Building a Health System for “Customers” | Baylor Scott & White Health CEO Pete McCanna

About this episode

Pete McCanna discusses transforming healthcare systems to prioritize customer needs over traditional models.

Pete McCanna, CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health, believes that health systems are built around the wrong objective… and he has an ambitious goal to change that. This week, Halle sits down with McCanna to unpack how one of the largest and most successful health systems in the country is shifting from a supply-driven model to one built entirely around the customer. They discuss why legacy systems operate like “walled castles,” what it takes to redesign care around real conditions instead of departments, and how Baylor Scott & White is testing a model that prioritizes access, personalization, and long-term trust over short-term profit. We cover: Why most health systems are structured to fill capacity, not create value for patients The reason why he uses the term "customer" instead of "patient" (and how his colleagues initially responded) How loyalty and trust make it economically sound to offer services that lose money. The strategy for deploying AI to create product differentiation for patients rather than just improving internal efficiency The limits of the “payvider” model and why it’s harder than it looks The three healthcare laws he thinks need to be rewritten — About…

People in this episode

Host: Halle

Guest: Pete McCanna

Topics covered

• customer-centric healthcare
• health system transformation
• AI in healthcare
• patient loyalty
• healthcare economics

Keywords

• healthcare
• customer
• Baylor Scott & White
• AI
• patient experience
• health system
• trust

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Baylor Scott & White Health

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