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Today on Town Hall

That's where storytelling enters, whether you're the CEO at a hospital or you're a nurse informaticist just trying to make an impact.

Storytelling is that next step to actually getting change to happen.

My name is Bill Russell. I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system and creator of This Week Health.

Where we are dedicated to transforming healthcare, one connection at a time. Our town hall show is designed to bring insights from practitioners and leaders. on the front lines of healthcare.

Today's episode is sponsored by Meditech and Doctor First .

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 Welcome to another episode of This Week Health Town Hall. I'm Reid Steffen, CIO here at St. Luke's Health System in Boise, Idaho, and I'm joined today by Grace Vinton, who wears a lot of hats. She is a health care PR pro for Amendola, . She also is the podcast host of Hi Tea with Grace that you may have listened to. And just really thrilled to have you here on the show. We're going to talk today about storytelling, and I'm really excited to kind of unpack that with you. You have some great expertise in that field or in that skill, but first just take a few minutes and for our listeners who may not be familiar with you, just share a bit about your career journey and then specifically, like, how do you become a healthcare PR pro?

Very good question. So great to meet you all. My name is Grace Fenton, healthcare PR professional for nearly 15 years. I've worked with over 50 organizations and hundreds of thought leaders in the healthcare innovation space and pharma innovation space to craft and develop and share amazing healthcare stories through the years.

So I started my career in media relations for a publishing house. but quickly transitioned into PR for healthcare. And it's funny, once I made that shift, I thought to myself, why do marketing when I can do marketing that saves lives? And I really feel strongly that great storytelling and great marketing is a link in the chain of a life saving process.

If all these innovations are happening and nobody knows about it, then how are they going to continue to be adopted? And how are regulations and things going to change for the better? And it's funny because I started my career, as I said, in publishing with the best storytellers in the world. Literally, these people are writing books and I'm helping promote these amazing books.

And then I went into healthcare with them. Probably the worst storytellers of the world, so I thought there's nowhere to go but up here. We have a lot of, and don't mind my language, but boring problems, and we have a lot of boring solutions, but at the end of the day, the impact is powerful.

And so I'm really excited to share my learnings with you all today because Great storytelling is a community effort, and I'm hoping that we can get more of that and more of that into the world as we move forward into this new kind of digital generation where everybody is a storyteller, whether they want to be or not.

I love that. And just, your passion comes through This idea came to my mind back in May, you'd post something on LinkedIn, again, about the power of storytelling. I also, I don't remember where I heard it or read it, but you've made the comment that in healthcare, we have a B2B problem, boring to boring problem.

And you just kind of articulated a little bit about that, but I'm sure we'll unpack. So let's just start there. Why is storytelling, and you've touched on it, but maybe go a bit deeper. Why is it so important in healthcare and is even more important in healthcare than other industries?

Well, I think it's it goes without saying that healthcare is complex.

It's complicated and completely broken. Right? And all of us are hyper aware of that working in healthcare and the different spaces that we're in and the leadership roles that we're having. And all of us are trying our best, right, do change as much as we can in our little bit. Um, But really in healthcare, storytelling can bridge that gap between this complex information and these complex topics and things happening and then action and knowledge.

And I think it's very helpful for people in healthcare to see all of their storytelling and their role as a piece of advocacy work. Because at the end of the day, the hope is that the stories that we tell, the data that we share, changes something. Right? And that's why we work in healthcare and why we love our jobs, despite how hard and impossible they can be, given how the industry is.

let's talk about this through the lens of a healthcare IT leader. And so I think people might be listening and thinking, yeah, that makes sense for a vendor, someone who's trying to sell a product or a service, that makes sense for maybe the CEO of a health system or a hospital, they have to be able to tell a story to like rally people around a cause or a mission, but it's more than that.

So from your perspective, like what role does storytelling play for a healthcare IT leader?

honestly, storytelling helps make change happen, right? So for an IT leader that is seeing pain points happening within their area of influence and they want to see change. That's where storytelling enters, whether you're the CEO at a hospital or you're a nurse informaticist just trying to make an impact.

Storytelling is that next step to actually getting change to happen.

Yeah, I think that's great. So let's this topic is about storytelling. Yeah. So I'm going to put you on the spot. Do you have a story of either personal experience or something you heard? We're a healthcare leader, IT leader in particular, use storytelling to really make a difference.

Well, I mean, I, having worked in the space so long and helping craft literal categories in the space through storytelling, there are thousands of stories I've had the opportunity to tell. But I have to say that some of my favorite stories are stories that I've written. Kind of are very clear on what the pain points are in health care.

They are centered around people and that there is a real purpose, right? And so some of my favorite stories happen during COVID where and I am mostly an innovation storyteller where I help people. tell these innovation stories. And I'm in kind of this healthcare innovation space, whether it be healthcare data, virtual care, remote patient monitoring, digital therapeutics, and I kind of sit in the middle of a lot of these different stories and things playing out.

But one of my favorite stories was, and sad, was a mother meeting her twins for the first time. through telehealth because it was during the pandemic and there was an outbreak and she had COVID and, being able to tell that story was not just about telling her story. It was also a piece of advocacy work.

And then at the time reimbursement models were not happening for virtual care, right? They were just not, but it was a critical part of what needed to happen moving forward. And so, telling her story, it was about more than the story. The story was impactful and beautiful and sad and sensational, but it was also purposeful.

And I think that's, those are the types of stories I'd love healthcare to tell more of. They're touching, they're life changing. But it's funny because, that was a sensational, very, personal, People's story, right? Innovation story that helped make change, right? A lot of those stories.

built together made change in that reimbursement model side of the house, and we were able to help move things forward. And those, that's an ongoing process. That's still happening. We're trying to tell as many stories as possible to keep those regulations changing so that there's more reimbursement in that space.

But other stories that I, we've told in the, past 15 years are these small, Tiny stories that you think are tiny. I saved five minutes at the bedside, right? I had less clicks in the EHR. And, but these, all these small stories build up over time and develop real change. And so that's been exciting to see that sometimes the best storytelling is not sensational and is not beautiful and it doesn't make you cry, but it's authentic.

And so I think that healthcare leaders, when you're thinking about your own story, how can you be authentic? And how can you be purposeful? And how can you bring in that human element while also staying true to what matters to you? Because what matters to you matters to the industry. So, it's a mixture of the two.

It's not just those exciting, fun, tear jerker stories. It's also those day to day stories that make a long term impact.

Yeah, I love what you said there at the end, that idea of being authentic, right? So, The impact or the power of the story can be incredibly relative. And so what, may seem small and simple to one, may be really enormous and impactful for another.

And the goal is not to, bring someone to tears. And I kind of wrote down, I'm calling it the four P's. I think that's a great framework. So what's your pain point? What's the role of people? Because at the core, like, we're about people. This is a people business that we're in. And then what's the purpose?

Again, trying to, like, really make that connection. I think that's a great mnemonic we can follow there. So, how does an IT leader avoid the trap of their storytelling, maybe modeling more of a technical spec discussion? So, because you have to explain the technology to some degree. as part of the story, but how do you avoid that trap then of leaning too heavy onto the technical side and maybe missing some of that, you know, people and purpose side?

I think there's a couple key elements of storytelling that I think are important for leaders in this space to understand. Ultimately, you want to have a clear message. So you need to go into the conversation and say, what is the message that I'm trying to get across here? And I think sometimes people want to tell all of the stories at one time because they have a listening ear wanting to hear it, but have it be very clear and very specific.

And it can be something as simple as I saved five minutes at the EHR, right? It doesn't have to be a. Big, your every single innovation happening in your department. fact, the more clear it is, the more impactful it is, and the more effective you are at communicating the message, and the more people can really dive into the different small innovations that are taking place to help build up, your entire program.

I would say, have a very clear message. And then I would say, write down data points that support your message. You need to have data. And, the, whatever person you're speaking with, it's helpful to know the context on how much healthcare knowledge they have. Like, are they new to this space? Have they been in the space for 20 years?

Understanding that context, having a very clear message, having data to back up your points, and then bringing in some type of human interest element or purpose. Game set match. That is great storytelling but it starts with being very clear and the message and then you can do that in the shower before your conversation.

You could do that intentionally as you sit down at your desk and you look at your computer, but you have to know what am I trying to get across here and have it, Be simple.

I love that and it kind of, I like things that have alliteration and so one of my mnemonics is be brief, be bright, and then be gone.

And it's, you have to intentionally have that mindset because you're right, there can be a tendency, you have the audience, you have the time, and you then try and pack too much into that story. And then it gets confusing or overwhelming and then there's confusion. And so there's a lot of wisdom there in that really be narrowly focused on.

What is the purpose? To your point, what's the data that we're trying to convey, and how do we do that as efficiently as possible in a story? Yeah, and don't feel like you have to keep talking. Just stop when you're done talking. I think that's another thing. People just feel like, oh, somebody's willing to listen to me.

Let me just tell them everything I've ever known about this topic. But no, if you think about it, most people will only take away a sentence or two of what you said. So, Be brief. Yeah, like you said, make sure that you're bringing in really the most high quality thoughts to the conversation, and don't feel like you have to keep repeating yourself.

I think you just offered something that might solve not just some of these healthcare challenges, but like some of the at large challenges in society. Say what you need to say and then stop talking. Please! That would be a great prescription for all of us to follow.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Grace, what advice then would you have?

Like, you're an expert in this space, so as an IT leader who's really trying to hone their skills in storytelling and weave it into how they lead and how they communicate. What advice would you offer?

I would say practice, right? Practice makes perfect. If you really want to get clear on your message, you need to practice talking about it and talking about it in a way that everybody can understand what you're saying.

always tell people the best persona that you can have as a thought leader in the innovation space is an very friendly high school professor, and I say that because you're trying to educate. You want the person that's hearing your message to grow and to also understand. It's not too high tech, it's not too high level, but to understand what you're saying.

And so I think , coming into that conversation with a sense of care and, being there to just help support whatever is going to be moving forward, that's always a great way to kind of enter. Practice doing it and write things out if you need to. Take a notebook with you and write out the key points you want to get across, you know, and have things written down.

Sometimes people just try to go off the cuff, right? And that's great. But you can't do this unless you're practicing first and you get good at doing that. And then you can start going off the cuff.

Yeah, more wise advice. As we've been talking this morning, I've been thinking about, technology by itself.

Just think of AI, like artificial intelligence, like right there, hidden in plain sight in the title is the sense of it's not human. It's cold. It's, just a tool. And so really the power of storytelling, one of the key things is not just explaining technology, but also humanizing it.

Really fostering that trust and engagement that you need to be able to make your initiative successful with the mission that we're all in that has such a compelling and impactful influence on our lives.

Absolutely. And understanding who you're talking to and who your audience is kind of critical.

Like, if you're talking to the boardroom, you're focusing on long term strategy and ROI, right? If you're talking to clinicians, you want to think about patient care or streamlining workflow or reducing their burnout, if you're talking to patients, What's going to improve their experience? What's going to improve their access?

And I think that's a huge trick for thought leaders to really sit back and think about, like, what are their pain points and speak in their language. And from a media perspective, I think when you are starting to do media interviews to tell your story with the media, understanding who's their audience, who are their listeners.

So for those listeners, be in touch with those people because that will help you really craft your story to be focused on what's going to meet their pain points.

I love that. Grace, thank you for this incredibly meaningful conversation. This is one of those skills that with all this on the plate of a CIO, a healthcare IT leader, it's easy to kind of devalue or maybe not give the right attention to the role of storytelling.

And you've given us some really incredible insights, so the idea of focusing on pain points, making sure you're tailoring it to who you're speaking to, it centered on people, make sure that the purpose is clear, and then I, again, I love the concept of say what you have to say and then stop talking.

Be bright, be gone.

It's funny.

People will just have great experiences.

Absolutely. It's funny because one IT leader that I think health IT leader, people can really look to for as an ex, a person, an example of somebody who does this really well as Mickey Tripathi, he recently passed this HDI2 rule and.

This passing of this role was, took 15 to 20 plus years of interoperability storytelling for him, right? He started storytelling when interoperability was phone lines, and then we're moving into, meaningful use, Tefka, all of these different things, and then, It's constantly the store way that he has told the story of interoperability through the years is fascinating because he has been building on the small successes and building into what the key trends of the time are and in this particular passing of the role, he really focused on patient centricity, which is obviously something huge in the industry right now and has some of the toughest Standards known in the world of interoperability.

So if you're looking, I would take a look at some of the things that he's done through the years and say, what are tips and tricks he's done in his healthcare storytelling because it's impactful. And I think the thing to take away is that great storytelling in healthcare is not one story.

It's. Series of stories through the years, and it's having a purpose and having all of your story relate to your purpose. What is your, as a thought leader's purpose, and what do you want to change? Because ultimately, you are an advocate if you are storytelling in healthcare. It's just a thought.

Well, it's a great thought, and what I love at EPIC at UGM, they'll bring Mickey into the CIO forum, and I didn't.

Maybe fully appreciate what you just outlined there, but he is an effective communicator. He also strikes me as very calm and patient in what you just described. I think patience is probably another incredibly important virtue with your storytelling because it may take Multiple stories, as you're describing, over not just weeks and months, but maybe even years kind of time frame.

And so just have that perspective going in that you have to meet people where they are and understand that it may take some time for that story then to really start to resonate and take hold. And that's okay.

Right, right. It might take time. And I think One thing that I don't want to forget to say, too, is sometimes the best person to tell your story is not you in healthcare and in health IT.

And, I think sometimes the best person to tell your story is your customer. So, if you are a health IT professional within a vendor and you're like, how do I tell my story? Have that hospital. or a health system, tell your story for you. That's way more impactful than you telling it yourself. And if you are a hospital health system CIO or leader, think about it.

Who is your customer? Who is your champion? Get patients and caregivers on your side because at the end of the day, that's what's going to retain patients. That's what's going to, impact the people you're trying to influence and reach. And it's going to improve your bottom line because great storytelling is a piece of advocacy work.

It'll create change that will, at the end of the day, help you.

Let's end on that. I'm so glad that you raised that point. Amen. Double underline, exclamation point to that. This has been Grace Vinton. You can find her on LinkedIn. You can also listen to her on her Hi Tea with Grace podcast. Grace, thank you so much.

What a fun conversation. I could go for another half an hour on this topic, but I think we've condensed this into a nice kind of consumable chunk for our listeners that's going to add a lot of value. I appreciate you.

Thanks so much.

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