Podcast: The intersection of information technology and health care

Former Salesforce CMO Geeta Nayyar, MD, explores digital transformation in health care

The last few years have marked a period of historic growth for innovation in medicine. Rapid acceleration in telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and vaccine research underscores the vital role technology plays in advancing health care.

In this episode of the Permanente Medicine Podcast, host Chris Grant, chief operating officer of The Permanente Federation, looks at the relationship between information technology and health care coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how progress in this space can help drive high-quality care and improved outcomes.

Joining him on the podcast is Geeta Nayyar, MD, who at the time of this recording was senior vice president and chief medical officer for Salesforce, a cloud-based software company whose platform is used by more than 150,000 companies worldwide. In her role with Salesforce, Dr. Nayyar connected North American health systems to technology that empowers hospitals, enhances the work of physicians, and improves patient care.

An internal medicine physician specializing in rheumatology, Dr. Nayyar has been named to Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s Most Influential Women in IT list, Fierce Healthcare’s Women of Influence Award, and Becker’s Hospital Review’s Movers and Shakers list.

Dr. Nayyar says the current state of rapid innovation in health care, while exciting, has also exposed areas where the industry can improve. She encourages business leaders to ask critical questions of their organizations to ensure issues spotlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic do not resurface.

“The question you have to be asking yourself is ‘how do I bolster my infrastructure?’” Dr. Nayyar says. “How do you integrate in a way that is seamless both to the patient and the physicians and nurses.”

Related story: “Permanente physician leaders share how technology helps heal health care disparities”

Technology will play a pivotal role in how patients receive care moving forward.

– Geeta Nayyar, MD

In this episode

2:08 Dr. Nayyar’s path to leadership and understanding the language of business

4:22 Navigating the shift from patient care to medical consulting

7:05 Accelerating innovation during the pandemic and exposing systemic dysfunction

10:48 How to deliver personalized medicine

15:04 How involving clinicians in electronic health record system development avoids burnout

18:30 Using technology to address social determinants of health

21:10 How to curb misinformation in health care

25:35 Building a hospital brand and creating a quality patient experience

On Twitter, connect with Dr. Nayyar at @gnayyar and Grant at @cmgrant.

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