began in public health working with disease management and health promotion, which led him to roles in risk management and quality improvement, two fields that rely heavily on data. These early roles helped him develop the skill set that he uses today to support the Commonwealth Care Alliance’s mission of providing health care to some of Massachusetts’ most needy citizens. The podcast concludes with Greg’s thoughts on leadership and his advice to people who are interested in entering the field of health analytics. An abridged version of the interview that focuses only on Greg’s work at Commonwealth Care Alliance is also available.

Links to the Podcast:
Anchor: 
Unabridged: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Greg-Townsend--VP-of-Business-Intelligence-and-Analytics--Commonwealth-Care-Alliance-egra63               
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/greg-townsend-vp-of-business-intelligence-and/id981989377?i=1000354725112

Podcast Outline:

Time
Topic
0:01:31
Educational background, college internships
0:03:11
Moving to North Carolina after college, initial jobs
0:05:12
Preventive health work at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
0:07:00
Defining “disease management” and its history
0:08:28
Lessons learned from first jobs
0:10:22
Quality Improvement work at Harvard Pilgrim
0:13:37
Performance Improvement work at Elliot Health System
0:15:20
The role of the Joint Commission in accreditation
0:17:25
Other responsibilities at Elliot Health System
0:20:26
Leadership lessons learned at Elliot
0:24:52
Performance Improvement/Evaluation work at Tufts New England Medical Center
0:29:49
The importance and process of prioritizing
0:31:19
Quality Management work at Health Dialogue Analytics Solutions
0:34:30
“Unwarranted variation” in health care
0:36:07
Work in health analytics prior to HDAS
0:37:55
Tools used in health analytics
0:38:56
How prior work experiences contributed to knowledge in health analytics
0:39:52
Clinical partnerships work at Accretive Health and work on reimbursable codes with providers and CMS
0:45:04
Business Intelligence work at Commonwealth Care Alliance
0:47:28
Working with dually eligible patients (Medicare & Medicaid) and the importance of primary care
0:50:48
Assembling a primary care team through CCA
0:52:08
Work with capitated payments in healthcare
0:54:15
Lack of access to care for Medicare and Medicaid patients, the importance of home health care
0:56:06
Integration of specialty and inpatient care into capitated payments
0:56:41
Teamwork in healthcare and home health evaluations
0:59:17
Greg’s role, responsibilities at CCA
1:00:43
Problems solved using health analytics
1:02:28
Products created using health analytics
1:04:40
Difference between and use of “predictive” and “prescriptive” analytics
1:06:52
Evolution of analytics and its integration into health decision making
1:08:15
Challenges faced in the implementation of health analytics
1:10:11
The future of health analytics and its integration into health care
1:11:40
Personal leadership philosophy
1:13:28
Personal mentors in leadership
1:15:21
What to look for when hiring leaders
1:16:36
The role of a good mentor
1:18:17
Who looks to you as a mentor?
1:19:36
Advice for those interested in health analytics


Links to Topics Discussed:

Commonwealth Care Alliance





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Thanks to Sameer Panasar for production assistance.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Robert Mach, Executive Director for Operations, Littleton Regional Healthcare


Today’s guest is Robert Mach, the Executive Director of Operations for Littleton Regional Healthcare, and the New Hampshire Regent for the American College of Healthcare Executives. Robert has had a fascinating career starting out as an air traffic controller for the US Marine Corps, then transitioning to health care initially as a radiology technician, and working his way up into the executive ranks by, as he puts it, “putting his hand up.” In the podcast, Robert talks about his career, then shares some thoughts about his role as Regent and why ACHE is an important organization for an early careerist to consider becoming a member of.


Links to the Podcast:
Stitcher: https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?af_dp=stitcher://episode/40678901&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/40678901
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/robert-mach-executive-director-of-operations/id981989377?i=1000353701553


Time
Topic
1:16-14:04
Early Career and transition to healthcare – Marine Corps Aviation to Radiology Technology and Administration
14:05-20:11
Coming to Littleton Regional Healthcare, about the facility
20:12-34:57
Career at Littleton – progression from administrator to executive staff
34:58-48:51
Leadership and Mentorship
48:52-55:31
ACHE and being the New Hampshire Regent
55:32-59:54
Advice to new careerists


Links to Topics Discussed:

Littleton Regional Healthcare

American College of Healthcare Executives

Northern New England Association of Healthcare Executives

Marine Corps Aviation

Rutland Regional Medical Center









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