Fabric's Chief Strategy Officer, Stefan Behrens, and Rush University Health System’s Senior Director of Digital Transformation, Ben Wolfe, for the launch of Rush Connect, sit down to address the critical issue of patient access. They highlight Rush's innovative approach, leveraging Isabella, their new AI assistant, for enhanced navigation and streamlined patient interactions. The conversation also delves into their comprehensive virtual care offerings, including virtual primary, urgent, and unique virtual specialty care for same-day or next-day appointments. This approach offers rapid connections with specialty-trained advanced practitioners, striving for access within hours rather than months. Sefan and Ben illustrate how Rush is implementing intelligent systems that broaden access and capacity, ultimately improving experiences and outcomes for both patients and providers.
Transcript
Stefan Behrens
Welcome, everybody. My name is Stefan Behrens. I'm the Chief Strategy Officer at Fabric, and today I have with me Ben Wolfe, Senior Director of Digital Transformation at Rush University Health System. Welcome, Ben.
Ben Wolfe
Thanks, Stefan. Happy to be here.
Stefan Behrens
Awesome. Rush has been long regarded as a leading national medical center. And now you're about to push the boundaries of traditional health care delivery models. Your Rush Connect program is fundamentally redefining access to care for your communities, leveraging AI powered navigation, next generation virtual care, making it easier and faster and more seamless for patients to get access. We're super excited to partner with you on this journey today. And I would love to learn more about the program and what it will mean for the communities in Chicago and beyond. So, maybe we start with the fundamental question, what was the original problem you tried to solve when you embarked on this journey?
Ben Wolfe
Yeah. Thanks. It's a good question. You know, Rush has a long history of clinical excellence, where we're known as a place where patients get great care. And we also have a deep commitment to the west side of Chicago, where we're based. Along with that, we've got a history of innovation, clinically and otherwise. And we're really proud to kind of build on that, that legacy and that history of innovation in the clinical space to think about how we attack some of the biggest problems in healthcare and when it relates to our Rush Connect and sort of digital strategy overall, we've really focused on access as one of the major problems that we've got to solve. And so we knew at the outset of our digital transformation strategy that we wanted to be really bold but also really pragmatic on solving that problem. And so the kind of the problem statement that we set out there for ourselves is, how do we offer the great care that Rush is known for that our patients and communities expect of Rush? But make it as convenient and as easy to access as some of these online disruptors that we all know and that many of us have used. Right, because they are so easy to access. So for us, it kind of boiled down into a sort of a mission statement of, you know, same day access in just a few taps, right? Whenever you are, wherever you are, we'll be there for you. And so that was kind of the guiding principle for the Rush Connect strategy.
Stefan Behrens
You mentioned you want to make it easier for your patients and communities to get access in a few taps. Who do you look to for inspiration?
Ben Wolfe
Yeah. You know, there are a lot of healthcare systems that are doing tremendous work in this space. But I think we really look at companies from other industries. Right. We look at the travel industry, the hospitality industry, certainly, you know, some of the healthcare disruptors as well that come from out of industry, like Amazon and others. So we take inspiration from all sorts of those companies. And I think what we've seen from them and what our patients are telling us that they see from those types of companies is a relentless focus on convenience. Right. If you can make it convenient and easy for me to do the right thing, I'm much more likely to do that right thing, whether it's managing my health, whether it's scheduling an appointment, whatever it might be. So I think those are some of the kinds of the gold standards that we look to out there that says, gee, you know, how is Amazon making it easier for patients to consume their clinical services? But also from, you know, the United Airlines of the world and the Hyatt Hotels of the world, how do they think about putting self-service and access to their services at their customers' fingertips? And I think we've learned a lot and tried to bake some of that into the Rush connect strategy.
Stefan Behrens
Yeah. Awesome. Tell us a little bit more about Rush Connect. Can you explain in a few words what it is, who it is for, and what kind of experience you're designing for your patients?
Ben Wolfe
Yeah, you bet. So Rush Connect is our suite of what we call digital first care offerings. So these are new services that Rush has created, specifically tailored to the problem statement that we talked about. Hyper convenient access, just a few taps, really tailoring the experience to the patient in a personalized way. And then importantly, integrating that tightly into the overall Rush experience. Right. We don't want to create these things off on an island. We want to make sure that there's continuity. And so their longer term relationship with Rush, continuity with their existing providers at Rush. And so we've been hard at work for the past, a little over a year creating the Rush Connect platform and suite of services. And we really think of it as sort of the front door to Rush, you know, the word digital front door is a little overused I think but truly, that's what Rush Connect is. It's a single place to easily access virtual care services that are available same day or next day. And so within that kind of under that umbrella, we think about it in terms of digital first or virtual first primary care. We've done a lot of work in that space, launching a bricks and mortar clinic about a year ago. That is, three days virtual, two days in person so we can get patients quickly connected with their primary care team through those virtual appointments and then get them in a couple of days later for an in-person visit if they need to. So that's one example. Virtual urgent care is something that's been around for quite a while, both nationally and also at Rush. We launched our on demand urgent care service prior to the pandemic, like most systems that really exploded coming out of the pandemic. And so we've pulled that in and really tightly integrated that into the Rush Connect menu of services. And then one that we're really interested in and excited about is the recent launch of Rush Connect Virtual Specialty Care. This is something that we think is fairly unique in the marketplace. And it's an ability for patients to connect with a specialty provider, especially, specialty trained advanced practitioner, who actually sits within the Rush specialty departments, is a part of those specialty care teams. And those appointments are available same day or next day. So, you know, academic health systems have a reputation generally pretty well earned for, you know, potentially long wait times and.
Stefan Behrens
Three months out. Right? Yeah.
Ben Wolfe
Exactly three months out. So our sort of mantra has been not three months but three hours. Right. How do we connect you with a specialty provider in just a few taps in a few hours. So we've really been focusing on that. Happy to dig more into that. I think that's one of the elements of Rush Connect that we're, we're most proud of and that our patients are telling us is most impactful for them as well.
Stefan Behrens
Yeah, I think that the specialty aspect, I think is really unique. I think you've heard about virtual. primary care programs, and virtual urgent care programs, in other places across the country. But I think the quick access specialty care is something really novel. How do you manage the capacity constraints and the demand potentially for some of these specialties that are coming in?
Ben Wolfe
Yeah, it's a really good question. And it's a really hard problem right? There's a reason that we're a little bit out on the forefront of this, because it's such a hard problem operationally to tackle. The reason that specialties are, you know, do tend to be booked out, quite a ways is because there's high demand for these experts, clinical experiences and these great providers that offer, you know, amazing care. And so the challenge is, how do you create some space in those schedules to be able to offer these virtual appointments? Now, it's not, you know, it's not about treating every single condition and every level of acuity through the virtual channel, because there's a whole lot of conditions out there that aren't appropriate for virtual care. So we really focused on identifying the conditions that are appropriate and impactful to be treated virtually. We've looked at what some of those disrupter, disruptive companies are offering. We've looked at what our patients are telling us they would like to be able to access virtually. And then, of course, working closely with our clinical leadership to make sure that those two things mesh well, right, that we can service those conditions virtually in a safe and effective and efficient way. So, we sort of picked, you know, our first 6 or 8 specialties. We worked very closely with our clinical partners to, to define the workflows, to define the reasons for visit that could come in through this channel. And then we've really set it up as a, you know, what I think is a really effective intake channel. So if you've got a problem in dermatology or ObGyn or urology that is able to be treated virtually, we can get you connected the same day, which is incredible, right? No more than three months, three hours. Instead you connect with a specialty trained app. They hopefully can solve your problem right then and there, whether it's, you know, prescribing medication or getting you started with a treatment plan. They can also quickly get you triaged into sort of more traditional in-person care. So it's a really quick way to get started with your overall journey, whether it's being solved that day then and there, or whether it's something that takes a longer time. So, primarily this hasn't been a technology solution, right? This has really been deep, it's been.
Stefan Behrens
It’s a process. That's right. I think that's probably really the novel part here. Oftentimes as a patient, when you get referred from primary care into specialty care, you have these scheduling constraints and you need to wait three, 4 or 5 months before you get seen. But at that point during that time you don't really know what's in the box. Like, you don't know if this patient can be seen in a virtual way and maybe more efficiently, because it's relatively low acuity. Or if this leads to a procedure that needs to be prepared. Right. But by giving them access to a virtual visit relatively quickly, you kind of know what's in the box, and then you can allocate resources accordingly and maybe pull them earlier into the schedule as necessary, or get them started on treatment. If it doesn't require them to come in. A really wonderful approach here.
Ben Wolfe
Yeah, 100%. And, you know, the other thing is it's peace of mind for our patients. Right. Like the scariest thing is to have something you're worried about and then not be able to get advice.
Stefan Behrens
You have to wait for four months before somebody can tell you what the next steps are.
Ben Wolfe
Yeah, exactly. And we've already seen some really high impact patient stories come out of this over the last several months. One example, we had a patient who was, over 60 years old, had never come to Rush before, by the way, generally kind of your stereotypical health care avoider, right? Doesn't have a PCP, you know, doesn't really closely monitor their health. And he wakes up one day and is having some chest pain. Now, you and I know that the right thing to do with that scenario is go to the emergency room. Of course he didn't want to do that. He was a health care avoider. He saw Rush Connect Virtual Specialty Care and saw that we offered cardiology services through there. Now, despite the fact that we would all prefer him to have gone to the E.R. in his case, since he wasn't going to do that, the next best option was to connect with us and our cardiology team same day, and they got him connected. Got him into the program, got him into the cardiac catheterization lab just a few days later and saved his life. It turned out to be a life threatening cardiac condition. So it's a great example of, you know, that was a patient who wouldn't have otherwise sought medical assistance. We were able to quickly get him triaged, give him some peace of mind that look, we've got you, we're going to take care of you. And get that problem solved. And, you know, saved his life as a result of it.
Stefan Behrens
You remove the obstacles and the friction that's typically in the process, make it easier for patients to do the right thing. Right. So and in this case, I mean, that's a very inspiring story. Actually a great transition. To another topic, how would you look at what the impact you're hoping to have with this program? How do you measure success? Both for your communities and also for Rush as a system?
Ben Wolfe
Yeah, it's a good question. And we are, you know, as we've said, on this Rush Connect journey, we've been really, mindful about setting targets, right, and measuring success. And we want to make sure that we're not just creating shiny objects that sit on a shelf, but that they're actually useful. And then back to my earlier point, pragmatically, something that's actually solving problems. So I think some of the key metrics we think about are those that, you know, probably wouldn't surprise you. Certainly access. Right. As we look at each of these connect services, we closely monitor, you know, the time to the next appointment, the time to the third next available appointment, some of those typical access metrics, to make sure that we're meeting those service commitments to access, some of the other things that are important to us are certainly, you know, what happens post the visit. So we closely keep tabs on, you know, is that a patient who just came in to solve, you know, a recurrent sinus infection and didn't want longer term care with us? Or were we able to effectively get that patient on a pathway of care that keeps them connected with Rush, that helps us manage those longer term conditions with them more effectively? So we track, track some of those things, quite a bit in terms of follow up appointments generated, what procedures are being generated, and really trying to tell the story of the patient's longer term journey. And that's important to us. It's very important to our clinical partners in this. You know, one thing we wanted to be careful of from the outset is that we're not you know, there's a reason that we're not some of these online disruptors out there that solve your problem, and then you never hear from them again. We really want to have a holistic relationship with our patients and apply, you know, all the clinical excellence that the Rush team brings to bear to make sure that we're solving that problem. And in solving the root cause of the problem, not just Band-Aiding it. So really, measuring what's happening post visit has been very important to us.
Stefan Behrens
Well. Thank you. Slight pivot. Your new AI assistant, how is that changing how patients experience their first interactions with Rush Connect and then receiving care?
Ben Wolfe
We launched Isabella, our chatbot, about nine months ago, at this point, and really, it's been a part of our sort of our commitment to improving access and navigation, right? Helping to cut through some of the noise, when it comes to patient decision making, helping give them a place to go to ask questions and to, you know, say, hey, here's a problem I've got, what should I do about it? So there's been a strong focus on kind of the symptom checking, you know, seeking care or scheduling care or sort of component of it. And it's been a strong success. It's still, you know, in the early days, I think we still have some optimization to do, but patients are liking it. We're seeing a lot of conversion from the symptom checker and the scheduling of appointments. And we're now starting to think about, you know, how do we not just optimize that, but how do we really get the value out of that platform? You know, how do we connect patients effectively from the chatbot, to a real live human? And, you, Stefan, I know you and I and we all as health care consumers, I think we're all sensitive to feeling like we're talking with a robot, particularly in healthcare, which is so, you know, the human touch is so critical. So we want to be thoughtful about using the chatbot where it makes sense, and then giving folks an easy path to connect with a real, live human. Whether that's a clinician, whether that's somebody in our access center who can help them schedule appointments, but making sure that there's sort of an easy and, you know, human-like handoff from the bot to the human.
Stefan Behrens
I think that's really the north star of designing kind of experiences in the current world. It needs to be responsive, like on demand, using a lot of technology to make it happen, but then also still deeply human and allowing me to connect with the right people. Like you don't want to be in an IVR tree punching buttons for too long. If you don't think it will solve your problem. And at the same time, sometimes, asking a chatbot or GPT to give me a quick answer to a question may be just what I need, right? If I'm looking at a telephone number for something to call, or I need a quick answer on where I can park or something like that, right, that I don't necessarily need to talk to someone for those types of things. But if I have a medical problem and concerns, especially when it goes to specialty care where things get more complex, I want to be talking to somebody I trust. Right. And, that's going to be a human interaction problem. What's next, from a digital transformation lens, for us, what are the next steps here in the next 6 to 12 months?
Ben Wolfe
Yeah. You know, as we look back over the, you know, the last 12 plus months of Rush Connect work, we feel like we've built a platform, right? We've done impactful work in the virtual, specialty space, urgent care, primary care. We've, you know, built the chatbot. We've invested heavily in our mobile app. So we've got all the jigsaw puzzle pieces on the table. And I think for the year ahead, what we're really planning to do is to connect those, no pun intended, but to connect those jigsaw puzzle pieces together in a way that creates really new novel, helpful services for our patients. And so a few things that are top of mind for us in the year ahead. One is really reimagining the patient access experience in terms of how you access care through the website, through our mobile app. You know, we think there's an opportunity to be a whole lot more like Amazon and less death by questionnaire in the scheduling process. So, we'll have more to share about that in the future. We touched on the topic of sort of, you know, one place to ask for past questions, whether those are clinical questions or just how do I pay my bill or got somebody in the hospital, what time can I come see them as a visitor? So, you know, providing a single place to go to ask those questions in a way that's really helpful, really patient centered. And then something that's really much nearer on the horizon that we're really excited about launching here over just the next couple of weeks is, something that we're calling Rush Connect Plus, and this is a virtual health care membership program, that is really targeted to patients who want a different, sort of more always on relationship with their health system. So if you are a member of this service, you'll have a seven day a week personal assistant that sits in our access center, who's available by phone, by chat.
Stefan Behrens
Like having your own concierge.
Ben Wolfe
Yeah, exactly. So it's kind of that one person, the human to go to. Right. Not the bot but the human that can help you with. Hey, you know, I'm trying to schedule this appointment. I can't quite get it set up the way I want. Can you help me do this? Or, hey, my husband and I both, both have appointments coming up. Is there any way we could do it on the same day so that we don't have to take multiple days off of work? Those types of things that really, make healthcare frustrating or hoping to smooth over through that personal assistant, the other piece is you know, that the one of the most frustrating, parts of healthcare is when you have something this, this sort of annoying condition, the sore throat, the sore ankle, the, you know, the headache, that sort of stuff. At noon on a Saturday or 4 p.m. on a Saturday and there's nowhere to go. So we're including in that membership 24/7 virtual urgent care so that you can get those problems solved wherever you are, whenever you need it. And we think that this service is really going to be something that helps patients access their care team when they need it. And really sets Rush apart in terms of access and convenience. So we're really excited to get that launched here over the next couple of weeks.
Stefan Behrens
Unfortunately, I don't live in the Chicago area, but that sounds like something I would sign up for.
Ben Wolfe
Stay tuned. Stay tuned. You know, maybe coming soon to an area near you.
Stefan Behrens
Awesome. Ben, thank you so much. Thank you for sharing your passion and vision around making care more accessible for patients and helping your communities, and pushing the boundaries both on business model process and leveraging technology to overcome some of the biggest challenges in healthcare, which is probably getting access to the right care at the right time. We're so proud to partner with you on this. You're building something amazing, bold, human, and hopefully scalable. And, yeah, I'm excited to see what's next.
Ben Wolfe
Thank you. Thanks, Stefan. And thanks to everybody that's been involved. There's been a huge effort from all of our partners across Rush to make this Rush Connect vision come to life so happy to be here and happy to share the great work that the teams are doing.
