Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / John Henderson, Vice President, Chief Information & Digital Officer, and CIO at Rady Children's Health

Transcript

John Henderson, Vice President, Chief Information & Digital Officer, and CIO at Rady Children's Health · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

0:00
This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
0:02
Podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
0:04
John Henderson, vice president and chief information and
0:07
digital officer for Rady Children's Health. John, it's
0:09
a pleasure to have you on the podcast
0:11
today.
0:13
Great to be with you, Laura.
0:15
Absolutely. Well, I'm excited to learn more about
0:17
some of the cool things you're doing at
0:18
Rady Children's, and, certainly, it's such a fascinating
0:21
time in health care right now, especially with
0:23
technology changing as quickly as it has. But
0:25
before we dive into that, I'm wondering if
0:27
you could just tell us a little bit
0:28
more about Rady Children's Health and what makes
0:30
it unique.
0:33
Sure. Sure. So,
0:35
I'll start with
0:36
Rady Children's Health,
0:39
is the
0:40
the new parent organization,
0:43
that brought together,
0:44
Children's Hospital of Orange County and Rady Children's
0:47
Hospital in San Diego.
0:49
We merged, January
0:51
of this year
0:53
and brought these two organizations,
0:55
together who have a,
0:57
incredible mission
0:59
to serve pediatric,
1:00
patients, throughout,
1:02
Orange County and San Diego County.
1:04
And so
1:06
as part of that,
1:09
you know, our organization now is 800 plus
1:11
beds,
1:14
80 specialty
1:15
clinics,
1:16
and
1:17
over 11,000 employees and 1,700
1:19
physicians. So really creating,
1:21
a a really one of the largest pediatric
1:23
health systems in the country.
1:25
And, you know, that focus,
1:29
on the pediatric population
1:31
in Southern California
1:33
with the level of specialty that we provide,
1:35
I think is what really makes us, unique.
1:38
We're focused on not only
1:40
our our the individual regions, but really trying
1:43
to,
1:44
deliver better population health and be able to
1:47
deliver the best pediatric care,
1:52
to serve our patient population.
1:55
That's amazing to hear. And, you know, what
1:57
a a huge transition in bringing together,
2:00
both Brady Children's and and CHOG.
2:03
I know whenever you bring two organizations together,
2:06
there's a lot to figure out and troubleshoot
2:08
in terms of the technology and,
2:10
IT integrations and those kinds of things. So
2:12
how's that been going?
2:16
You know, it it's going well. You know,
2:18
we started preplanning
2:19
in 2024,
2:21
and there was a lot we couldn't do,
2:23
with the regulations around how mergers come together.
2:26
So you couldn't really get into any any
2:29
detail specific conversation, so you had to keep
2:31
it at a very high level.
2:33
But once the merger was
2:35
approved
2:36
and
2:37
solidified in in January, we really launched into
2:40
the details.
2:41
So so far, it's going really well. We're
2:43
focused on,
2:45
I'll say, for the next twelve months, probably
2:47
three really large activities in the technology space.
2:51
One is related to getting to single ERP
2:55
platform. We both are on different platforms,
2:58
in San Diego and Orange County, so getting
3:01
to single platform is a critical activity for
3:03
us.
3:04
We'll also have to
3:06
figure out our EHR plan, getting to a
3:08
single EHR.
3:10
Oracle Health in Orange
3:12
County, EPIC in San Diego,
3:15
and the goal is to get the single
3:16
platform. So we have an, we have an
3:18
approach in the process to get to that
3:19
decision.
3:21
And then the third piece is
3:24
getting to single identity,
3:27
unifying our Microsoft three sixty five environment.
3:30
And so that is a really,
3:33
really big activity for us. And,
3:36
typically, you look at that and say, oh,
3:37
well, you just gonna merge the mailboxes.
3:40
Well,
3:41
what we're actually doing is standing up a
3:43
brand new tenant,
3:45
creating a new active directory
3:48
infrastructure, which helps us get to a single
3:50
identity platform.
3:52
And the reason we're doing that
3:55
is
3:56
when you
3:58
and been doing this for a really long
4:00
time,
4:01
active directors, it really drives everything in the
4:04
organization, your user ID, how you gain access
4:07
to different systems.
4:09
And over time,
4:11
you create what I would call this
4:13
maze of structures.
4:15
And you it's really
4:17
untenable to unwind it. And so we wanted
4:20
to take the opportunity to really create
4:24
a structure that really represents
4:27
the combined organization, but also simplified it in
4:30
a way that allows us to really be
4:32
more effective
4:34
and put in leading practice there. And so
4:36
that's gonna really take us the rest of
4:38
the year, maybe a little bit beyond, to
4:40
get all of those things in place,
4:42
which then allows the organization to really come
4:45
together and begin to collaborate,
4:47
same tools,
4:48
same identity,
4:49
same network.
4:50
So those are really the big activities. And
4:53
so far, they're going well.
4:55
And we're getting ready to launch the actual
4:56
implementation of that and get that project,
4:59
moving in the next week.
5:01
But, overall,
5:02
lots to do.
5:04
And those are just three of the the
5:06
things we're focused on right now.
5:09
That's amazing to hear, and thank you so
5:11
much for for going through that. I think,
5:13
you know, as you mentioned, there's so many
5:14
different growth opportunities in spaces,
5:18
you know, to to really bring the whole
5:20
organization together,
5:22
from a tactical perspective and and certainly then,
5:25
integrating those IT systems. I know it'll then
5:28
make everything much more efficient and connected once
5:31
you're able to get that done.
5:33
And, you know, I'm curious. Obviously, the technology
5:36
is one thing, but,
5:38
bridging the the people and the teams and,
5:40
just the organizational culture is another.
5:43
What have you seen or or noticed in
5:45
trying to bring together,
5:47
two different organizations with different cultures and different
5:50
teams under kind of the the same umbrella?
5:53
How receptive, I guess, is not only the
5:56
IT
5:57
team and leadership, but then just the whole
5:59
organization as you're going through this change?
6:03
Right. Right. So, you know, I'd say that
6:05
the teams are really receptive.
6:07
There's obviously you know, when you go through
6:09
a merger,
6:10
and not a lot of not a lot
6:12
of people have gone through this process before.
6:14
But when you go through it, there's there's
6:16
typical anxiety that teams are gonna have. What
6:18
is it what it's gonna look like?
6:20
Are we
6:22
are we just merging teams?
6:25
Our role is going to change.
6:26
And so what what our approach with this
6:28
has been is
6:30
we we really have to run these two
6:34
different teams really in parallel for for a
6:36
bit before we really begin to integrate them
6:39
and merge the teams. And so our approach
6:42
with that has been
6:44
let's let's be very deliberate.
6:46
As we stand up different teams
6:48
related to the merge integration activities,
6:51
then we begin to bring the leaders together
6:53
and the teams together,
6:55
so that then you can begin to get
6:57
get to know one another,
6:59
and begin to
7:01
really rally around a a common purpose.
7:04
And so
7:05
what I've seen so far is the leadership
7:07
team is real both leadership teams have been
7:10
great,
7:11
as we've been going through these planning activities,
7:14
understanding the different technologies that both organizations have
7:17
have and how do we get to,
7:19
common platforms.
7:21
The collaboration
7:22
has been has been
7:25
from from my perspective, it's gone really well.
7:28
You know, I
7:30
think the broader organizations I've, you know, getting
7:32
to to know the the the leadership team
7:34
in the San Diego region,
7:36
which, I wasn't as familiar with. It's been
7:39
great getting to know them. They're helping me
7:41
understand
7:42
what they're looking for,
7:43
in a technology partner, what things they wanna
7:46
see us do, maybe differently.
7:49
And so that's all culminating in,
7:53
we as a as an IT organization,
7:56
how we come together and really establish
7:59
what our new identity is going to be
8:01
as a combined organization.
8:03
I had a retreat recently with my direct
8:05
reports, and that was the key focus, really
8:07
talking about
8:09
what's our new identity as a technology organization
8:11
going to be, how do we want to
8:12
be known,
8:14
in this new,
8:15
merged organization,
8:17
that that that we're now find ourselves in?
8:20
And so we kinda landed on
8:23
on on partnership,
8:25
value, and service excellence.
8:27
It's it's kinda that that identity.
8:29
And so now we're working through that process
8:32
with the rest of the leadership team and
8:34
the rest of,
8:35
the IT organization.
8:37
We'll solidify that, finalize it, and then
8:41
then we start to build the underlying processes
8:43
around that. How do we what do we
8:45
have to do differently to make sure that
8:47
when our organization
8:49
experiences us, that's what they walk away feeling
8:52
feeling like. Part they've had a partner, we've
8:54
delivered value, and we've delivered excellence.
8:59
I love that. I I think it, really
9:01
speaks to the care it it takes in
9:04
order to make these transitions and, certainly, bringing
9:06
everyone together, being able to have that retreat,
9:09
have that time,
9:10
to establish that relationship, and then the identity,
9:13
as you mentioned, developing that and working on
9:15
it,
9:16
which
9:17
then follows throughout the entire organization.
9:20
It seems to be a really smart way
9:21
to go about these things. And so I
9:23
appreciate the extra insight into how you're,
9:26
managing the technology as well as the teams
9:28
and and people aspect
9:30
of bringing two organizations together.
9:32
Now I'm curious,
9:34
when you are looking ahead, a lot of
9:35
opportunity, but I know there are also
9:38
plenty of challenges,
9:40
headed in for the health care space. And
9:42
so what do you really,
9:44
you know, are you anticipating? What's top of
9:45
mind for you when you look into the
9:47
future,
9:48
and you'll start to think about what you
9:50
might need to prepare for,
9:51
in terms of challenges or headwinds?
9:55
Sure. Sure. You know, there's so much uncertainty,
9:58
just in the external environment.
10:01
With new administration coming in, you know, we're
10:04
we're having to really understand the impacts,
10:06
that may come our way from,
10:09
from a CMS perspective. And so we have
10:11
to kind of account for what may happen,
10:15
and really really be in a position to,
10:17
adjust and pivot. So, you know, with that
10:20
being said,
10:21
you you know, I think the the other
10:23
challenges we we're we're we're we're looking at
10:27
is really how do we balance,
10:30
very large merger integration activities that we have
10:33
in front of us, things we must do
10:34
to bring the organization together.
10:37
We also have,
10:38
a couple of large facility expansions.
10:41
So in Orange County, we have a new
10:44
specialty clinic tower that's coming online in June
10:47
of this year. And in San Diego,
10:50
our inpatient,
10:52
facility,
10:54
is getting
10:55
a brand new building.
10:56
And that's several years out,
10:59
but
11:00
when you when you're planning and putting up
11:02
a new facility,
11:03
there is so much that goes into it.
11:06
So we have those activities. And then, of
11:08
course, you still have to continue to run
11:10
day to day operations,
11:12
for the health systems.
11:14
So finding the right balance,
11:16
is, I think, one of the things one
11:18
of the challenges that we that we're faced
11:20
with. And so what we're really looking at
11:22
is,
11:23
from a governance perspective,
11:25
how do we find the right balance of
11:27
what's most critical for us to to focus
11:30
on from a daily operations perspective, one of
11:32
the most critical initiatives that's aligned to our
11:35
strategic priorities
11:36
so we can really hone in there.
11:39
And
11:41
I'll use the phrase,
11:43
and block out
11:46
some of those activities
11:48
that we would normally just take on
11:50
if we didn't have
11:52
the new the large expansion as well as
11:55
the merge integration activities. We're gonna have to
11:57
make some decisions to
11:59
defer some of those things, and so really
12:01
finding that right balance, making sure our governance
12:04
for both organizations
12:06
are are are really effective in in that
12:08
lens.
12:09
I think some of the, other challenges we're
12:11
going to face
12:13
is things that
12:16
I think everyone is really dealing with. You
12:17
know, the cybersecurity landscape is continuing to evolve.
12:21
The threats are just all over the place.
12:24
And so really stay in vigilant particularly
12:26
as an organization that's emerging. You're bringing together
12:30
technologies and trying to get to these common
12:31
platforms, we have to really stay
12:35
vigilant to make sure that
12:37
we're not leaving any gaps
12:39
as we as we make these transitions. And
12:42
then I think the last thing from a
12:43
challenge perspective
12:45
is just the technology overall is changing.
12:48
Everyone is wanting
12:51
to take advantage of AI and JNI capabilities,
12:54
but it's still early
12:56
in its in its in its evolution and
12:57
maturity. And so really making sure we don't
13:01
jump into
13:03
something that we're really not ready for. And
13:06
just because it's it's new and it's in
13:07
the media and it's being talked about, and
13:10
it's kind of one of those shiny objects,
13:11
we wanna really avoid that and be really
13:13
use case driven.
13:17
That makes a lot of sense. And, certainly,
13:19
especially all those factors you talked about from
13:22
some of the economic challenges to so much
13:24
uncertainty on the policy and and political front
13:27
as well.
13:28
Just a lot to think about and prepare
13:30
for.
13:32
And then with technology evolution, I mean, generative
13:35
AI, I know even two or three years
13:37
ago was not something on the radar of
13:40
multiple system executives. And so to see how
13:42
fast things have changed and then,
13:44
understand what that the actual value is for
13:47
a health system. It takes a very disciplined
13:49
leader, it seems like.
13:52
Yep. No. Absolutely. Absolutely. It it's
13:55
it's one of the it's really exciting times,
13:58
but you wanna make sure you don't get
14:00
caught up in the hype,
14:02
and really focus on on on value that's
14:04
gonna really solve some real real challenges and
14:07
real problems in your health system.
14:10
Absolutely. Well,
14:12
in looking at, you know, all of those
14:14
challenges as well as opportunities,
14:16
if you're focusing in, what is it would
14:18
you say is the number one thing you're
14:20
doing right now to set up the organization
14:22
for long term success?
14:26
So
14:28
ironically enough, it's tied to merger activity. So
14:31
it's it's really setting our
14:34
foundation
14:36
our technology foundation in place.
14:39
Between the two organizations, it's really landing on
14:42
the best
14:44
technology infrastructure,
14:46
that's gonna really set us up for for
14:48
future success. And I think the other key
14:50
thing is creating,
14:52
we're in the midst of building out, an
14:55
our new data platform.
14:57
And it's really designed
14:59
to for for
15:01
three main purposes.
15:04
From a research data science perspective, we wanna
15:06
make sure we can serve
15:08
that part of our organization
15:09
effectively and efficiently.
15:11
From a traditional insights, you have to provide
15:15
insights to the organization so you understand how
15:17
you're performing, you understand,
15:19
forecasting,
15:21
and really be able to provide information that's
15:23
relevant and timely
15:25
for day to day operations.
15:27
And then the third part has to do
15:29
with how do we serve the data scientists
15:31
that are building models, predictive models, and integrating
15:34
them into the point of care. We have
15:36
to have an infrastructure that's gonna allow for
15:38
that to be effective and efficient.
15:42
And so that's being built right now,
15:45
and that's really what's really setting us up
15:47
for the future.
15:49
We earlier talked about AI and GenAI.
15:52
We
15:53
put together our own private instance. We're starting
15:55
to build products against against, this new infrastructure
15:59
and data platform that we're putting together.
16:02
And the only way you can really set
16:04
yourself up to be successful,
16:07
you have to have the right data platform.
16:09
You have to
16:11
have the right
16:13
data infrastructure to really serve and support it
16:16
because you can't really build
16:19
good AI products if you don't have a
16:21
good data pipe pipeline and platform because everything
16:25
starts with having the the right datasets
16:28
and the right platform that allows you to
16:30
access that information.
16:31
Otherwise,
16:32
you can't really build the successful models.
16:36
So that's for us, that's really the the
16:38
most important thing is setting that up so
16:40
that we're in a position to just build
16:42
products that's going to allow us to work
16:44
differently in the future, not only from a
16:47
from an from an administrative perspective,
16:49
but also how do we leverage that to
16:51
help serve and complement,
16:53
the clinical experience.
16:57
That's amazing to hear. And, you know, I
16:59
am impressed to understand that you kind of
17:01
like that private instance
17:03
of, generally, the AI you've been putting together
17:05
the products that you're working on. Obviously, the
17:07
infrastructure data platforms are so important.
17:10
Have you built, like, a a data science
17:13
or technology team that's really, leading that up,
17:15
or has it been kind of an evolution
17:17
of the,
17:18
team members you already had,
17:20
in place
17:21
at,
17:22
Brady Children's and in, you know,
17:25
really kind of training and leveraging their expertise?
17:29
So it's a little bit of both. So
17:32
leveraging the existing team,
17:34
and
17:36
and also,
17:37
bringing on new,
17:39
data engineers
17:40
with that specific purpose. And and there's also
17:42
there's also some partners that that we that
17:45
we're leveraging as well.
17:46
And so,
17:49
brought in a new leader over data analytics
17:51
about 16 ago,
17:53
came in from the gaming industry,
17:56
and
17:57
it has been incredible,
17:59
leading this effort, and it's really an integrated
18:02
effort. So I I referenced our
18:04
research, data science group,
18:07
our our hospital data science team.
18:10
These teams report into different,
18:14
leaders in our organization.
18:15
But our leader over analytics
18:18
and and data integration, she's really bringing those
18:21
teams together
18:22
to really
18:23
architect that platform and making sure it's gonna
18:26
serve those needs.
18:27
And and if we build those products,
18:30
it's not it's not a one versus the
18:32
other team that's going to do that. We
18:34
really are are building this together
18:37
and
18:38
working working
18:39
in a way that is truly, truly matrix
18:42
and and partner. So, for for us,
18:45
we're not trying
18:47
to control all the delivery and all the
18:49
build. We wanna make sure the the right
18:51
teams have the right capabilities
18:54
to to build the products that's gonna be
18:55
most effective.
18:57
And that's amazing to hear. Thank you for
18:59
double clicking on that. Now before we wrap
19:01
up, I I was just curious.
19:04
Could you tell us about an accomplishment you're
19:06
most proud of from the last year?
19:10
Oh, wow.
19:13
So what I'm going to say, it's not
19:15
going to be a technology
19:17
driven activity.
19:19
I'm I'm
19:21
gonna bring it back to to the merger.
19:23
So in 2024,
19:26
I think I mentioned earlier,
19:28
you really couldn't get into a lot of
19:30
detail. There was a lot of restrictions,
19:32
from a regulatory perspective,
19:34
but we were able to do a lot
19:36
of preplanning.
19:38
And I'll say the
19:40
last six months of 2024,
19:44
both teams spent a ton of time week
19:46
to week really going through,
19:49
the kind of the tech the high level
19:51
technology capabilities both organizations had
19:54
and
19:55
really, really proud of how both teams
19:58
really came together,
20:00
and really worked in their respective areas to
20:04
really help us understand where we where we
20:06
were
20:07
and where our opportunities might be to help
20:10
us get the common platforms across the board.
20:13
That was really the the launching point for
20:16
our organizations and from an IT perspective
20:19
to really start to come together.
20:21
And we've been able to transition from that
20:23
activity
20:24
once the merger was approved
20:26
to really solidifying those teams and continue that
20:29
work at a much more detailed level. So
20:32
really, really excited and really pleased about the,
20:35
the work that those teams have have been
20:36
doing and are continuing to do.
20:40
That's amazing to hear. John, thank you so
20:42
much for your time today. I really appreciate
20:43
it. This has been such a fun conversation,
20:46
and I look forward to connecting with you
20:47
again soon.
20:49
Same here. Always great to talk to you.