Q&A with CIO Ryan Smith, Part 1: “We Have to Flex Our Muscles and Move Quickly.”

When Ryan Smith first started as a software engineer at Intermountain Healthcare, he probably wouldn’t have guessed he’d come back one day as CIO. But he did aspire to become someone who could “influence the direction of technology,” just as Larry Grandia (the organization’s first CIO) had. And he knew that attaining a leadership role at a “pioneering institution” like the Utah-based health system wasn’t possible without the right experience.

And so he went to work, taking on roles that enabled him to learn as much as possible about the industry while developing his skills as a leader. It was that experience, Smith said in a recent interview, which helped prepare him to step in as CIO at Intermountain, a role that “feels like coming home.”

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Key Takeaways:

Adjusting to the CIO role: Smith’s immediate focus is on meeting with leaders and staff and getting their perspectives on where key opportunities exist. “It’s a lot of listening, a lot of rapid learning, and a lot of assimilating information.”

Finding opportunities during a crisis: Smith believes there are many new ways in which organizations can “leverage technology, leverage data, and leverage digital capabilities to help advance clinical work and remote patient care. It’s really an exciting time.”

Building experience with M&A at Banner Health: During his tenure with Banner Health, Smith realized the importance of having a business-driven strategy to enable acquired entities to be rapidly integrated. “I believe I’ll be able to leverage that experience as Intermountain continues to grow.”

Being exposed to different IT environments as a consultant: As an executive advisor with Health Catalyst, Smith quickly realized that “every organization isn’t like Intermountain or Banner,” and got a sense of the roles digital, mobile, and cloud technologies play at different organizations.

 

Q&A with Ryan Smith, CIO, Intermountain Healthcare, Part 1

Gamble:  What has been your approach in stepping into the CIO role at Intermountain?

Smith:  As you can imagine, I’m trying to come up to speed as quickly as possible. We’re in a very fast-moving environment right now trying to deal with COVID-19. And so it’s been day to day and week to week in terms of the challenges we’re seeing at a system level.

I’m trying to meet with all of our corporate and operational leaders during my first 90 days so I can learn as much as possible about what the greatest needs are, and how my organization can help support the company’s goals and initiatives. It’s also recognizing that we need to be really flexible from an IT perspective, and very adaptable to the different types of business needs that the rest of the organization is facing.

In the meantime, I’m also meeting with leaders and staff within the IT organization and getting their perspectives where the biggest opportunities exist. It’s a lot of listening, a lot of rapid learning, and a lot of assimilating information, and from there, starting to form new strategies for how we can partner and support the business going forward.

 

Gamble:  With Covid-19 still very much at the center, how does that affect your strategy?

Smith:  You have to be very flexible and adaptable. From what I’ve been able to ascertain based on my recent experience with Health Catalyst, every healthcare system right now is facing enormous pressures around revenues and cost management. Some organizations have seen increases of 4,000 or 5,000 percent in video visits and telemedicine,