Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT / Maria Sexton, MBA, CISSP, CRISC, CDPSE, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at University Health System

Transcript

Maria Sexton, MBA, CISSP, CRISC, CDPSE, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at University Health System · Becker’s Healthcare Digital Health + Health IT

• 0:02
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• 1:00
  - This is Laura Dirdle with the Becker's Healthcare
• 1:02
  - podcast.
• 1:03
  - I'm thrilled today to be joined by Maria
• 1:05
  - Sexton,
• 1:06
  - senior vice president and chief information officer at
• 1:08
  - UT Medical. Maria, it's a pleasure to have
• 1:10
  - you on the podcast today. Laura, thank you
• 1:12
  - so much for inviting me. I'm happy to
• 1:14
  - be here.
• 1:15
  - Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation. I
• 1:17
  - know we'll dig into some of the cool
• 1:19
  - things that you've been working on at UT
• 1:21
  - Medical as well as, you know, your perspective
• 1:23
  - on the future. But before we dive in,
• 1:25
  - can you tell me a little bit more
• 1:26
  - about yourself and UT Medical?
• 1:28
  - Absolutely. Happy to. So I've been here with,
• 1:30
  - UT Medical for about a year and a
• 1:32
  - half, and it's unbelievable. It's gone that fast.
• 1:35
  - So, I've been in IT and cybersecurity
• 1:38
  - for about thirty years. It's shocking to even
• 1:41
  - think about that. So about three decades.
• 1:43
  - I came to UT Medical from Las Vegas
• 1:46
  - where I've spent about twenty five years,
• 1:49
  - most recently as chief information officer for a
• 1:52
  - very similar, academic health system in Las Vegas
• 1:55
  - called University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. Very
• 1:58
  - similar level one trauma academic health system,
• 2:02
  - very similar to UT Medical.
• 2:04
  - Again, had lived there about twenty five years.
• 2:06
  - Prior to that, I was in Chicago.
• 2:09
  - So this was a great opportunity
• 2:10
  - to move to Knoxville to take this great
• 2:13
  - position with UT Medical.
• 2:15
  - As I mentioned, about thirty years in the
• 2:17
  - industry. I've worked in a lot of different
• 2:19
  - industries
• 2:20
  - with different business types.
• 2:22
  - Healthcare probably the most, but I've spent time
• 2:25
  - with consumer packaged goods,
• 2:27
  - retail pharmacy,
• 2:29
  - hospitality and gaming,
• 2:32
  - you know, audit and accounting,
• 2:34
  - work,
• 2:35
  - federal government, state government. And so I think
• 2:38
  - that that really helps to have that breadth
• 2:40
  - of industry experience.
• 2:42
  - Because although there are some unique things to
• 2:44
  - health care IT and providing technology and cybersecurity
• 2:47
  - for health care organization,
• 2:48
  - there are a lot of similarities.
• 2:50
  - So again, I think that that breadth of
• 2:52
  - industry experience has been very, very helpful for
• 2:55
  - me.
• 2:56
  - A little bit about UT Medical. So we
• 2:58
  - are based here in Knoxville, Tennessee, beautiful East
• 3:00
  - Tennessee.
• 3:02
  - We have been an independent or separate,
• 3:04
  - healthcare system from the University of Tennessee since
• 3:07
  - 1999.
• 3:08
  - Used to be a part of the University
• 3:11
  - of Tennessee system. In 1999,
• 3:13
  - we became a separate
• 3:15
  - healthcare system, again, but still heavily affiliated with
• 3:18
  - the University of Tennessee.
• 3:20
  - We serve a 21 county
• 3:22
  - area, which is really vast.
• 3:25
  - Many of those area,
• 3:26
  - areas are rural, and so we have a
• 3:28
  - huge, you know, sort of rural health,
• 3:31
  - patient population.
• 3:33
  - We are also, again, a level one trauma,
• 3:35
  - an academic health system with that affiliation with
• 3:38
  - the University of Tennessee.
• 3:39
  - And so as an academic health system, we
• 3:42
  - serve actually three
• 3:43
  - big missions.
• 3:44
  - Obviously, as a health care, you know, system
• 3:47
  - delivering,
• 3:48
  - outstanding patient care, but we're also a teaching
• 3:51
  - institution. So we have the, you know, second
• 3:53
  - leg of the three legged stool, if you
• 3:55
  - will,
• 3:56
  - of training and teaching the next generation of
• 3:59
  - clinicians,
• 4:00
  - be it providers,
• 4:01
  - nurses,
• 4:02
  - pharmacists,
• 4:03
  - all of those, areas. And then third, because
• 4:06
  - we're an academic health system, we, have a,
• 4:10
  - a large mission in clinical trials
• 4:12
  - and research.
• 4:14
  - And so, again, that's what kind of makes
• 4:15
  - up an academic
• 4:17
  - health system.
• 4:18
  - And so, again, the organization has been independent
• 4:20
  - now for about twenty six years.
• 4:23
  - A great organization, really, with a fantastic mission.
• 4:26
  - And I'll say lastly about our organization, we
• 4:28
  - were number one
• 4:30
  - for,
• 4:31
  - culture organizational culture on the Forbes list
• 4:35
  - of, company culture, which was fantastic. And that
• 4:38
  - wasn't just in Tennessee or just in health
• 4:41
  - care. It was it was national. We were
• 4:43
  - number one, in that, and we received that
• 4:45
  - accolade this year. So that says a little
• 4:47
  - something about who we are.
• 4:50
  - Absolutely. Wow. That's amazing. And just really impressive
• 4:53
  - to see the organization, how it's been built,
• 4:55
  - and and the culture you have there.
• 4:58
  - Really incredible. I'm curious from your perspective. I
• 5:00
  - know having been there one and a half
• 5:02
  - years, you've been doing a lot. What are
• 5:05
  - some of the things, the most powerful forces
• 5:07
  - that you see shaping digital health and IT
• 5:09
  - at the organization, and how do you anticipate
• 5:11
  - they'll evolve in the next year or so?
• 5:13
  - Absolutely. So, you know, I kinda touched on
• 5:15
  - it just a little bit in the introduction.
• 5:17
  - So there's there's an absolute need, and we're
• 5:19
  - not unique in this, but it certainly is
• 5:21
  - something we're dealing with, which is an increased
• 5:23
  - need for patient access.
• 5:26
  - Right? So we have a very large,
• 5:28
  - central
• 5:29
  - hub, if you will, which is where our
• 5:31
  - hospital is and many of our services.
• 5:33
  - And then we've got a number of outlined
• 5:35
  - clinics and regional health centers, and that where
• 5:38
  - patients can go. But we know again the
• 5:40
  - vastness of the area that we serve and
• 5:43
  - again just the reality of some of these
• 5:45
  - rural areas, we need to make sure that
• 5:47
  - there's access for our patients. So if we're
• 5:50
  - looking at telehealth, you know, which we certainly
• 5:52
  - do have a telehealth program, but broadening that
• 5:55
  - program
• 5:56
  - to not only offer primary care services, but
• 5:58
  - specialty care,
• 6:00
  - making sure that, again, patients have access to
• 6:03
  - what they need where they are. Right? We'll
• 6:05
  - hear this a lot, not just us, but
• 6:07
  - providing services where the patients are and not
• 6:09
  - necessarily having to have them drive in to
• 6:12
  - our locations.
• 6:13
  - So that's certainly a very, very powerful force.
• 6:17
  - We'd be remiss if we didn't talk about
• 6:18
  - AI on this podcast, but the innovative technologies,
• 6:22
  - including AI based technologies.
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  - I've said this before that I think for
• 6:27
  - no other industry does AI hold more promise
• 6:30
  - than for health care. Minutes matter in health
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  - care and so anything that we can do
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  - to use innovation
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  - and innovative technologies
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  - to improve patient outcomes, to identify
• 6:41
  - what might be the problem for that patient
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  - so that we can get to those, you
• 6:45
  - know, to those, positive outcomes and and better
• 6:48
  - protocols faster is so important. So I think,
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  - again, the innovative technologies
• 6:52
  - and how fast that's moving.
• 6:55
  - And then something that's, you know, sort of
• 6:57
  - the other side of the coin with technology
• 6:59
  - is the increasing tech debt. And the fact
• 7:02
  - that, you know, as as CIOs and many
• 7:04
  - of my peers will say the same, you
• 7:06
  - know, our our customers, and we don't call
• 7:08
  - them users here, but our customers are demanding,
• 7:11
  - right, the implementation
• 7:12
  - of new
• 7:14
  - and exciting, innovative, shiny technology,
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  - which we can do so much to address
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  - access
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  - and provider and nurse burnout and all those
• 7:23
  - things and improve the patient experience.
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  - Meanwhile,
• 7:27
  - we still have to manage
• 7:29
  - and buy down all of that old and
• 7:31
  - tarnished
• 7:32
  - technology. Right? The stuff that's tried and true
• 7:35
  - and it's basically,
• 7:36
  - you know, the the horsepower
• 7:38
  - of what we do here.
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  - We still have to manage all of that.
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  - Meanwhile, still manage expectations
• 7:45
  - and want to be on the forefront
• 7:47
  - of new technologies. So I'd say those three
• 7:50
  - together are,
• 7:52
  - the forces that and among many other things,
• 7:55
  - but are really shaping
• 7:57
  - what we're doing here with technology.
• 8:02
  - That is so helpful to understand. I think
• 8:04
  - being able to look into,
• 8:07
  - the current landscape, see what big challenges there
• 8:10
  - are with access, how it can be really,
• 8:12
  - you know, crucial
• 8:14
  - to have those kind of, relationships with primary
• 8:16
  - care, specialty care, figuring out what's gonna make
• 8:19
  - the biggest difference and where you can implement
• 8:21
  - technology,
• 8:22
  - to really
• 8:23
  - supercharge,
• 8:24
  - empower some of those gap closures in the
• 8:27
  - future. I'm curious, you know, when you look
• 8:29
  - at all of the things that you're doing
• 8:31
  - at UT Medical,
• 8:33
  - what stands out as being some moves in
• 8:35
  - that direction? How has technology been effective,
• 8:38
  - to to close some of these gaps? And
• 8:40
  - and are there any ways that you've, you
• 8:43
  - know, found it things didn't work out the
• 8:45
  - way you wanted them to and pivots you
• 8:46
  - had to make? Sure. So I think that's
• 8:48
  - that's a great question. So think about some
• 8:50
  - of the things that we've been doing in
• 8:51
  - the last year and a half. I mean,
• 8:53
  - we are, again, not unique in this, but
• 8:54
  - we have implemented,
• 8:56
  - just in one area, ambient documentation or ambient
• 8:59
  - listening.
• 9:00
  - Again, maybe and and this is just my
• 9:02
  - opinion, certainly, that that's really not even innovative
• 9:05
  - any longer. Right? That our patients are now
• 9:08
  - expecting that when they are going into,
• 9:10
  - you know, their encounter with their provider,
• 9:13
  - that that ambient documentation, that that technology is
• 9:16
  - there and available.
• 9:18
  - Because we know that if you've got that
• 9:20
  - technology
• 9:21
  - and the the provider, whether it be a
• 9:24
  - pro you know, a doctor, a nurse practitioner,
• 9:26
  - whoever that is, is able to,
• 9:30
  - you know, kinda release that burden of having
• 9:32
  - to take all the notes and do all
• 9:34
  - that during the encounter, and they can use
• 9:36
  - technology to capture that information,
• 9:39
  - they have a richer, you know, encounter and
• 9:42
  - engagement with the patient. You can look at
• 9:44
  - the patient. You can have eye to eye
• 9:46
  - contact. You can you can be more present
• 9:49
  - for the patient because you've got technology in
• 9:51
  - the background
• 9:52
  - that's collecting information about the the, you know,
• 9:55
  - the patient's
• 9:56
  - situation. What are they suffering from? How are
• 9:58
  - they feeling? How are their medications gone? All
• 10:01
  - of those kinds of things. And again, maybe
• 10:03
  - a year ago or even longer, that might
• 10:05
  - have been innovative technology. Today, those are essentially
• 10:08
  - table stakes. Right? The patients are expecting that.
• 10:11
  - So we have implemented it in our, you
• 10:13
  - know, some of our primary care clinics and
• 10:15
  - some of our specialty care clinics. And we
• 10:17
  - are looking at it for inpatient services
• 10:20
  - as well as for nursing.
• 10:22
  - That's one of those where we think about
• 10:24
  - an ROI on an AI based technology.
• 10:27
  - It might not be a hard ROI,
• 10:29
  - but certainly the soft ROI of, again,
• 10:33
  - reducing
• 10:34
  - that provider burnout, that pajama time, so they
• 10:37
  - can get their notes done in time and
• 10:39
  - be able to go home and finish their
• 10:40
  - day, that the patients are having a much
• 10:43
  - better experience because their provider is fully engaged
• 10:46
  - with them and not having to, again, be
• 10:47
  - concerned about note taking.
• 10:49
  - So that's something that we've done, and we're
• 10:51
  - seeing some great results from that. Just reducing
• 10:54
  - that cognitive,
• 10:55
  - you know, challenge and burden that our providers
• 10:58
  - have. So we're kind of making that change.
• 11:00
  - We're looking at different AI in the areas
• 11:02
  - that it can help us. We are also
• 11:04
  - looking at, not just from a technology perspective,
• 11:07
  - one thing that I did in my time
• 11:09
  - here, and not just me, my team,
• 11:11
  - we have worked on modifying
• 11:14
  - something that sounds small, but our project management
• 11:17
  - processes.
• 11:19
  - When I came in a year and a
• 11:20
  - half ago, I spoke to, you know, our
• 11:22
  - director of project management,
• 11:24
  - and she was sharing with me we had
• 11:26
  - upwards of 400 projects on our list. Now
• 11:29
  - obviously, all of them were not in motion.
• 11:32
  - But I thought to myself, how? How could
• 11:33
  - we possibly have so many air quotes projects?
• 11:36
  - Right? We're only on audio here. And what
• 11:38
  - I found was that we needed to implement
• 11:41
  - greater discipline
• 11:42
  - around project management.
• 11:44
  - And that was not a deficiency, let's say,
• 11:46
  - particularly
• 11:47
  - on any one group.
• 11:49
  - It was more an organizational maturity
• 11:52
  - that we needed to you know, we had
• 11:53
  - lots of ideas about things to do, but
• 11:56
  - not necessarily all of them would be projects.
• 11:59
  - Because, again, there's a discipline around, one, just
• 12:02
  - how much change any one organization
• 12:05
  - can handle at any moment.
• 12:07
  - But also, where were we making our investments
• 12:09
  - of time, money, and people? Right? We only
• 12:12
  - have so much of each of those. And
• 12:15
  - so bringing a greater discipline around
• 12:18
  - proposal management,
• 12:20
  - looking at a lot of the ideas that
• 12:21
  - people had and then vetting them through a
• 12:24
  - more disciplined process to say, what should the
• 12:27
  - organization be doing? They're all great ideas, but
• 12:31
  - we can't implement all of them. So where
• 12:33
  - would we see the most benefit and what
• 12:35
  - would help us achieve organizational
• 12:38
  - objectives and goals?
• 12:39
  - And so, you know, again, that was more
• 12:41
  - of a process improvement.
• 12:43
  - And it was a little I'll be fully
• 12:44
  - transparent. In the beginning, there were a lot
• 12:46
  - of, you know, stumbles and a lot of,
• 12:49
  - uncertainty. The organization, like, was like, woah. Who's
• 12:52
  - this person coming in from, you know, not
• 12:54
  - from here, coming in from a different, part
• 12:56
  - of the country,
• 12:58
  - different, doesn't understand the organization,
• 13:00
  - and really trying to institute a lot of
• 13:02
  - change.
• 13:03
  - But once I was able to kinda talk
• 13:05
  - through what we thought the benefits of the
• 13:06
  - changes would be,
• 13:08
  - you know, tremendous
• 13:09
  - support and and understanding of what we're trying
• 13:12
  - to do.
• 13:13
  - And when I say we, I don't mean
• 13:14
  - IT. I mean, we, the organization.
• 13:16
  - And so now, you know, a year and
• 13:18
  - a half into those changes,
• 13:20
  - tremendous support from the organization and understanding,
• 13:23
  - and And we're getting better and better with
• 13:24
  - the discipline around, again, how we are spending
• 13:28
  - those valuable and limited resources of time, money,
• 13:31
  - and people.
• 13:34
  - That's so helpful to understand. And, you know,
• 13:36
  - I love that global picture of how you're
• 13:38
  - tackling some of those,
• 13:40
  - issues that are are huge in the health
• 13:42
  - care space, but at the same time, being
• 13:43
  - mindful of the resource management, etcetera.
• 13:46
  - Right. Right. There's only so much. Most utilities.
• 13:51
  - Not finite for sure.
• 13:53
  - I I know you talked a bit about
• 13:55
  - some of the the different things you're doing,
• 13:57
  - with Ambient listening and more. Is there anything
• 14:00
  - else you wanna talk about in terms
• 14:01
  - of big projects, initiatives that that you have,
• 14:04
  - implemented that paid off? Anything you wanted to
• 14:07
  - get into when you talk about, what you
• 14:09
  - did and and the exact results?
• 14:12
  - Sure. So we're we're a little bit again,
• 14:14
  - early on. So certainly in our ambient documentation,
• 14:17
  - project, and that was a proof of concept
• 14:19
  - that's yield and, again, operational now and yielding
• 14:21
  - great results, and we're just very, very excited.
• 14:24
  - Another thing actually that started very soon after
• 14:27
  - I got here, and it was something that
• 14:28
  - was shared with me as I was interviewing
• 14:30
  - for this opportunity,
• 14:31
  - was a complete overhaul of our patient accounting
• 14:34
  - system.
• 14:36
  - And so we are our EHR is Oracle
• 14:39
  - Health, right, prior known as Cerner, but, with
• 14:41
  - the acquisition by Oracle back in 2021
• 14:44
  - rebranded as Oracle Health. So we are an
• 14:46
  - Oracle Health EHR,
• 14:49
  - and we are,
• 14:50
  - just coming up to the implementation of what
• 14:52
  - has been about a sixteen month project
• 14:55
  - to implement a brand new patient accounting system.
• 14:59
  - And so and it's the Oracle Health patient
• 15:01
  - accounting system. We're very excited. That has been
• 15:04
  - a very, very large undertaking.
• 15:07
  - Obviously,
• 15:08
  - patient accounting and a a major part of
• 15:11
  - our right revenue cycle management
• 15:13
  - program,
• 15:15
  - it's taken again, that's been a big organizational
• 15:18
  - project headed up by our chief financial officer,
• 15:21
  - but touching many areas of the hospital.
• 15:24
  - And so I've been deeply involved in that
• 15:27
  - as IT has been a big part of
• 15:28
  - the project along with our partners at Oracle
• 15:31
  - Health. We are set to go live July
• 15:33
  - 1. We're very excited,
• 15:35
  - about our implementation, you know,
• 15:37
  - cautiously optimistic,
• 15:39
  - nervous about the implementation as we know there
• 15:41
  - are going to be some post implementation issues
• 15:43
  - for us to address.
• 15:44
  - But this is a huge improvement
• 15:46
  - in in our patient accounting
• 15:48
  - capability.
• 15:49
  - And what we're very excited about is once
• 15:51
  - we implement that, I think there are going
• 15:53
  - to be some great opportunities,
• 15:55
  - AI driven,
• 15:56
  - around,
• 15:58
  - our ability to have, you know, cleaner claims
• 16:00
  - going out, drive down our denials and which,
• 16:03
  - you know, of course, when we drive down
• 16:05
  - our denials, we're able to, you know, get
• 16:07
  - our reimbursements
• 16:08
  - faster. That's important, obviously, for our organization.
• 16:11
  - Coding improvements,
• 16:13
  - billing improvements, all of that. So, again, we're
• 16:16
  - not we we're not live yet. We've got
• 16:18
  - about two and a half weeks, but we
• 16:19
  - are incredibly optimistic that this is going to
• 16:21
  - be a great project and something that I've
• 16:23
  - been spending, you know, quite a bit of
• 16:25
  - my first, you know, year and a half
• 16:27
  - on.
• 16:30
  - I love it. That's so cool to hear
• 16:32
  - about, especially when you think how critical the
• 16:34
  - EHR is and,
• 16:35
  - all the different functionalities that can have, especially
• 16:38
  - with AI coming through on the clinical as
• 16:39
  - well as revenue cycling and business sides.
• 16:43
  - It seems to be such a a a
• 16:45
  - unique and important aspect
• 16:47
  - of everyday life and off care delivery. I'm
• 16:50
  - curious. Now that you've got some of these
• 16:51
  - things in place, what is the most important
• 16:54
  - problem that you're trying to solve with AI
• 16:55
  - and technology right now, and is that the
• 16:58
  - same that you think it'll be in a
• 16:59
  - year or so?
• 17:00
  - You know, so kind of what we're looking
• 17:01
  - at now, just in terms of AI. So,
• 17:03
  - again, it it's so exciting. And and as
• 17:06
  - I said, I think it's so exciting for
• 17:07
  - health care. You know, the one of the,
• 17:09
  - and I don't wanna call it a challenge,
• 17:11
  - but some of the things that we're trying
• 17:12
  - to balance here. So I would say the
• 17:14
  - three areas that we are focusing on, maybe
• 17:17
  - the fourth one, I'll say four, certainly is
• 17:20
  - the clinician experience because it's no mystery. Right?
• 17:22
  - It's no secret that, you know, there are
• 17:25
  - challenges in terms of hiring providers. You know,
• 17:27
  - there are reductions in, you know, individuals going
• 17:30
  - to medical school and coming out of medical
• 17:31
  - school, which is just there's a provider shortage
• 17:33
  - and certainly a challenge in certain specialties.
• 17:36
  - And that's not just providers, right? Whether that's,
• 17:38
  - you know, our
• 17:39
  - doctors,
• 17:40
  - our MDs, but also in advanced practice, you
• 17:43
  - know,
• 17:44
  - providers, nurse practitioners, physician assistants. And so we've
• 17:48
  - gotta look at ways for technology and AI
• 17:51
  - to be able to help with that burnout
• 17:53
  - and that burden.
• 17:55
  - Many times we I'll talk to clinicians and
• 17:57
  - they'll say, I didn't get into medicine,
• 17:59
  - you know, to to be a computer expert
• 18:02
  - and to have all these clicks in the
• 18:03
  - EHR and to have all this burden.
• 18:06
  - And so we're excited about using AI so
• 18:08
  - that we can help our clinicians get back
• 18:10
  - to what they went into medicine for, which
• 18:12
  - is time with the patient. So that's one
• 18:14
  - big area. Patient access, again, as I mentioned
• 18:17
  - is we've got to be able to provide
• 18:20
  - greater access for our patients that doesn't require
• 18:22
  - them getting into a car and driving here.
• 18:25
  - What can we do with artificial intelligence technologies
• 18:28
  - and automation and all other kinds of innovations
• 18:31
  - to help them have greater access to the
• 18:33
  - outstanding patient care that we deliver? Right? And
• 18:36
  - that we've got a population that we need
• 18:38
  - to serve, which is growing.
• 18:40
  - The third one I'll say is certainly in
• 18:42
  - revenue cycle, just like we talked about. I
• 18:44
  - mean, we have to be able to collect.
• 18:46
  - We have to be able to to meet
• 18:48
  - our, you know, fiscal responsibilities
• 18:51
  - and bring the money in to be able
• 18:52
  - to do all those great things.
• 18:54
  - And then fourth, and some of the other
• 18:56
  - problems are finding those efficiencies
• 18:59
  - for our team members.
• 19:00
  - Again, what can we use artificial intelligence for?
• 19:03
  - And like many other organizations are for some
• 19:05
  - of those productivity
• 19:07
  - tasks,
• 19:08
  - like putting together presentations,
• 19:09
  - or writing job descriptions,
• 19:11
  - or helping with contract reviews, or writing better
• 19:14
  - emails. All those things again that are very
• 19:17
  - much table stakes now that we know we
• 19:19
  - can do with artificial intelligence technologies.
• 19:22
  - So we're looking at all of those areas,
• 19:25
  - but balancing it with the fact that we
• 19:27
  - have to be very
• 19:28
  - judicious.
• 19:29
  - Again, those investments are important. The investments of
• 19:32
  - time, money, and people,
• 19:34
  - making sure that everything we're doing with artificial
• 19:36
  - intelligence and other technologies,
• 19:38
  - we're balancing the risk of that technology. I
• 19:41
  - mean, right, this is an area where we're
• 19:43
  - seeing a lot of very
• 19:46
  - innovative
• 19:46
  - development. So the big software houses are developing,
• 19:51
  - right, artificial intelligence technologies, but there are a
• 19:53
  - lot of start ups. There are a lot
• 19:55
  - of innovators in this space, and that can,
• 19:58
  - you know, make a CIO a little bit
• 20:00
  - uncomfortable.
• 20:01
  - Right? Because they don't have long experience.
• 20:04
  - You look and you think, are they going
• 20:06
  - to be around in a year, in six
• 20:08
  - months? Are they going to be acquired? Do
• 20:10
  - we make the investment in those technologies with
• 20:13
  - a little bit of that uncertainty?
• 20:15
  - And that's new. Right? That's really kind of
• 20:17
  - new, I think, for technology leaders, for CIOs
• 20:21
  - to have almost a little bit of a
• 20:22
  - leap of faith.
• 20:24
  - So those are the kinds of things we're
• 20:25
  - trying to solve. We're looking at artificial intelligence
• 20:27
  - technologies in a way that can help us.
• 20:29
  - We're also looking at, you know, again, more
• 20:31
  - mature technologies too. I've heard that a lot
• 20:34
  - of times.
• 20:35
  - It it's not only AI. You can do
• 20:37
  - some things with automation. You can do some
• 20:39
  - stuff with robotic process automation.
• 20:41
  - But what I like about artificial intelligence technologies
• 20:45
  - is it has, in a way, forced us
• 20:47
  - to look at
• 20:49
  - innovation not just as a tagline,
• 20:51
  - but as something we really do need to
• 20:54
  - consider.
• 20:55
  - How are we staying innovative in this incredibly,
• 20:58
  - incredibly
• 20:59
  - competitive
• 21:00
  - industry that is health care?
• 21:04
  - That's really helpful to understand. And, you know,
• 21:06
  - I think to your point, making those investments,
• 21:09
  - and they're big investments, you have to have
• 21:11
  - a great partner, whether it's someone who's been
• 21:14
  - around or or someone that's a little bit
• 21:16
  - newer. And so I can imagine companies, depending
• 21:18
  - on where they're at, have different ways of,
• 21:21
  - being supportive or or ways that are interesting
• 21:24
  - and exciting for you to to connect with
• 21:26
  - them. I'm curious, you know, when you have
• 21:28
  - some of these conversations,
• 21:30
  - with your team in trying to figure out
• 21:32
  - who's gonna be the most valuable partners next,
• 21:35
  - what do you really look for? How do
• 21:37
  - you make sure that you're staying ahead of
• 21:38
  - the curve without really putting the organization at
• 21:40
  - risk?
• 21:41
  - Yeah. That is a tough one, and you're
• 21:43
  - absolutely right. I think this is a lot
• 21:44
  - where we do,
• 21:46
  - you know, we talk quite a bit to
• 21:47
  - the organizations, again, that we're, you know, these,
• 21:49
  - again, these young startups that are just really
• 21:52
  - bright and thinking about all different ways to
• 21:54
  - do things. So we'll ask a lot of
• 21:56
  - questions, sometimes hard questions. We'll ask who else
• 21:59
  - they're talking to and vet that, you know,
• 22:01
  - the the company with our peers.
• 22:03
  - We'll we'll just talk a lot. I think,
• 22:05
  - you know, it's interesting in in IT and
• 22:07
  - certainly in cybersecurity where, you know, before a
• 22:10
  - lot of organizations were, you know, kept what
• 22:12
  - they were doing very close to the vest.
• 22:14
  - And what I have found is, especially here,
• 22:16
  - but just in the industry,
• 22:18
  - people are very open. Right? I can talk
• 22:20
  - to CIO peers and technology leaders and other
• 22:23
  - organizations and say, you know, what do you
• 22:25
  - think? I mean, what do you think about
• 22:26
  - the viability of this technology? You know,
• 22:29
  - what what are their thoughts? And again, it's
• 22:31
  - not it's not a bulletproof approach, but getting
• 22:34
  - other and I'm here quoting again here, more
• 22:36
  - thought leaders, people that have been thinking about
• 22:38
  - it in their organizations.
• 22:39
  - What are they hearing? You know, what are
• 22:40
  - they hearing? Do we think this new technology
• 22:43
  - has, you know, stickability? Right? Is it gonna
• 22:46
  - stick around and
• 22:47
  - because it's just such a fast moving,
• 22:50
  - such a fast moving technology. I've never seen
• 22:52
  - anything like it. I mean, it's just so
• 22:55
  - you know, we talked about cloud a few
• 22:57
  - years ago and other innovative technologies, and this
• 22:59
  - one is just
• 23:01
  - unbelievable how fast it's moving. So we try
• 23:03
  - to do that, but it's always a balance
• 23:05
  - of, you know, risk reward. What we are
• 23:07
  - trying to do here too too as an
• 23:08
  - organization is what we're it's called rapid experimentation,
• 23:12
  - not just in technology, but in other things.
• 23:15
  - Can we try things with a minimum amount
• 23:17
  - of investment, right, of money, time, and people,
• 23:20
  - and see if they pay off? And if
• 23:22
  - they don't, kinda move them back and and
• 23:24
  - try something else. So but it's a it's
• 23:26
  - a precarious balancing act. I would say we
• 23:28
  - don't have it figured out here.
• 23:30
  - I don't know others, you know, that have
• 23:32
  - it really figured out, but it's taking and,
• 23:34
  - also, it's a very collaborative conversation. So it's
• 23:37
  - not not just Maria trying to figure out
• 23:38
  - if this technology has sustainability.
• 23:42
  - Right? Is it right the right place to
• 23:44
  - make an investment?
• 23:45
  - Talking with my peers and thinking about, is
• 23:47
  - this something we try? Should we try it?
• 23:50
  - And then, you know, again, whether, you know,
• 23:51
  - we we succeed or fail, if you will,
• 23:55
  - we've done it together with eyes sort of
• 23:57
  - wide open.
• 24:00
  - Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense, and
• 24:02
  - it seems like a really, really effective way
• 24:04
  - to create some change management.
• 24:06
  - Before we wrap up here, I'm curious. What
• 24:07
  - are you most,
• 24:09
  - what are you most curious about for the
• 24:10
  - future?
• 24:11
  - So this is an interesting one. I I
• 24:13
  - like this question.
• 24:14
  - I'm most curious about the evolving role of
• 24:18
  - the CIO.
• 24:19
  - And I'm not gonna get on a soapbox
• 24:21
  - here. I promise. But it's interesting that you
• 24:24
  - know, again, I've been doing this thirty years.
• 24:26
  - We've been in, you know, IT and sort
• 24:28
  - of the you know, has been around for
• 24:29
  - a long time.
• 24:31
  - And I feel like,
• 24:33
  - now it's interesting
• 24:35
  - how the roles seem to evolve into a
• 24:37
  - strategic leader. And and maybe in some organizations,
• 24:40
  - the CIO is very strategic.
• 24:43
  - But it's interesting that you see different types
• 24:45
  - of roles popping up. Maybe like a chief
• 24:47
  - AI officer, right, or chief innovation officer.
• 24:50
  - And what I think is interesting is the
• 24:52
  - role of the CIO or insert any other
• 24:55
  - technology leader title there.
• 24:57
  - It's what we've been doing for thirty, forty
• 25:00
  - years.
• 25:01
  - And it's like it's interesting that now it
• 25:04
  - almost feels like and this this is a
• 25:06
  - Maria Sexton opinion. I'm not saying anyone shares
• 25:08
  - this with me. But my feeling of where
• 25:11
  - the role is almost being relegated to a
• 25:13
  - little bit of a backseat role now where
• 25:15
  - it's like, well, you know, you just run
• 25:17
  - IT. We really need to bring in strategic
• 25:20
  - leaders to think about where technology can move
• 25:23
  - in an industry, health care, whatever it might
• 25:25
  - be. And I know that's not everyone. So
• 25:27
  - some people might hear this and say, no,
• 25:29
  - I am a strategic leader, and that's not
• 25:31
  - the case.
• 25:32
  - But I do feel like in some conversations,
• 25:34
  - and I'm seeing this pop up in other
• 25:36
  - articles and conversations and, you know, other forums
• 25:39
  - where
• 25:40
  - all of a sudden now it's like, well,
• 25:41
  - you've you've had this leader for some time
• 25:43
  - now who's been bearing sort of the slings
• 25:46
  - and arrows of trying to run technology in
• 25:48
  - a very complex industry like health care. But
• 25:51
  - now that we have truly innovative things like
• 25:55
  - AI and other innovations,
• 25:57
  - it's almost like
• 25:58
  - the CIOs are being seen as, well, you
• 26:01
  - understand,
• 26:02
  - I'm gonna air quote again, old technology, making
• 26:04
  - sure computers are running and that we have
• 26:06
  - the infrastructure in that. But these truly innovative
• 26:09
  - things, we need different leaders for that. And
• 26:12
  - it's interesting because
• 26:14
  - because I mentioned it before, you're managing all
• 26:16
  - of that tech debt. You're still managing
• 26:19
  - all of that infrastructure and tech. You have
• 26:21
  - to make sure all the moving parts and
• 26:23
  - all the spinning plates are still not falling
• 26:26
  - and they're still running.
• 26:28
  - Meanwhile, you're being asked to look at innovative
• 26:30
  - technology. And sometimes it's a little bit of
• 26:32
  - that,
• 26:34
  - well, gosh. Our CIO, you know, can't really
• 26:37
  - look at AI or bring us forward in
• 26:39
  - terms of a strategic
• 26:41
  - program.
• 26:43
  - And it's not because we can't. It's almost
• 26:45
  - because we can't look away from
• 26:47
  - all the other things that have to still
• 26:49
  - be maintained and managed.
• 26:51
  - You almost don't have the cognitive,
• 26:53
  - you know, space to be able to focus
• 26:55
  - on strategy
• 26:57
  - and focus on that. So then you end
• 26:59
  - up sort of being stuck in the managing
• 27:02
  - the old. Meanwhile, organizations
• 27:04
  - are bringing in other leaders
• 27:06
  - to do the flash, you know, the flashy,
• 27:08
  - shiny, whiz bang stuff.
• 27:10
  - So I'm most curious about how these roles
• 27:13
  - are evolving and how industries
• 27:15
  - and employers, companies
• 27:17
  - are looking at the CIO
• 27:19
  - role and how the CIOs themselves
• 27:22
  - are sort of positioning them themselves to
• 27:25
  - to be those leaders that are driving the
• 27:27
  - strategic
• 27:28
  - capability of the organization and not being,
• 27:32
  - I don't know, again, overshadowed or even to
• 27:34
  - some degree replaced.
• 27:37
  - That makes a ton of sense. You know,
• 27:39
  - it's a fascinating thing to think about how,
• 27:42
  - everything that's happening, all these different trends that
• 27:44
  - are converging in evolution of technology
• 27:46
  - in the way that,
• 27:48
  - organizations are implementing it. It really does make
• 27:51
  - a difference for what you're doing as a
• 27:52
  - CIO.
• 27:53
  - Thank you so much for joining us on
• 27:55
  - the podcast today. This has been such a
• 27:57
  - valuable discussion, Maria. I appreciate your time and
• 27:59
  - look forward to connecting with you again soon.
• 28:01
  - I know you'll be speaking at our health
• 28:03
  - IT revenue cycle conference in September. We'll be
• 28:05
  - able to dig deeper into these themes and
• 28:07
  - be just a fantastic opportunity to learn more
• 28:09
  - and inspire each other. Laura, thank you so
• 28:12
  - much. I appreciate the time. I'm very much
• 28:14
  - looking forward to the event in September, and
• 28:16
  - and thank you. Thank you for including me
• 28:17
  - in the
• 28:21
  - podcast.