Q&A with CIO Zafar Chaudry, MD, Chapter 1: “We’re in the Business of Patients.”

The reality of working in the IT department of a health system — which is often located in a different building or even a different section of town than the hospital — is that it’s easy to become “detached.” When you don’t see patients on a daily basis, it’s nearly impossible to understand how technology impacts their experience, and what can be done to improve it.

It’s precisely why one of Dr. Zafar Chaudry’s first priorities as CIO at Seattle Children’s was to invite caregivers to join the IT advisory committee. But he didn’t stop there; Dr. Chaudry’s team began holding quarterly educational sessions during which parents of patients share their stories to help convey the critical role all staff members play in providing quality care. Each time, it has left the team feeling “energized,” he says.

It’s just one example of how Dr. Chaudry is leveraging the diverse experience he has gained during his career to create a better environment. Recently, he spoke with healthsystemCIO about his team’s top priorities (including an Epic migration), why it’s so important to get the messaging right, and what it was like to go from England to the Pacific Northwest.

Chapter 1



* Seattle Children’s and its “large geographical footprint”

* Leveraging lean methodology in day-to-day business and back office functions

* 18-month journey to migrate to Epic

* Caregiver representation on the IT Advisory Panel

* Goal to reduce IT costs by 2% each year – “The less we spend on IT, the more we can spend on patient care.”

* Engagement from teenagers & parents of young children

* Hearing directly from parents – “It grounds you.”



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Bold Statements

We’ve adopted that methodology in how we run our day-to-day business, and how we run our back office functions. It’s a constant focus on quality and safety; at the same time, we’re consistently challenging ourselves on cost improvement programs.

The organization has invested heavily in training. Our focus on this has helped keep our costs down and our margins relatively strong, year after year.

Every year, an organization has to take a look at what they spend on IT as a back office function. I’ve agreed to bring our IT costs down by about 2 percent each year for the next five years, because I think the less we spend on IT, the more we can spend on patient care.

We invite parents to tell their stories. They tell us about their child. They show us pictures; they tell us about their child’s condition; and they tell us about their experience and journey. And the focus is always, ‘This is where technology helped me, and this is where technology hindered me.’

It grounds you when you’re looking at a parent, thinking, ‘we’re technologists, and we could easily have resolved it — why didn’t we?’

Gamble: Thank you so much, Dr. Chaudry, for taking the time to speak with us about the work your team is doing at Seattle Children’s. 

Chaudry:  Thank you, Kate.

 

Gamble:  Let’s start with an overview of the organization. There’s the medical center, but then also what you have in terms of clinics, the research institute, things like that.

Chaudry:  Seattle Children’s is a health system. We cover four states — Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho — which is the largest geographical footprint for any pediatric organization in the country. We have about 45 sites. We’re licensed for about 407 beds, and that translates into about a revenue of just over $2 billion. Our research institute is part of the medical center, and we also have a foundation.

 

Gamble:  Let’s talk about Seattle Children’s Improvement and Innovation. How does that serve as a guiding philosophy for the organization?