HealthcareInterviewBridging Technology and Holistic Care with Dr. Romi Chopra of MIMIT Health

A pioneer in interventional radiology and endovascular therapy, Dr. Paramjit “Romi” Chopra, M.D. expertly merges Eastern traditions with Western medical advancements. Through this interview, we explore MIMIT Health’s groundbreaking healthcare model, distinguished by its focus on holistic well-being, covering the mind, body, and spirit. This unique patient-centric approach, augmented by state-of-the-art technology, positions MIMIT Health as a leader in contemporary healthcare. We invite you to discover the motivations and philosophies that drive Dr. Chopra’s vision, where patient welfare, minimally invasive procedures, and a delicate balance between technological efficiency and personalized care are at the forefront.

1. How does MIMIT Health’s patient-centered care paradigm, focusing on mind, body, and spirit, set it apart from traditional healthcare models?

• Most healthcare organizations, especially the traditional healthcare models, are not focused on patient centricity. They tend to be either institution-centered, technology-centered or perhaps disease-centered. And most of it depends on a diagnosis, a problem, or a technology.
• Humans live in three dimensions: The physical, which is the body; the mental, which is the mind; and, ultimately, the spiritual which is where we feel. As humans, we are not in the world. The world is in us and therefore we want everything personalized, not just at the physical level or intellectual level, but also at the feeling/spiritual level. We have found that when we engage our patients on all three levels, they heal better, they are more involved in their healthcare, and we get better outcomes.
• Fortunately, AdvancedMD has helped us streamline workflow processes across our EHR, practice management capabilities, and patient engagement functions and enabled us to deliver exceptional patient care at every level.
• We have lived up to exceeding the quintuple aims of healthcare, which is providing excellent quality, excellent patient experience, making sure that our employees are not burnt out, we are fiscally responsible, and at the same time provide equitable care.
• Our motto is “meditation to AI,” which allows us to give our patients a holistic approach wherein we use traditional, basic human principles, but also the very high-tech tools such as AdvancedMD that are required in our world to solve problems.

2. What inspired you to create an innovative healthcare model that goes beyond treating medical conditions, and how has it positively impacted patients?

• At 17 and a half years of age, I was in medical school. I felt it was my calling and the reason for that was because I loved people, and the human condition, and I really wanted to be solving people’s problems.
• As I rapidly progressed in my career in large academic institutions, including Harvard Medical School, and ultimately became a tenured associate professor, and chairman of a large department at Rush University, all of which happened fairly early in life, I realized I was not as happy and fulfilled.
• I climbed the ladder of success, but I realized it was leaning against the wrong wall. What I really wanted to do was to have an impact on people’s lives, one person at a time, but on a large number of people.
• It is then that I set off to create an innovative model, which was patient-centered, but also used all the best of practices and technologies that existed outside of healthcare and to bring it into taking care of patients.
• I took care of my aging mother, until she was 93, and I realized how difficult it was to get the care that she needed.
• The experience was never good despite being a very well-established member in a high-ranking position within the healthcare system. Since then, it motivated me even more to develop patient-centered patient-friendly environments where the care we provide is evidence-based and we do it better, faster, and cheaper.
• MIMIT Healthcare is connected with our patients, and we collaborate for their success. So, we use all kinds of technologies and tools that are available to work for patient success. This has had a massive impact on our practice of providing patient care. Patients love it and we’ve had patients now for decades where the entire family members may also be part of our practice.

3. Could you share specific ways in which technology has enhanced MIMIT Health’s efficiency and allowed more focus on patient wellness?

• We have adopted the best of-practice systems out there and have taken technologies such as Salesforce and other platforms along with an EMR, which is SaaS-based. We  connected all of these together to track patient journeys, but also have taken systems that companies like Uber and Airbnb would use such as Vonage to make it convenient for patients to find us, for us to acquire the patients, to care for them, to coordinate their patient care journeys on a collaborative connected platform and all the way up to advanced analytics to help find insights into how to provide better care.
• We also are connected across all the different systems that are out there, including pharmacies, other hospital systems, et cetera.
• What this has allowed us to do is what I call “medicine at the speed of life”,  providing healthcare at the speed of life very much in an Amazonification paradigm.
• We do what we call P3RM : patient relationship management, provider relationship management, and payer relationship management. In this paradigm, we collect all the necessary information. We are connected with as many people as are needed and keep track of all the information and the data that’s necessary to make good decisions. We make sure that the right person has the right information at the right time to do the right thing for patient success.

4. Can you provide examples of how the implementation of technology resulted in efficiency gains and contributed to the significant growth in revenue at MIMIT Health?

• Since we implemented AdvancedMD and put the platform and systems to use, our practice has experienced a 490% return on investment on our technology investment.
• In addition, we have seen our patient satisfaction scores skyrocket; our revenues and profitability grow as much as two and a half times over 18 months after the technology and the systems were implemented.

5. How do you apply an engineering mindset to bridge the patient data gap and improve the overall healthcare experience?

• I adopted a “systems thinking” and process management paradigm almost 3 decades ago.
• While at Harvard medical school, I was serendipitously introduced to and then I immersed myself into the learning and implementation of “total quality management” and “continuous quality improvement” using an engineering mindset.
• A paradigm that I adopted a long time ago, which I learned from the Stephen Covey organization, was that every system has Six rights.
• Systems produce outcomes. The six rights of a system practically govern everything we do: it involves the structure, the process, people, information decisions, and having the right rewards.
• To do this, we took principles of process and systems engineering and applied them to our healthcare systems, such as understanding the workflow, flowcharting these, and creating guided workflows for all within the organization.
• We sought to minimize variations, to ensure good outcomes while keeping costs down.
• The quality management and statistical analysis principles that have been applied to our daily processes have made a tremendous impact on managing patient information and all the patient data. We have connected all the different silos of data into one platform where they now go into one data lake house and they’re all available for analytics as a source of truth and to get actionable insights that are deployed on a day-to-day level to impact patient care .

6. In the era of digital healthcare solutions, how do you ensure a balance between technology-driven efficiency and maintaining a personalized, human-centered approach?

• I’ve always lived by the principle and understood that we as humans feel before we think.
• Technology is here to stay, but technology is just a tool to make sure that we can give patients the best care and service while providing the best experience and not allowing technology to be implemented for the sake of technology.
• We only implement technologies, which, first must have a direct impact on patient care in a positive MANNER and are patient centered. AdvancedMD has been a key platform here as it works as an all-in-one solution that addresses our EHR, practice management, and patient engagement needs, enabling us to create more productive and efficient workflow processes.
• It’s imperative that healthcare technology supports an evidence-based, patient-centric healthcare model and it must be in the paradigm of doing things better, faster, cheaper.
• We will often pass on technologies that just sound sexy and fancy and are present for the sake of technology itself.
• We tend to avoid technologies that are solutions looking for a problem. Instead, we focus on problems and then apply technology to solve those problems using the best-of-practice systems and technologies that exist.

7. What advantages do MIMIT Health’s minimally invasive procedures offer over traditional surgery, and how do they contribute to improved patient outcomes?

• We focus on minimally invasive surgeries.
• One of the main areas of focus is cardiovascular disease.
• Patients may have vascular-related wounds from peripheral arterial occlusive disease. Traditionally, these patients can end up with amputations, which have very high morbidity, mortality, and cost.
• The traditional open surgical treatment options are, extremely expensive, but also have a high rate of morbidity and mortality.
• Instead, with our minimally invasive techniques, we are able to provide excellent care in an outpatient setting with low costs and produce great outcomes where patients also have a great experience.
• This keeps patients out of hospitals, decreases their costs, increases their longevity, and gives them a great quality of life.

8. Could you elaborate on how MIMIT Health educates patients on their conditions and involves them in the decision-making process for their healthcare plans?

• In our patient-centered paradigm, we make sure that we are connected to the patients through all channels, what we call an “omnichannel care strategy” .
• We see patients in their homes, clinics, nursing homes, hospitals, and also provide telehealth “digital” healthcare.
• In addition, we communicate with patients and their care teams and households on omnichannel platforms.
• This allows communication in a secure HIPPA compliant way via text, email, voice, or face-to-face communications.
• We make sure that we have built an entire knowledge base around the disease states, which we can both digitally provide to them as hyperlinks into our knowledge base, and our patient care portal.
• We educate patients as possible, at their level, about understanding their disease state, the solutions, but also a path to wellness. We coach them on mental health issues, how to live healthy lives, diet, and exercise, and get them into care programs that help them lead better lives.

9. Coming from a background of attending Harvard Medical School and being an Interventional Radiology Fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, how has your educational journey influenced your approach to patient care and the development of MIMIT Health’s unique paradigm?

• I’ve had the good opportunity and good fortune of having worked in diverse systems across the globe. I’ve worked in small hospitals in underprivileged areas up to the meccas of healthcare such as Harvard Medical School and other large institutions.
• By having such a diverse view or diverse experience. I was able to understand the impact of high-level technologies, but also by working in underprivileged areas, understood the core human needs and how to combine the two effectively to provide good solutions for human beings in general.
• I’m a humanist and a deeply spiritual individual and understand that ultimately the journey is the destination, and helping humans have a good life journey and helping them lead their best lives was what I was passionate about.

10. Being awarded the Distinguished Physician Award and U.S. Congressional Medal for Excellence in 2018 is a significant achievement. How do you think these recognitions reflect the impact of MIMIT Health, and how has it influenced your commitment to patient-centered care?

• I was very humbled and honored when my peers nominated me to get the Distinguished Physician Award and congressional medal.
• This only motivated me more to continue doing what I was doing and impact one human being at a time.
• I truly believe that, yes, I may be one person in the world, but I could be the world to somebody. I try to be that person in my patients lives. I also believe that the “way to impact the many is the one”.  It’s imposing one human being at a time and doing it at scale through the organization.
• This motivated me to develop systems and solutions where each person that I interacted would be inspired to lead their best, most effective lives.
• Success to me is living up to one’s God given potential.
• My role as a physician and leader is to help reach the maximum of their potential.
• This kind of recognition only motivated me immensely to fulfill my purpose and continue down this path.

11. What are the future goals of MIMIT Health, and how do you envision continuing to provide world-class healthcare with a focus on minimally invasive treatments and holistic wellness?

• The future goals of MIMIT Health are to expand into various communities and serve within this new paradigm of providing patient-centered evidence-based care in an Amazonification paradigm of doing it better, faster, and cheaper.
• By effectively combining holistic principles and high-tech solutions, our goal is to allow people in all walks of life, to lead their best healthy lives
• We want to bring this paradigm and the systems that we have developed onto a national level such that it impacts care one person at a time. On a global level, we are hoping to hyperscale our systems to have such an impact.

Dr. Chopra’s bio:

Dr. Paramjit “Romi” Chopra, M.D. is an interventional radiologist with over 30 years’ experience in the field of interventional radiology and endovascular therapy. The standards for his daily work were set after completing his medical studies and training in Mumbai, India, followed by his fellowship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the US. After working extensively in academia and research, Dr. Chopra became one of the youngest heads of an interventional radiology department in the US. Eager to share his experience, he placed great emphasis on training and introduced a wide range of education and research programs for students, colleagues, and residents. At the same time, however, he was committed to keeping the focus firmly on patient needs at all times.

Dr. Chopra opened the Midwest Institute for Minimally Invasive Therapies (MIMIT) in 2004. As an interventional radiology and endovascular therapy practice, MIMIT specializes in minimally invasive treatments for arterial disease such as peripheral artery disease (PAD), uterine fibroid disease (UFE), venous disease and musculoskeletal disease (spine interventions). lending his eastern roots and extensive western experience Dr. Chopra unifies the best of both worlds. His in-depth understanding of complex patient conditions is backed by state-of-the-art treatment therapies, enabling him to deliver exceptional patient care of the highest quality.

Dr. Chopra believes the path to long-term success lies in treating patients’ spirit, mind and body – not just their medical conditions. His institute has given him the opportunity to create a well-thought-out environment where patients and their families can feel calm, get the information they need and be treated with cutting-edge healthcare technologies.

MimitHealth.com

MIMIT Health is multi-speciality group offering access to great new resources, technology, and a promise to help our patients stay healthy who are dealing with acute and chronic illnesses and bring them back to a state of balance and well-being. We welcome new patients to our healthcare family, with locations convenient to you. Comprised of physicians, surgeons, and midlevel providers who specialize in minimally invasive, targeted treatments that offer reduced risk, reduced pain and shorter recovery time compared to traditional surgery. Today many conditions that once required surgery can be treated less invasively by our physicians. MIMIT physician are committed to offering minimally invasive, image–guided techniques to diagnose and treat a number of vascular and non–vascular conditions. We have a team of experts who are dedicated to providing you with the highest quality of care. Our goal at MIMIT is to educate and empower patients along with their families to make the decision that is best for the patient.