The CX Leader Podcast: "Putting the Humanity Back Into the Patient Experience": Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Download the “The CX Leader Podcast: "Putting the Humanity Back Into the Patient Experience" audio file directly.

The CX Leader Podcast: "Putting the Humanity Back Into the Patient Experience": this wav audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Steve:
Tell me if this sounds familiar. You go to the doctor, they see you in for about 5 minutes, give you a prescription, then you're done. No frills, no nonsense, just a visit. But what if we empowered our doctors to do more?

Jamey:
We're actually doing work that matters at the end of the day. And we believe and we know that we're actually saving lives by identifying issues before they become so problematic that our patients end up having lots of issues and end up in the hospital.

Steve:
Let's explore a new way of putting the humanity into the patient experience on this episode of The CX Leader Podcast.

Announcer:
The CX Leader Podcast with Steve Walker is produced by Walker, an experience management firm that helps our clients accelerate their success. You can find out more at walkerinfo.com.

Steve:
Hello, everyone. I'm Steve Walker, host of The CX Leader Podcast and I'm glad you're listening. It's never been a better time to be a CX leader and we explore topics and themes to help leaders like you deliver amazing experiences for your customer. Health care in the United States is a complex and often divisive topic, with some health care companies focused on the bottom line, family practitioners can get overwhelmed and have little time to develop relationships with their patients. So when a company comes along and says there is a better way for doctors to spend their time and provide better care, in other words, putting the humanity back into the experience, then it's definitely worth exploring. Well, I'm very excited about my guests today on the podcast. Jamey Lutz is the managing director for brand and service excellence at ChenMed, a health care company specializing in serving moderate to low income seniors on Medicare Advantage. Jamey, welcome to The CX Leader Podcast.

Jamey:
Steve, I am extremely excited to be with you today and have been looking forward to this for some time.

Steve:
Well, I really appreciate you coming on the show. This is obviously a topic that's of incredible importance and it's very contemporary today, and I'm pretty familiar with the ChenMed story and you as well. But we always like to start with just a little bit of your journey to become a CX pro. Just give us a little bit of your background and how you ended up with your position at ChenMed.

Jamey:
Of course. And thanks again for the opportunity. Steve. So I've been very blessed over the course of my career to work in many different industries. But the sandbox in which I played in has been very similar, so it's always been around customer service, patient experience. I have spent time with organizations and culture, employee engagement and honestly was prior to joining ChenMed was working for a commercial bank in the bucket area here in the Atlanta area and was extremely happy, was not looking for another opportunity. And someone introduced me to to ChenMed and ultimately turned into an opportunity. The thing that has compelled and been most fascinating to me about ChenMed is, is the purpose behind what we do and the opportunity to work with an organization that's committed to really serving the underserved in in a way that delivers VIP service in an exceptional way. It it went from I don't know that I'm interested to I don't think I can resist joining this company. So it's been a great little over two years with ChenMed and I'm really looking forward to talking to you more about our culture and our and our purpose.

Steve:
So this is your first foray into the health care space?

Jamey:
It is. And as I mentioned before, I've been in started my career in professional sports, in customer service and then was with Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company for four or five years, had a couple of stints with them and have been in the mortgage industry, have been in executive training, consulting, and ultimately made my way, as you said, for the first time in the health care. And it's been an amazing journey so far.

Steve:
Actually. I think this is one of the really neat evolutions that's going on, is that, you know, heretofore most health care companies were very health care centric and biased. But today, a lot more health care companies are reaching outside of the health care industry and bringing some of that thought leadership from other markets back into it. So your story is indeed an intriguing one. Tell us a little more about the ChenMed business model. Again, I'm you know, until I met you guys, I was as a small business owner and now a Medicare recipient myself. I have a lot of interest in this topic. But, you know, until I ran across ChenMed, I didn't really know that such an opportunity existed.

Jamey:
Exactly. Steve And I didn't either until I ran into ChenMed. So we are a full risk organization that's called value based. And so we cater specifically to Medicare Advantage senior citizens. So that is our absolute sweet spot. And unlike many or most health care organizations that are based upon a fee for service model, ours is based upon delivering results. Again, it's called value based. And you know, Steve, I would equate it to there's a story I heard before I joined the company that really epitomizes kind of what our organization's all about. And it's it's the story and you may have heard it, of two men that were on the banks of a river and they saw a child coming down the river that was on the brink of drowning. So, of course, they they jumped in to save the child. And as soon as they saved the child, another person came down the river and it became repeated over and over again to the point of exhaustion. And one of the gentlemen finally took off upstream or downstream and said, you know, and the other person said, What's going on? Why are you leaving here by me, here by myself? And he said, I'm going upstream to take care of the person that's throwing these kids into the river. And that's really a great metaphor, I think, for what we do. It's we don't get paid if we don't show results, if we don't keep our patients out of the hospital, then then we lose money. And so we have to develop rapport and trust with our patients in order to understand and identify what their underlying issues are. And so it's built upon trust. We don't get paid for individual diagnostics or services. We actually encourage those because that gives us the ability to to identify probable issues before they become problematic.

Steve:
So this really is a wellness concierge model, really.

Jamey:
It really is. And it's it's a concierge model for people that are really underserved, that are from very poor and, you know, often left out communities. And that's one of the reasons, Steve, that it's so interesting to me is because we're actually doing work that matters at the end of the day. And we believe and we know that we're actually saving lives by identifying issues before they become so problematic that our that our patients end up having lots of issues and end up in the in the hospital.

Steve:
Yeah, we were talking off the air to prep a little bit, but for people that can afford it, you know, concierge health care really is a is a great thing. Your doctor can spend more time with you and there's great causality and correlation between education, income and health outcomes. And it seems like ChenMed has figured out a way to deliver that to the masses. Is that correct?

Jamey:
Absolutely. You know, and one of the ways it's easy to say, hey, spend more time with your patients, develop trust and rapport with them. But if you've got a huge panel size, that becomes kind of challenging to do. And so our model is different in that, you know, our PCPs would probably max out around 400 panel size, and that gives them the opportunity to get to know the patients better. And we actually encourage our patients to come in at least once a month, depending on their underlying issues or chronic conditions. We may have them come in as much as, you know, once or twice a week. But we're able to do that because our PCP ups are not so overwhelmed with such large panel sizes and the PCP and the remaining staff within our centers, which we call care teams, those care teams are trained and are built for building relationships. We don't see it, Steve, as transactional. We see it as deeply relational.

Steve:
Yeah, And you guys have figured out how to make this economically viable, right?

Jamey:
Exactly. Exactly. And, you know, the reality is, if we don't get it right, then we will not make money as an organization. And the only way that you're going to get it right is if you develop that rapport and that trust with your patients and that they know that if they follow doctor's guidance that their health outcomes are going to be improved, that that's how you ensure that this model works, because you've got a group of patients that we love and love us in return.

Steve:
Yeah, well, I'm always so grateful to do this show because it it gives me hope. And this is a perfect example of that that I think we've always known that wellness and preventative health care is the right solution. But actually the folks at ChenMed are starting to prove it and it is a much more humane way to deliver health care. So you talked about frequency of visit as opposed to trying to keep them out of the office. It is a relationship. So it's not just, hey, I'm here for this symptom, but I'm treating my overall health on an ongoing basis. I suppose there's telehealth so that you don't have to go in if you don't need to?

Jamey:
Exactly. And you know, as with many organizations during the COVID outbreak, we went… We significantly changed the our ability and our capabilities to conduct those those remote telehealth experiences, appointments over over the computer. And it's it's been amazing. You know, one of the things that I also like about our company, Steve, is that it's very technologically enabled. So we have we were able to really quickly transition from a primarily in center appointment model to highly remote. Now we've transitioned back largely, but we we absolutely leverage that and are continuing to leverage it on an as needed basis.

Steve:
Yeah. And I guess sort of underlying all this is the ability to establish a deeper, more meaningful, trusting relationship not only for the patient but also for the doc, because they're not overwhelmed with such a huge panel. So you you actually really do end up having a relationship with your doctor. It's almost kind of a throwback to the old days.

Jamey:
It is. It harkens back to kind of the community based health care from many, many years ago, villages.

Steve:
Where there was one doctor in the.

Jamey:
Exactly. Exactly. And we're very, very meticulous about obviously, our our providers are technically sound very, very technically sound. But we also want to make sure that they're the type of people that that want to have those deep relationships with our patients. And so that's really, really important that they're not just a they're not just a capability match, but also a cultural match, too.

Steve:
My guest on the podcast this week is Jamey Lutz. He is the managing director for Brand and Service Excellence at ChenMed, a health care company that specializes in serving moderate to low income seniors who use Medicare Advantage. And we are having a fascinating discussion about what I hope is the future of health care here in this country. And fantastic case study. You know, this is The CX Leader Podcast, Jamey, So I know that our listeners are just dying to kind of know how you as the brand and customer experience, patient experience guy at ChenMed, how do you ensure that the feedback loops and that the business model, while being financially sound and technology enabled, is also delivering the kind of results that you want for for both the docs and the and the patients?

Jamey:
Yeah, and as I mentioned earlier, Steve, in many respects we're a technology company as well as a health care organization. And so we are very, very committed to understanding and constantly hearing the voice of our patients. And we do that through a lot of the familiar channels that other organizations do with surveys and focus groups and interviews, etc. But most importantly is, is our commitment to acting upon what we're hearing and identifying key issues and themes, and then conducting root cause analysis to make sure that we're addressing those issues. We refer to the delivery of patient experience as VIP service, and VIP service to us is is not just about going through the motions, but it truly is about transformative care and creating an environment where our patients find us, you know, irresistible. That's what we're after. And again, knowing those relationships are extremely helpful in terms of getting the outcomes that both we want and of course our patients want.

Steve:
Do you like think like a lot of health care companies, you have a very complex stakeholder system, so you're obviously dealing with Medicare. Then there's also the supplemental companies in there probably, right?

Jamey:
Yes, absolutely. And so, you know, our partnerships are are closely aligned with the insurers or the payers with which we partner with. And so as a as a value based company, again. We have to prove those positive outcomes. And if we don't organize and and run our organization in a way that's not fully focused on patient centricity, then we're not going to be successful. And so our as you can imagine, our payers, we have great relationships with them because they know that we're working on behalf of our patients as well, so…

Steve:
Initially, was that a tough sell to the payers?

Jamey:
I was not there at that time, Steve, but my understanding and from what I've heard and read, it was very much a tough sell…

Steve:
Yeah.

Jamey:
…because so many organizations have done it to some success, but most have not fully committed to that value based. Many organizations have kind of a blended approach, but we're in it 100% because we we believe it's the it's the way to transform lives in a way that everyone wins, not just our patients, of course, but but we also win. And so do our so our payers.

Steve:
Yeah, it's again, I'm I'm so delighted to see this happening because to me, this is, you know, really revolutionary in health care. And with your background and sort of how you're describing the program, you know, you're not just talking about HIPAA and and what's the name of the surveys that you get? Oh.

Jamey:
Yes. Yeah. HCaps. Yes.

Steve:
Yeah. Give me my reimbursement. You know, you're talking about closing the loop and making sure that the outcomes are getting there and the value based. So it's a it is a fantastic and fascinating model. Can you talk a little bit without any trade secrets about some of the success you've had or just in sort of in general terms of how this has evolved?

Jamey:
Sure. And, you know, part of what I do is I manage kind of the day to day feedback loop. So in a lot of the surveying that we do and we've been able to to reach and maintain extremely kind of industry wide leadership benchmarks in terms of our overall service. So as an example, you know, our ability to effectively listen to our patients, we know that's one of the top drivers of of their likelihood to return and and their likelihood to recommend. And we've really, really focused on those key items that we know at the end of the day are most important to our patients. And so just those metrics that we're constantly kind of keeping a pulse of, we like to what we refer to as kind of immerse ourselves in patient feedback. And that's part of what I get to be involved with every day, is looking for opportunities where maybe we're not performing up to our standards and addressing those with other areas of the organization to ensure that we get up to speed. So we've been able to garner a lot of great outcomes over time, some of which have been published and some of which have not. But to us, you know, data is one thing, but if we're not actually actively acting on it and looking to improve the experience we're providing for our patients, then we're really missing the boat. So without getting into a lot of things, I really can't talk about that, I would just say that based upon the ongoing feedback and and that we get from our patients, both from a kind of developing a story repository of great ways that we've impacted patients, but also the data. And then acting upon that data has been really, really critical for us to help us continue to to keep moving the baseline higher and higher.

Steve:
I'm just so fascinated with this now that I'm learning more and more about it through our discussion. But I want to go back to the fact that the patients think that they're being effectively listened to. So much of that is missing in sort of the day to day health care delivery, where it just it just doesn't feel like anybody's kind of in charge of the deal. And this model not only puts the PCP in charge, but I think it also helps put the patient in charge, too, because of that feedback loop. And it really is a much more human way of going about it because, you know, you're building that trust and the patient is, I think, empowered to talk and encourage to communicate with the doc and then vice versa.

Jamey:
100%. And as you know, Steve, it's one thing to hear, it's another thing to really listen. And we've again, we hire providers that have an affinity for really effective listening and that bedside manner, that warm bedside manner. But we also trained to it because there's a there's an art to that as an example in terms of listening and that that eye contact and the responding to or paraphrasing what you've heard. And that again instills that trust. So that to your point earlier, you know, patients feel more comfortable sharing things that they may not have felt comfortable sharing related to their health. And so it's a it's a virtuous cycle. If you if you demonstrate effective listening, then our patients are going to be more apt to listen and also be more apt to open up.

Steve:
Yeah. The other thing I'm struck by, too, and I think some of this is is just, you know, what we've been talking about with the evolution of patient experience in the health care system. But, you know, for 20 years in the more commercial space, I have observed that rarely do you see a successful company and unhappy employees and unhappy customers. There is alignment here. And in the old days it used to be like, Well, I know how to make the customers happy, lower the price.

Jamey:
Yeah.

Steve:
No, they want value. They want an experience. And I think that's what ChenMed is proving now here in the, you know, in the primary patient care, particularly for people that are income constrained, that you can get those things aligned. So again, it it's sort of one of those laws of the universe that I think does occur there. It isn't a zero sum game. It is It's a matter of alignment and transparency and making sure that you're doing the right things. And so congratulations to you and ChenMed for figuring this out. And, you know, I can only imagine the positive impact this is going to have on our overall health care system here in the US.

Jamey:
Well, we'll thank you, Steve. And you're exactly right. I mean, we believe in the old kind of service profit chain model that if I'm not happy as an employee, if I don't find purpose and passion in what I'm doing, then why why would I go out of my way to provide that great service and experience to someone else? And so we've been very blessed to to bring on board so many people that truly have a love and compassion for the people that we serve. And I think it shows in our outcomes.

Steve:
I've learned a lot. Jamey, so really appreciate you coming on the podcast. But we've reached that point of the podcast where I ask every guest for their take home value. That's a one tip or or technique that our CX pros could take from your podcast and go back and improve what they're doing in their programs or in their lives. So Jamey Lutz, what's your take home value for this week's podcast?

Jamey:
Well, thanks, Steve. And at the risk of being redundant for us, it really is all about trust. And if you think about it, in any relationship, health care or otherwise, if you don't have trust of the person that you're interacting with, if you don't develop that trust, you really don't have a whole lot. It becomes transactional versus we're looking to create transformational change in our patients and in their health. And so I can't overemphasize the importance of our providers and our care teams in working with our patients to let them know that they are truly loved. One of our core values as an organization is love, and we truly believe in that. And if we demonstrate that love for our patients, then they're they're going to be more likely to to trust us and to follow the advice of our doctors. And ultimately, again, everyone wins at the end of the day. So if you could do one thing as it relates to patient experience is develop that that deep seated love and trust with your patients. And we all know you don't create that in a single visit. It happens over time. And that's what we we focus on as is really getting to know our patients from a human centered perspective, which is what you mentioned before, not transactional, but very relational and ultimately transformational.

Steve:
Very well put. What could be more human than love? And, you know, we don't talk about that a lot in the business environment. But I think I think the time has come, and particularly in the business that you folks are in it. ChenMed So thank you for being on the program. Hey, if anybody would want to continue the conversation, can they find you on LinkedIn or any other contact?

Jamey:
Yeah. Yes, you can. You can find me on LinkedIn under Jamey Lutz. You can also reach me at ChenMed. So jamey.lutz@chenmed.com. And I also have a personal website that you can reach out to me at any time. It's jameylutz.com.

Steve:
Hey, Jamey Lutz is the managing director for brand and Service excellence at ChenMed. I hope you enjoyed this podcast as much as I did. And check them out. Check out ChenMed, check out jameylutz.com and really very, very nice to have you again, Jamey. Thanks for being on the show.

Jamey:
Steve, pleasure's all mine. Thank you so much for for the opportunity.

Steve:
And if you want to talk about anything else you heard on this podcast or about how Walker can help your business' customer experience, feel free to email me here at podcast@walkerinfo.com. Remember to give The CX Leader Podcast a rating through your podcast service and give us a review. Your feedback will help us improve the show and deliver the best possible value for you, our listener. And by the way, did you know we have a blog? That's right. You can find a ton of CX related content on our blog at walkerinfo.com/blog. Be sure to check out our website cxleaderpodcast.com to subscribe to the show, find all of our previous episodes, podcast series and contact information. You can drop us a note, let us know how we're doing, or suggest an idea for a future program. The CX Leader Podcast is a production of Walker. We're an experience management firm that helps companies accelerate their XM success. You can read more about us at walkerinfo.com. Thank you for listening. And remember, it's a great time to be a CX leader. So go out there and build trust in your relationships and love your stakeholders and we will see you again next time.

Sonix is the world’s most advanced automated transcription, translation, and subtitling platform. Fast, accurate, and affordable.

Automatically convert your wav files to text (txt file), Microsoft Word (docx file), and SubRip Subtitle (srt file) in minutes.

Sonix has many features that you’d love including automated translation, world-class support, enterprise-grade admin tools, advanced search, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.