Los Angeles-based Keck Medicine of USC is located in a competitive market alongside UCLA Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but CEO Tom Jackiewicz sees opportunities to serve the local community and work with physicians to build a brand based on providing quality patient care.
Mr. Jackiewicz joined Keck Medicine of USC in 2012, and since then the organization has experienced five consecutive years of revenue growth, expecting to reach $1.7 billion for the 2017 fiscal year. The Norris Healthcare Center, a multidisciplinary facility focused on cancer care, is slated to open within the next few years. Patient revenue has more than doubled over a three-year period and in February, USC President C.L. Max Nikias announced plans to build the "hospital of the future," with construction slated to begin as early as 2020.
For now, the health system is focused on strengthening its position in the region by developing relationships with local physicians. "We want to partner with local physicians and hospitals," Mr. Jackiewicz says. "In LA, it's a broad geography with 18 million people. We need to be closer to our patients, and that's one of the key pillars to our strategy."
Here, Mr. Jackiewicz discusses his outpatient strategy, leadership style and vision of where healthcare is headed in 20 years.
Q: What is the strategy behind forging partnerships with local physicians and healthcare establishments? Why stretch out farther than the traditional market base?
Tom Jackiewicz: When you're ill, you likely don't want to drive 30 miles in Los Angeles traffic to Keck Hospital of USC. But you may still need the level of expertise that our physicians offer. We aim to bring our exceptional care closer to our patients. We have expanded as far as Bakersfield, which is about 120 miles north, and Las Vegas 280 miles east because there is clearly a need. We have built relationships with local physicians and specialty groups in these cities. We never want to compete in these markets, only partner.
Q: How do you prepare for potential changes in healthcare reform?
TJ: At the moment, there is much uncertainty, and as an individual healthcare provider, we can't change what is going to happen in Washington, D.C. We have patients who need care here and a great health system. We'll continue to take care of the patients that need us, and we can sort through any changes Washington, D.C., throws at us. At the end of the day, the basic relationship between our patients and us isn't going to change. The system might change dramatically, but there will still be patients that need us, and we will be here for them.
Q: What do you do in your day-to-day routine that affects how you lead the health system?
TJ: I give people my full attention. Whether I'm talking to a transplant surgeon in the morning or an integrative medicine specialist in the afternoon, when the next person walks in my office they have my full attention. The next person might come in with an idea that would revolutionize how we practice, but if you aren't giving them your full attention, you may miss an opportunity.
Q: I understand USC is working on a few new projects, including the Norris Healthcare Center and a "hospital of the future." How can you plan for a hospital that won't be open for another decade?
TJ: Excitement is definitely building about the Norris Healthcare Center, which will open in early 2018. It will be a state-of-the-art facility focused on providing multidisciplinary care to patients.
There's also momentum building around our new hospital, which could open as early as 2026. Hospitals take a long time to plan and so you constantly need to plan for what healthcare will be 20 years from now. You have to imagine what the new technology will be and what type of patients need hospital care. The fun part about designing a hospital for the future is that it allows you to really think out of the box.
For example, we're also seeing the emergence of artificial intelligence and the use of robots in healthcare. We are thinking about how patients will connect with their doctors and how to design hospitals to maximize that connection. We also know people will be very sick when they go to the hospital in the future; more sick than they are today because more care will be delivered in an outpatient setting.
We employ faculty members who are on the cutting edge of healthcare, using and researching methods for patient care, public heath initiatives and diagnostics. Visualizing the future of healthcare is easier when you have a strong team that is already driving towards that future.
Q: How do you stay on top of all the trends in healthcare and projects for the future?
TJ: I'm an avid reader, and I track what's happening in both healthcare as well as other industries. Silicon Valley, for example, is a great source of inspiration for technology and innovation.
Looking ahead, one of the things we want to tackle is understanding how millennials not only will connect with each other but how they expect healthcare to be delivered. Their expectations will shape our future. The fact is, people in their 20s and 30s now will be coordinating care for their parents and I believe their expectations will be much different.