David Baker, VP of IT, St. Joseph Health, Chapter 3

At St. Joseph Health, a primary focus across the organization is to give time back to clinicians by improving flow and ease of use. And to the IT department at the 16-hospital system, that has meant transforming the way they interact with care providers, and adopting the mantra of ‘people before tickets,’ according to David Baker. In this interview, he talks some of his team’s key initiatives, including efforts to standardize all of the hospitals to the same version of Meditech, create a platform to facilitate better communication among the staff, and move toward a virtualized environment. Baker also discusses the importance of leadership buy-in with any project, why it’s critical to push the boundaries, and the unique path that took him to his current role.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3



* Innovation Institute’s Shark Tank sessions

* “Ever-maturing” security roadmap

* Taking a page from finance

* “Blend of responsibilities” as VP of IT

* From “cutthroat” industries to healthcare — “I wasn’t sure what to expect”

* Rounding & interacting with the staff

* Building a diverse team



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Bold Statements

They’re working through all of our hospitals to say, ‘here we are, and this is what we do. If anyone’s got a phenomenal idea — and it could be anything; it could be a medical connector, a cleaning device, or the next huge IT idea — bring it to us.’

We’re moving into a good space where we really do know who has access to what and our corporate data is safeguarded. It’s big business; making sure that stuff is sound, and it’s paramount for us as an organization.

What excites me is working on the innovation side of the house and embracing some of the new technology to see how we can make our end users’ lives a bit better.

People have been used to doing things the way they’ve done for a long time, and it’s just been absolutely turned on its head, which is exciting from an entrepreneurial standpoint. Because you can get in there and see where you can channel that positive disruption.

It’s helpful to have people that are laser-focused on healthcare and draw from those, but I think it’s important to have a diverse team. A lot of the people we work with are from all sorts of other industries, and sometimes it’s those fresh eyes that bring ideas that are needed.

Gamble:  There’s an Innovation Institute that’s part of the organization — how exactly does that work as far as the relationship there?

Baker:  Those guys are a part of St. Joe’s. There are several interesting companies. Innovation Institute is a company that was put together with a solid fund that is ready to invest in any idea really, but initially, predominantly the biotech and pharma-type industries. There’s almost Shark Tank sessions in-house. They really do encourage anybody with an idea to come forward, and they’ll say what they can make of that. They’ve got several active investments ongoing, and they’re always actively working through all of our hospitals to speak to the entire staff and associated communities to say, ‘here we are, and this is what we do. If anyone’s got a phenomenal idea — and it could be anything; it could be a medical connector, a cleaning device, or the next huge IT idea — bring it to us.’ It’s a really interesting spot; great offices and we know their leadership team really well. It’s just a privilege to work in a company that is as forward thinking.

Gamble:  I would imagine that as a CIO to have access to something like that is a really ...