“Start with Culture”: How IT Leaders Are Working to Build and Retain a Solid Workforce

One of the most important things healthcare IT leaders can do is to implement solutions and processes that enable caregivers to be “in the moment with patients, and not be distracted by technology,” said Chris Paravate, CIO at Northeast Georgia Health System.

The goal, he noted, is to ensure every initiative is designed with the provider — and ultimately, the patient — in mind. “We don’t support technology; we enable technology to support customers.”

However, with healthcare facing a workforce shortage, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to achieve that goal. During the ViVE24 Conference, a panel of experts which also included Sameer Sethi (SVP and Chief Data and Analytics Officer, Hackensack Meridian Health), John Kravitz (VP and Head of Healthcare, Workday) and Nicole Kerkenbush (Chief Learning and Member Experience Officer, CHIME) addressed this critical topic by discussing the biggest challenges in building and retaining IT teams and the strategies they’ve implemented to ensure their workforce keeps pace with a rapidly evolving industry.

The Post-Covid workforce

According to Sethi, the most significant challenge in holding on to top talent is undoubtedly competition. “With Covid, the doors opened for folks to work for companies across the world. We have to compete with startups in California,” he said. For Hackensack, a NJ-based delivery network, finding the right mix of in-house and remote employees has been tricky. “We haven’t figured out that yet.”

And then there are expectations to do more with less, according to Kravitz, who spent 15 years as a CIO at Geisinger before transitioning to WorkDay. “CIOs are always being asked to reduce costs, reduce headcount, and drive more efficiency.”

The question is, how?

While there is certainly no silver bullet, there is one critical factor that can make all the difference: having a team that is engaged and bought into the overall mission. During the discussion, the panelists shared key insights on what leaders can do to create an environment that attracts top talent.

• Start with culture. “It all starts with culture. Culture drives belonging and purpose,” said Paravate. “What is the experience we want our customers to have?” The sticky part is that moving to a virtual workforce can dilute that sense of belonging, particularly in areas like analytics that don’t require face-to-face interactions with patients. “It creates a commoditization of these roles,” he noted. “That’s an area where we’re struggling.”
• The human factor. One solution, according to Sethi, is human factors engineering, defined by AHRQ as “the discipline that takes into account human strengths and limitations in the design of interactive systems that involve people, tools and technology, and work environments to ensure safety, effectiveness, and ease of use.” HFE offers a viable option for teams like his that specialize in developing software and building dashboards, but lack a strong business understanding. “More often than not, we end up building for techies; it should be built by techies for the business,” he noted.
• Update your stack. Sethi also believes having an updated tech stack is a key component in attracting talent. “It’s important to realize that the folks who have high energy and can deliver more than others want to work on the latest technology,” he said. For leaders, being willing to make investments is “really important.”
• Drive discipline. CIOs have always faced the question of what to build versus what to buy — now, it’s even more difficult, said Paravate. “As we’ve grown and digitized our organization, the complexity has only grown,” which has made it all the more critical to drive discipline into the business. “You need to invest in architectural design. There’s a lot of value to that,” he noted. If not, “you get a collage of technology that doesn’t fit well, and it eats your lunch in terms of support.”

Kravitz agreed, adding that “there just aren’t enough resources to support everything.” And therefore, investing in retooling is “critically important to continue to grow as an organization.”

Support for IT

Not to be overlooked is the value of providing support to those whose job is to support others. At Northeast Georgia Health System, new hires can attend an IT bootcamp to learn the basics of how to meet customers’ needs by seeing the work they do through their eyes. The value of taking teams to the ER of a Level One Trauma Center, he added, is immeasurable.

Sethi agreed, noting that for those who write code for a living, “it’s easy to forget that you work for a hospital,” he said. On the other hand, by spending time walking the floors, IT teams can see firsthand the difference their work can make. “It creates a culture around what the team does and helps us to connect the dots.”