Rodney Plante, Orthopedic Care Partners’ new chief technology officer, is joining the management services organization with a wealth of experience preceding him.
He previously worked with Optum Health and held roles with multiple health systems and hospitals, including Hospital for Special Surgery and Northwell Health.
A couple weeks into the role, Mr. Plante spoke with Becker’s about his vision for OCP and the lessons he learned throughout his career.
Note: This conversation was lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What’s the biggest opportunity you see for artificial intelligence within OCP specifically?
Rodney Plante: I’m still learning the organization, but I think we can certainly drive values around data and analyze our patient data and our business data, both with AI and machine learning. It will help us predict outcomes and develop personalized treatment plans. I also think we have a need for it around clinical decision support, specifically around research that can use language analysis to predict and support surgical recommendations.
Remote patient monitoring also comes to mind. That’s something that I’ll definitely want to work with my physicians and surgeons on to help prioritize patient needs and quality of life. Keeping patients at home, remote monitoring and the use of AI is super helpful.
I also know for radiology groups I’ve worked with in the past, digital imaging with storage capabilities, interoperability with sharing of images and the ability to manipulate images really drives efficiency and satisfaction. Those are the things that I’m keeping an eye on. There’s some early stuff around RCM that I was involved in before, and so we’ll be looking to see how AI can be leveraged in those areas.
Q: Can you talk more about that? You’ve worked at Optum, you’ve been with Northwell, and Hospital for Special Surgery. Are there any unique challenges you see at OCP compared to other settings you’ve worked at?
RP: Throughout my journey here, I’ve been incredibly impressed by OCP’s mission and, more importantly, the actual people behind the mission who are caring for patients. I think that’s what distinguishes us as a provider of choice for patients who require orthopedic care. I haven’t had any unique challenges yet.
From my observations in terms of working for large healthcare systems and in private practice, there’s a purpose-driven desire to really provide the best care to patients. Patients want and, quite frankly, deserve accessibility, affordable care and ultimately a frictionless experience.
Q: Data breaches have remained a threat for private practice groups, including orthopedics. How are you thinking about cybersecurity strategy?
RP: Cyber security is not unique to just technology to solve. It’s a business challenge and everyone has a role in doing what we can to protect ourselves. OCP prioritizes ensuring that our digital solutions safeguard our patient data and system security.
We’ve got very robust cyber security measures and data governance that protects our sensitive information and complies with the regulatory requirements. Coming from my experience working with UnitedHealth Group where I lived through one of the largest data breaches in healthcare, really spending some time as a leader, focusing on the technology teams and making sure that we’re building enhanced muscle memory and developing new rigor to manage evolving security hygiene processes.
What we know today around security is different from what we knew yesterday, which is different from what we’re going to know tomorrow. Teams have to manage and keep up with that pace, and make sure that you know what we’re doing. I also believe that we have to continue to make sure that our end users receive the necessary training and education and education to develop enhanced awareness. This is ongoing. It’s not a one and done. This is something that organizations, and the U.S. in particular, really want to focus on — making sure our end users have enhanced awareness and sensitivity to recognizing phishing emails or suspicious activities. They’re our front-line defense and our greatest defense, and so I think it’s important for all of us to make sure that we as an organization continue to train and enhance.
Q: Along with your experiences at Optum, what other lessons have you learned in your career that you’ll carry into your role with OCP?
RP: I really just think that it’s educating the organization as a whole. You’re never done with cyber security. There’s always something more that can be done, sharpening your strategy, educating your users, making sure that your CEO and business partners are aligned on the prioritization and the need for resources to support your cybersecurity strategy. It’s not a strategy that is solely developed by your CIO or your CTO. It’s a strategy that has to be embraced from all levels of the organization. That’s one of my key takeaways from my previous experience. And invest in your teams, making sure that your teams have the training, have the knowledge, the fortitude, and develop that rigor and muscle memory to really keep ahead.
Q: What should CTOs and CIOs in similar positions as yours prioritize to thrive in the coming years?
RP: Know it never stops. There’s new emerging technology solutions and opportunities. Security will always be something that will be on the roadmap, and then it’s dealing with uncertain times. As technology leaders we have to be comfortable with ambiguity. You may not necessarily fully appreciate or understand the total path forward, but we’re going to be called upon to strengthen our leadership, have tenacity, resilience and have a restlessness for looking for a better way. I believe that over the next few years our healthcare landscape is going to continue to evolve and change, and we have to be restless. We have to continue to push ourselves to look for a better way, whether it’s through technology, whether it’s through AI or whether it’s through process improvement. I think that’s going to be critical.
