Q&A: LCMC Health's Tanya Townsend on Industry Change and Workforce Retention - HealthTech Magazine

HEALTHTECH: How has the healthcare assemblage changed successful the years since you became LCMC Health’s archetypal CIO?

When I was inactive trying to fig retired what I wanted to be, I was getting my grade successful healthcare administration. This was astatine a clip erstwhile everything was inactive precise paper-based. Electronic wellness records truly were successful their infancy, if they existed astatine all. I deliberation it was a bully clip for maine to larn much astir what the aboriginal held for EHRs and however I needed to larn much astir that. I went connected to get my grade successful aesculapian informatics. It was a hazard astatine the clip due to the fact that cipher truly knew what that was. Now, of course, informatics is simply a word we usage each the time, but backmost then, it was not truthful common. I’ve been successful the tract for implicit 20 years now.

I started retired arsenic an expert and past moved into task absorption and enactment roles. I’ve been a CIO present for astir 15 years. The travel astir EHRs and healthcare IT has grown implicit those years. When I started my career, things similar computerized doc bid introduction were not accepted oregon adopted. Things similar mobile computing, distant workforce and moving from focusing connected the supplier done those implementations to present focusing connected the diligent — I would accidental it’s been a journey. The archetypal decennary of my career, it was a batch of hard work, and it took a agelong clip to bash implementations.

Implementing an EHR was a agelong process. Where we’re astatine now, everything’s precise agile. We don’t person the luxury of spending 10 years doing implementations and having everything perfected. There’s agility and innovation not conscionable for implementations but besides idiosyncratic adoption.

When I joined LCMC Health, we were autarkic hospitals doing antithetic things for exertion solutions and processes. My travel present has been astir integration and what I’ll telephone “system-ness” — putting successful the aforesaid exertion platforms and mounting standards crossed the organization.

HEALTHTECH: How person integer solutions influenced your organization’s attack to patient-centered care?

The archetypal portion of my vocation was truly focused connected the clinician experience. Now, we're shifting that absorption to continuing to instrumentality attraction of the clinician but besides the patient. How bash we guarantee that we’re looking astatine it done some lenses? Patients person choices, truthful we request to marque definite that our acquisition is conscionable arsenic bully arsenic our competitors’. What bash our patients want? How bash we marque attraction convenient? How bash we marque it casual to entree our organization? How bash we adhd transparency to the experience? We are successful a precise competitory scenery successful healthcare. So, that’s what we’re putting a batch of absorption connected now.

One of the astir caller projects we worked connected was advancing our online scheduling capabilities wrong our diligent portal. Patients privation to usage an app; they don’t needfully privation to usage a telephone center. They privation the convenience they get successful retail oregon nutrient service. We did a large optimization task to guarantee we opened entree successful the astir convenient way. We’ve been unrecorded present successful our archetypal aviator of that implementation, and we’re seeing an summation of 15 percent per time of patients that are scheduling done this platform. Within conscionable 1 month, we person immoderate metrics to amusement that patients similar and privation this convenience.

DISCOVER: How to instrumentality diligent portals and amended diligent experience.

HEALTHTECH: What developments are helping amended the clinician experience? What person you done astatine LCMC Health that you would urge to different organizations?

We’re putting a batch of absorption connected our workforce now, what with shortages successful truthful galore areas. Currently, we’re targeting the nursing side: We person a task called Project Joy, wherever we’re partnering with caregiver taxable substance experts and our main nursing officers. We’re asking however we tin marque things much businesslike wrong our EHR and our exertion acquisition to marque nurses’ lives easier and perchance happier. Project Joy was kicked disconnected this summer. We’re measuring that we person saved our nurses 1.8 cardinal clicks per period successful our organization, oregon much than 1,000 hours per month. That’s giving clip back, and hopefully making them happier. 

We’re besides focusing connected our physicians and however we tin marque them much efficient. Now we person information to beryllium capable to people what we privation to enactment on. In the insubstantial world, you didn’t truly person that benignant of information to recognize the analytics and foretell wherever those opportunities are. We’re truly leveraging information to recognize however our clinicians are spending their clip truthful we tin beryllium much targeted successful however we attack that.

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HEALTHTECH: How person conversations astir information evolved since you started successful your role?

When I got my grade successful aesculapian informatics, astatine that time, everything was inactive precise paper-based, and the interest was diligent privateness erstwhile moving to follow EHRs. I enactment a batch of absorption astatine that clip connected accusation security, but again, it was much astir diligent privacy.

Now, the scenery has evolved from protecting diligent accusation to making definite we’re not astatine hazard for cyberattacks. Because I already had that interest, I stood up our archetypal accusation information bureau backmost successful 2016. As the archetypal CIO, I conjecture I’m besides the archetypal CISO arsenic well. I’m gladsome that we did that, due to the fact that you don’t basal those up overnight. It takes a portion to truly enactment a robust programme successful place. I consciousness similar we got up of the curve, peculiarly with the measurement of cyberattacks and the maturity of those types of attacks successful caller years. It’s not conscionable astir putting successful method solutions. We’re doing a batch astir idiosyncratic education, due to the fact that attackers are getting smarter astir societal engineering and phishing campaigns.

BE PREPARED: Know the apical 3 cyberthreats facing healthcare organizations today.

HEALTHTECH: What healthcare IT lessons did your enactment larn during the pandemic that person shaped strategies moving forward?

We learned to beryllium agile. We had to be. Everything was truthful fast-paced due to the fact that we were perpetually responding to truthful galore changes, and we moved to virtual wherever we could. We didn’t person the luxury of clip to cleanable everything. We got precise innovative. We learned however to neglect fast, to effort it and determination connected rapidly if it’s not working. We did a batch astatine a precise accelerated pace, and I’m really precise arrogant of the results.

The workforce became overmuch much competitive. I deliberation we’re each realizing that we’re competing for the aforesaid IT talent, and not conscionable IT but the full workforce. We had to get originative and truly recognize however to enlistee and clasp our people. We’re besides making definite that we person a divers workforce.

From an IT standpoint, we’re truly focused connected automation due to the fact that of fiscal constraints, and not having the workforce we utilized to have. How bash we automate arsenic soon arsenic possible, marque things much businesslike and beryllium a large spot to enactment each astatine the aforesaid time?

HEALTHTECH: You’ll look connected a sheet astir women successful healthcare IT enactment astatine the CHIME22 Fall Forum. What volition you sermon there?

I’m arrogant to beryllium the 2022 CHIME committee chair. I volition beryllium the 3rd pistillate committee seat successful 30 years. I bash deliberation it’s worthy a intermission to conscionable adjacent accidental that and enactment however acold we’ve travel arsenic women successful STEM and successful this organization. When I archetypal joined CHIME successful 2006, determination were galore occasions wherever I would spell to an event, and I was the lone pistillate successful the country — for IT manufacture events but besides successful my ain organization.

We person to stock our stories. I’m truthful blessed to spot truthful galore much women astatine these types of events, and truthful galore much women astatine the array with maine now, but I deliberation it’s worthy telling these stories truthful that we tin promote aboriginal leaders successful our organizations who are looking up to america and asking america however we got here. That’s what I anticipation to speech astir more, and I besides anticipation to larn from the panelists arsenic we proceed to beforehand and make a divers workforce.

HEALTHTECH: What are your apical priorities for the adjacent year?

My enactment is inactive connected that travel of becoming an integrated transportation network. We’re present six hospitals successful the New Orleans market, but these were historically six precise autarkic organizations that had their ain cultures and their ain tools. We’re inactive moving connected that travel toward system-ness. How bash we integrate to beryllium much similar 1 implicit organization? Continued standardization and continued civilization improvement arsenic a combined organization. We’re inactive moving connected a batch of that benignant of activity.

Second, we’re going to be much data-driven now, due to the fact that we person entree to that data. When we went unrecorded connected our EHR backmost successful 2018, determination were 5 hospitals. Now determination are six, and we person much information present successful the aforesaid database, truthful let’s usage it. We’re going to beryllium doing much astir however we leverage that information and bash much predictive analytics connected however we negociate our finances and concern decisions successful summation to our diligent population.

EXPLORE: How healthcare is moving the needle connected societal determinants of wellness data.

Last, I deliberation galore of america successful healthcare IT are present moving connected endeavor assets planning. We spent the past mates of decades focused connected EHRs; now, we’ve got to absorption connected different side, which are our ERP tools. Human resources, concern and proviso chain: those functions request updates. So, we’re successful the mediate of an ERP implementation.

HEALTHTECH: What are 3 healthcare IT trends you’re watching for 2023?

One is how the hybrid workforce oregon distant workforce develops beyond the pandemic, particularly astir the civilization piece. We each went from being successful the bureau each time to ne'er being successful the office. There’s going to beryllium a displacement backmost and past immoderate benignant of balance. As an industry, we’re going to beryllium reasoning done that.

However, I bash deliberation distant enactment and distant diligent attraction is present to stay. We will, from a exertion standpoint, request to proceed to advance successful the virtual attraction space, proceed to supply innovation successful however we negociate our diligent colonisation remotely and proceed to automate wherever we can.

One past important manufacture inclination is data, data, data. I deliberation we’re conscionable astatine the opening signifier of however we tin leverage data.