Penn State Health CEO outlines his goals

Last summer, Dr. Michael Kupferman became the CEO of Penn State Health, and he says he’s been enjoying getting to know the system.

In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive, he says he’s “incredibly excited, proud and privileged to be in this role.”

“This is just an incredibly strong healthcare organization, deep commitment to patient care, patient experience, tripartite mission around outstanding clinical care, deep focus on training and educating the workforce of the future, and an incredible partnership and spirit of innovation to bring tomorrow's therapies today here to central Pennsylvania, as well as both across the state of Pennsylvania and beyond,” he says.

Before joining Penn State Health, Kupferman served as president of the Banner University Medicine Division and senior vice president of the physician enterprise for Banner Health in Phoenix, Arizona.

Taking over Penn State Health, he is leading a system that has seen substantial growth in recent years. Penn State Health has opened two new hospitals in the past five years, including new acute care facilities just outside Harrisburg and in Lancaster County. The system has also acquired two other hospitals in the past decade. Penn State Health has brought in a number of clinical practices.

Now, Kupferman says the work is underway to integrate those pieces and start “working like a system.”

“What we are doing right now is creating the Penn State Health way so that no matter where a patient enters our system, no matter where in the organization, they're going to get that exceptional patient experience, amazing patient access, and just that world class expertise,” he says.

‘Our North Star’

Penn State Health is expanding clinical services to different regions across Pennsylvania.

Kupferman says he is focusing on “our North Star, which is to be the most trusted health system in the state of Pennsylvania and beyond.”

Penn State Health is expanding primary care services across central Pennsylvania, including fast-growing Cumberland County, Lancaster County, and in State College. The system opened up a new cancer center at the Hampden Medical Center last fall.

The system also operates Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital in Hershey. The pediatric facility received a $50 million donation from businessman and philanthropist Tom Golisano in October, and the hospital now bears his name.

Kupferman also says the system is “doubling down on what makes us so unique as the only integrated academic health system in the region.” And that includes providing top subspecialty expertise.

Penn State Health is moving to Epic’s electronic health records system. Kupferman says going with Epic will offer “a common platform so that we can communicate across different locations, different practices, and also serves as just an incredible, incredibly powerful way for us to create systemness.”

As part of the move to operating more as a cohesive system, Kupferman says Penn State Health is moving to integrate its medical groups.

“We're creating a physician enterprise so that we can deliver that exceptional care, no matter where a patient enters our system, a common language, common set of quality measures and outcomes and goals for the patients that we serve,” he says.

Kupferman also says he’s “focusing very deeply on patient access.” He says he wants to ensure that those across central Pennsylvania can find the physicians they need.

Facing challenges

Like other hospital system leaders, Kupferman says he’s concerned about upcoming changes in Medicaid that are expected to place more financial pressure on health systems. With the HR1 tax package enacted last year, analysts expect a reduction of $1 trillion in Medicaid over the next 10 years, with 10 million Americans projected to lose Medicaid coverage over the next decade.

“We have to be able to accommodate those changes, and those are pretty substantial headwinds as it relates to funding some of the most vulnerable, whether it's our under-resourced communities or our aging populations,” he says.

To deal with those added financial challenges, Kupferman says the system is looking at its supply chain and trying to identify opportunities in savings in buying new drugs and devices.

But even with more financial headaches, Kupferman says the system is looking to continue expanding clinical services.

“We're actually not thinking about contracting services, but rather bringing new services to new locations so that they're not concentrated in any one area and be able to provide care to a broader degree of the population,” he says.

Kupferman says the system is also looking to expand its use of artificial intelligence, including the use of AI-powered tools to document physicians' conversations with patients.

The system is also looking at other tools to reduce work for doctors and clinicians across the system.

“We need to be more technology-focused, and that cuts across all health systems,” he says. “How do we utilize technology to expand what our teams can do, whether it's utilizing tools such as ambient listening, so we reduce some of the workforce challenges and some of the administrative drain on our physicians? Or perhaps it's implementing new artificial intelligence capabilities into our MRI scanners so that we can do scans much more quickly than we used to be able to and provide more care to patients who need it.”

Kupferman says he’s excited about using more AI tools to ease the burden on clinicians and expand Penn State Health’s capacity to care for more people.

"It's allowing us to do more with who we have, and become more efficient in taking great care of patients, and really become much more patient-focused, rather than technology-focused,” he says.

• Read more: Over a dozen Pennsylvania hospitals could close, report says