EP283: Your Telehealth Success May Be a Launchpad for Health System Innovation and Human-centered Health Care, With Sylvia Romm, MD, MPH, Chief Innovation Officer at Atlantic Health System

In this Episode 283, Stacey Richter talks with Sylvia Romm, MD, MPH, chief innovation officer at Atlantic Health System, about why telehealth success can be a launchpad for broader health system innovation and human-centered health care.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

✅ What "human-centered health care" means, and how it borrows from customer-centered design

✅ How data can be folded into a more human-centered approach without losing the human touch

✅ How human-centered health care fits into the quadruple aim

✅ Why organizations need to understand the "why" behind an innovation initiative for it to succeed

✅ Why telehealth can be the first practical step toward deeper health system innovation

WHY THIS MATTERS

Sylvia Romm coined the term "human-centered health care" to describe what happens when health systems apply customer-centered design thinking to the patient and provider experience — removing friction points and building a continuum of care people actually want to engage with. Recorded just before COVID-19 hit, this conversation reframes telehealth not as an endpoint but as a first successful proof point that health systems can build on toward more human-centered innovation. Romm's take: the health systems that had already gotten telehealth right had a real head start on the deeper organizational change management this kind of innovation requires.

=== LINKS ===

🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: Episode Page

🔗 Healthcare Industry Acronyms and Terms

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00:00 Introduction.

02:18 How Dr. Romm's background in research, public policy, and being a pediatric hospitalist intertwine to create great innovation strategies.

03:22 "How do we look at populations?"

03:31 "It's really about affecting the system in its entirety."

04:33 What human-centered health care means.

06:36 "You're only as effective as the rapport that you build with [this] person."

08:05 "What do people really need … but also, what do they find valuable?"

09:42 How data are folded into human-centered health care.

11:55 "The endgame is to figure out … how to have a better experience."

12:39 How this fits into the quadruple aim.

17:19 "We are going to have to earn and learn agility."

19:38 What has the most promise in deepening the connection between patients and providers.

20:32 "Is this about you, and how do we know … how people outside feel about creating a relationship?"

23:29 Is there a best practice for furthering the patient/doctor relationship from afar?

24:24 The need for a variety of approaches to patient/doctor connections.

27:30 What innovation initiatives need to be successful.

28:07 "People have to understand the 'why.'"

29:38 The classic tenets of change management.

30:02 A challenge Dr. Romm is proud of having solved.

31:56 Secret weapon: collaboration.