Q&A with CIO Linda Stevenson, Part 2: "Everything We Do Is for The Patient."

Linda Stevenson, CIO, Fisher-Titus Medical Center

If an individual excels at programming or writing code, does it necessarily mean he or she is ready for a management title? Like many issues facing healthcare IT leaders, there is no simple answer, says Linda Stevenson, who recently became CIO at Fisher-Titus Medical Center. She believes the ability to determine whether an IT rock star has what it takes to climb the ladder is just of many soft skills leaders need to advance their organizations.

Recently, healthsystemCIO spoke with Stevenson about the work her team is doing at Fisher-Titus, particularly around patient engagement, and the strategy she employed as the new CIO to assess readiness for change. She also talked about the need to market to consumers, how her organization remains independent while also partnering with large organizations, the unique opportunity for those in IT, and how she uses yoga to keep her grounded.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Assessing change readiness – “Part of it is just getting to know people.”
IT’s unique opportunity
“Everything we do is for the patients.”
Vendor conversations & the blame game
Evolving CIO role: “We’re almost like a utility.”
“Attitude, not aptitude”
Achieving balance through yoga – “It forces me to let go of my day job”
Realistic expectations about work/life balance

LISTEN NOW USING THE PLAYER BELOW OR CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR iTUNES PODCAST FEED

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:50 — 12.7MB)

Bold Statements

The more you can be a champion, the better off you are. You need to get in front of people and say, ‘here’s what happens when we improve our change control process,’ or, ‘here’s what happens when we put the decisions back on the department and let them be part of the process,’ so it’s not IT making decisions for everyone.

The CIO is at the table as part of the strategic planning process at every organization, because they can’t move forward without our input. We’re almost like a utility. You can’t do things without electricity, and you can’t do things without IT anymore.

You’ve got to treat your rock stars well and make them feel rewarded. But that doesn’t mean you have to promote them. Promote the people who really are on the management track by virtue of their aptitude — not because they’ve been in the role so long and it’s time to move on.

It’s that part of me that forces me to let go of my job. When I’m in a classroom full of people, I can’t think about this place. It allows me to totally let go and absorb a different type of energy that’s creative, and nurturing, and healing.

Work-life balance isn’t just about what happens on an individual day. There may be weeks where my role as a CIO is very heavy and demanding, and then there are weeks when it’s lighter and I can have a more rich life at home. But not every day is going to be the same.

Gamble: How do you work to assess ready for change and willingness to take on big projects?

Stevenson: It’s something I’m still dealing with. Part of it was just getting to know the people. By having conversations, you start to get a sense of who is all in and excited for whatever comes, and who is going to be reluctant, and then figuring out where they fit into those changes.

The other piece is finding out what I’m working with. As you approach change, you have to know where you’re starting before you know where you’re going. And so you’re going to need to do skills assessments and get some of that together to understand who has the skills, and what we’re ready for.

One thing I think I do well — and I’ve been trying to do more of that here — is to get in front of people as often as possible, and meet with the IT team, as well as leadership, to show them that there are some great benefits coming. The more you can be a champion, the better off you are. You need to get in front of people and say, ‘here’s what happens when we improve our change control process,’ or, ‘here’s what happens when we put the decisions back on the department and let them be part of the process,’ so it’s not IT making decisions for everyone. I think that’s going well so far.

Gamble: Right. You want to help people in IT see the impact of the work they’re doing, especially when they can’t necessarily see that every day.

Stevenson: Absolutely. We just had that conversation recently at our department meeting. I went around the room and said to everyone, ‘Tell me what you love about your job.’ There may have been one person who said, ‘I like to sit at my desk and program,’ but most of it was, ‘I like to talk with my users, and meet with the people, and work with my team, and support my co-workers.’ The way I see it, you could work in another industry. You can work in manufacturing and you could do IT that supports the building of a widget, but in healthcare, everything we do is for the patient, and the people who support the patients. There’s an underlying sentiment that makes it worthwhile.

Gamble: Is this done through small group meetings?

Stevenson: I also like to show inspirational videos in our departmental meetings. Maybe it’s a customer service-focused video or a patient-focused video — something that inspires them to do the very best that they can and bring the best service they can, because ultimately, that improves our patients’ experience. We talk about that at every meeting. That way, IT isn’t quite as removed.

Gamble: Right. Looking at your career path, in your most recent role, were you on the provider side or the vendor side?

Stevenson: Both. I actually worked at Southwest General, which is in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. About three and a half years ago, they outsourced their IT department to Cerner. I was part of that group, and so while I worked at Southwest and considered myself to be on the provider side, I was technically being paid by Cerner. It was very interesting, and it allowed me to build strong relationships with our vendors. And now, I know how to discuss things and how to do negotiating and contracting. Having that ability to talk to Cerner makes my role with Fisher-Titus easier.

Gamble: Right. I’m sure it was really beneficial having had those conversations, so that you can make sure that the technology is doing what it’s supposed to, and your organization is getting the most from its investment. I’m sure that can be a difficult conversation. Do you have any advice on how IT leaders can approach that conversation?

Stevenson: One thing I see happen all too often that doesn’t go well is when you approach it with blame, and go into the conversation with, ‘You should have done this.’ You need to use a positive approach — ‘How can we, as a group, do this better?’ and acknowledge that it might be partially my responsibility and partially your responsibility. ‘If we’re partners, as vendor and provider, we both have to come to the table.’ I’m always honest when I think it’s something we could have done better, but I’ll also call them out and say, ‘I expect more from you as well.’ I think that goes a long way in building trust.

Gamble: Obviously having that experience has helped you. What advice can you offer for leaders who walk into a situation where the vendor is already in place?

Stevenson: You need to a build that relationship early on. Try to meet as many people as you can, and get to know them. It can start with, ‘‘here’s who I am. Here’s how we can work together.’ And then when problems do arise, you already have that relationship built — to some extent, at least. It’s trying to engage in a lot of different vendor events and contract discussions so you can get to know everybody.

Gamble: It’s an interesting reflection of how the CIO role has evolved to the point where things like vendor management and communication are such a big part of that role.

Stevenson: I think that when done well, the CIO is at the table as part of the strategic planning process at every organization, because they can’t move forward without our input. We’re almost like a utility. You can’t do things without electricity, and you can’t do things without IT anymore. To have us at the table for that planning is really important; to do that requires a lot of trust, and communication helps to build that trust. Just like with project management, it all goes back to communication. And so having those communication skills developed, and being able to herd cats and management projects, all lends itself perfectly to this.

Gamble: Now, when you’re forming a team or thinking about who could step into leadership roles, what are the attributes that you value most?

Stevenson: As I select people to move up to management, I think the most important thing is attitude. I’ve always hired for attitude, not aptitude, because I feel like I can teach you almost anything if you have the right attitude, willingness, and curiosity to learn. That, I think, is key.

What’s also important is willingness to communicate, especially in IT, because there are a certain number of roles that attract people who may not be great communicators. They could be amazing programmers, network analysts, or security experts, but they cannot communicate effectively, because that’s not what they do. As a leader, you have to vet through that, because as individuals move into management roles, the key becomes, how can we work together? How can we respect and communicate with each other, and think big picture? They have to be able to be willing to dig in and understand what the future looks like — not just what things look like today.

Gamble: I imagine there’s a learning curve with someone who has a great attitude but hasn’t learned or mastered a particular set of skills. And so there’s a need to be patient and help them through that learning curve.

Stevenson: Certainly there’s mentoring involved. With any new employer you bring on board, there has to be mentoring. Unfortunately, there’s also a trend in some places where individuals get promoted because it’s the natural growth path. In other words, someone who is a rock star employee and an amazing programmer — can write anything you need — it doesn’t necessarily mean they should be promoted to management someday.

Gamble: Right. I’m sure that’s an easy trap to fall into.

Stevenson: It is, because everybody feels they have to grow and move on into new roles, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right move.

Gamble: Right. The last thing I wanted to talk about is something that’s really important to me, which is finding balance. I know this can be tricky, because work and life and melded together so closely, but can you talk about how you try to maintain a healthy balance and instill that in your team?

Stevenson: It’s funny because this is probably one of my favorite topics. I am not only a CIO; I’m a yoga teacher as well. I teach class twice a week, and I also lead a yoga teacher training program, and do retreats and workshops. It’s that part of me that forces me to let go of my job. When I’m in a classroom full of people, I can’t think about this place. It allows me to totally let go and absorb a different type of energy that’s creative, and nurturing, and healing, and then I feel great coming back to work the next day.

Gamble: That’s great to hear. Yoga has just helped me so much too and has been pretty life-changing since I became a mom. It’s carving out time where there’s nothing else in your mind, which helps you to recharge.

Stevenson: It’s amazing. As a matter of fact, my son who is a lawyer and also teaches yoga. We both use that to balance out the technical side of our world.

The other thing I want to emphasize is that work-life balance isn’t just about what happens on an individual day. There may be weeks where my role as a CIO is very heavy and demanding, and then there are weeks when it’s lighter and I can have a more rich life at home. But not every day is going to be the same. And so I think you have to look at it over the course of months and weeks and years — are you getting a little bit of everything to keep you a well-rounded person? It’s not just about your health, but about helping you to become better at both roles.

I make it a point to talk to my team about that. And actually, I will pull out a yoga breathing exercise at a meeting and make them do it, or I’ll offer a class before a major implementation. Sometimes it’s just saying, ‘Let’s step away from our jobs for a minute and take a deep breath.’

Gamble: I think that’s great because it gives people permission to step away from work. It’s so important, and it gets lost sometimes.

Stevenson: It is. As a matter of fact, I had this conversation with one of my key employees a couple of weeks ago. She’d been working very hard on a project. You could see it in her face that she was really struggling, and so I told her to take a day off. She said, ‘I can’t. I don’t have time.’ I told her, ‘Yes, you do. You have time.’ At some point, you can’t even think clearly. You need to step back and get away, and then you come back with more energy, ideas, and clarity, and that’s what you want when you work. It keeps you healthy.

Gamble: Definitely. Well, I think that about wraps it up. Thank you so much for your time.

Stevenson: It’s been great to get to talk to you, and if I can be of any help at any time in the future, just let me know.

Gamble: Will do. Thank you!

healthsystemCIO’s Interviews and Podcasts are sponsored by:

Related Posts:

Share Your Thoughts Cancel reply