Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Diana Schwartzstein, Managing Director of Administration and Strategy Innovation at Mass General Brigham

Transcript

Diana Schwartzstein, Managing Director of Administration and Strategy Innovation at Mass General Brigham · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

• 0:00
  - Prepare to dive into the forefront
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  of healthcare innovation at our 14th annual meeting coming
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  up on April 8th
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  through 11th at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, with thousands
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  of industry leaders converging over four dynamic days
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  of discussions on crucial topics from health IT
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  to executive leadership.
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  It's where the future of healthcare takes shape.
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  We can't wait to connect with you in person
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  and engage in these important conversations.
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  - Welcome everyone
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  to the Becker's Healthcare podcast series.
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  I'm Mariah Mohamed, writer
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  and moderator with Becker's Healthcare,
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  and I'm absolutely thrilled to have with me today.
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  Diana sch Hornstein from the Innovation Office at
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  a Mass General Brigham.
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  Diana, it's very nice to have you on the podcast today.
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  To get us started, would you mind please introducing
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  yourself and telling us a bit about your background?
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  - Hello everyone. I'm Diana Schwartzstein,
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  and I'm excited to be here today to discuss, uh, my journey
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  and passion for, uh, driving growth
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  and fostering talent within the healthcare field.
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  I began my journey, my career, getting my master's in, um,
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  health communication.
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  This is really when I realized my passion for, uh,
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  driving change and making a significant
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  impact in healthcare.
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  Um, throughout my career, I've led various, um, programs,
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  uh, organizational, financial and strategic,
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  but recently I've been focusing on building talent inclusion
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  and growth programs for innovators,
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  but also those contributing to innovation.
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  Um, I believe if we prioritize nurturing talent
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  and fostering growth, um, we have the ability to create a,
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  a healthcare community where,
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  where everyone can truly thrive.
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  Thank you for having me.
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  Um, I'm excited to share more, um, and,
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  and to be with you today.
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  - Yeah, of course. Thank you so much for giving us
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  that background, and like I said, I'm very excited
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  to have you on the podcast today.
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  Um, to get us started
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  and dive into the topics, uh, a a quick overview for you,
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  what are the biggest issues you're following in
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  healthcare in this year?
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  - Yeah, so my passion is really driving innovation forward
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  and being part of National Brigham,
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  a national leader in medical research, education,
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  and patient care, it offers a tremendous platform
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  to catalyze change.
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  So I'm closely tracking emerging technologies like AI
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  and how they're reshaping healthcare delivery.
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  I'm also following how organizations are
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  empowering their people, specifically innovators,
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  to get more technologies to patients.
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  Also looking at how are organizations navigating these
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  complicated cost challenges
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  and what are they doing to access patient care.
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  Um, so those are the the top things
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  that I'm, I'm currently tracking.
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  - Got it. Got it. Thank you so much for giving us that.
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  And what inspired the creation of the Innovator Development
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  and Growth Division at MGB?
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  Um, and what goals does it aim
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  to achieve within the organization?
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  - Yes, so at Mass General Brigham,
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  we have a sizable community,
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  yet only a small number are
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  actively contributing as innovators.
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  This highlights a critical need
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  to maximize the commercial potential of our research
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  by empowering more innovation, more innovators,
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  and getting more breakthrough technologies to patients.
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  Recognizing this need, we research the barriers
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  to innovation for our community, both through surveys
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  that inspired a Harvard Business School case study
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  that's actually now taught in the classroom to MBAs
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  and through executive education
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  and from published research by Mark Ucci,
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  who's an MGH radiologist
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  and the founder of the Mesh platform,
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  which is an innovation training
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  and cross institutional networking hub
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  with over 3000 researchers, clinicians
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  and others, um, involved.
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  And it continues to grow, um, really driven
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  by a shared vision.
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  Mark and I decided to unite our efforts
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  to do something more strategic
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  and to enable transformational impact
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  on the operational lead.
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  And Mark is the clinical lead.
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  We also have a project lead, a new gupte, um,
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  but with the full support
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  of our systems chief innovation Officer, Chris Coburn,
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  this newly launched unit, um, as you mentioned,
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  the Innovator Development
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  and Growth Division, IDGD, it provides
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  a comprehensive innovation training and development hub.
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  We aim to enable more innovators,
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  support existing innovators,
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  and ultimately drive more action innovation.
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  But we're also trying to really create and change culture.
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  Um, you know, a culture
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  where innovation is not only supported, but it's encouraged.
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  Um, so that that's what we're working on right now.
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  - Yeah. Thank you so much for giving us that insight
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  and, you know, being Women's History Month,
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  I think the next question that I should ask, uh, in, in
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  what ways does IDGD foster inclusivity within the
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  innovator community, particularly in empowering
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  underutilized talents such as women, um,
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  and what could other health systems
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  learn from this, do you think?
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  - Yeah, I'm so excited you're asking about this
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  because it's an area we've spent so much time.
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  Um, our approach stems from our research on the barriers
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  to innovation, which we've used to tailor our programs
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  to reach a broader audience, especially those
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  that are currently underrepresented.
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  The HBS case study led by HBS Professor Katie Kaufman
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  shares efforts to understand why certain groups participate
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  less and how to effectively engage them.
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  This case, uh, features our CEO and Dr.
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  Anne Lansky, who is a transformational leader
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  and champion of this work.
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  Um, and the case study findings align closely
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  with Mark's findings as well.
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  Um, so let give you some tactical examples of
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  how we go about this and,
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  and hopefully others can learn from it.
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  First, our annual Rising Innovator program,
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  it includes 50 individuals from across the system.
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  We intentionally ensure that at least half
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  of the cohort are women with an aim
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  to directly impact the future
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  composition of the innovator community.
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  Additionally, we customize content
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  to address specific barriers we've identified.
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  So for example, we found that women tend to view themselves
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  as less as innovators.
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  Um, so we design build into our program content
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  around empowering participants to see themselves
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  as innovators and also encouraging them to take more risks.
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  Finally, we offer programs a variety of programs tailored
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  to meet unique needs, preferences, and learning styles.
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  We've got it all covered. We offer in-person programs,
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  on demand programs, peer to peer, our diverse range of, um,
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  different formats ensures
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  that everyone can find the right fit
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  for their journey towards, uh, innovation and
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  and and towards growth.
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  So those are some ways we've been going about this.
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  - Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
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  And you know, I imagine with all the wonderful things
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  that you've discussed so far, um, you know, data has
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  to come into play at some point in time.
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  So what role does data play in identifying
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  opportunities and progress?
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  - Yes. Um, data is key.
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  Uh, data plays a a very key role in our approach
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  and we're deeply rooted in data decision making.
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  So, um, as I mentioned, we conduct research
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  to identify barriers, um,
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  and then use those insights to design effective.
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  So, so that's one way.
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  We also use data to identify high potential populations and,
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  and to reach those who may have been overlooked.
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  Um, and we're also committed to tracking individuals who go
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  through our programs in our databases, and,
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  and by monitoring their progress over time,
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  we can measure the impact of our success and
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  or course correct as needed.
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  So, uh, data really is key, both sort of at the,
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  the research stage, the, um, looking for your populations
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  and then making sure you're actively monitoring them
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  and supporting them, um, through their journeys.
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  - Yeah, yeah, makes sense.
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  Thank you so much for sharing that.
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  And, uh, do you,
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  can you share any early successes in notable achievements
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  that have stemmed from initiatives led by the IDGD?
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  - Thanks for asking that.
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  I think one, um, you know, good place to start is
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  we have 50 people that go
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  through our rising innovator program each year.
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  And what we're seeing is that the people that go
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  through our program are recommending their
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  peers to go through their program.
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  And we're creating a community of like-minded people
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  who are encouraging each other to pursue innovation.
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  And that's a direct, um, impact of the programs
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  that we're designing is that we're creating this community
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  where not only are they thinking about themselves
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  as innovators, but thinking about their peers and colleagues
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  and, um, bringing them in to join us as we move forward.
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  - Wonderful, wonderful.
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  And, um, the last question I wanted to ask you is
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  how does the IDGD collaborate with external partners
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  to achieve its mission?
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  - Yes. So we have placed, um, significant
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  emphasis on leveraging partnerships
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  to achieve our objectives, both through industry
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  but also academia, especially being in Boston.
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  Um, I'll give you a a few examples.
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  The first one is we collaborate closely with Babson College
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  to deliver two of our, our programs
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  by combining academic faculty with our innovation experts.
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  We create a highly tailored learning experience,
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  and it's been, uh, very unique and,
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  and so far has played out really well.
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  Um, we established a strategic advisory council,
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  which includes industry leaders who actively shape
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  and advise our initiatives.
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  Getting outside perspective, um, on how
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  to go about these programs and learn from their experience
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  and expertise has been, has been invaluable.
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  And, um, finally we are committed to collaborating
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  with organizations and healthcare systems
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  that share our vision and objectives.
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  Um, we probably, I would say at least once a week, um,
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  meet, have, uh, dedicated meetings on these exchanges,
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  sharing insights, successes,
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  and addressing common challenges.
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  Um, this ongoing exchange of knowledge
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  and experiences enables us to learn from one another
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  and form collaborations
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  that propel us towards our collective goals.
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  So, um, those are our few examples.
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  - Yeah. Thank you so much for those final thoughts.
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  This has definitely been an amazing
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  and informative discussion.
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  So again, I wanna thank you so much
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  for coming on Kers Healthcare.
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  We really do appreciate it.
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  Um, and I look forward to connecting with you again soon.
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  - Thank you so much for having me.
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  I really appreciate it too.