It’s Monday and that’s when we check in with one of our business journalist friends to get their take on the latest news across our state’s business community. Mike Switzer interviews Rick Jenkins, host of the podcast: Let’s Talk Business South Carolina, based in Greenville, SC. We discuss the state of healthcare innovation and its workforce issues in SC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Switzer: Hello, and welcome to another edition of the South Carolina Business Review. This is Mike Switzer. It's Monday, and that's when we like to take a look at current business issues that are trending across our state right now and discuss them with one of our fellow news media friends. Today we have Rick Jenkins, formerly the publisher of SCBiz News and now the founder and CEO of Let's Talk Business South Carolina, a network of B2B talk shows that airs on YouTube. Rick, welcome back to the program.
Jenkins: Hey, thanks, Mike. It's good to be back.
Switzer: All right, now, I understand that you recently interviewed the CEO of the South Carolina Hospital association on your show about healthcare innovation. Share with us what some of the biggest takeaways were from that conversation.
Jenkins: sure. First of all, the CEO is Thornton Kirby, and he has been with SCHA for, gosh, more than a couple of decades. He's really smart, thoughtful executive. But two main takeaways. One, hospitals dealing with workforce shortages. And two, another big takeaway. Hey, it's all about innovation. We tend to think about, Mike, breakthroughs in medicine or improved medical equipment when we talk about innovation. But the innovation taking place today is really about changing how healthcare is delivered and make it more accessible to patients.
Switzer: All right, now, I'm just going to guess AI might be involved.
Jenkins: That is a good guess. It's always AI, these days, regardless of what industry we're talking about. I'll give you a couple examples. I mean, think about a radiologist that might examine a mammogram or an X-ray or something like that. Now, traditionally, a doctor relies on their training and experience to, you know, identify a potential problem. But AI can compare that same image against millions of similar images almost instantly, and it can identify abnormalities that might be difficult for a doctor to immediately, detect. Now, the physician, you know, they're still going to make medical decisions, but AI becomes this really powerful diagnostic tool. There are clinics overseas, good example, where patients interact with an AI chatbot that can collect their symptoms and develop a diagnosis and a treatment plan. Now, the physician's gonna review it, of course, but it allows that doctor to serve way more patients.
Switzer: Does this mean that AI is one of these innovations that's going to help with these workforce shortages that we have in healthcare in our state?
Jenkins: Well, I think so, somewhat in an indirect way. We're still needing people to be nurses, obviously, and doctors. But hospitals are also having trouble finding radiology, surgical techs, lab professionals. But virtual nursing is now a thing. And you, know, this hits home for me because my daughter, she is a nurse and has been so for several years, and I know how hard she works. So imagine an experienced nurse who's been, you know, 25 years in a hospital, but they just can't be on their feet for 12 hour shifts anymore. Now they're having virtual nursing where you can use video tech and the nurse can communicate with patients remotely, answer questions, and coordinate aspects of their care. And it's, an example of how tech can extend capabilities of the workforce that we already have.
Switzer: And I guess this is obviously going to help our state's large rural population.
Jenkins: Yeah, we are a rural state. Right. the challenge with rural healthcare, Mike, is economics. I mean, hospitals are expensive to operate in these small communities. They just don't have enough patience to support the same range of services that you do have in larger cities. And take telehealth as an example. It allows these patients in rural communities to consult with doctors and specialists who might be located in Greenville or Columbia or Charleston, and they don't have to travel to those cities. You know, there's a small hospital in Edgefield County that, and this is really a really simple thing, it implemented an automated prescription dispensing system where patients can go in and get their meds 24 hours a day just by using, an access code. And that may not sound like much. It's relatively small, but for someone living in a rural community, it can be a meaningful difference.
Switzer: When you were speaking with Thornton, did you guys take a deep dive, maybe into the future, five years or so, to see what you, changes could be happening here in our state?
Jenkins: Yeah, we did take a deep dive into it. I'll give you an example that's pretty cool. Imagine attaching a small medical device to your smartphone, and it allows A.I. to examine something, and let's just say it's your ear, and it can determine whether you have an infection, or it can look at your medical history and it can even recommend an appropriate treatment. And these types of capabilities are already out there. The bigger questions involve regulation and how we're going to regulate it and how much oversight should be provided. But that's all going to come in time as it plays out.
Switzer: Well, Rick, thank you so much for the update, Mike.
Jenkins: I appreciate it. Always good to be here.
Switzer: Rick Jenkins is host of the podcast let's Talk Business, South Carolina. He spoke to us by phone from his office in Greenville. And remember, you can hear this show again at our webpage, SouthCarolinaPublicRadio.org and you can find us wherever you find podcasts. With the South Carolina Business Review, this is Mike Switzer.
The views expressed on the South Carolina Business Review do not necessarily reflect those of South Carolina Public Radio. South Carolina Business Review transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of South Carolina Business Review’s programming.
