Q&A with VP of IT Gretchen Britt: “I’ve Felt the Frustration and I Want to Make It Better.”

One of the most important things Gretchen Britt learned during her tenure as a NICU nurse was the importance of educating parents on how to care for their infants so that they feel prepared at discharge. In her role as VP of Information Technology at Liberty Hospital, she has adopted the same tactic; this time, however, the emphasis is on ensuring users are properly trained on clinical systems.

“I’m not doing a new parent or an end user justice if I’m not spending that extra time and making sure that they know what they’re doing,” she said during a conversation with Kate Gamble, Managing Editor at healthsystemCIO. Setting teams (and individuals) up for success has become a cornerstone of her leadership philosophy, along with demonstrating “empathy and kindness,” having a solid governance structure in place, and extending the same opportunities to others that she has received during her career.

During the interview, Britt also shared thoughts on the keys to effective change management, the organization’s goal to standardize and simplify, and the value of peer-to-peer education.

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Key Takeaways



* Liberty’s core objectives from an IT standpoint include standardizing on ERP, rolling out a new physician documentation system, and eventually migrating to a single patient record.

* Britt’s strategy for winning over a skeptic? Inviting him to join the physician informatics committee and become part of the process. As a result, “he’s one of our biggest cheerleaders. He loves coming up with new things to improve workflow.

* One thing leaders can never underestimate? The importance of proper training for physicians and nurses. “If we don’t invest in their training, they’re going to struggle… we set them up for failure.”

* A critical step for Britt was establishing an IT governance process at Liberty and creating a change approval board designed to evaluate every request. “Is this something we need and why?”

* The best ways for CIOs to support nurses? One is to “find the best way to do it without extra clicks.” The other is to explain why things are being done. “Nobody knows better than your direct bedside nurses.”





Q&A with Gretchen Britt, VP of IT, Liberty Hospital

Gamble:  Hi Gretchen, thanks so much for doing this. Let’s start by getting some basic information about Liberty Hospital.

Britt:  Sure. Liberty Hospital is just north of Kansas City, Missouri. It’s a small suburb of Kansas City. We have a 204-bed acute facility and 15 clinics. We have an ambulatory surgery center, urgent care, and a breast center. We have sports medicine, which is in partnership with MU Orthopedics; we have their surgeons on site at our hospital.

 

Gamble:  Those partnerships aside, is Liberty a standalone hospital?

Britt:  Yes, we are a standalone hospital.

 

Gamble:  I don’t have to tell you that’s pretty rare.

Britt:  It is. But we also partner with Children’s Mercy Hospital for our Level 2 NICU; we have them on site. We partner with St. Luke’s for our cancer center. We have some great relationships in the area that have definitely benefited our patients. Our coverage goes all the way up to the Iowa state line, and it covers quite a few counties. So, we’re doing well, and those partnerships have been key for us.

 

Gamble:  I would think being a standalone is advantageous from a standpoint of making decisions.

Britt:  It is. Of course, we don’t get all of the funds to do the technology that some organizations are doing. But yes,