HLTH – Jaime Murillo: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Saul Marquez:
Hey everybody! This is Saul Marquez and welcome back to the HLTH Matters Podcast. Today I have the privilege of sharing a fantastic interview with the amazing doctor Jaime Murillo. He is the Senior Vice President and chief CardioMetabolic Health Officer at Optum Labs. He's focused on disruptive care delivery solutions to improve health in the community using AI power technology, social behavioral determinants of health, and community-based collaboration. His work also includes advanced analytics to identify gaps in care with an emphasis on health equity, as well as AI and ML-based phenotyping, and multi-omics to advance precision medicine. Prior to his current role at Optum Labs, he spent two years at UnitedHealthcare as the national lead for both cardiovascular and ED services. This work was focused on simple innovation and value-based transformation of care and affordability. He's a cardiologist from Yale University with a background in computer sciences, as well as basic science and clinical research at Harvard Medical School, and also outcomes research at Yale University. He's a former IBM Watson health collaborator on clinical implementation of machine learning in the cardiovascular field. He practiced cardiology with subspecialty in imaging for 20 years at Sentara Health, and within Sentara, he played several executive roles with a focus on leadership development and customer strategies. Really excited to dive in with Dr. Murillo, and here is the podcast with us straight from the HLTH conference in Las Vegas.
Saul Marquez:
Dr. Murillo, thanks for being here with me.
Jaime Murillo:
It's a pleasure to be here, Saul.
Saul Marquez:
So we've got so many exciting things happening at the conference. You guys are up to some incredible work at Optum Labs. Talk to us a little bit about what inspires your work in healthcare.
Jaime Murillo:
Very simple, it's the opportunity to serve people and serve people in a way that is different from what we have done for many years, which is what inspired me to actually switch careers and leave cardiology and join UnitedHealth Group because that was the company, that organization, that is really committed to transforming care to serve people.
Saul Marquez:
Yeah, thank you for that. And so, as you think about Optum Labs, how are you and the business adding value to the existing healthcare ecosystem?
Jaime Murillo:
It is an amazing and exciting opportunity that we have at Optum Labs, to really lead the change within the healthcare space. And that's because of the technology that I'll go into more detail, but we utilize, and we're leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning and computer sciences to advance medicine in a way that has never seen before.
Saul Marquez:
Well, listen, I think for the companies and organizations that are able to execute on that, the promise is big. And in particular, I'm very curious about the ways that health organizations can create a more complete picture of a consumer's social, economic, and cultural preferences, the social determinants of health. Talk to us about that.
Jaime Murillo:
Yes, let's start with one thing, Saul, that we normally don't talk about, which is healthcare is really like any other industry, and we believe that it's different and that's why we are lagging behind in terms of transformation, but the reality is healthcare is yet another industry that has to be geared toward consumers, and it's a hyper-specialized industry, yes, but at the end of the day, what we want is to serve the consumers. So that's the number one part of the transformation, is that cultural switch change, and then we can start catching up with other industries. The other element that is crucial is to include technology within that transformation, because we have not utilized technology, we still have this traditional provider-centric approach. So we need to change the mindset that the consumers have to be, we have to be ready for the consumers, they have to be customer-centric, we have to be, consumers have to be first, we need to attend their needs, meet their needs, and it's not the other way around. So that's where we think, we, with the customer-first approach, we are ready to tackle the next stage.
Saul Marquez:
I really appreciate that perspective, Jaime, and, you know, I mean, we've been experiencing a shift, a huge shift of consumer-focused care ever since the pandemic with remote care and all of the things that, you know, we usually receive from Amazon, so convenient, now consumers want that in their healthcare, and it sounds like you guys are focused there.
Jaime Murillo:
The difference between talking about AI and ML resides in how you execute. So prioritizing excellence, taking charge as owners, acting with urgency, those are leadership principles that we take very seriously at Optum Labs. So what we need to do is to think of the customer needs and then use AI and ML in a very responsible way. I want to really tackle the part of the responsible use of artificial intelligence because the system has been biased in many ways and we have been practicing medicine for decades without even thinking about how much harm we could be making by not taking bias into account. So we are, we look at the data, we look at where the data is coming from, what are the sources, is the data clear, clean, complete? What are we going to do with missing data? And how, we make sure that whichever algorithms we come up with are bias-free, because at the end of the day, as our mission states, our mission is to help everybody live healthier lives and help the system work better for everyone.
Saul Marquez:
I think that's fantastic. Thanks for that caveat that I think we all need to be thinking about. You know, a key, I think fundamental part of all of this is communication. So how can we build more effective communication across healthcare?
Jaime Murillo:
I love that question. Communication is one of the major opportunities we have in healthcare, and I'm going to tell you why, because communication has always been built in the healthcare system in a way that is not convenient for the patient or for the consumer in general. Think about the fact that medicine has been providing a brick-and-mortar scenario forever, whether it's the office, the ER, the hospital. Think about the patients who left the office and said, oh, I forgot to ask that question, I'm going to ask for the next appointment, which is in 3 to 6 months, or call the office and hope that within the next few days you're going to get called back. So now we have to expedite that communication. We need to use technology, first of all, to facilitate that entry point. Whenever you are at home and have a question, you have to have a venue, an opportunity, a technology that will allow you to connect with the team. And we have so much technology that we can start with chat box or any connection that we allow people who have that initial entry point right away, have a system that can triage so people can have their urgent needs attended right away. And the other part that is key besides the element of technology, is having an extended care team. We have put the burden of communication in the provider and that's not right for the provider because they already overburdened. So if you add extended teams like nurses or community health workers or social workers, pharmacists, there now, there is a team around that consumer that will be able to attend their needs right away. And the last element that I also want to point out that I mentioned community health workers, is the ability to transfer that care outside the brick-and-mortar and go to their home and the community to meet those needs there.
Saul Marquez:
Well said, Dr. Murillo, and, you know, I saw an article, it was a McKinsey report that said by 2025, about 300 billion in care will be delivered at the home. So it's critical that we get it together, I think you would say.
Jaime Murillo:
Absolutely, and from that, you actually will see within UnitedHealth Group, within Optum, within Optum labs, you'll see programs that are exactly aligned with that concept that we need to move to the home and the community to serve. We also serve with a health equity purpose. We have projects in Detroit where we go to poor communities to screen people for elevated blood pressures and deliver care remotely. They don't have to go to the doctors. And within less than 12 weeks, we control their blood pressure in 91% of people, which is unheard of. We have, Optum has committed through partnerships, you remember the recent merger with LHC, with that goal in mind is that we need to build care in the community and at home.
Saul Marquez:
Thank you for that, I appreciate your thoughts on that. So how is this used, this communication, right, that we're focused on? How is it used to build a sphere of service around the consumer and how the leaders need to see the full journey and then determine where to automate, offer decision support, streamline authorizations? You know, talk to me about that.
Jaime Murillo:
The full journey is the right word. The patients have received very episodic care forever, and we need, number one, to be able to engage them as soon as they as there is a need. We need to be able to walk them through that journey. And it cannot be, here's my part, and the rest you'll find out. It is, here's what you need, I'm going to facilitate navigate the health system for them. But we also need to take an additional element which is essential, is that solutions today are not just solutions based on the clinical space. It's not about, you have diabetes or you have cholesterol, you have cancer, and we're going to treat your cancer and your diabetes and your cholesterol, it's about who you are as a person, where do you live, so the environment, number one. Number two, what are your behaviors, what are your preferences, what are your needs, what are your social needs, what are your determinants of health? And then add that component of the clinical, including genomics, for instance, or multi-omics. So that comprehensive approach is what will allow us to eventually provide that personalized medicine that we're missing and that, will also, will allow us to provide that full journey from beginning to end. And I haven't even talked about identifying people prior to that need being felt because I think about this, people come to our office when they have a pain or a symptom or a sign, and that's when we start the treatment. There are so many people walking around with silent conditions, and that's where I think is exciting about the artificial intelligence machine learning. Now we can build algorithms that will allow us to identify who actually may have a condition and then the text, that condition before it becomes a condition with complications.
Saul Marquez:
Yeah, it's preventative care, right, getting ahead of it before it comes. That's fantastic, thank you for that. And you know, there's, you said your word was episodic care, and I think you captured it so well. You know, our lives are not episodes, our lives are continuous, and we need somebody, whether it's, you know, intelligence or human being, to be there to answer the question after we leave the office, and it's so great to hear that you and the team at Optum Labs are working for that brighter future.
Jaime Murillo:
We are, and if you look at, our vision is to build solutions that are equitable, engaging, effective, and affordable. Healthcare is expensive, and how are we going to do that is by leveraging our technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and then we can build an innovative, here's the other keyword, innovation, but that innovation has to be simple, simple innovation to serve the people that we, for whom we want to improve their lives. And then the other element is we want to build systems that will identify gaps in care, a system that also is bias-free. So health equity is a metric of success for us. We need to build a system that will engage people in their communities, and we need to build a system that prioritizes excellence and puts customer first, as I mentioned. So ultimately, the one part that we cannot leave aside is the human touch, is that we are adding technology to make people's lives better, but at the same time, kindness, and caring, and compassion have to be present at every single touchpoint within the healthcare journey.
Saul Marquez:
I love that. Well, Jaime, this has been a fantastic discussion with you. I hope that the rest of your meeting here at the conference is fruitful. Before we close, I'd love if you could just share a closing thought and where the listeners could get to know you better, follow the work that you do, and the work that Optum Labs does.
Jaime Murillo:
So as a final thought, we want people to get excited about the opportunity that is in front of us. We need to reach out to every kind of consumer with that mindset of, they are first, and we're here to build the health journey for them, walk that journey with them, and for them to feel that we have all the elements, a comprehensive approach to the human being, a personalized approach, the addition of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and technology to enhance the journey for not just the patient, but also for the provider, for the payers, that the concept of augmented intelligence will allow us today to enable a better care for everyone in affordable, engaging, effective, and equitable way. Please follow me on LinkedIn and check OptumLabs.com for more information. Stay tuned. We're very excited and eager to transform care in a way that has never seen before.
Saul Marquez:
Well, Doctor Murillo, I really want to say thank you. And folks, Dr. Murillo is somebody you do want to follow, so make sure you check out the show notes of today's episode, and you click on that because he's doing some amazing things with Optum Labs, and the whole team over there is doing such incredible work to humanize and bring healthcare to the consumer. We all deserve it, and thanks to Jamie, it's yeah, it's certainly an opportunity. Well, Jamie, thank you so much, this has been a pleasure, and looking forward to staying in touch.
Jaime Murillo:
Saul, thank you so much for inviting us. We're excited to be here and this has been a great opportunity, so thank you.
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