In this PermanenteDocs Chat, host Alex McDonald, MD, speaks with Hemali Sudhalkar, MD, hospitalist, inpatient palliative care physician, and National Medical Director of Strategy for Kaiser Permanente Care at Home, about how Advanced Care at Home delivers hospital-level care in patients’ homes.

Dr. Sudhalkar explains why this shift is essential as the U.S. population ages and capacity strains grow, and how Kaiser Permanente’s integrated model enables safe, coordinated care beyond the hospital. She shares early results from Northern California, where nearly 4,000 patients have received care since 2020, with average length of stay reduced from 5.5 to 3.5 days, hospital readmissions 3 percent lower, and likelihood-to-recommend scores 10 points higher than inpatient care.

The conversation covers clinician training, virtual nursing, and home visits — plus the policy steps needed to expand and sustain this model nationwide.

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In this episode, pediatric intensivist Eloa Adams, MD (Director of Inpatient Pediatrics Quality & Operations, TPMG) joins host Alex McDonald, MD to explore how integrated, community-based pediatrics keeps kids close to home. We dig into the rise of pediatric “care deserts,” why TPMG maintains local inpatient capacity, how tele-critical care links community EDs to specialists, and a sepsis-prevention effort summed up by “more awareness = more birthdays.” We also touch on supporting anxious parents, lessons for the wider system in value-based care, and what’s next for pediatric care delivery.

Guest: Eloa Adams, MD
Host: Alex McDonald, MD

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In this episode of the PermanenteDocs Chat, host Alex McDonald, MD, discusses the latest innovations in care experience with Wadie Marcos, MD, access and experience lead with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Dr. Marcos shares his insights on the changing health care landscape, focusing on improving access and the care experience.

They candidly discuss the unique challenges and opportunities health care organizations face in meeting patient expectations. Dr. Marcos highlights some groundbreaking practices at Kaiser Permanente, like enhancing booking systems and smoothing the onboarding process for new members to increase satisfaction. They also talk about the crucial role of soft skills in care experience, the importance of trust-building by physicians, and how a team-based approach enables high-quality care.

Dr. Marcos also covers the role ethical, evidence-based medicine plays in practicing medicine today and how disease prevention is central to Kaiser Permanente’s mission.

Don’t miss out on this compelling conversation — watch the chat on YouTube or listen to it on your podcast platform of choice. And don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss future Permanente Medicine programming.

#careexperience #patientexperience

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