With 30+ years of experience in the healthcare space, Chris Goggin has seen a lot and knows how quickly things can change when it comes to patient care. We spent some time with Chris to learn his take on the importance of affordability, accessibility of information, and convenience in healthcare today.

CAREER FOCUS

How would you describe your career trajectory after college?

It is exciting, interesting, challenging, rewarding, and with ups and downs that I could not have predicted coming out of college. I benefited greatly from working with strong mentors, teammates who guided me (and put up with me), and several great companies.


What does your current role entail?  

I lead the operations and technology teams for a startup group acquired last year by the CareCentrix organization. My day-to-day includes everything from checking on patient engagement clinicians, negotiating provider and client contracts, refining our agile backlog and release planning, and seeking opportunities to improve our predictive analytics model.


What accomplishment are you most proud of in your career?

I have benefited from working with a lot of really smart and engaging coworkers and business partners over the years. There are too many notable efforts and goals we’ve accomplished to list! My career settled into healthcare for most of the journey – I like to believe my efforts with member engagement, data and analytics, and now palliative services resulted in people getting access to the right doctor or the right service when they needed it.

HEALTHCARE PERSPECTIVE

What challenges do you believe the healthcare industry needs to solve?

Affordability, information access, and alignment are top of mind. The traditional methods of payment and reimbursement in the U.S. healthcare industry produce many innovations, efficiencies, and remarkable solutions; however, it also leads to overpriced drugs and services, over-utilized procedures, and a growing unaffordability for self-pay or individual insurance premiums. We have not solved the portability of patient information nor the ability to identify gaps in care or overlapping services readily.

Recently, the pandemic response has highlighted that the U.S. has limited manufacturing capabilities for critical equipment and pharmaceuticals. Our future challenge is to bridge that gap between those that can afford and have choices in care with the ability to provide similar basic services to everyone.


What areas are you seeing the most innovation in healthcare right now?

It’s exciting to see advances in home-based care and a focus on the social determinants of health (SDOH). Looking at the whole person and how access to food, transportation, and support affects their ability to stay healthy while seeking to perform many services in the home or via telehealth will help address some of the gaps I mentioned previously.


What changes do you see in your company as a result of COVID?

Our company focuses on interacting with members in-home during the initial assessment of their needs.  With the spread of the pandemic, we pivoted to greater use of telehealth visits, adjusted the frequency of interactions, and shifted focus to their social, faith, and interaction needs. The negative effects of isolation particularly impacted vulnerable populations as a result of stay-at-home orders. As the pandemic continued, we reinstated in-home visits and assist with patient transportation to and from their physician or treatment centers. Within CareCentrix, we invest in our current solutions to emphasize the whole person – whether ready for discharge from a hospital, preparing goals of care directives, or ensuring we meet their food, transportation, faith, and social needs.


JUST FOR FUN

Do you have any favorite hobbies?

I enjoy tinkering with my hobby car, visiting new restaurants and old favorites, and – for now – daydreaming about traveling.


What was the last movie or show you watched?

Mule by Clint Eastwood and The Dig with Ralph Fiennes, working on Dead to Me and The Investigation, finished Downton Abbey, Ozark, The Crown, and Emily in Paris. Hey, it’s stay-at-home!


Where is your favorite place to vacation?

We particularly enjoy vacations that involve beaches or skiing.


Any local restaurants you have enjoyed supporting lately?

We moved downtown two years ago, so “everywhere” has been interesting. I have enjoyed Chimborazo, The Mill Northeast, The Parlour, Hai Hai, Kado no Mise, Gorkha Palace, and Stanley’s NE in recent weeks.  

FAST FACTS ABOUT CHRIS

Relevant Health Roudtable Committee Member Since: 2018

Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

First Job: Milwaukee Journal paper route, then a Supply Clerk at Highland Pharmacy

College: University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire with a BBA in Management Information Systems

Family: My wife, Lynn, and my children, Katy and Eric

Dream RHR Panelists: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett – might have to sell tickets for that session!