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Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Building Meaningful Careers in Health IT with Helen Figge of MedicaSoft
00:18:01
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- [00:00]
A
Hello everyone. This is Erica Spicer Mason with Becker's Healthcare. Thank you so much for tuning into the Becker's Healthcare podcast series today. So joining me on the podcast today is a returning guest of ours. We have with us Helen Figgi, the Chief Strategy Officer at medicasoft. So Helen also serves as the Executive in Residence at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science University in Boston, and there she also serves as Adjunct professor in the School of Healthcare Business and she's also on the Board of Trustees at Maria College in Albany, New York. And all of this experience that Helen has will be so valuable for our discussion today as Helen is going to walk us through her experiences and her advice on career pathways and health IT and also the role of mentorship and innovation. So without further ado, Helen, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for coming back to Becker's today.
- [00:52]
B
Thank you. It's great to be here. I very much value Beckers and all that it educates us in healthcare.
- [00:59]
A
Well, thank you Helen, and the feeling is mutual. We appreciate you coming back to give our listeners some best practices and strategies as they're looking at health IT career pathways or perhaps their team's health IT careers and how to support their team members. But before we get into that, can you share just a little bit more about yourself and your work in healthcare?
- [01:20]
B
Sure. As you stated, I am the Chief strategy officer for Medicasoft and I am the executive residence at the McPHS University where I'm also an Adjunct professor in the School of Healthcare Business with also serving on the Board of Trustees for Maria College in Albany, New York. So I like to think of myself as very much diversifying my skills and continuing to learn and grow regardless of where I have been and am in my career. I've worked for three Fortune companies, non for profits, some startups, and I love to think of myself as an innovator and a futurist with, you know, extensive experience in healthcare information technology, albeit I am a pharmacist by trade. But I'm really committed to process improvement and a practical approach to operational excellence, which really underscores the need for continuing to educate yourself regardless of where you are in your career path. I hope that people find me insightful and in a practical sense supporting them with all of the experiences that I can show and give back so people can learn from my mistakes and perhaps create their own path of success that I have done to date.
- [02:45]
A
Helen, thank you so much for sharing more about you and your your passion for process improvement, both individually and it sounds like also at the organizational level and in healthcare IT that comes through so strongly. So I think that your insight today are going to be immensely helpful. And I wanted to start our conversation by just kind of touching on a bit where we're at in the healthcare IT landscape. We know this field is very quickly evolving, especially with AI fundamentally shaping how systems are operating. So for young professionals, what are the most important lessons to keep in mind as they look to build a sustainable and also a rewarding career in this space?
- [03:28]
B
I think the most important thing is again, the learning process, the ability to communicate. We lack such civility now in all parts of the world and all parts of jobs and operations. And I think being able to communicate, there's no replacement for the human touch, the human conversation, the human contact. And no doubt AI is becoming a very valuable tool for enhancing and streamlining administrative tasks and various automation. But while AI supports process information, again, there is no substitute for the human factor in decision making, whether it be our intuition, our lifelong experiences that I hope to share with everyone today, our ability to empathize, all of these create a person's own career path, which are essential for sustainability in any career path. And I think the ability for everyone to understand that we are each unique and we each can give back, and the technologies, while we have them at our disposal, should not replace us growing as individuals into our career path.
- [04:53]
A
I think that's such an important point to underscore, Helen, how there's a lot of opportunity in AI. It's really becoming invaluable in many ways, and yet there's no substitute for the human factor, especially in decision making, empathy, as you touched on. So just want to go a little bit further there. When you think about upskilling teams in the healthcare IT space, do you think then that it does require a mix of those, like technical skill building and also maybe perhaps some human upskilling elements to kind of reinforce what you're speaking to or how are you thinking about upskilling in this context?
- [05:30]
B
That's a great point, Erika, because AI, again, should be viewed as a very powerful supplement, but not a replacement for human thinking and professional intuitions. Despite its ease of use and its usefulness, it's not a replacement. We've got to really drive that point home. It's best to learn from someone who does a task well, who understands a topic better than most, most. So mentoring and really cultivating anyone's career, for example, needs to be equipped to have the ability to interpret anything that you're put forward to whether it be AI generated data, but at the same time questioning answers derived by AI processes based on our ability to understand and comprehend what we're being fed with a technology. So I think upskilling our communication skills are going to be paramount because you may have a great idea, you may have a great discovery, but if we don't understand what you're saying, it's meaningless. And we've got to cultivate those skills.
- [06:55]
A
Absolutely. And Helen, in your response, you also touched on how important mentorship is here. So from your perspective, how can health systems and companies really cultivate those mentoring opportunities that set up the next generation of professionals for success?
- [07:13]
B
I found, at least personally and professionally, successes in mentoring are only truly sustainable through trust, guidance, setting standards and goals with shared experiences, you know, lending way to practical expectations. I think fostering really mutual respect and creating a supportive relationship with constructive and valuable feedback is invaluable. That is invaluable because you learn through others. And I think being a positive role model as a mentor, learning skills from people that you would want to learn from, both mentor and mentee also need to have a good, you know, character, personality match in order to share that ongoing willingness to learn and grow from both sides. It is, it's irrelevant the title of your mentor, but rather the skills you want to learn from them. And I think that's a fallacy. People want to be mentored by maybe a C suite person or the president or some name name recognition, when in fact my best mentors were those that really rolled up their sleeves and were able to really show a product from beginning to end, that is powerful. And I think that has been my success, learning how others did something. Well.
- [08:54]
A
That'S such a good point, Helen, because as I picture someone perhaps newer to the health care IT field, you know, if they have this idea that their mentor needs to be someone in the C suite, as you mentioned, what an intimidating thing to imagine, you know, going to a C suite leader and, and asking for mentorship. I'm sure that would be challenging. So I love what you're saying here, this practicality behind identifying someone who does their job well. It doesn't have to be someone at the top leadership level and that. It sounds like that approach has worked well for you. Any other tips in finding the right mentor? Is it really just about looking for someone who does their position well, or have there been any practices that have worked well for you?
- [09:36]
B
You know, Eric, I'm very concerned about the world today and the lack of civility. And I see this Whether it be traveling, whether I see it as a consumer or I think we really have to get back to the basics of respecting each other and the ability to ask yourself who would I like to be? Like who? If I had to be one person and walk in their shoes, who would that person be? And I think that's a question you ask in your next, you know, your career path and the why. What makes a person want to be emulated versus other? I think the greatest form of flattery is copying someone of how they do things. And I've certainly done that with skills. And I think once you identify an individual again, regardless of title, a mentor can really be a powerful force in any career and your and in your everyday life. A simple thank you. A simple question of well, what are you thinking and how did you come to that conclusion in an open ended way is very powerful and gives someone an opportunity to be listened to. And I think that's really the advice of for all of us, whether we be young in our career or not, we all need to learn something from someone and the technologies have forced us to be antisocial. No one looks each other in the eye, no one picks up the phone to say the commonalities of hello and a goodbye people text. I think that is really causing havoc in people's career past because no one knows how to behave with each other in certain circumstances that require human intuition. And I think we've got to get back to that because most of us are very intelligent. We wouldn't be in, you know, our career paths. That we're choosing AI oftentimes is a crutch and perhaps makes us more intelligent than we really are. But at the end of the day it's that interaction that sets us apart and I call it the like factor. If someone truly likes you, they forgive things easier than if you don't. You aren't respected or you're not well liked in the workplace, you have to get along. And I think there's a big misconception of just because you're smart and you're intelligent and you're brilliant, that equates to guaranteed career success. And that is not true at all. And I found that over in the course of my career.
- [12:36]
A
Yeah, yeah. Helen, again, I love this kind of going back to simplicity and human skills and emotional intelligence. The simple thank yous. You've mentioned the act of observing folks who are good in their role and initiating that actual conversation with them, asking great open ended questions. Really appreciate this very practical and grounded advice that you're giving our listeners. And to kind of round out our discussion today, I wanted to also just bring it back to, you know, we've touched on how the field of healthcare, it is moving so quickly, which I'm sure can feel quite daunting to anybody who is early on in their career. So to close us out, what guidance would you offer to students, students or those early career professionals, or even folks who are transitioning into the field about navigating challenges and finding the right career path for them?
- [13:32]
B
That's a great question, Erica, because everyone can take simple steps early on to start a career journey. Our careers follow us and we expand on them over time. And we really have to explore what skills do we each have that we find most rewarding, that we want to use in the workplace? What are our interests? What are our practical goals and expectations? When you're starting out in your career, you're certainly not going to be the president of a Fortune company. You've got to work and create a relationship, skills and an intelligence factor that creeps you up to the top. So we have to set practical expectations for ourselves. And most of all, what career path do you want to wake up to every day? Someone asked Judy Faulkner of epic, the CEO, you know what drives you? And I remember Judy saying every day has something she wakes up to that she is excited to do, and that created EPIC. So she has been my mentor for the last 20, 30 years, and I admire her and the work ethic of someone such as that individual. Creating such an empire is hard work, dedication, and the love of the job. And I tell everyone to explore those same thoughts when they are guiding themselves into a career path.
- [15:14]
A
Helen it's been such a pleasure learning about really how you've gotten to where you are and the mentors who've guided you, what has proven most effective over the years, what you've learned along the way. It's been immensely helpful for me and I imagine our listeners as well. But before we close our time together today, is there anything we didn't touch on or a final takeaway that you'd like to share?
- [15:36]
B
I think the most important thing is for everyone to understand ourselves, to better gauge what environment we want to work in and to give back in, and most importantly, to believe in ourselves and realize that any career path is just a journey through life. But you've got to wake up to it every day. So if you can't wake up to a career path with passion and excitement and a force to say, what can I accomplish? Then it's really not the career path for you, and that's okay. But we have to be able to see what we can do to really help the world. I. I've said this several times in this interview. The. The art of civility creates what we live and breathe in and work in and sustain ourselves in. And I think if we can give back with our intelligence, with our character, with our traits of personality, that builds a career, not just a degree. And I think that is the takeaway. Careers are not just acquiring degrees and certifications. It's the subjective things around those successes that make a career.
- [17:03]
A
What a powerful note to end our conversation on. Helen, I want to thank you for spending time with Beckers again today. It's always a pleasure having you with us, and thank you for your candor and all of the media advice you gave us today.
- [17:15]
B
Yeah, I think it's a wonderful opportunity for people to start careers, change careers. And I do admire Becker's. I've known and followed Beckers for well over 10 years, and the ability for all of us to give back through an unbiased channel such as this only helps us all. And I think that's powerful too, Helen.
- [17:41]
A
We appreciate that so much on behalf of Becker. So thank you again. And of course, we'd also like to thank our sponsor for today's episode, medicasoft. Listeners, be sure to tune into more podcasts from Becker's Healthcare by visiting our podcast page@beckershospitalreview.com.