Rutland, VT — Biswas Pradhan (Bis), MPH, MSW, Community Health’s new Director of Population Health and Quality, brings experience, insight, perspective and public health strategy to Community Health’s executive team as population health becomes a vital part of delivering quality health care.
Earning degrees in business administration, social work and public health at prestigious universities in the US including the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Pradhan has addressed timely public health issues while working at federally qualified health centers serving Chicago’s southside and Boston’s underserved communities.
“I serve as a collaborator, working closely with interdisciplinary teams throughout the organization to support workflow standardization, enhance efficiency, and foster a strong sense of teamwork,” he said. For instance, Pradhan is collaborating with the providers workgroup to redesign the dashboard that displays information about each provider’s patient panel. “Understanding their patient panel, including patients’ demographics and health status through risk stratification, is essential for the providers,” he added.
As part of the organization’s strategic plan, he will be prioritizing efforts to collaborate with Aledade, Community Health’s new Accountable Care Organization (ACO) partner. “Aledade offers an advanced dashboard that helps us identify Medicare patients who are due for annual wellness visits and those recently discharged from inpatient or emergency department admissions. We have begun training practice managers and care managers, so they become familiar with this new tool and its application,” Pradhan said.
Pradhan praises Community Health’s workplace culture of openness, collaboration teamwork and accessibility to leadership. “It’s very well organized, and very collaborative,” he said. “The environment is very much supported. There’s a system in place focused on the value-based care model, giving equal emphasis on employee engagement, and not just patients’ health outcomes. This collaborative and communicative environment is uncommon among other community health centers.”
As a long-term goal, Pradhan aims to have Community Health recognized by the Federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through achieving National Quality Leaders (NQL) badges in each of the four categories: access, clinical quality, health outcomes, and health information technology. “This goal is bold, yet entirely within reach. By working together – collaborating, communicating, and coordinating – our team has the potential to become a role model for excellence in quality initiatives,” he said.
“I truly feel the importance of community health, and rural health is where I belong,” he said. “Social work, public health, giving back to the community and developing a system emphasizing on preventive care and timely health screenings, really aligns with what I studied in my Master of Public Health program.”
Having grown up in the mountainous regions of Nepal, Vermont makes him reminiscent of his rural childhood upbringing, feeling an instant connection to the valleys, mountains, and stunning landscapes that surround Community Health. “Having lived in cities like Chicago, Boston, and Baltimore, I truly felt the importance of community health. Now, rural healthcare is where I belong.” Outside of work, he enjoys taking road trips, hiking in nature, going to the gym, or relaxing with a good movie. He also likes swimming, dancing, and is learning to cook different ethnic cuisines.