Michael Archuleta, Director of IT, Mt. San Rafael Hospital, Chapter 3

For many critical access hospitals, the future looks bleak. They have the same list of priorities as health systems, but with a fraction of the resources. But Mt. San Rafael is not your typical rural hospital, and Michael Archuleta is not your typical leader. Since taking on the IT Director role four years ago, Archuleta has led the transformation from a paper-based system to a Most Wired hospital. In this interview, he discusses the enormous challenges faced by CAHs, how he’s changing the perception of IT from one of “cost center” to “business partner,” and what it took to implement the organization’s first IT strategic plan. Archuleta also talks about the value of young leaders, how he “sold” cybersecurity to the board, what he hopes to accomplish next, and why he won’t apologize for being an over-communicator.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3



* Partnerships with MedHost & YourCare Everywhere

* Achieving Most Wired — “Integration was a key concept”

* 30-minute huddles

* “To gain respect, you need to show results.”

* Learning from older leaders — “You always need to educate yourself”

* NetApp CXO Advisory Board

* Education through CHIME



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Bold Statements

These groups have been amazing. We’ve been able to develop with them, learn with them, and give our thoughts on how can we improve the overall patient experience.

There are so many things we have going on in the background, it’s absolutely amazing. I’m extremely proud of this team and what we’ve been able to accomplish.

If you can show results and if you can get that recognition, you can really make a difference. And of course, if you’re making a difference with the patient’s life and the patient’s experience with utilizing technology to the fullest, you’ll gain that respect.

If you’re older and you think you can’t learn from a younger individual, in my opinion, you won’t be successful moving forward.

You still need to leverage yourself to the fullest. Get that exposure. Keep up with the trends, try to reach out, and obtain a mentor — a mentor that’s really going to help you and move you in that positive direction of improving yourself to improve the overall organization.

Gamble:  When you talk about wearables, that’s not what a lot of people think of with a rural critical access hospital, but it just shows that there is a willingness there to really push the boundaries with technology, especially when it comes to the patients who have to be incorporated more into the whole picture.

Archuleta:  Absolutely. Personally, I’m always the individual that likes being the first to try any new product, from being a beta site to trying the new hardware out that’s really going to improve our overall patient experience. In terms of really seeing what we’ve done with technology and leveraging it to the fullest, we’ve been able to partner up with our vendors. Medhost has been an amazing organization to partner up with, and YourCare Everywhere — these groups have been amazing to be part of. We’ve been able to develop with them, learn with them, and give our thoughts on how can we improve the overall patient experience and how are we improving patient experience through technology. So it’s really been a great partnership.

Gamble:  You touched a little bit on Most Wired. Obviously that’s really a huge accomplishment for the entire organization. Can you just talk a little bit about what was the biggest challenge there and what it has meant for the orga...