Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Kevin Bidtah, Chief Information Officer at Evergreen Health

Transcript

Kevin Bidtah, Chief Information Officer at Evergreen Health · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

• 0:00
  Would you like to exchange best practices and ideas to improve care,
• 0:03
  enhance operational efficiency,
• 0:05
  and address financial challenges with your peers?
• 0:08
  Becker's Healthcare is facilitating these conversations at their eighth annual
• 0:12
  health, IT digital health and R C M meeting.
• 0:15
  You can check your eligibility for complimentary attendance at the link in the
• 0:19
  description. We are excited to welcome you in October.
• 0:23
  This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
• 0:26
  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Kevin Bitta,
• 0:28
  chief Information Officer at Evergreen Health. Kevin,
• 0:30
  it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
• 0:33
  Pleasure to be here.
• 0:35
  Now, I know we have a lot to talk about.
• 0:37
  There's so much happening in health IT and the digital health space.
• 0:40
  It's really changing quickly. Um, but before we dive into my questions,
• 0:43
  can you tell me a little bit more about yourself and your background?
• 0:47
  Sure. I, uh, actually started at Evergreen Health in, uh, January, 2000.
• 0:51
  So I've been there a little over 23 years.
• 0:54
  I started there in social care. I worked in social care about 12 years,
• 0:59
  and then I moved over to technology and data in about 2012.
• 1:04
  Um, so then I, I really built the team from just me to what it is now.
• 1:08
  It's about 47 folks.
• 1:11
  Oh, wow. That's amazing. So, over the years as you're building this IT team,
• 1:15
  you know, when you, I guess, first took on the role, you imagine that it would,
• 1:18
  uh,
• 1:19
  become the strong of a responsibility or how was that evolution like for you?
• 1:24
  Um, it was definitely interesting, um, moving from, uh, just me, uh,
• 1:28
  having to do all of the work, um, to then recruiting folks, uh,
• 1:32
  retaining those folks, training them.
• 1:34
  And then for me it was mostly about kind of creating this culture
• 1:40
  that values people and that kind of aligns with the organization's
• 1:45
  goals. I think as the organization grew,
• 1:47
  it was also a matter of being in those conversations to kind of, um,
• 1:51
  adjust to how healthcare was changing at the time.
• 1:55
  Got it. That makes a lot of sense. You know,
• 1:57
  I'm excited to hear more about the culture that you've built there throughout
• 2:00
  our discussion today. From your perspective,
• 2:03
  what are some of the opportunities that you, um,
• 2:06
  are excited about right now as well as the headwinds you have your eye on?
• 2:11
  Actually, a lot of the work that I'm doing is looking internal.
• 2:15
  We're doing two major things right now over the next,
• 2:19
  I wanna say eight to 12 months.
• 2:21
  We're doing a lot of optimization of our current systems and workflows.
• 2:26
  We're working with a lot of our internal patient facing areas,
• 2:29
  really to refine the work they do and how they use technology and information.
• 2:35
  Uh,
• 2:35
  we're also looking at a lot of the software that we've implemented over the past
• 2:39
  couple years. As you know,
• 2:41
  COVID was quite the disruptor with technology and the use of technology to
• 2:45
  support a hybrid workforce, and even in the healthcare space, um,
• 2:49
  providing care in a different way. So we're, we're,
• 2:52
  we're turning back and we're looking at those areas and those systems and kind
• 2:56
  of saying,
• 2:56
  what can we do to make things better or improve the experience for the
• 3:01
  user. Um,
• 3:02
  the other thing that we're doing is we're looking at people and culture.
• 3:06
  So again, I kind of mentioned that for me,
• 3:08
  creating that culture that values the employee is so important to me. Um,
• 3:13
  having, uh, having a workforce that feels valued, that feels heard,
• 3:18
  um, that gets kind of the buy-in from their employer that says, here,
• 3:22
  we're gonna train you, or we're gonna, we've got your career in mind. Um, that,
• 3:26
  that to me, there's, there's a lot of value to that.
• 3:28
  I feel like Evergreen has given me that opportunity in allowing me to move from
• 3:32
  social care to technology. Um, and so, uh,
• 3:36
  that's something that I value and I want to pass on to the employees in my area.
• 3:43
  Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's amazing to hear and definitely, um,
• 3:47
  helpful perspective to understand is, you know,
• 3:49
  I'm sure the teams that you work with build their careers and work on, um,
• 3:53
  you know, what's next for them. They can really take your example as, uh,
• 3:57
  something that, you know, a very shiny and clear pathway now, you know,
• 4:02
  it's exciting to think about how much healthcare has changed.
• 4:04
  I know you mentioned the pandemic and during that time there was, um,
• 4:08
  just a lot of change in movement. So, you know, what are you,
• 4:13
  I guess, today, um, and, and then, you know, looking into the future,
• 4:17
  how are you thinking about growth and adding value to Evergreen Health overall?
• 4:22
  Um, yeah, I'm, like I mentioned, the technology we have in place, um,
• 4:26
  whether it's software, just technology itself, um,
• 4:28
  we've been doing a lot of kind of upgrades to,
• 4:31
  to everything from the network systems, um,
• 4:35
  to cybersecurity, um, to also, like I mentioned, uh,
• 4:39
  the areas that touch our patient care. And for us, um, it's, uh,
• 4:43
  we see patients in a different way. I mean, we're, we're, uh,
• 4:47
  fairly qualified health center look alike,
• 4:48
  so a lot of the work we do is out with as a community health center. Um,
• 4:53
  so it's not just, um, primary care patients, um,
• 4:57
  but it's also folks in the behavioral health space. And, uh,
• 5:01
  we do have, um, a lot of, uh, drug users that we, um,
• 5:05
  apply a lot of our technology to help them and help reach out to them and help
• 5:09
  them stay connected to healthcare.
• 5:11
  So there's a lot of small areas for us that we're looking at these, um,
• 5:15
  solutions and going,
• 5:16
  how are we gonna scale up and how are we gonna add value to the way we treat
• 5:20
  patients, uh, in that way. And then again, just stating it again,
• 5:24
  adding value and aligning with the goals of the organization is, I think it's a,
• 5:30
  it's a never ending task because healthcare, as you know, shifts,
• 5:33
  it moves and within each organization, the values of the organization,
• 5:38
  the goals of that organization shift and change as we add on different services
• 5:42
  or different care delivery models.
• 5:44
  And then technology and data and information has to do its best to kind of
• 5:49
  work alongside and, uh,
• 5:50
  collaborate and partner with the folks who provide care to those patients.
• 5:54
  So that's, I feel like that keeps us on our toes enough. Um,
• 5:57
  and so we're always trying to make sure that we're aligning, um, with what,
• 6:02
  what's ahead of us as far as healthcare goes.
• 6:06
  Got it. That makes a lot of sense. You know,
• 6:08
  and definitely hard to look on the crystal ball and always know how to stay
• 6:12
  ahead of things,
• 6:13
  but it seems like you've got a great system in place and a great foundation to
• 6:17
  do that. Um,
• 6:19
  when you are looking at the organization as a whole today and,
• 6:23
  and where it's headed, I know there's a lot of headwinds right now.
• 6:26
  We talked through some of them and a lot of places as well are a few seeing
• 6:30
  their resources, um, dwindle just a bit. Um,
• 6:34
  so for those organizations that are thinking through, you know,
• 6:37
  maybe they have limited budgets or resources, how do you think through what,
• 6:42
  um, investments or, or risks are still worth taking this year,
• 6:45
  especially in a year where, you know,
• 6:47
  there might not be the same financial resources as organizations have had in the
• 6:50
  past? I.
• 6:52
  Think a lot of that is, um, good communication.
• 6:56
  I know that we've been having those conversations, um, at our leadership team.
• 7:00
  And I think open communication obviously is, is so important at that level. Um,
• 7:05
  talking about, um, the areas that we can find efficiencies,
• 7:08
  the areas that we can, um, do things in a different way, that that, um,
• 7:12
  improves the way we do care, like I said, but still, still values the user. Um,
• 7:17
  whether the user is the, the people we serve or the folks providing the care.
• 7:22
  Um, I think that for us, as we, as we do make those shifts and as we do,
• 7:26
  you know, as the dollars tighten, um,
• 7:29
  for us it's a matter of let's make sure we're all on the same page.
• 7:33
  Let's make sure we know, um, the areas that we might reorganize or shift.
• 7:37
  We all know the impacts. It's just that kind of,
• 7:39
  that conversation you have across the table with,
• 7:42
  with all the folks that are important around that table. I think that that's,
• 7:46
  for me, that's the biggest part of it. It's, it's a lot less conversation about,
• 7:50
  um, technology and data.
• 7:52
  It's more just a conversation about what are the needs that we have in front of
• 7:55
  us? Let's work together because we have a great relationship. Let's collaborate,
• 7:59
  let's partner together. I think that's the biggest piece for me.
• 8:03
  Got it. That makes a lot of sense. You know, and, and really, uh,
• 8:06
  from the team and culture perspective,
• 8:08
  it seems like it'd be an amazing place to be and a place to work. Um,
• 8:13
  when you are building your team and when you were hiring so many folks over the
• 8:16
  last few years, uh,
• 8:18
  what did you really look for in somebody to bring on the team and, and how, um,
• 8:22
  were you able to really retain them?
• 8:23
  Especially over the past few years when I know there's been a lot of turnover
• 8:27
  for a lot of organizations.
• 8:30
  I, I, I think there's a measure of, um, maybe luck involved, honestly. Um,
• 8:35
  but I, I, I look at, uh, the leaders in my,
• 8:38
  in my area that I work with, and quite honestly,
• 8:43
  the, the benefit of working at a community health center,
• 8:46
  as people line up to the mission and you,
• 8:50
  you can see that they wear that on their, on their sleeve. They're,
• 8:53
  they're there for, um, making an impact in people's lives.
• 8:58
  They believe in the mission that Evergreen has.
• 9:00
  They believe in the values that we have there. Um, and they want to,
• 9:03
  they wanna serve that population that we serve. So I think that helps. Um,
• 9:08
  and then just kind of tying back to that, I, I think for me, um,
• 9:12
  so I was raised on a, on a reservation in the Southwest.
• 9:15
  It didn't come from much. And for someone to come in and allow me to, um, to,
• 9:20
  they allowed, you know, me to take chances and, and make mistakes,
• 9:25
  and they put training in front of me and they said, here you go. You're,
• 9:28
  you're building this, um, kind of like I said,
• 9:30
  and building from scratch and knowing that, um,
• 9:34
  I was given the opportunity to make mistakes and learn as I go. I,
• 9:37
  I try to make sure that's a culture, um,
• 9:40
  that's in place for my teams and my leadership.
• 9:42
  And I've seen them actually use that same model, um,
• 9:46
  just to encourage their folks to grow and learn. Um, and again, as a,
• 9:50
  a community health center,
• 9:51
  we don't have all the dollars of a larger organization. Um,
• 9:55
  so the folks we bring in, a lot of times we have to train and upskill them. And,
• 10:00
  uh, that, that, I guess for us, the benefit of that is the folks really,
• 10:05
  truly feel invested in because we're talking to them openly about their
• 10:09
  career opportunities. And we, we have lost folks to larger organizations,
• 10:13
  but we celebrate those losses because it's great for them,
• 10:17
  it's great for them in their career path, and we're open about it.
• 10:20
  We're having open conversations about it wherever, you know, as,
• 10:23
  as much as we can. So that's, that's some of the, the culture piece that I, uh,
• 10:27
  appreciate and I try to value with my team.
• 10:32
  Absolutely. I love that. I, I think that makes a lot of sense, you know,
• 10:35
  and it is really helpful for you to walk through.
• 10:38
  Now before we wrap up our conversation,
• 10:40
  I wanted to look into the crystal ball one more time.
• 10:42
  Where do you see some of the best opportunities for growth and development for
• 10:45
  your team and yourself and the future? Where do you see, um, adding skills or,
• 10:50
  you know, really, uh,
• 10:51
  needing to grow as the healthcare industry and technology evolves.
• 10:56
  On the technology side for an organization our size, um,
• 11:01
  we are actually, uh, moving, we've been moving over to cloud for some of our,
• 11:05
  uh, solutions. We had a lot of on-prem solutions,
• 11:08
  and so we're shifting over to cloud wherever we can.
• 11:11
  So we wanna get out of the business of, of maintaining hardware, um,
• 11:15
  and devices. And we want to kind of shift that over to cloud, wherever we can.
• 11:19
  Um, while, you know, accepting some level of risk there. Um, on,
• 11:23
  on the people side, um, you know, de and I has a big, been a big conversation.
• 11:29
  And I think the culture that we created, um, at Evergreen in general,
• 11:34
  uh, has been great. I, you know, we serve a large LGBTQ plus population, um,
• 11:38
  and so for us to shift and, uh,
• 11:41
  see that there's needs with other areas, I think for us,
• 11:45
  that one is an eyeopener like to look at, to look internally and go, oh, wow,
• 11:49
  we we're deficient in these areas, or we could do better. Um,
• 11:52
  but I think the other side of that coin is we could take a page from how we've
• 11:56
  been serving other folks and admit to where we are and saying, okay, we,
• 12:01
  here we are. Here's our baseline, um, and here's some opportunities we can, um,
• 12:05
  improve. And I think having, um,
• 12:08
  open conversation with folks about our progress,
• 12:11
  where we are and where we wanna be,
• 12:13
  and asking for their feedback and their input has been very valuable.
• 12:17
  And we've learned a lot of lessons along the way. Um, as you know,
• 12:20
  Buffalo has had some tragic events recently, um, last May.
• 12:24
  And so we've had to really, uh, make sure our presence was known,
• 12:30
  um, to our, to the folks who work at Evergreen, um,
• 12:33
  in addition to the larger community. So it's been quite, quite a,
• 12:38
  i I would say, quite a, a tough past few years. Like I said,
• 12:42
  a lot of lessons learned, but we've really tried to make sure we continue, um,
• 12:47
  to look forward and, and just try to find opportunities to grow and learn.
• 12:52
  Absolutely. Amazing. Well, Kevin,
• 12:53
  thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
• 12:56
  This has been a really fun discussion. I learned a lot and I, I look forward to,
• 13:00
  uh, connecting with you again soon.
• 13:02
  Thank you so much. I appreciate you.
• 13:09
  It's so important for leaders at the top of organizations to keep learning,
• 13:13
  stay sharp, grow their networks,
• 13:15
  help our audience better do this in a more simplified, personalized,
• 13:18
  and meaningful way. Becker's Healthcare has launched my bhc,
• 13:22
  it's your trusted Becker's healthcare experience and more with content,
• 13:25
  connections, events and learning opportunities.
• 13:28
  Join the community free of charge@www.my dot becker's hospital
• 13:33
  review.com, and we'll see you there.