Q&A with Hartford Healthcare CIDO Joel Vengco: “It’s About Foundation, Optimization and Transformation.”

When you’re the organization’s new – or, as is often the case, first – chief information and digital officer, the temptation to make a splash can be quite overwhelming. However, doing so without taking a property inventory will all but ensure a short tenure, according to Joel Vengco. “You don’t want to go in and say, ‘I’m going to build generative AI capabilities’ when the foundation isn’t being addressed,” he said during an interview with Kate Gamble, Managing Editor and Director of Social Media. Rather than being mesmerized by shiny objects, leaders need to “make sure we do absolutely everything we need to do for the foundation.”

For Vengco, who joined Hartford Healthcare in March of 2022, that meant devoting time to “understand the culture, the environment, and the capacity and capability for change, and from there, figuring out what we need to bring forward.” One of those needs was developing a data and digital platform focused on “delivering data as a product to the enterprise,” he said.

During the conversation, Vengco also talked about Hartford Healthcare’s long-term growth strategy; the organization’s ultimate goal of improving patient access; the partnerships they’ve built to achieve that goal; and how transforming an organization is like fixing up a classic car.

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Key Takeaways



* The goal of Hartford Healthcare’s ITS 2.0 is “not so much about implementing the EHR — it’s about realizing the vision of personalization and coordination across the enterprise.

* Personalization requires more than having data about patients; it’s figuring out how to harness the data and create liquidity, and leveraging digital technology “in a more intelligent way bring together assets that could provide what they’re looking for.”

* Three main components in developing a solid ITS strategy: focus on the foundation, commit to optimization, and become leaders of transformation.

* Driving change isn’t about focusing on shiny objects. It’s “making sure we do absolutely all we need to do for the foundation.”

* As CIDO, “you have to understand the business and be creative in terms of creating solutions and understanding how to lift up the car and put in a new engine that optimizes the care. It’s a beautiful car… but you need to update the engine.”



Q&A with Joel Vengco, CIDO, Hartford Healthcare

Gamble:  Hi Joel, as always, it’s great to speak with you. The last we time talked, you were with BayState Medical Center, and you’ve since transitioned to Hartford Healthcare. Can you share a bit about the organization?

Vengco:  Hartford Healthcare is an 8-hospital health system with roughly 400 sites across Connecticut. We’ve grown rapidly over the last decade; there’s a deliberate focus on being within 10 miles of every resident in Connecticut. It’s a great strategy. And it’s proliferated in that manner through not just putting up primary care sites or acquiring primary care sites and other medical practices, but also through joint ventures.

We have joint ventures with GoHealth and Amazon One Medical, to name a few. There’s a big focus on ambulatory-based care or home care, keeping folks local, and keeping an eye on value-based care. When I was at Baystate, we had been on that journey for quite some time. Connecticut is just starting on that journey in many ways, really coming off of a hot fee-for-service market. Now, we’re really focused on value-based care, taking risks, and moving care toward the ambulatory setting as opposed to just in-patient. It’s really a terrific journey.