Takeaways from the Rise National 2024 conference

Yuvo Health’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Sujata Bajaj, Head of Product Dakisha Allen and Chief Population Health Officer (CPHO) Ami Patel recently attended the Rise National 2024 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Between co-hosting a roundtable discussion about the role of AI in healthcare and seeing demos of some exciting new technologies, they took some time to share some of the insights they picked up from the conference.

Can you share some takeaways or key learnings from the Rise conference?

Ami Patel, MD, Chief Population Health Officer: One of the most exciting things for me was gaining a deeper understanding of the different types of support that Yuvo can provide our FQHC partners. There were many interesting vendors who gave us demos, and exploring how AI can help support healthcare goals was a highlight of Rise 2024.

Dakisha Allen, Head of Product: Attending Rise conferences is a wonderful opportunity to learn and build relationships. Every year, I’m always amazed by how many sessions I want to attend! In that vein, it’s such a good idea to plan out your ideal track prior to arriving so that no key topics are missed. Good walking shoes are a must, along with layers. I also like to make sure I have space in my bag for any swag I pick up while networking. That reminds me – having an electronic business card makes connecting with fellow attendees so much easier, make sure yours is easy to access on your device of choice before you arrive.

Sujata Bajaj, Chief Technology Officer: There was a lot of focus on AI at the conference. One of the things I wanted to pay the most attention to were the conversations about how AI can specifically help with risk adjustment compliance. There were also many great discussions about how AI can help speed up manual tasks related to chart review while still maintaining a high level of accuracy and quality within the patient record.

What was the most engaging topic to discuss during the panel?

Ami: AI in healthcare. At our roundtable, we had a very engaging discussion on this topic because AI touches almost all areas of healthcare. AI can be a great help when it comes to getting providers the data they need right at the point of care, but we also have to make sure that we’re not overwhelming them, and that we’re keeping a human in the loop as technology advances.

‍Dakisha: The audience was really engaged when discussing how coding teams would benefit from AI capabilities that focus on efficiencies and improving accuracy. A lot of times when we’re discussing tools like AI, though, people can understandably feel a little uneasy since there’s so much chatter about AI taking jobs – no matter what the industry. But at least in healthcare, it was emphasized that a human in the loop is necessary even with the best AI, so taking advantage of AI capabilities doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a reduction in staff. The ROI would be driven by an increase in efficiency.

Sujata: We talked about Large Language Models (LLMs) quite a bit during the roundtable, and it was really interesting to hear about all the different ways that others in our industry are engaging with LLMs in order to make their workflows more efficient.

Yuvo Health has been at Rise before – have things changed from this year compared to previous years?

Ami: Yes! Multiple people said they were hearing more and more about Yuvo at the conference, and that they’re impressed with what they learn about us. On top of that, many vendors were actively seeking us out and wanting to partner with us.  

Dakisha: It seems like it! Within the past six months, Yuvo has been invited to either host or participate in a panel at Rise. Both occurrences generated a lot of interactions and interests during and after the sessions.

Sujata: Compared to a year ago, it definitely felt like more folks had already heard about Yuvo Health once we arrived. Overall, many attendees were really excited about more providers and health centers that accept Medicaid being able to come into value-based care contracts.

Is it feasible for healthcare startups to use AI to help close quality gaps or identify social drivers of health (SDOH)?

Ami: Definitely – AI is an absolute value-add for Yuvo, and using it has a direct impact on better health outcomes for our patients. We can better support FQHCs by leveraging AI to help provide robust data and recommendations.

Dakisha: Building up the infrastructure needed to support AI while at a startup is a major feat. Implementing AI for any program is challenging, but with the right resources, people and technology, this can be accomplished. The key is to have clearly defined gap closure and SDOH programs designed so that the right technology – like NLP and LLMs – are used so that outcomes are targeted.

Sujata: AI has some really exciting possibilities for all industries, especially in healthcare. Ideally, we would be able to use the technology to help make sure we have a unified and complete patient record to present to the provider right at the point of care. However, we have to also make sure that AI isn’t overwhelming clinicians with too much information such that it becomes unhelpful, and I think we still have a long way to go before we can harness AI well.‍

Were there any other highlights for you?

Ami: I was very proud to represent Yuvo Health and see how vendors and providers in the industry either know of us or were excited to learn about what Yuvo does. By being at the conference, we had a platform to connect with others in the industry that will help us be stronger advocates for our FQHCs and patients.

Dakisha: Sharing Yuvo Health’s purposeful mission with folks at the conference who hadn’t heard of us was rewarding. It’s always so fulfilling to introduce Yuvo to the healthcare community. Usually, this leads to exciting conversations with others who feel they can integrate with our ecosystem to enhance the work we’re doing.

Sujata: There was a noticeable shift in the focus of the conference this year. I found that there was much more general interest in issues around compliance this year as compared to earlier years. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) were also at the conference this year, which hasn’t always been the case I believe.