Q&A with CIO Will Walders, Part 1: Blind Spots, Pizza Trackers & a “Relentless Consumer-Centric Approach.”

Will Walders believes one of the most important things an organization can do, especially now, is to become “brilliant at the basics.” At its core, it means making sure clinical systems are functioning properly and users can access their email without issues. In doing so, teams can create “an excellent foundation” to accomplish the more complex tasks.

This philosophy has served him well at Health First, where Walders has served as CIO since June of 2019. Since that time, the organization has cut $16 million in waste and significantly reduced the number of applications in use, and he doesn’t plan to stop there.

Recently, Walders spoke with Kate Gamble, Managing Editor at healthsystemCIO, about how his team is leveraging visibility and shared accountability to decrease legacy debt; the “holistic, predictive approach” he has taken to IT business management; and why capturing “low value work” is so critical. He also talked about how they’re working with partners like RelayOne to create a “frictionless experience” and what he believes healthcare can learn from the Domino’s Pizza Tracker.

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Key Takeaways



* In addition to the team’s resiliency and ability to “wax and wane resources,” a critical takeaway stemming from Covid was the discovery of “blind spots where we were underutilizing technology.”

* With 60 percent of hospital revenue coming from surgical services, Health First “had to get creative” to avoid significant financial losses. One way was by leveraging ambulatory surgery centers.

* Sweet spot: leveraging technology such as automation in the perioperative space to “capture some of the headcount we’re seeing with staffing shortages” and help increase occupancy rates.

* Inspiration for improving efficiency can come from anywhere — even the Dominos Pizza Tracker, which provides a “level of transparency and visibility” that can be leveraged in areas like the OR.

* The best way to incentivize staff to find opportunities for cost savings? By reinvesting it into the “solutions and resources they want.”





Q&A with Will Walders, CIO, Health First, Part 1

Gamble:  In terms of Covid, are you at a somewhat manageable level in terms of cases and hospitalizations?

Walders:  We are, knock on wood. We passed our Delta spike just before Thanksgiving and started on a downward slope that at one point may have been considered to be high numbers, but we’ve become so desensitized to it and so good at managing Covid itself.

 

Gamble:  When you were dealing with surges in the summer and fall, were you able to apply some of the lessons learned during the first go-around with Covid?

Walders:  Yeah, absolutely. We didn’t stand up with full-time command center like we had.  We had a virtual one and emergency management and a couple of folks always at the ready. Our numbers were triple what they were with the initial spike the first go around. We were looking at each other amazed at how well the team responded; how we were able to wax and wane staff and resources in order to support whatever was needed most. It was ridiculous how well the teams performed.

Of course, we know that comes at the sacrifice of work-life balance, and I think we did a good job of managing that, but it was a struggle. We took it in stride and the team has been very resilient. It’s good to walk through our halls — virtual and physical — and see people finally taking 5 days off in a row as opposed to being tapped on the shoulder and told to go home. It’s good that they’re taking the opportunity to get ...