The MaineHealth Podcast

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 56 The Role of AI in MaineHealth In this episode, Kelly and Chief Information Officer Dan Nigrin, MD, delve into the evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare and at MaineHealth. They discuss the definition of AI, its major types, and both current and future use cases in the medical field, as well as the risks and benefits of adopti...

Andy's Open Door Recording Wednesday, November 06, 2024 In today's episode, Andy welcomed a panel of MaineHealth veterans to talk about the ways we support both our care team and our patients who are veterans. Andy's guests were Josh Knowles, DO, MaineHealth Orthopedics North Conway, Allison Taylor, MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Portland Safety & Emergency Management, and Nick Adler, NorDx...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 55 Trellis Health with Tam StClaire In the latest Working Together episode, Kelly and Tam StClaire, President of Primary Care Delivery Services, talk about Trellis Health, an exciting new model for how primary care is accessed, experienced, and delivered at MaineHealth. Trellis opened its doors in October 2024 with a unique care team approach that pr...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 54 Roadmap to Integrated Care Delivery with Nate Mick, MD Over the past few years, MaineHealth has implemented positive changes such as our regional operating model, enhanced system-wide processes and resources, major IT initiatives, and the license integration of the Southern Region hospitals. While these are exciting initiatives, they also come at...

Andy's Open Door Recording Wednesday, October 16, 2024 Guests: Lou Inzana & Tracy Cote Today's AOD was hosted by COO Kelly Elkins. She began by reflecting on current events – the anniversary of the Lewison tragedy, recent hurricanes, the upcoming elections, and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine – and the stress our care team may be experiencing. Kelly highlighted the resources available and encoura...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 53 Reducing Our Carbon Footprint with Mike Arsnow In this episode, Kelly chats with Mike Arsnow, MaineHealth Manager of Sustainability, about the progress our health system is making toward our aspirational goal of reducing our carbon footprint by 25% by 2027, with a long-term goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.  Mike talks about the work t...

Andy's Open Door Recording Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Guests: Celia Shaughnessy & Stacey Oliveto In this episode of Andy's Open Door, Celia Shaughnessy, VP of Operations Transformation, and Stacey Oliveto, Pharmacy Operations Manager, talked with Andy about the linkages between the Scorecard and our vision of working together so our communities are the heathiest in America, and the work care t...

Andy's Open Door Recording Wednesday, September 18, 2024 Guest: Tam St. Claire How did a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur move to Maine, join MaineHealth and lead the upcoming Oct 1 launch of the value-based start-up Trellis Health in just one year? We find out in this week's AOD. You’ll hear Tamara St. Claire, President of Trellis Health, and Andy discuss how Trellis Health is tackling toda...

BACON: Reducing Misdiagnoses MaineHealth Associate Chief Quality Officer Mark Parker, MD, joins Heather and Mike to discuss a promising care variation reduction project that uses the delivery of timely lab results as a lever to improve diagnosis accuracy.   BACON is the MaineHealth ACO’s monthly news and information podcast, hosted by Mike Clark, MD and Heather Ward, MD. Find previous episodes her...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 52 FY25 Balanced Scorecard Highlights with Mark Harris As we gear up for the new fiscal year, Kelly teams up with Chief Planning Officer Mark Harris to discuss highlights of the FY25 scorecard measures. They discuss MaineHealth’s commitment to continuous process improvement, the important connection between system, regional & local scorecards and...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 51 Benefits 101 with Sue Pelletier Employee benefit programs are an essential part of any organization's total rewards strategy. These programs provide employees with valuable benefits, such as health care, retirement savings, and paid time off, that help support their overall well-being. By offering competitive and comprehensive benefit programs, em...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 50 Affordability: a conversation with CEO Andy Mueller, MD Health care affordability is a critical issue that affects access to care, health outcomes and overall well-being. As the cost of health care continues to rise, it has become increasingly difficult for many people to afford the care they need. In the latest episode, Kelly discusses the concep...

Andy's Open Door Recording August 7, 2024 Guests: Dr. Tim Fitzgerald and Jen Moore Andy’s guests this week were Tim Fitzgerald, MD, Director of MaineHealth Maine Medical Center - Portland's Surgical Oncology Program, and Jennifer Moore, President of MaineHealth Accountable Care Organization, who spoke about the innovative work under way to improve patient outcomes. Jen described how value-based ca...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, episode 49  LGBTQ+ Health with guest Rae Egbert, PsyD, LADC, JD According to a KFF survey, LGBTQ+ adults are twice as likely as non-LGBTQ+ adults to report negative experiences while receiving health care in the last three years, such as being treated unfairly or with disrespect, having a provider assume something about them without asking, or refusing to pr...

Andy's Open Door Recording Wednesday, July 17, 2024 MaineHealth Institute for Research panel Andy visited the MaineHealth Institute for Research (MHIR) today for an engaging Andy’s Open Door panel discussion about the evolution, innovation and impact of MHIR in our communities. Joining Andy were MaineHealth Chief Academic Officer Doug Sawyer, MD, PhD; Abby Fleisch, MD, MPH; Aaron Brown, PhD; and R...

BACON: Helping Our Patients Age in Place Evidence suggests that older adults age more successfully when they’re able to stay in their homes or in their home communities. In this episode of BACON, we talk to gerontologist Dr. Heidi Wierman and healthy aging advocate Jess Maurer to learn how primary care providers can help their patients age in place safely and comfortably. They discuss strategies f...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 48 MaineHealth Medical Group Roadmap The MaineHealth Medical Group (MHMG) formally came together in October 2021. The past few years have focused on building the foundational elements of a unified medical group.  In the latest episode of Working Together, Dr. Aileen Mickey, President MHMG and Dr. Cornelius Ferreira, CMO MHMG, sit down with Kelly to r...

Andy's Open Door Recording Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Guest: Dr. Ben Farino How did one practice significantly move the needle on their quality measures in just nine months? Dr. Ben Farino, Associate Medical Director at MaineHealth Primary Care Internal Medicine Scarborough, joined Andy today to explain how the entire practice came together to make that happen – and some other unexpected benefits th...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 47 Roadmap for Quality and Safety Quality and Safety are at the forefront of everything we do at MaineHealth. And just like our broader organization, the Quality and Safety division of MaineHealth is on a transformative journey. In the latest episode, MaineHealth Chief Quality Officer Dr. Omar Hasan joins Kelly to discuss the roadmap for quality and...

BACON - Ep. 61: The Remarkable Benefits of HPV Vaccine The HPV vaccine has been proven effective in preventing cancer, but our vaccination rates could be higher. MaineHealth's Dr. Melissa Keeport and Caroline Zimmerman discuss new guidelines and the role primary care can play in improving rates. BACON is the MaineHealth ACO’s monthly news and information podcast, hosted by Mike Clark, MD and Heath...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 46: Guest: Bill Whitmore MaineHealth’s five Strategic Priorities and their associated objectives set our direction and course for organizational success.  One of the key objectives within the Strategic Priority of Community is Employer Engagement. In the latest episode of the Working Together podcast, Kelly invites Bill Whitmore, Vice President of Bu...

Andy's Open Door Recording Wednesday, June 5, 2024 Guest: Randy Stephan Andy was joined by Vice President of Security Services Randy Stephan for a conversation about Randy’s role and the work under way to protect MaineHealth care team and patients. Randy spoke about his experiences in the military and health care, his journey to MaineHealth, and the importance of understanding our caregiving envir...

Working Together with COO Kelly Elkins, Episode 45 Guests: Rebecca Hemphill, MD and Michelle Duval, CNIO Most MaineHealth care team members recognize that we utilize a common Electronic Health Record system – EPIC. But many may not realize that while we all use EPIC, there are still variations in the EPIC tools and applications across MaineHealth due to the prolonged timing of implementation. As w...

Andy's Open Door Recording Wednesday, May 15th, 2024 Guest: Andy Patstone Andy was joined by another Andy for a fantastic program focused on care team appreciation and engagement. Andy Patstone, MaineHealth Regional President-Coastal Region and a member of the MaineHealth Engagement Council, shared what she’s learned in her role as a regional president over the past 18 months. She has been with Ma...

BACON Ep. 60: A Symposium Sneak Peek On May 22, the MaineHealth ACO will be hosting the Working Together to Advance Value-Based Care symposium in Freeport, with health policy superstar Dr. Don Berwick headlining as keynote speaker. In this episode, we take a deep dive into one of the symposium’s afternoon workshops. Focused on payment bundles for specialty care, the workshop will be led by our two...