Redefining Healthcare Innovation — Kali Arduini Ihde

Fred Schonenberg
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the VentureFuel Visionaries podcast. I'm your host, Fred Schannenberg. On today's show, I'm so excited to welcome Kali Arduini Ihde. She is the Director of Ventures and Innovation at Northwestern Medicine. 

Kali is at the forefront of bringing emerging technologies into one of the country's top academic health systems, helping shape the future of patient care through innovation. She also leads the Northwestern Medicine Healthcare Accelerator, which partners with AI and digital health startups to solve real high-impact challenges in healthcare. I know you guys will enjoy this conversation. Please join me in welcoming Kali to the show. Kali, it's so good to have you.

Kali Arduini Ihde
Thank you for having me. I'm very much looking forward to chatting.

Fred Schonenberg
So can you share a bit about your journey and what brought you to your role here at Northwestern Medicine?

Kali Arduini Ihde
Absolutely. You know, my introduction to healthcare and technology in general really started in my upbringing. So my mother is a social worker by training, working in healthcare for her entire career. My father was a salesman. He hopped around between advertising and tech and always kind of in the latest. But he really instilled this need to understand the latest technologies and how fun they would be from the start. 

And then as I was graduating from college, I got recruited by a little company known as Epic and just spent my first six years of my career traveling the country, seeing how technology is adopted, and really got the passion for helping to make sure it's done well, as I got to see when it was a challenge and when it was easy, and it really made people's lives better. 

And so after leaving Epic, I've really been at Northwestern Medicine ever since, straddling change management, people process technology, and bringing the latest technologies to our clinicians, administrators, and the entire workforce. And then coming out of COVID, really got to step into the innovation space, which has been such a blast, especially at this point in discovery, and both healthcare and our world overall. 

Fred Schonenberg
I think it's so interesting, your parents' background sort of coming together to what you're doing now, it seems like the perfect blend of those two. Can you talk about your approach to driving innovation within a large health system, like Northwestern Medicine? And my sort of feedback is a lot of things on the show. A lot of times we have folks that have worked Fortune 500 companies, regulated industries, but I mean, a health system as big as yours, getting things done that are innovative or different is a really unique challenge.

Kali Arduini Ihde
Absolutely. You know, for me, it's all about really helping people understand the benefit and the value of these technologies. That's not technology for technology's sake. It is how can we bring the latest in these innovative technologies, try them out on a small scale that's the best part about innovation is we have some funding and resources to be able to really provide a safe environment to try these technologies out with open minded kind of tech forward individuals to see, is it real? 

Is this really what it promises to be, and focusing on that adoption and change management. How do we embed these technologies into the everyday adding a bolt on that takes an extra step or takes you out of what you're doing every day is never going to be effective. And so really working with both the technology companies, whether it's a startup, or a big, well established strategic partner, and our clinicians are the folks who will ultimately benefit from the tool and having them work together to make sure that this is what it needs to be. 

I think having that background from Epic as well really helps me also understand how it fits into that core solution and platform that so many organizations have. So then we can really make sure that anything that's going to be an enhancement or an add on really is baked into the natural flow of the system. 

Fred Schonenberg
It's so interesting. You said so many great things within that, like one of them is like, you want to see what's out there, right? It's almost like a discovery of what's possible, the art of what's possible. And like, that's awesome. But then the real work begins, right? Like, so it's not tech for tech sake, as you said, like, it's like, okay, does this solve a real problem that's important? 

And then what is that like within the field? Like, does this work? Is it too distracting? Is it too cumbersome? Does it slow down things or have unintended consequences or is it quite interesting? Or is it quite the return not enough to justify the change management? It's very interesting that you're thinking about not only what's possible, but is it possible?

Kali Arduini Ihde
Absolutely. And that really is, I would say, the biggest learning we've had. So often, we'll see great technology solutions, and they work, they do exactly what they said they were going to do. But they still don't succeed in terms of getting widely adopted, or people being really excited about them. And so often, it's because they really haven't figured out how it fits right into the flow or how it makes the flow better.

We know that some things are going to have to change when you bring a new technology, people are open to change in the right ways. And for the benefit, not if it feels like an extra step, or more burden. But when it alleviates burden, it can be really, really powerful.

Fred Schonenberg
Absolutely. I wonder if we could switch for a second to the accelerator. Because you were doing innovation within the organization already. Can you talk about maybe the initial inspiration between why an accelerator and then what your thesis or focus was on the first one?

Kali Arduini Ihde
Absolutely. So for a few years now, I've been leading the innovation team here. And we would throughout any year, get introduced to new companies, we would learn about new solutions, or we would go out and we would find new potential partners based on problems that were brought forward within our organization.

And it happens kind of sporadically throughout the year. And so as we were starting to think of how we could take the work that we do to the next level, this idea of an organized programmatic approach to bringing early stage companies and all together and kind of taking them through a journey started to kind of pop up everywhere as ways that folks have had success. 

Then as we really started thinking about what our goals were, we wanted to make sure we were getting earlier in the process with many companies, so that we could really have a meaningful impact on the direction of their products. And also bring the expertise that we have with our physicians, with our nurses, with our business administrators, with our operational folks as well, to bring that to them to help fast track the work that they were doing and the innovation they were doing.

It also kind of builds a network and exposure to these early stage companies in the venture space that we were just getting started with. And so we're really excited to kind of through a program like this really expand our reach and the potential partners that we could find. Then as it came to defining our focus and our thesis, we actually kept it fairly broad to begin with, because right now is such an exciting time in healthcare. There are so many great entrepreneurs coming up with so many wonderful solutions.

So we didn't want to restrict to just one area or have all of these solutions target one part of our organization, and then they just feel overwhelmed by the options and the opportunity. It worked out really well to keep it broad so that we could spread the time and effort really, you know, to get mentorship to get things going, but also so we could solve many problems at once. 

Fred Schonenberg
I love it. I think it's one of the things you said early there that was really interesting. It's like this idea of finding earlier stage companies where you can almost co-develop with them, you can say, hey, if you can manipulate these two things, it works for our system or back to the conversation about the flow, right? These two adjustments make you fit into the flow and like, what a value that is to the startup, but also to you all now it works in your flow, right? So you get not only the technology that can deliver what it says it can, but it works for your individual organization, I think it's such an interesting insight. 

And then the second piece is that distribution of problem solving. By leaving it more open, you're not taxing one part of the organization, you're actually solving lots of different problems simultaneously, which is sort of a force multiplier to the KPIs and, and the deliverables you all can offer.

Kali Arduini Ihde
Very much so. And it got a lot of people excited about the program too. And now they're out there saying how great it was to be a part of it versus, I think if we would have tried to solve one service line or one specialty or one area of the organization, it probably would have been an overwhelming few months. 

Fred Schonenberg
Absolutely. Are there, within the sort of focus, are there use cases or problem areas that are most meaningful to you all or that you sort of naturally ended up focusing on, even if it was distributed? 

Kali Arduini Ihde
I would say in general, the idea of automating complex processes was sort of a resonating theme, which makes sense with where we are right now in terms of technological evolution. With the just incredible expansion of AI from sort of the historic kind of focused AI, degenerative AI. Now we're getting into agentic AI and just the complexity that it can handle now that, you know, even three or four years ago, we couldn't even fathom a lot of the solutions, whether they're AI or automation. We’re really focused on how we take these complex problems with multiple components and let technology do some of the heavy lifting.

Fred Schonenberg
Yeah. It's really interesting. I, probably a year ago, maybe a little longer, we showed agentic AI to a very large company. And the person who's very tech savvy and very forward thinking said to me, that's at least three years away. And I remember writing it down and being like, I bet it's not three years away. Now it's like, boy, did that come fast.

And it's like, not only did generative AI sort of pop on the scenes, now it's agentic. And so what does that mean as an organization? And to your point, like, all these things that can be automated, and allow you, your staff and all the brilliant minds that work there to focus on the big and important problems is a pretty big opportunity for society, which I think is really cool. 

So how do you all stay at the top of that? Like when you have these applications coming in, all of a sudden, it's, it's digital, yes, but it's, it's AI, it's agentic, it's all these new technologies, trying to tackle the space, how are you choosing the companies? Is there any criteria you're using to pick one over the other?

Kali Arduini Ihde
As you can imagine, it's evolving as the available technology is. I think, first and foremost, we ground everything in solving a meaningful problem that we need and want to solve right now. There are so many different challenges that we could be solving that we really need to focus on the broad, sweeping, complex ones that have been painful for our patients, for our communities, for our providers, for forever. There's big complex problems that have been out there. And we all just say they're too hard to solve. So we haven't. So we just throw people and energy and effort at them to make sure we can get through them.

That just can't keep happening to be a sustainable industry, and is precisely where these more sophisticated AI models can really help. And so I would say things like prior authorizations, which technology companies have been trying to help improve, and have been brought much more into the limelight in the last few years. It's an area that we're very focused on. Let’s take the pieces and parts of it that are painful. Figure out where tools and technologies can help today, and start chipping away at those pain points.

You know, the entire kind of back end coding and clinical documentation, and the burden on physicians today to know the rules of not just in general, how to treat patients. But what their insurance will never cover? What documentation is required to approve or not approve a treatment? It is incredible. And so we've put a bunch of people on the back end to help train and educate and follow up and adjust. And it's those things that we are just really excited about the potential of the latest AI tools to help solve because for many years, we've had a lot of cleanup and complex processes that have been put into place to try to not put that burden on our patients. To try to not put that burden on our communities and our physicians, but at the end of the day, it's still out there.

Fred Schonenberg
Yeah, it's so interesting. When I'm sure most people listening as consumers, right, or as patients immediately can think of how hard it is to go through insurance and all the different steps. And then if you kind of can take yourself out of it for a second and think about that burden on the physicians, right, who are actually trying to help you and their expertise is medicine, right? It's not navigating all the different players involved in barriers. It's very interesting to think about what if you could remove that pain point and make that part seamless and make it more about how can the physician help you get better? It's a pretty powerful idea. 

Is there when you're in the hopes of recruiting more startups that might be interested in this, can you talk a little bit about maybe some of the unique aspects of the accelerator or advantages that startups would gain from being a part of one of your programs?

Kali Arduini Ihde
Yeah, I think we were really excited to host this accelerator, because we just have such a wealth of knowledge and expertise. And individuals across our organization, physicians, nurses, therapists, even on the back end business side, regulatory and revenue cycle folks, people who know our issues, know what's out there. Like we, you'll get access to all of that. Every one of our first cohort companies is one of the first things we did was get them connected to not one but multiple mentors within our organization, depending on what they were seeking in terms of expert advice, and where we had interest.

And you get immersion shadowing. You get to go see them in action and get their input. We also have a pretty sophisticated information technology type team. We have been a long standing epic customer. We have deep familiarity with how to integrate and with some really brilliant architects. And one of the great pieces of feedback we got from our first cohort was just the exposure to those architects and conversations to figure out. I know I need to embed this in a workflow.

How do I do that? What is the workflow? Where can I tackle it with fire API integration? How can I embed this into those flows and processes? Those conversations are also incredibly valuable to these early stage companies, not to mention we have physical space in downtown Chicago. And so you can come here physically, you're steps away from our hospitals. We have access to not just our academic site downtown, but 10 other hospitals, community, rehab, say, um, nope, looking at the word, critical access. And so a great wealth of environments to get familiar with and to get feedback from. And so that's really, I think, what sets us apart. 

We also very much are looking at the traditional and what we've heard, the traditional accelerator model is often 10 to 12 companies, which to us is just a lot to engage in a short period of time. So we've narrowed ours down to six, and six, we can go really deep with and provide that level of support that I mentioned, and evaluate them for use at our organization. So every single one of those companies, we are taking through our evaluation process of here's not just feedback to help you grow your product. But here's what we ask of our partners in terms of bringing them in to do one of our pilots. 

Fred Schonenberg
Yeah, I love that. And I love that there is like the commercial aspect of it of actually working with you, right? It's not just a, hey, like, come in and learn from us, start up and spend your time here, which is valuable. But it's like, no, we actually want you to meet the people that will hire you and help you scale. So we can put this into practice versus just being an academic exercise, which I think is so valuable. 

Are there any of those six companies that you would like to highlight, just as an example of some of the innovation that you're bringing into the organization? 

Kali Arduini Ihde
I mean, it's like asking you to pick a child who's your favorite. So I'm going to hit. It's only six. So I'm gonna have to hit on all of them. But you know, all of them are so great. 

We have AI Medica that does evidence based EHR automation. So really helping our hospitalists and even our outpatient folks and more accurately doing that documentation without having to remember exactly what they have to do for every single payer for every single regulatory need. 

Decimal Code is automating medical coding and billing accuracy. So particularly as you think about surgeries, and how do we make sure we're putting the right documentation, the right diagnoses, the right orders and everything correctly so that ultimately the burden isn't on the patient to pay for these very expensive procedures. 

Efficiency is a supply chain company. So really focused on kind of changing the disruptions that come from prediction and automation of your supply needs. You know, a lot of people don't think of how complex it is to make sure that the right materials get into the right place in our hospital so that when the doctor goes to grab something out of a bin, it's there. So many things can impact that from natural disasters to just shortages of various supplies. And so they're helping in that space.

Exact Directs is an ambulatory surgery center focused AI solution to help with occupancy and revenue recovery. And so as we make sure that all of our sites that are providing patients with lifesaving procedures, making sure that those patients are getting in. That we're getting all the information needed ahead of time so that there are no delays. That patient gets the care they need, and there's no stress afterwards on how you're going to pay. 

Last Minute is a healthcare workforce management AI. So how do we make sure the right nurses are available on the right days, a challenge that has, again, been so complicated in healthcare. 

And then Voitho is the last one. They're multimodal AI for cardiovascular. So we're helping and looking to kind of help them, you know, look at research studies, look at data to kind of build this very robust AI solution to help with diagnosis and treatment. 

Fred Schonenberg
Very cool. I can see why you like each of your children. Those are good children. 

Kali Arduini Ihde
Right? They're all over the place. I can't pick just one because they're solving so many different problems.

Fred Schonenberg
I think it's important that they're solving different problems. I think one of the things you know, we've been doing this for quite a while on our side, too. And I think that to go deep, you want to attack problems, different problems with different solutions. And so I think that's really a smart way to kind of distribute the task to the organization, but also to help you solve different problems, right? 

Those are in different areas. So you can't apples to apples against each other, but you don't need to, right? You found the best one to solve that problem. And then you scale that solution. And then by the way, I bet there's more challenges within the organization beyond those six. And so that opens up to sort of the next question, which is, as you look forward, are there areas that you're thinking about for maybe a future program or future initiatives, and challenges and problems to solve within the org?

Kali Arduini Ihde
Yeah, I would say similarly, I don't think we're going to restrict to any one area. But I know we still have some of those big challenges that we want to continue finding solutions for. And so I mentioned one prior on this huge, lot of people trying to solve problems in that space kind of piece by piece. So I think we're still continuing to look at where we have partners that are solving components of it, where there's still gaps. 

As we look at just continuing to alleviate the burden off clinicians, and even off of the teams that we put in place of people who are trying to alleviate the burden off of clinicians, how can we continue making their lives better? How can we make that process more effective, and efficiently take out some of the workarounds and cleanup processes that are out across healthcare.

And then I think IT security just continues to be such a challenge. And fear, frankly, the number of healthcare organizations, hospitals who have been targeted for attacks, and just had their entire operations shut down. I think that's still prominent in our minds every day. So how do we keep protecting the information we have? How do we make sure that the systems we have in place aren't vulnerable to attacks? So that would say that's another area that we're always looking for. What's new? What else can we be doing to protect our patients, their information, their records, and then our organization as well from the negative impact of those attacks. 

Fred Schonenberg
Yeah, it's always very interesting to me how AI is probably the solution to protect against AI to protect against all the data needed for AI, right? Like, it's like this weird wheel of things. But cybersecurity, I remember, was something that we thought was interesting and did not realize what a big part of our business it would become, across all different industries. 

It is an area that is really important, whether it's personal data, whether it is security across all the different pieces and entry points, right, as we have sensors on more things, those are all things that are vulnerable to a degree. This is so exciting. I'll ask you this, is there anything you learned through the process of standing up an accelerator for the first time that you wish you had known before you did it?

Kali Arduini Ihde
I would say we had so much interest from within the organization of people who are excited to be a part of it, I thought we were going to have to convince more people. We've even had folks post programs who've reached out and said, Hey, whenever you're starting the next one, I'd love to be a part of it because I've talked to so and so and it just seems so great. 

So I think one of our learnings is when we are evaluating and looking at the applicants, getting some of those individuals involved sooner. Our original process when we were looking at it as we worked with our accelerator partners to start narrowing down the 600+ applications down to six, as you can imagine, that's a huge effort.

And so we would reach out to your typical leaders, medical directors, directors, VPs of an area to get their input. But I think we're finding it's probably the next level down folks who really are more in tuned with the day to day what's meaningful and impactful to solve these problems. And now we have a bunch of them who have come forward.

So I think I'm excited when we're selecting the potential accelerator startups to get some of these individuals involved earlier to help us pick the right partners and make sure that we're drilling into the best problems. And again, setting these companies up for even more success at our organization. I think we still have a lot of opportunities to improve upon that.

Fred Schonenberg
Yeah, it's such a cool thing. We always talk about like you need your head in the clouds, like from a vision standpoint, but your feet on the ground, like you need the people that are like, going to actually use this on a day in day basis. And when you bring them in earlier, not only do you get your insights on sourcing, but then they're the ones that implement it. And they're bought in, right? They feel ownership of the whole process. Yeah, yeah, very cool. It's cool, like a circular wheel there. Kali, where can people go to learn more about the accelerator and all the great work that you're doing?

Kali Arduini Ihde
Yeah, so we'll be opening up applications and actually pushing out a new site at the end of this month for our next project, which will kick off in March. And so don't have a perfect website to send you to today. But if you follow me on LinkedIn, you'll see a lot of updates on that.

Fred Schonenberg
All right, cool. We'll drive everyone to your LinkedIn, you're now going to become a LinkedIn influencer overnight. And then you can tell everyone where to go when it's ready.

Kali Arduini Ihde
Sounds great. 

Fred Schonenberg
Awesome. Well, thank you for taking the time and for everything you're doing to spark change. This is an important area to be innovating in. So I really appreciate it. 

Kali Arduini Ihde
Thanks for having me, Fred. This was great.