This transcription is provided by artificial intelligence. We believe in technology but understand that even the most intelligent robots can sometimes get speech recognition wrong.

 Welcome to this Week in Health IT events where we amplify great ideas with interviews from the floor. My name is Bill Russell Healthcare, CIO, coach and creator of this week in Health. It a set of podcasts and videos dedicated to developing the next generation of health leaders. We wanna thank our founding channel sponsors who make this content possible, health Lyrics and VMware if you wanna be a part of our mission to develop health leaders.

Go to this week, health.com/sponsor for more information. This episode is sponsored by Health Lyrics. When I became ACIO, I was really overwhelmed at first, and one of the first things I did was to sign ACIO coach to walk with me through the journey. This was someone who had wisdom that can only be gained through years of experience.

uh, you're gonna hear, um, what they're excited to have accomplished last year and what they're looking forward to accomplish next year. I asked each of them the same eight questions, and I think you're gonna be fascinated to hear the similarities. And the difference is based on where they're at, geography and other things.

Each of these interviews is about 10 minutes long, so you can listen to 'em really quick and some of you listen at one and a half time speed. So it's gonna go like that. Uh, we're gonna publish one a day, uh, with a few Newsday episodes sprinkled in through the end of November. So check back every day for the next episode, and don't forget to look back to see if you missed any.

K Earl was extremely busy at the Chime conference. He was up on stage, he was everywhere. And uh, I really appreciate him taking the time to sit down right before he got up on stage with me. Uh, Cletus is the CIO for, uh, Kaleida Health in Buffalo, New York. Uh, great conversation. Hope you enjoy. All right.

Here we are. Another, uh, interview from the Chime, fall forum. We're with, uh, Kear Chairman of the Foundation. Foundation. Yeah. So you're double miced up this morning. Looking forward to that. And you're about to gone in a few minutes. Yeah. gonna go up on stage. Uh. With Kaleida Health up in, uh, upstate New York.

You know, it's, it's interesting you asked the question because, uh, the role has . Significantly changed. Uh, we as, as CIOs, we've traditionally worried about implementing EMRs, ERPs, and various systems, but as organizations move from a fee for service to a value base, our goal, our goal is to really . Actively become a more engaged, uh, um, consumer outside of the fort walls of the institution.

So I've seen a significant amount of uptick of really dealing with collaborative relationships. Um, so much so that we're collaborating in our area. We're collaborating with multiple vectors, multiple, um, industries. Uh, we have a significant amount of collaboration going on with, um, banking and other, uh,

Uh, industries just to really align our resources 'cause we're all struggling, um, believe it or not, in a area such as Western New York. Uh, they're not the talent pool that you, you, you can just really readily grab. So, um, CIOs from myself and cio, from M and t Bank and a few others have worked together to put together efforts to pool our resources together.

So it's that kind of, uh, collaboration. Really out the box thinking to see how we're gonna work. And that's where CIOs are evolving. 'cause I know these same challenges are occurring across not only the country, but around the globe. Trying to get those, um, important resources to help us be successful. You know, it's interesting 'cause uh, I'm gonna go through all the questions, but it's interesting on the Mm-Hmm.

on the finding great talent because, you know, you, you need great talent in order to succeed. Absolutely. and you have some markets that we talked to Darren Doan yesterday. He's like, you know, we have sub 1% Mm-Hmm. employment within the health it space. Mm-Hmm. because we just can't find and Yeah. And hire people.

Right. Then you have other places that are, um, maybe a little more rural or, Mm-Hmm. or not as big as Southern California or la Mm-Hmm mm-Hmm. . And the, the other problem exists, which is we're not. Producing enough talent maybe out of the colleges to, to, uh, with the right skill sets to, uh, do the roles. So it's, it is interesting.

It's, it's same problem, different manifestations. Absolutely. Um, what are, what are some of the priorities that, uh, your. Health system is pursuing next year that your health IT organization's gonna support, uh, one of the biggest priorities in, in New York State, New York state's, pretty tough. You know, it's a pretty tough market.

Um, I've seen enough move from the bottom of the state all the way up to the very top, uh, one of the biggest. Priorities is helping the organization become more efficient when it comes to, um, revenue quality. Uh, you think that these are standing traits, but um, as the EMRs go in and those systems go in, um, you know, it's not just thing about, it's not just about putting in the new shiny object, but putting it in and making it as, uh, efficient to the business as possible.

And, and that's kind of, uh, one of the tasks. That we're looking at. So operational efficiency, uh, you know, um, quality, efficiency, and, you know, really impacting, you know, how it impact the positive impact to revenue. Yeah. So you're gonna keep optimizing that platform, continue to optimize and partner with companies, um, such as our EHRs, to really look at how do we get the best bang out of the dollar, um, so that we can have the maximum return on investment for that particular solution.

I mean, think about this, how many scenarios in the world. You can spend, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars up to a billion dollars and not know exactly what the return on investment's going to be. Right. I mean, we're, I think we're probably in the only industry that does that. Uh, but it's, it's just something that we have to start to change the, the change the narrative.

Yeah. Absolutely. Um, and yeah, leadership from the Edge last night, the Arch Collaborative shared a lot of things around, uh, that was, uh, that was a great session. Yeah, it was. Um, so we're gonna look forward, . Two initiatives, one initiative that you think is gonna materially impact, materially impact the patient experience and one that's gonna, you know, for next year materially impact the clinician experience?

Yeah, so for the patient side, again, I, I do believe that consumerism should be one of the highest focuses that, you know, we as an industry, you know, um, being in on, um, our organization we've put in at our new children's hospital. Hospital, we put in a, a great, uh, patient engagement, um, solution, infotainment system that, uh, very similar to the hotels.

It allows, um, us to not only just have our patients have access to, um, television and, and movies, but it allows us to do just in time service and also service recovery. Uh, so not waiting for that patient to leave the hospital for us . To see what, you know, how we're doing and how, how we're able to do it.

But allowing the patient to, um, in, in real time be able to say, my, my, um, room is too cold, or, I didn't get the food that I wanted, or that engagement with that provider was not as optimal as it needs to be. And allows us that, that then triggers alerts to our leadership team to allow, um, action so that when that patient leaves, we know that we've addressed the issues as best.

As possible. And that's being, we, we did at our children's hospital. We're rolling it out to the rest of the organization. And it's interesting, we've done something very similar where we have rounding tools with our nurses, we've found where sometimes, uh, a round could occur and then an hour later we'll get an alert that the patient was dissatisfied.

And that's how real time we have to become. Um, because that's very similar to how other industries operate. We really have to be more react, uh, uh, reactive. Pivot to their needs, but uh, in more of a more functional timeframe. Yeah, it's, it's, uh, yeah, I mean those are, those are interesting and you're gonna continue to work on the clinician experience.

So, so, and in turn, that same solution works for the clinicians as well. So it's that, again, being able to get as much real time data so that we can actually, um, move what we're doing. Um, we put in adoption coaches throughout our, uh, organization to make sure that we have more . Aren't at the elbow support, um, for our providers so that they're not necessarily, once it gets implemented, we don't see 'em again.

We, we are looking at our data by using, um, some of the tools, some of the analytics tools, and we're going out there and making sure that if we see that they, they're providers using the system that are outside of the norm, we target those providers to get them back into the, the pool and we've been able to save them significant amount of time so that they can technically be with, you know, the patients and have more time and, and help.

Uh, I, I think, you know, what I'm most proud of is the change of culture that it takes a lot. Um, we're . Not far. We're not there, you know, but we're on our path. So I think that it takes a lot for an organization to go down one direction and then pivot within a very short time to go in another. And that's great.

You know, as long as our organization, you know, we're again, our IT strap plan is lined up with our organization strap plan and we continue to focus on that effort, um, I don't think that, I don't have any regret. Um, I always think that there's always opportunity particularly around innovation to, you know, work on other initiatives, but, um, nothing.

Think one, um, singular thing I can think of. That's great. Um, where's an area you'd like to see more innovation that, I mean, there's so many innovation conferences now and those kind of things that we, we almost every day open up and you read some innovation in healthcare, but what's one area that you're like, man, I, I'd really like to see, you know, I a significant move forward.

Yeah. Yesterday, um, Randy's Children's Hospital's, um, innovation, uh, session, you know, the combination of genomics, . And clinical information being brought together to allow for precision based medicine, um, I'd love to see more activity around that area. Um, because I do believe we can make a difference. I do believe that we can find those cases and be able to provide better care for our customers and our patients.

And there's so many opportunities, benefits by doing that. Yesterday I heard some scenarios. They said it took them six weeks. They've gotten the . Out to less than 24 hours. Yeah. Uh, I mean, just think about the efficiency. Not only just the care, but the efficiency. That's less amount of bedtime, you know, less amount of visits.

The, the patient satisfaction goes through the roof. We then also have to figure out, okay, when we do that, we come more effective. We also have to figure out, well, how do we wear a business? How do we continue to operate? Right. So how do we now work with our payers to make sure that we're getting compensated accordingly so that it's not taken a hit.

Yeah. So it, it was in the leadership from the edge. Presentations were great. Last night you had personalization. Mm-Hmm. of healthcare. And you had, uh, precision medicine as well with, with rads. Mm-Hmm. . And, uh, I mean those were two really good. Presentations. Absolutely. Then you have the arch collaborative presentation with uh, uh, uh, uh, UCSD, which was, which was awesome.

Well, I can . To reassure you, we are going to, the way we're going, again, moving from the four walls of the institution to outside. Uh, we're looking at hiring more CRM based roles, um, analytic people that can actually, they're not just looking at data, but they're able to synthesize it and produce results back to the business owner and give them recommendations and not just be a, a, a conduit of just, here goes a bunch of data.

Here you go. Do something with it. We're really looking for great analysts. Um, that as well as security experts. You know, that's something that I think we are all gonna be continuing to look for. But I do see an evolution there, um, that as AI and machine learning becomes more prevalent, uh, we're gonna have our automated, you know, in, in the future.

We're gonna have our ai, our machine learning, uh, really helping us on the security front. I do believe in the, on the programming front, that's going to occur. It's not there now, but it will in the future. So I think if we're really looking for new talent, we . Need for individuals to help us. How do we help engage using technology, using solutions to help engage our patients in a more consumer based function?

Whether it's programming on that front or in essence, um, empowering us to really understand the technologies that are emerging. That helps. Um, I think that's, that's something that, uh, we should be focusing on as, as kids. If I would, if I had to do it again, I would look at it. That's where I would need to look at it.

Invest. If you had to do college over again, would you do something a little different? Yeah. Tell me. Definitely, definitely. Yeah. I think Consum consumerism is the key. If we get more people who understand, um, customer service and a customer approach and having the right personality, right advantage, that gives us a huge advantage that we are, we're not necessarily at today.

following that, please come back every Friday for more great interviews with influencers. And don't forget, every Tuesday we take a look at the news, which impacts health it. If you wanna support the fastest growing podcast in the health IT space, here's a few ways that you can do that. The first, share it with a peer, share it with a friend, share it with somebody who's working right there next to you.

Number two, sign up for Insights and Staff meeting. These are services designed to help you in your career. Number three, interact with our social media content on Twitter and LinkedIn. Number four, post or repost our content. And number five, always send me feedback. Bill it this week in health it.com. Your insights continue to shape the channel.

Continue. This show is a production of this week in health. It from more great content. You can check out our website at this week, health.com or our YouTube channel. Special thanks to our sponsors, VMware and health lyrics for choosing to invest in developing the next generation of health leaders. Thanks for listening.

That's all for now.