Latest / Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast / Dr. Robert Insoft, Neonatologist and Chief Operating Officer at Franciscan Children’s Campus, Boston Children’s Hospital System

Transcript

Dr. Robert Insoft, Neonatologist and Chief Operating Officer at Franciscan Children’s Campus, Boston Children’s Hospital System · Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast

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  Hi, everyone. This is Scott King with the
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  Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by doctor
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  Robert Insoft, chief operating officer at Franciscan Children's
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  Campus at Boston Children's Hospital System. Doctor Insoft,
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  how are you doing today? Thanks so much
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  for joining us. We appreciate it. Yeah. Doing
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  very well. I was busy in health care,
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  but appreciate that you reached out and look
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  forward to contributing.
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  Absolutely. You know, it's it's always busy. It's
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  a busy time especially.
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  So I definitely appreciate your time and and
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  wanna get your expertise on a lot of
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  big trends and and topics in health care.
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  But before we do that, before we dive
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  into the conversation, wondering if you could please
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  just share a little bit about your background.
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  Sure. I originally trained I'm trained as a
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  a pediatrician, which is still near to near
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  and dear to me because I still practice.
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  I'm also a newborn,
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  intensive care specialist.
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  So as a neonatologist,
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  newborn specialist, I've been practicing for over twenty
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  five years and have actually, directed and been
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  chief of two major perinatal centers and,
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  also serve as a chief medical officer of
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  a large health system and now in the
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  role of chief operating officer.
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  Boy, it sounds like you certainly wear a
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  lot of hats as do most COOs of
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  health systems.
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  In addressing that, I'm just curious what you
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  think is your
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  biggest responsibility out of all the things you
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  do and manage as a COO.
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  You know, it's interesting. I I look at
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  my role very differently. I think my biggest
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  responsibility
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  is managing a team of leaders, which I'm
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  extremely proud of, to making sure that every
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  single day they're doing the best job possible
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  in providing the best care to our patients
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  and families
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  in the most effective and efficient
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  way of caring for our families for our
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  staff. And that's what I'm most proud of.
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  Absolutely. I think, you know, across health care,
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  we hear about happy staff leads to happy
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  patients, so that's wonderful that's a priority for
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  you.
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  In in getting more to your health system,
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  can you
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  detail what the biggest biggest accomplishment
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  from the past year was for you?
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  Yeah. In our particular health hospital is part
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  of a growing health care system within
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  what I'm most proud of is that I'm
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  helping to lead a,
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  a very a very large group of staff
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  while they're transitioning into a larger health care
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  system. You know, health care integrations are going
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  all over the country.
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  And when you're a smaller entity and you're
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  becoming part of a bigger health care system,
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  there's a lot of, you know, nervousness,
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  you know, apprehension, etcetera, as well as excitement.
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  And I think what I'm most proud of
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  is that I've been able to help with
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  the cultural changes that we need to make
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  so that we can make our integration
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  our integrations more seamless
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  and more positive.
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  What do you think the most difficult part
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  of an integration like that is?
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  I think the again, every system is different.
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  Every group of professionals is different. But I
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  think the most difficult part and also most
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  rewarding is making sure that you always remember
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  the history.
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  You you appreciate the history and respect the
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  people that are merging into a bigger health
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  care system and that you, you know, allow
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  them to bring what is essential for them
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  into that larger health care system. Just because
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  you're bigger doesn't mean you're always better, You
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  but you are different, and we wanna make
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  sure that,
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  what our staff has learned
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  and, been through is respected as their part
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  as they go through this integration,
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  journey.
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  I think it's a great point. Kinda no
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  matter the system and the the size of
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  that system, there's certainly a rich history there.
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  So, yeah, absolutely
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  great point.
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  What were the big organizational goals
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  you set for your system in 2025,
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  and how are you tracking on those goals
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  now?
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  Yeah. I think they would our goals are
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  pretty much divided up into multiple categories like
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  other hospitals and health care systems.
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  You know, we're looking at certain key efficiency
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  goals, just trying to you know, making sure
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  that care can be provided for in a
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  more efficient and yet,
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  cost effective manner. So that's the first set
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  of goals.
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  Another set of goals is specific, you know,
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  departmental integrations, how we actually achieve those goals.
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  Certain departments being integrated into a larger health
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  care system, there's a lot of boxes to
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  check off in terms of getting there, and,
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  that's been a big part of what we've
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  been doing every single day.
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  And the third part is delivering, you know,
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  high quality patient experience, making sure that with
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  all the business that we're doing in the
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  background, that we're not forgetting our primary goal,
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  and that's making sure that we deliver the
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  best care to our patients in the least
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  disruptive of an environment.
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  What are you what are the top things
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  you think lead to that kind of that
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  that high quality care that you just mentioned?
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  I think there's a number of factors. First
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  of all, you have to again, and this
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  is something that has changed with me in
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  my career having navigated health care system through
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  COVID, you know, a couple years ago. We
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  used to always think that the patients come
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  first, and, of course, they're the high highest
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  priority. But for me, it's the staff.
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  You have to have an engaged,
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  high quality,
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  positive,
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  thinking
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  staff because if you don't have that, then
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  high quality care is not something you're ever
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  gonna achieve. So we always think about, you
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  know, focusing on the patients first and foremost,
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  but that, to me, philosophically, sometimes leaves the
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  staff at a disadvantage.
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  I look at it from a different lens.
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  You have to have an invested,
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  high quality, well trained,
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  again, happy staff
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  because that's gonna be what you need to
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  deliver high quality care. So the focus is
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  on the staff that delivers you what you
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  need in patient care.
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  Absolutely.
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  What are the headwinds or challenges you anticipate
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  for next year or two for for your
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  staff?
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  Yeah. I think the the biggest headwinds and,
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  again, it's not just for our staff, but
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  it's for our it's health care in general,
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  is that, again, nothing new, nothing novel. You
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  have to learn to do more with less.
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  And, also, to be open this is actually
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  something I'm learning in my in my own
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  career. You have to be able to be
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  open to new ideas about
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  structure, about organizational structure.
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  Classic ways of, you know, who reports to
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  whom and why, I think, really need to
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  be thought about differently.
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  And you need to be
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  fluid and malleable
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  as to,
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  how you need to set up your organization
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  to meet whatever your specific goals and needs
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  are. You know, coming into an organization, I
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  can tell you firsthand,
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  those that reported to me and those departments
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  that reported to me, it's it's changed about
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  50% in three years. And the reason for
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  that is because the needs of the of
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  the institution has changed, and therefore, you have
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  to kind of flex with it and be
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  able to go with that, to accommodate those
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  needs.
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  You know, the the COO position is one
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  that certainly
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  evolved over time in health care. How have
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  you seen that role change?
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  You know, it's interesting. I'm new to the
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  COO role as of three almost four years
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  ago, and I was a chief medical officer
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  for almost a decade before that. And there
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  is a lot of, you know, obviously, overlap.
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  But what I think makes the COO role
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  distinctive
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  is that, again, you have to have your
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  hands in every piece of the organization in
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  terms of making sure everything is running well.
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  You have to let people know that they
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  can't work in silos. They can't be making
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  decisions
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  over in one corner without understanding the effect
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  on the other corner. And I think that's
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  what makes the COO role very exciting and
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  very unique is that you have to be
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  that role that looks at all the corners,
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  okay, of the room to making sure that
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  whatever is decided in any one particular entity
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  works for everything else. Because as you know,
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  in health care, not any one thing is
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  is independent of the other. Everything touches each
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  other. So, again, that's the exciting part of
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  being a COO is that you need to
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  be somebody who wants to and thrives
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  on linking everything together to making sure your
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  health care organization runs as effectively as possible.
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  Yeah. And I know you said you're a
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  bit new to the COO position.
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  With all the things you have to do,
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  all the responsibilities, do you think
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  you learn to multitask better the last few
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  years, or do you get better at managing
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  your time more efficiently?
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  I think both, actually. Multitasking
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  is is
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  is is absolutely an essential piece of this
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  role. And I would I would say to
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  anybody, you know, when looking at roles like
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  this, that you have to be honest with
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  yourself in terms of what your style of
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  of work is. Obviously, there are certain roles
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  that I would never undertake because it doesn't
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  fit my own personality.
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  I think to be an effective chief operating
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  officer, you have to be somebody who is
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  willing to and excited by
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  multitasking
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  and being able to be,
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  a little bit of a jack of all
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  trades.
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  And the last question I have for you,
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  doctor Insoff, how are you evolving as a
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  leader?
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  Great great question. I think I'm learning from
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  feedback that, again, like every every other health
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  care leader hears, listen more and speak less.
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  That's first and foremost.
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  I think by hearing everyone's viewpoint,
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  you engage your staff more. You don't wanna
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  jump out and make decisions in front of
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  your your team without hearing what their opinions
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  are because, otherwise, you're gonna sway the direction
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  in which they're gonna think. So, again, listening
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  more, saying less,
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  and engaging your directors and managers
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  so that they feel empowered. And, most importantly,
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  they feel supported by you. They need to
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  know that they care about you that you
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  care about them. And I think that it's
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  actually a factor that sometimes is a make
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  or break in terms of health care systems
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  and health care system leadership relationships.
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  Were there any leaders that that you learned
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  from, that you drew some things from?
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  Yeah. I actually do have.
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  Just like everybody else, I've learned a lot
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  of of of what works and what doesn't
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  work from previous health care leaders that I've
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  had to work with or work under. For
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  the most part, it's been on a positive
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  side. Sometimes it has not been. I think
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  everyone learns things that they want to avoid
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  from previous
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  relationships.
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  On the other hand, you learn what is
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  most effective for you and your institution.
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  So, again, when I say you learn, you
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  learn what works well and what doesn't. And,
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  and that's the part about growing in any
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  particular health care role.
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  Doctor Hinsult, thanks so much for a great
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  conversation. I appreciate you joining the podcast. I
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  look forward to working with you again soon.
• 9:47
  Great. Thank you so much.