Check out the full video interview with Dr. Kain below
CODE speaking with Dr. Zeev N. Kain at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Orthopedic Value-Based Care 2020
Session Topics:
- The outpatient “evolution” in orthopedic surgery panel
- Lessons Learned from Implementation of Value-Based Care in Orthopedics
- VBC: Medical Device and Pharma Stakeholder Panel
- Transforming your Patient Experience Program
Interviewee:
Dr. Zeev N. Kain, MD, MBA, MA (hon)
Conference Activity Chair
Chancellor Professor, UC Irvine Health
President, ACPM
Breanna Cunningham:
Hi, there. Bre Cunningham here with CODE Technology and I have the absolute pleasure of talking to the brainchild behind this epic conference, Dr. Kain. What an amazing event. So this is the fourth year that you’re doing this, new name, right? So it’s OVBC this year, so that’s a slight change, but wow, the turnout of this conference has been incredible, it’s still going on out there as I’m talking to you. Tell me, how are you feeling your fourth year into this, from the time that you thought of it to where you’re at now, is this just surreal?
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
It is surreal, and it’s here to stay now. When you start something new, you say, “Is it going to work. Is it not going to work?” Four years into it, that’s it, I have many people here who have been here, we have a total of about 467 people in the hotel today. Many people here, this is their third time, so they are here. OVBC is not really a new name, we have decided that to say Interdisciplinary Conference on Orthopedic Value Based Care is a full mouth. So we said, “Okay, let’s do OVBC, Orthopedic Value Based Care.” And that’s why we started to call it that way. But I’m very happy, I’m excited to be at this time point.
Breanna Cunningham:
That’s awesome. So this is obviously a passion project for you, it’s a non-for-profit conference and you have a day job.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
I do.
Breanna Cunningham:
You were just telling me that, Monday you start your day fresh as an anesthesiologist. So what is it that drives you and what inspired the start of this?
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
We are built of silos, we really are built of silos. And when I did the role of the Chief Medical Officer and the Dean of Clinical Operations, I’ve seen all these silos built. And then when we implemented all these Surgical Home Models, the biggest opposition always was the fact that everybody lives in their own silo. And then I thought, “Well guess what? Everybody has their own conferences.” The orthopedic people have AAOS, the anesthesiologists have the ASA, the nurses have the ARN, the executive have ACHE, and when do they get together? No time. So how do you expect them to work as a team if their conference is not together?
Breanna Cunningham:
Well, there’s another group that is at this conference that I don’t see anywhere, it’s the payers. So there are panels today with amazing people like Lilly, and Brent from Humana. So how did you get the payers to come to this conference?
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
Well, it’s interesting, the payers did not come to the conference for the first three years, they wanted to see how the conference is working out. There is another group we didn’t talk about, which is the medical device industry. Now typically they’re in the audience or in the exhibition room, they are the sponsors of conferences, we’re now bringing them up as part of the speakers, not talking about their products obviously, but talking about their perspective as an industry on value based care and the move from volume to value. And we typically don’t listen to them, and we have to listen to them as well because they have a lot of power in this as well.
Breanna Cunningham:
Absolutely. So is that something that we can potentially expect next year?
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
Yes.
Breanna Cunningham:
Exciting. Any sneak peeks or things you can share?
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
Share? More of, more, more.
Breanna Cunningham:
More. Okay, excellent. And the panel this morning was spectacular, first off, the powerhouse people that are here, the brain trust, it’s just unbelievable. The panel this morning had Dr. Bozic, Dr. Vaccaro, Dr. Suk, Dr. Ficke, just all these amazing people that are here, and all of them are coming back next year, which is so exciting.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
It is, and they represent very different elements, academia, private practice, integrated groups, payers, medical devices, they all work together.
Breanna Cunningham:
And what I loved, and was surprising to me, was the radical candor and transparency amongst that panel. That was one of the most fun panel discussions that I’ve seen.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
Yeah, no, I agree. And a lot of credit to Dr. Vaccaro, this is his fourth year here with us and he’s just very good at getting it out, getting people to say what they want to say. And so we love him, and he’s coming back next year.
Breanna Cunningham:
Yes, he confirmed that when I spoke with him. So that was really fun. So anything else that you want to share with the audience or the people that are attending this conference?
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
I think that we have to remember at the end of the day it’s all about the patient.
Breanna Cunningham:
That’s a great point.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
It’s really all about the patient. And Dr. Bozic did talk about the fact that people are now starting to expect and understand that it’s about the patient. Unfortunately, I think that he is an innovator and a little bit on the cutting edge, and I can tell you that in ranking files in the middle of clinical practice, people not always are putting the patient in the center as far as patient experience and Patient Reported Outcome Measures. So we have to move even more in that direction. And I think at the end of the day, what’s going to drive all of this is economic alignment.
Breanna Cunningham:
Sure.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
I think you can talk theoretically that it’s important and it’s the right thing to do, but at the end of the day, if you don’t have economic alignment, if you don’t have an economic lever to move it, people will not do it. And so I’m really looking forward to the government to, again, take more of a leadership role in this area and come up with more innovative programs. Same by the way, with the private payers, they need to do more. And I think that if they will come up with more payment based on value, the field will move.
Breanna Cunningham:
Sure.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
And that’s what I expect from them.
Breanna Cunningham:
It’s interesting, you attend conferences like this and you’re seeing the people that are doing it so you think it’s the norm. But really, what is it, 47% of people still operate in a true fee-for-service model. So Dr. Kain, thank you for putting this amazing conference together. There is so much value that’s rendered, for me as someone that’s in the audience, and for the speakers, the true joy that we all get from coming to this conference. And I’m so excited to hear that we already have it scheduled for next year. It’s a great conference.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
Yes, April, nine.
Breanna Cunningham:
April, nine.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
2021.
Breanna Cunningham:
2021.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
Fashion Island Hotel, Newport Beach. Come back.
Breanna Cunningham:
Be here, be square.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
Yes.
Breanna Cunningham:
Thank you for all your work, Dr. Kain, an amazing conference.
Dr. Zeev N. Kain:
Thank you. Okay, bye-bye.
