Dr. Tom Mitchell, Carnegie Mellon University: The Impact of AI on the Future Workforce

When it comes to the impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce, there is still a major split between those who worry about “robots” replacing workers, and those who think employees will benefit from AI if it is harnessed the right way. On this episode of WorkforceRx, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan asks one of the world’s leading experts in the field, Dr. Tom Mitchell of Carnegie Mellon University, to weigh in on the debate. “The big determinant of how the future of work is going to play out is how we develop these technologies, and how we choose to adopt them. Do we adopt computers as assistants that allow people to do their job better, or do we use them to automate the task? The future is really ours to define.” Mitchell is currently updating a 2017 U.S. National Academy study on AI and the workforce at the request of Congress, and provides us with a peek into what has changed in the intervening years with regard to remote work, online learning, self-driving cars and the speed with which the field of AI itself is changing. Don’t miss this penetrating look at one of the most disruptive technologies of our time.

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Dr. Nader Nadershahi, Chair of the American Dental Education Association: Benefits of Integrating Oral and Medical Care

There’s growing interest in the integration of oral healthcare with medical care, and there’s good reason: about 30 million Americans who visit their dentist annually do not have similar contact with a primary care provider. Our guest on this episode of WorkforceRx, Dr. Nader Nadershahi, says this presents a tremendous opportunity for an additional way to identify problems such as diabetes and heart disease in patients. “The mouth is the window to the rest of your body,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. “The more we bring providers together and put the patient at the center of the conversation to get them the care and the access they need, it’s going to help not only improve healthcare outcomes, but lower our costs of healthcare delivery.” This collaboration will require shifts in how oral healthcare providers are educated, and Nadershahi will have a significant influence on that as Chair of the Board of the American Dental Education Association and Dean of The University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. Tune into to find out more about the emerging possibilities of interprofessional practice, the workforce challenges in the field of dentistry, and the future of oral healthcare education.

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Jane Oates, President of WorkingNation: Eliminating “Buts” In The Hiring Process

What would veteran workforce training leader Jane Oates do to improve the hiring system if she had a magic wand? “I would take away all of the buts, as in ‘I would hire you, but you don’t have experience, but you have a disability, but you’re too old.’” It will not only help achieve equal access to employment, she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, but right now employers could really use a bigger talent pool. “We cannot be the country we are meant to be with a 61% labor market participation rate.” After many years in government service, capped with being Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training in the Obama administration, she’s currently leading WorkingNation, a non-profit focused on educating the public and policymakers about achievable solutions to prepare workers for the future. Among its current initiatives are boosting the employment prospects of veterans, the disabled and single mothers. Partnerships are key to this work, and she and Van will be appearing on a panel together on August 22, 2022 at ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership conference in Nashville to underscore the role associations can play in bringing employers and workforce development stakeholders together. This episode of WorkforceRx is full of interesting ideas and angles to consider for those concerned about closing the troubling gap between job openings and available workers.

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Dr. Kamiar Alaei, Chair of Health Science at California State University Long Beach: Lessons From a Global Health Hero

From building a model HIV/AIDS program in Iran to creating a long-distance program to train doctors in war-torn Syria, Dr. Kamiar Alaei has overcome daunting obstacles to make a broad impact on global health. On this inspiring episode of WorkforceRx he shares lessons learned both in the trenches of public health and the corridors of Harvard, Oxford and other top universities with Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. Chief among them is the importance of collaboration, which he says requires knowing your audience and being willing to do a ‘dance with partners.’ “I call it a river strategy. In nature, there is no river that goes straight. So, we try to be flexible, while being consistent. In this way, we were able to engage a lot of those who were initially against our initiatives.” The approach allowed him to navigate sensitive religious and cultural barriers in the Middle East, but it also applies to building partnerships in the current federally-funded effort he is leading in California to reshape education for the public health IT workforce, one of only ten such programs in the nation. In fact, one of his partners in that innovative consortium is Futuro Health. Don’t miss this wisdom drop on effective strategies for strengthening public health and the education programs that sustain it from the founding director of the Global Institute for Health and Human Rights, and an internationally celebrated health hero.

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Johnathan Holifield, Senior Vice President at Bitwise Industries: Opening Economic Opportunities To The Underestimated

Johnathan Holifield spent many years deeply involved in neighborhood and community development work without really moving the needle until he discovered the game-changing nature of the innovation economy. “The stuff we were doing was good work, but we were focused on largely inelastic career opportunities versus what you find in the tech sector and innovation economy, which are elastic opportunities that really give you social and economic mobility.” As senior vice president of New Economies at Bitwise Industries, he’s now in a position to help what he calls disconnected populations gain access to the best options for economic advancement, and do so on an increasingly national scale. Bitwise, which started in Fresno, California in 2013, helps marginalized communities obtain the skills and resources necessary to access opportunities in the tech industry. Apprenticeships are key to its model and Bitwise is now the largest tech apprenticeship provider in the United States. Check out this illuminating episode of WorkforceRx as Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan explores how Bitwise is bringing its successful formula of workforce development, technology consulting and creating great community spaces to seven states and counting.

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Jacqueline Burandt, President of Award-Winning Results: Rethinking Employee Development

Obstacles – from language proficiency to digital literacy to family care – make it difficult for adults to get on, and stay on, an education path towards a career they desire. Our guest on this episode of WorkforceRx, Jacque Burandt, spent decades at University Health System in San Antonio, Texas, breaking down those barriers and is here to share her recipe for creating and sustaining successful upskilling and reskilling programs. As she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan, first and foremost is partnering with community organizations. Very few people have the budget to invest in lots of expensive training so employers should seek out groups that can help them out, says Burandt, who is now president of Award-Winning Results, a firm that focuses on transforming organizations through people development and gaining recognition for employees. A key benefit to these collaborations is that the community partner can often help with the “wraparound” services that make it easier for employees to attend classes. Tune in for many more tips and strategies in this wisdom drop from Jacque about getting the buy-in of supervisors, investing in awareness of the offerings, and the importance of celebrating successes so that building your own internal talent pipeline is no longer just a pipe dream.

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Ron Painter, CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards: Helping American Workers Be Their Best

As the unprecedented misalignment in the U.S. labor market between employers and workers continues, it’s a good time to take a look at the extensive federal infrastructure in place to support people seeking jobs and skills. Millions of Americans access 2,400 American Job Centers located throughout the country and its territories every year, which are powered by a network of 500 Workforce Development Boards. On today’s episode of WorkforceRx, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan sits down with Ron Painter, CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards, to explore the vital role they play in advancing economic opportunity. “Workforce Boards bring together the players you need in that region — housing, transportation, economic development, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations — that’s a unique mix wherever you are. There’s a whole lot that makes that equation work.” Check out this informative discussion to learn how communities are leveraging this network to bring about economic opportunity, why local Boards need more flexibility, and to understand why Painter is optimistic about meeting the unprecedented challenges facing employers and workers.

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WorkforceRx Live Book Launch: Free the Data

Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health and host of the show, is also author of the best-selling book, WorkforceRx: Agile and Inclusive Strategies for Employers, Educators and Workers in Unsettled Times. In this episode, Van welcomes leading workforce and economic development experts to discuss the strategies and insights from Chapters Nine and Ten that resonated most with them. Check out their lively discussion about freeing and sharing data within an organization to guide improvements; building infrastructure to help gig workers thrive; the role of labor unions in scaling solutions to workforce challenges; adopting a shared ownership model to overcome inequality in income and assets, and much more from this powerful new playbook for the future of work.
Joining Van are: Omid Pourzanjani, Superintendent and President of San Joaquin Delta College; Anthony Dalton, Vice President & Chief Data Scientist at Futuro Health; Kathy Booth, Project Director at WESTED; Ann Volk, Senior Director at Alvarez & Marsal; Sara Skvirsky, Research Director at the Institute for the Future; Dave Regan, President of SEIU-UHW; Howard Brodsky, CEO of CCA Global and Lenny Mendonca, Former Chief Economic and Business Advisor for the State of California.

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Dr. Imelda Dacones, President of Washington Optum Care: The 3 “Rs” of Improving the Patient and Provider Experience in Healthcare

What do all of the changes in healthcare wrought by the pandemic mean for the future healthcare workforce? On today’s episode of WorkforceRx, Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan draws out thoughtful answers from someone with a broad and deep view of the healthcare system. Dr. Imelda Dacones has been confronted with all of these changes — many of which were brewing before the pandemic — over decades as a physician and senior leader at large healthcare organizations in Oregon and Washington. She’s also a nationally recognized leader in healthcare delivery innovation, addressing social determinants of health, and the health impacts of climate change, among other issues. Her prescription for change? Reimagine the healthcare team, reengineer the patient visit, and reinvigorate providers. “We need to reinvent care altogether for the patients we serve but also for ourselves as providers, because there just are not going to be enough nurses, doctors and medical assistants coming into the future.” Don’t miss this comprehensive look at the challenges and opportunities in healthcare from integrating with community organizations to leveraging home care to keeping up with shifting skillsets. Find out, too, about the Quadruple Aim and how the healthcare industry can work to reduce its waste footprint in light of climate change.

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Dr. Adaeze Enekwechi, Operating Partner at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe: Private Equity and the Healthcare Workforce

“I did not ever think of private equity as a career option for me,” admits Dr. Adaeze Enekwechi, and not only because she saw it as a male-dominated profession. The former head of health at the Office of Management and Budget under President Obama and Ph.D. in health management expected to make a difference through public policy. But as an Operating Partner at Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe, she’s having an impact from a different perch. “We look at assets or companies to build that would make a meaningful contribution in whatever specific healthcare ecosystem we’re interested in investing in,” she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. “Our philosophy is not to just put money towards something and collect. We’re looking for opportunities to build something meaningful.” One current example is finding solutions to the nursing shortage and the painful budget crunch hospitals are enduring to pay for traveling staff. Investing in contingency staffing companies would earn a return, she says, but does nothing to solve the problem. A more useful target, she says, is leveraging technology to optimize the existing workforce. Adaeze shares examples of other issues she’s looking at through a private equity lens including racial inequities in care, social determinants of health, and what the training needs are as more care is being provided in the home. Check out this thoughtful episode of WorkforceRx in which you’ll also find out why this nationally respected healthcare leader thinks retail giants like Walmart and CVS should be applauded, and which two healthcare issues you should keep a close eye on in the coming months.

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