Q&A: Bamboo Well being CEO Jeff Smith’s Predictions for 2024

Jeff Smith turned CEO of Bamboo Well being in 2023, after serving as president of the value-based care enablement enterprise at Lumeris, a supplier of value-based care and technology-enabled inhabitants well being companies. In a wide-ranging interview with Healthcare Innovation, he provided up some predictions concerning the position of pharmacies, value-based care, and the impression of synthetic intelligence for 2024. 

Earlier than his roles at Bamboo and Lumeris, Smith was the founding father of an digital prescribing firm that was finally acquired by Allscripts. He additionally held a number of roles at CVS Well being, together with overseeing inhabitants well being administration.

Healthcare Innovation: What you in taking this management place at Bamboo Well being? 

Smith: While you have a look at Bamboo, we now have this clever care coordination community, the place we’re really upstream connecting a number of stakeholders, together with prescribers and pharmacists the place they’re interacting with these people. That, to me, was actually interesting. Not solely is that this pervasive scaled community of nice attraction, however what it is doing from a mission perspective was very interesting to me as a result of it aligns properly with my ardour for driving constructive healthcare change — particularly within the realm of behavioral well being. Roughly 5 p.c of sufferers drive 50 p.c of healthcare prices. And lots of of those people have behavioral well being points, together with co-morbidities. Once I checked out what Bamboo needed to supply, I noticed this clever care community that is in place coast to coast, connecting with all of those completely different stakeholders, and noticed a chance for us to grab on what I feel is a big mission and enterprise alternative to impression constructive change for these people. 

HCI: Bamboo grew by acquisitions. First it was Appriss Well being, and so they acquired PatientPing, after which they added OpenBeds. So has that melded right into a cohesive firm and providing? 

Smith: You’re completely right when it comes to the completely different acquisitions that had been pulled collectively. Every of these acquisitions contributed to a set of what I’d name unprecedented capabilities as you convey them collectively into our community. We’re delivering actionable insights a couple of affected person as a complete particular person as they transfer by these completely different stakeholders, and it is actually empowering these completely different suppliers of care with extra details about that affected person as they interact with them. 

Here’s a tangible instance: In Delaware, we now have a serious venture working with the state round behavioral well being care coordination. We leverage our OpenBeds resolution, all of our statewide admit, switch, and discharge data, and our pervasive point-of-care prescribing platform. That is enabling disaster groups to exit to the house to stabilize people. It is permitting behavioral well being suppliers to have coherent and up-to-date data that is very well timed across the sufferers that they are partaking with. And it is creating actual coordination throughout these completely different stakeholders. 

HCI: Who’re another varieties of clients or potential clients for this? 

Smith: Different states are very on this providing. As we take into consideration our go-forward technique, we’re eager about how we are able to pull collectively this general platform to assist states, suppliers and payers who’re attempting to offer higher outcomes for these with behavioral well being wants. How will we really assist all of those completely different stakeholders be higher knowledgeable, after which additionally assist pivot these people into the appropriate subsequent step of their care?

HCI: I noticed earlier than the brand new 12 months that you just had made some attention-grabbing predictions for 2024, and I hoped you might elaborate on a number of of them. The primary is the thought of “Info Help” previous AI. What do you imply by that? 

Smith: There’s this unimaginable highlight on synthetic intelligence, and notably in healthcare, we’re seeing it as an awesome alternative. Nevertheless, I’d say the journey towards true synthetic intelligence in healthcare goes to be first mastering this idea of knowledge help. So in contrast to AI, IA prioritizes the synergy of people understanding different people and making use of that synthetic intelligence. The place AI goes to offer all of those insights, it’s going to be crucial that we’re considerate and we combine it into that precise healthcare occasion in a really high-quality means. And I consider that is going to begin with AI informing people to do that data help to different people. I feel that would be the major motion in 2024. 

HCI: May you give an instance of what you’re speaking about from your personal platform?

Smith: We’re going to present details about a selected affected person primarily based on the information we now have, and thru synthetic intelligence we’ll serve up data {that a} affected person might haven’t solely substance use dysfunction, however might have power kidney illness or might have diabetes. And it is going to be actually necessary for that supplier of care to have that data served as much as them. However that interplay between the human and the human goes to assist us exactly make clear that the knowledge is right, after which take the appropriate subsequent step. 

It can require a human to have the empathy to permit that that different human to reveal details about their situation. That received’t come simply by studying the synthetic intelligence. I feel that IA will result in higher interactions between people, which can result in higher outcomes. I feel all of us want to consider how we empower that human by the clever help, to get to the higher care versus circumventing that necessary engagement.

HCI: One other prediction was that drug chains and different retailers will proceed to concentrate on end-to-end care supply. You could have some expertise in that space from working at CVS Well being. May you speak slightly bit about this prediction? 

Smith: Prescription meting out represents a real-time and common engagement alternative between a pharmacist and a person. Many of those sufferers with power circumstances are partaking with pharmacists greater than they’re partaking with their physicians.This represents a extremely important alternative to drive outcomes and shopper conduct change. I feel you are going to see giant retail pharmacies additional leaning into that as they create a vertical integration with every little thing from insurance coverage to doctor care. These retailers which might be additionally insurers which might be additionally suppliers of care will probably be rethinking how the general worth chain will probably be organized, and the way they’ll greatest drive outcomes within the communities that they are in to drive higher outcomes and value traits.

HCI: The ultimate prediction entails value-based care persevering with to scale up and the necessity for suppliers to tackle draw back threat to ensure that it to actually take off.


Smith: Typically I could also be on an island suggesting that value-based care is seeing momentum, however I do consider it can proceed to see extra scale and be extra related, notably within the authorities applications, and I feel it is for 3 causes. One is you are going to proceed to see a big enhance within the variety of individuals lined by Medicare because the Boomer era ages into retirement. Second, CMS has this aim of one hundred pc of Medicare beneficiaries and a majority of Medicaid enrollees to be in value-based preparations by 2030. Third, the growing share of suppliers’ affected person panels being in authorities insurance coverage. Worth-based care is related in these government-funded applications and populations. For suppliers to take part within the value-based care monetary mannequin, they might want to finally take draw back threat if they will drive actually materials outcomes for his or her respective companies going ahead. The reason being that payers are solely prepared to share materials upside with suppliers which might be prepared to take draw back threat.

I feel that as extra well being programs see a bigger share of their affected person panel being in authorities pay, you are going to proceed to see their clinically built-in networks embracing value-based care in a means that is going to drive higher outcomes.