Interview by Jonathan Kersting
It is not every day you get to sit down with someone helping shape the future of health care across Western Pennsylvania.
In this special TechVibe conversation, Jonathan Kersting of the Pittsburgh Technology Council talks with Mark Sevco, President of Allegheny Health Network, ahead of his upcoming Breakfast Briefing on June 11. Sevco brings deep Pittsburgh roots, decades of health care leadership experience and a clear focus on how AHN can use technology, innovation and community partnerships to create better outcomes for patients across the region.
Listeners will hear how AHN is thinking about some of the biggest opportunities in health care technology, including AI, ambient listening, chatbots, Epic, predictive analytics and more personalized care pathways. Sevco explains why health systems must become obsessed with patient satisfaction and use technology to make health care simpler, faster, more reliable and easier to navigate.
The conversation also explores how AHN works with startups and entrepreneurs through its innovation efforts, including ways emerging companies can bring ideas forward to solve real-world problems in care delivery, operations, research and patient experience. Sevco also previews how AHN and Highmark are thinking about affordability, access and quality as part of a payer-provider model built for the future.
Beyond technology, Sevco digs into AHN’s role as a community anchor, from addressing health disparities to supporting prevention, wellness, screenings, education and partnerships with schools, churches and local organizations.
Attend the Breakfast Briefing to hear Sevco go deeper on AHN’s vision for the next decade of health care, including the rise of outpatient care, home health, AI-powered access, predictive analytics, precision medicine and what it will take to keep Western Pennsylvania healthier for generations to come.
The Pittsburgh Technology Council Produces TechVibe to explore Pittsburgh' technology and innovation ecosystem.
Transcription:
AHN Mark Sevco
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[00:00:00] Hey, this is Jonathan Kersting with the Pittsburgh Technology Council, giving you your front row seat to Pittsburgh's technology and innovation ecosystem.
And I tell you what, it is not every day you get the chance to sit down with someone who is helping shape the future of healthcare across western Pennsylvania. And today, I am super excited to welcome Mark Sevco, president of Allegheny Health Network, ahead of his upcoming breakfast briefing this June 11th.
We're just a couple days away for our big breakfast briefing. Very excited about this. Mark, he brings this deep experience leading complex health systems, and now finds himself literally at the center of one of the region's most important conversations. That is how technology, innovation, partnerships, and community commitment can come together to build a healthier future for all of us.
Today, we're gonna be talking about how AHN is adopting new technologies, where startups and entrepreneurs can fit into the healthcare ecosystem, how AHN is showing up in the communities it serves, and what it really takes to make care more [00:01:00] accessible and more personal and more impactful. This is exactly the kind of conversation we love at the Tech Council.
It gets my juices flowing. So buckle up. Here is Mark Sevco. Mark, first off, welcome back to Pittsburgh. We're so excited to have you here. Yeah, Jonathan, thank you. I'm thrilled to be here with you, and really looking forward to the the breakfast on June 11th as well. I know our members are very excited 'cause it, w- this is almost like your debut to the Tech Council crowd.
I think people wanna know more about you. But of course, I think everyone, you, everyone knows AHN's doing some tremendous work out there. But sometimes we often take it for granted because we just know that we have this asset here. And and you're at the helm of this thing. So what made it the right time for you to come back to Pittsburgh and take on this role at AHN?
Well, it is a privilege. It's a very unique opportunity to be in healthcare. There's so many changes and headwinds right now. Yes ... you know, I'm a Pittsburgh guy, right? So I went to school at the University of Pittsburgh got a degree in applied mathematics, an MBA, MHA. I spent 30 years at [00:02:00] UPMC.
Yeah. And my last role there was president of the hospital division and ambulatory. And I I went to the West Coast for a real a short period of time. I was expecting to be in northern California a longer period of time. Okay. But was chief operating officer of Sutter Health, and had a unique opportunity to come back, work at Highmark- and AHN. It's just really unique for me to have, you know, the history in Pittsburgh and different systems, and I just, you know, thrilled to be here. We're working on a lot of great things at Highmark and AHN, and look forward to sharing a lot of that you know, with you and certainly with the others.
100%. I mean, I think about 30 years going back, the a- the, just the information you have, the data that you have. And you know our region so well. I mean, every region- Oh, yeah ... is a little bit, every region's a little bit different, so you really understand how a healthcare provider has to kinda integrate in there.
And of course, it's just such an important thing in this day and age. And so for us at the Tech Council, of course, it's always like technology first. We love seeing how AHN is just embracing technology to make things so much more seamless, to provide more care, to just make sure that people can get the [00:03:00] care that they need.
What are some of the biggest opportunities around tech that you see that AHN can continue to embrace as it moves forward? Well, yeah, it's a great question. Well, i- in healthcare, one, one of the things you'll hear from me is we can do so much better you know, for our patients. We can help them, you know, navigate, meet them where they're at.
And, a- and really, technology can play a significant role in that, so there's so many great ideas right now, certainly with AI, so disruptive right now. Yes. Whether it's ambient listening, ambient recording- ... whether it's, you know, the startup companies that are really trying to do their best and working with us to...
Well, I always talk about- You know, are we making it best for our patients to create pathways that are simple, that are reliable and quick? And the answer to that a lot of times is no. You know, patient scheduling, is it simple, reliable, quick? I mean, maybe. But there's so many different things right now around technology.
We have electronic medical record system that Epic is our system, and we're really, you know, trying to [00:04:00] learn how to leverage those capabilities. But I would say AHN's coming at it from a consumer satisfaction perspective. We gotta be obsessed with patient satisfaction. Yeah. Where do our patients need the most help in navigating healthcare, and how can we use technology to be able to do that?
You know, chatbots, okay, a lot of different things we're gonna be trialing and getting feedback from our patients. But it's an exciting time. The predictive analytics, you know, we could talk forever about- ... you know, the importance of meeting, like customizing care for you, where you're at and what we know about you, and the predictive analytics around, of the pathway to keep you well, healthy and living a long life.
See, that to me is just where it gets so exciting, and I know that you have to walk a really fine line because you're able to gather all this data to make the experience better to be quicker, to be faster, but at the same time, you've got the patient's privacy that's also involved with that as well too.
So you have to serve these two masters in order to make that happen. But you guys have been doing that quite well. I mean, I've been [00:05:00] following so much of your progress through your analytics over the past five, six years, and it is just amazing to see what you're able to do. Plus, as me being, of course, in the AHN network, I've experienced it myself just being a customer myself as far as that goes.
And so, once again, like you mentioned a little bit about startups and stuff like that, I get really excited when I see startups in Pittsburgh that have really cool solutions, and I see so many of them being able to actually have a an audience with AHN, especially with what you guys do with Innovation Works and everything like that- Yes
with Alpha Lab. Tell me more about that, 'cause I think that's gotta be very unique to our region to have something like that. Yeah, I mean, one of the things we have to do is be very open to new ideas, right? So we talk about it a lot. In order for us to be the best, we have to be very creative. We have to understand how we are actually creating a roadmap to make things better.
And as I've always said, one of my favorite quotes is, "If you wanna go someplace you've never been, you have to try things you've never tried." And that includes- ... bringing other ideas to the table [00:06:00] around really good ideas that create partnerships. And you know, so we do have an innovation center led by Dr.
Jeff Cohen, that we actually can, you know, do a lot of things that might solve a real-life problem- Yeah ... from a process perspective, but it could be technology. It could be basic science. It could be, you know, research. And so we really have a lot of leaders here at AHN that have a passion for advancing this organization and creating a better place for our patients' experience.
Or, as you say around startup companies there's just so many different things that can create that better pathway. So again, we love to talk, and we have different- Yeah ... forums to, to invite people who have these- Right ... ideas to be able to vet them and understand, "Hey, where are you at in this life cycle of a startup?
Can we actually help you with seed funding? Can we actually, you know, participate, or can we take, you know, ownership of an equity stake?" Or all different pathways here. Look forward to sharing more about that. [00:07:00] Yeah. But we're a company focused on innovation. At Highmark and AHN as a payer provider- is really focusing on the value proposition of not only enhancing access and quality but with affordability in mind. And so, we need technology solutions. We need to provide ways that things, that care is provided more affordable, and a lot of that's gonna be through technology. I love it. And that's why we get excited, 'cause, you know, the Tech Council, kind of like that.
For sure. One thing that all of our members are also excited to hear from you talk about is really just how much HN really does engage in the community. Every year you guys seem to amp it up in different ways. Like I said, whether it's like you were talking before, actually providing audiences for starts, but you go way deeper than that.
Tell me more about what different ways that you make sure that healthcare is available to everybody, and that you, I mean, you're just, you're such active participants out there. What all do you guys do? Tell us more. Well, appreciate that. I mean, it starts with our mission statement, which is, you know, for us is to create a remarkable experience, freeing people to be their best.
That's a [00:08:00] simple mission statement. And the vision is really for everybody and to embrace health. And so, you know, that, that really starts in the community. It starts in the community, and we r- with this population health mindset is keeping pat- patients healthy and well. And all of that entails addressing socioeconomics and health disparities, and what are we doing working with schools?
What are we doing working, you know, with churches? And what are we doing to work to address health disparities? Why do they exist? And so you gotta get to the grassroots of these socioeconomic, you know, issues. And Highmark as a payer is very, you know, vested, has done a tremendous amount of, you know, community outreach and supporting these partners.
And from a healthcare perspective, a lot of our clinicians, you know, who work in the community, they wanna understand, how can we be a better partner to the communities we serve? Yes, we're available from an access standpoint, schedule an appointment, you know, what do you need? Get a, you know, get a scheduled procedure.
But there's so much [00:09:00] that we can do better in terms of prevention and wellness and screenings, you know, and actually education- ... so people have a better understanding how to stay healthy and how to stay active. You know, how to, you know, from nutrition to diet to exercise to, you know, you know, work-life balance.
I mean, these are all things that, that we're trying to take a viewpoint of you know- keeping our members, if you're Highmark, healthy, or keeping our communities healthy. I love it. And that's really our mission. 100%. I mean, I just think it's one of those things where I think everyone sees that, and they get very excited about it.
And to see what you guys do is honestly just tremendous. And it's one of the things, there's always this pursuit. No one ever reaches that goal, but you're always finding new ways to make it better, to make the knife a little bit sharper, I think, as far as that is. And my last question, it's just to tease our listeners here so they go to the breakfast briefing so they can see you in person is really imagining the next decade of healthcare in Western Pennsylvania.
I mean, AHN just really defines so much of our region. Where do [00:10:00] you see healthcare going in the next 10 years? And that's a huge question. Yeah, it's a big question, of course. But we know what we should be thinking about these things. You know, where is healthcare going? You know, we're always, you know, you know, pressuring ourselves what is right in front of us that we're pri- trying to solve now?
But we do here have stepped back and sort of taken a look at, you know, what are the future trends? What is the technology evolution? How are we gonna embrace AI? How are we gonna work with different companies? And set up a Highmark 2030 and an AHN 2030, you know, strategic plan. Now, that will adapt over time.
Now, that's a five-year, and you're asking about 10 year. Sure. But we really do... You know, we start with, you know, we wanna be a great place to work and practice for our clinicians, recruit the best people, and we have the best, you know, operating model to continue to iterate and get better. You know, and I think from 10 years from now, we need to have a more affordable platform.
We need care to be more affordable to seniors to employers- We need Medicaid to be more affordable. And [00:11:00] so we wanna be able to provide care to everybody that needs the care when they need it, where they need it. And I think that definitely there's gonna be a movement toward outpatient.
There's gonna be a huge movement to home healthcare. There's gonna be a huge, you know, significant investment in AI in terms of what role that can play in terms of, you know, awareness, education how we access c- certainly our physicians. You know, look, predictive analytics is gonna play a huge role here in the, in the genetic makeup.
Precision medicines is something I'm gonna talk a little bit about- Excellent ... you know, if you allow it. Very cool. How we can actually provide customized, personalized medicine with clinicians to really meet each individual where they're at. And so it's an exciting time for healthcare. Oh. As challenging as it is, it's very exciting.
I'm super excited. I cannot wait to hear you talk more about that, and that's why I'm so glad I got to talk to you today to get a little teaser as to what's to be going on. To remind everybody, if you wanna check it out, of course go to pghtech.org. Links in the description here if you wanna go, and simple as that.
I can't thank [00:12:00] you enough for your time, Mark. I look forward to seeing you at the breakfast briefing. And in case you forgot, this is Jonathan Kersting with the Pittsburgh Technology Council, and of course Tech Vibe, and I cannot wait to see you on the next one.