Q&A with Christopher Neuharth of Children’s Wisconsin: “We want to find the easiest way to solve a need.”

The healthcare environment can be extremely stressful for patients, as well as their family members – but when the patient is a child, it becomes amplified. And yet, when it comes to digital innovation, pediatrics hasn’t traditionally been a targeted group. In fact, it has often been an afterthought, said Christopher Neuharth, VP of Experience and Digital Innovation at Children’s Wisconsin.

Fortunately, the tide has turned, thanks to the efforts of Children’s Wisconsin and other organizations that work to accelerate innovation by evaluating startups and participating in pilots. “If we can collaborate, hopefully we can get a number of startups off the ground and scaled, and make a difference,” according to Neuharth.

But it’s not just about working outside of the organization. Through its structure, in which digital innovation and experience are intertwined, Children’s is able to quickly evaluate the effectiveness of technologies, and if necessary, make changes, based on feedback from families. “It has really allowed us to be more nimble and agile in our development,” he noted during a recent interview with Kate Gamble, Managing Editor at healthsystemCIO.

In the conversation, Neuharth also talked about work his team is doing to create a better experience for both patients and families through its digital front door – and what it took to build it; how he benefited from his previous experience, particularly on the vendor side; and how his strategy changed after Covid.

LISTEN HERE USING THE PLAYER BELOW OR SUBSCRIBE THROUGH YOUR FAVORITE PODCASTING SERVICE. 



Key Takeaways



* On pediatrics & startups: That was one of our frustrations early on: there just wasn’t enough focus on digital health in pediatrics. A lot of the venture money was focused more on things like aging at home; pediatrics was sometimes more of an afterthought.

* On the mission: “Thinking about our families as consumers and always having the experience in mind takes a specialized skill set.  It’s not just technical system,

* On measuring adoption: “We needed to know, if they used this digital health app or this piece of education, did that actually lead to the right outcomes and could we prescribe them and measure them in a unified way?

* On change management: “A lot of it is just rolling up the sleeves and doing a lot of at-the-elbow time with staff and looking at all of the features to enable that.  So, there’s a lot of change management that went into boosting our MyChart adoption.

* On the power of collaboration: “To break into the healthcare space, a lot of times you need an early collaborator.  You need a health system raise their hand and say, ‘yes, I will run a pilot project with you,’ or ‘I will collaborate on research around this.’”





Q&A with Christopher Neuharth, VP, Experience & Digital Innovation, Children’s Wisconsin

Gamble:  Hi Chris, thanks so much for taking some time to speak with us today. Let’s start with a high-level overview of Children’s Wisconsin — what you have in terms of hospitals, where you’re located, things like that.

Neuharth:  Children’s Wisconsin is located in the Milwaukee area and throughout Northeastern Wisconsin, what’s known as Fox Valley in the Green Bay and Appleton area. We have two hospitals and quite a big presence in ambulatory, specialty, and primary care with over 25 primary care offices. We’ve made a strong investment in community services, as well as mental and behavioral health. We’re trying to be that comprehensive provider for all things pediatrics in the state...