Permanente physician leaders on the future of health care delivery

Two Permanente physician leaders recently shared with Becker’s Health IT their insights on how technological innovation and the accelerated adoption of value-based care will transform the future of health care delivery. 

Nolan Chang, MD, executive vice president of Strategy, Corporate Development, and Finance for The Permanente Federation and Stephen Parodi, MD, executive vice president of External Affairs, Communications and Brand at The Permanente Federation, both highlighted how value-based care and new technology will shift how and where care is delivered. 

Redefining the future of health care delivery

Dr. Chang said the shift to value-based care will focus on patients engaging more in their health care outside the traditional medical office building. In this situation, the “value” in value-based care refers to greater convenience for people living busy lives. Meeting their health needs by providing care at home or remotely through telehealth both improves patient satisfaction and emphasizes positive health outcomes — while making care more accessible and affordable.   

Related value-based care podcast: Evolution in value-based care and its impact on medicine

“Today, both disruptors and traditional players are still figuring out the right mix of virtual and face-to-face care,” he said. “The future will rely more on asynchronous care, powered by big data, AI, machine learning, and more, while also creating capacity for providers to be available to those who need a higher level of care.”

Over the next decade, Dr. Chang added, “social determinants of health, AI, and technology will converge to create new opportunities and redefine what caring for a patient looks like.” Dr. Chang also serves as regional medical director for business management for Southern California Permanente Medical Group. 

Related innovation story: Less desktop, more bedside: Using augmented intelligence to accelerate health care innovation 

Value-based care, which rewards healthy outcomes and clinician performance as an alternative to traditional fee-for-service care, is widely seen as the future model of care delivery in the U.S. Dr. Parodi said he expects adoption of value-based care to continue accelerating as health plans, physicians, employers, and the government increasingly embrace it.  

“Innovative technologies and processes will play critical roles in this transition as health care organizations move to providing greater access and delivering more care into patients’ homes, shift to team-based care models, and increasingly focus on data-driven, evidence-based medicine,“ Dr. Parodi said. Dr. Parodi is also executive vice president, External Affairs and Corporate Development, and associate executive director, The Permanente Medical Group. “I fully expect that the health care workforce’s efforts will be amplified and augmented by artificial intelligence whether it is ambient or generative applications.” 

Earlier this year, Permanente Medical Groups started rolling out ambient listening AI to help physicians write their clinic visit notes. This technology helps give physicians more face-to-face time with patients and reduces time spent on administrative tasks after hours.  

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