← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Joshua Wilda, MPA, Associate Vice President for Information Systems and Chief Information Digital Officer at University of Iowa Health Care
00:19:58
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- [00:00]
A
This is Laura Dardo with the Beckers Healthcare podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Joshua Wilda, Associate Vice President for Information Systems and Chief Information Digital Officer at the University of Iowa Healthcare. Joshua, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
- [00:14]
B
Thank you, Laura. I'm excited to be here today, especially representing University of Iowa Healthcare.
- [00:19]
A
Absolutely. Now, you know I love University of Iowa having grown up right near there, a big Hawkeye fan and so just we'll be excited to learn more about some of the things you're doing and what you're thinking about for the future. But before we dive in, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself, your background? I know you recently joined the University of Iowa and so love to hear a little bit more about, you know, some of the things that you've done throughout your career and what you're bringing to the new, new place.
- [00:45]
B
Yeah, for sure. So I've been in healthcare IT for about 20 years now in various different roles. I actually started as an EPIC implementer working at epic, which gave me a really good opportunity to understand the relationship between.
- [01:02]
Patient provider and technology with how forward facing and forward thinking that they are as an organization. After that I got that opportunity to go work for a health system in the Michigan market, University of Michigan HealthWest where I really had that opportunity to combine talents of how do we connect patients and providers, how do we use technology as that vehicle to allow the whole organization to to work at the top of their license. I talk a lot about about that and really get myself to hone in on my own leadership style, leadership abilities. Five years ago, University of Michigan Health west joined into the University of Michigan Health regional network where I got to be the opportunity to lead a much larger team across a network of community health organizations and get the opportunity to really partner with academic medical centers. You see this now happening these days where academic medical centers and community health medicine are really combining forces and bringing more power to what they can do. Then I had the opportunity to expand in my own career the mission that happens at Iowa, the fact that Iowa is the only academic medical center here. We're a quaternary organization for the state and we truly serve the Iowan community. I love the mission and passion around again, how can we extend technology especially now? You know Laura, you've probably seen and heard about rural health. We'll talk probably a little bit about that and Iowa is right for how can we use technology to connect patients for them to stay in their communities but still get the health care that they lead. So my career has gone full circle, up and down, allowing me to use a lot of my own past experiences to now bring a breadth of expertise in digital health, in digital transformation and project management and leadership to the already great foundation that was here at UIHC and be able to really push us forward. As you can imagine, our mission and vision, changing medicine, changing lives. How can you not get behind that? And so it's very exciting to be a part of it now.
- [03:14]
A
Absolutely. No, that's amazing. And what a great way to come into the healthcare space to understand the technology side, really being able to then move into the provider side and see some of the big challenges as well as come up with solutions and develop network and relationships that can make a big difference. So, you know, I'm curious, when you think about where we're at today, what are some of the opportunities and headwinds that you have your eye on right now? What are you thinking most about?
- [03:39]
B
Yeah, Laura, I think for me, and I'll talk specifically here at University of Iowa, one of the major things that I'm still hyper focused on is patient experience and how do we connect our patients to us when they're not here. This is a perfect opportunity and perfect ecosystem for that. You know, many out there, I'm from Wisconsin, I'm a Midwesterner, so I understand communities in the Midwest. But some might say, you know, Iowa, they don't use it, they don't use technology. You know, I beg to differ. Coming from the Midwest of, you know, farmers and those that are in these industries, they actually rely heavy on technology and how can we then bridge that gap to give them that care that they need to so you can still focus on their families and where they're going and where they are, but get the care. So patient experience, I think is something that we can lead definitely the state in, but also expand on nationally. The other thing that is hyper focused is for me is connecting the dots between the healthcare, the research and the academic side of our tripartite mission. Often I see in some other organizations that while they're part of the mission, they're not coalescing together. The research isn't driving the healthcare, isn't driving the education within the organization itself. Usually it kind of permeates out and then comes back in in other ways. And so I'm focusing on how do our teams connect those dots even more so that we can bring some of that research to the bedside as quick as possible for our patients in care from that standpoint. I hate to always talk about this, I think every cio, cio, cido does cybersecurity, those two missions of how do we extend ourselves not only in the community that we're in, but to the rest of the state, then there's big risk there too. From a cybersecurity standpoint. I do feel that's our biggest risk these days. Although you're starting to see some of the cloud technologies starting to get a knock on resiliency. But I think it's still, cybersecurity is one of the most impactful things that can happen at any given moment. And how are we prepared now to use technologies like cloud and others to maintain services while we deal with those high impacting events? Last but not least, when we talk about headwinds, it definitely is this push and pull of technology can be an enabler, but technology has costs behind it. And how do those costs affect the cost of health care? How do we drive down those costs? What's happening at the federal and state levels around our reimbursement? You know, and it is interesting that I have these conversations of, hey, you know, we're reducing your reimbursement, but use technology to make yourself more efficient. Well, that comes with cost. That comes with that understanding of how do we become intentional with how we're using technologies. Rural healthcare, I mentioned that with some of the federal funding that's coming our way here, in short order, the conversation is, yes, we want to use that to stand it up, but it also needs to be sustainable and make the impact of the mission and care there. So it is sustainable costs. So that dance of innovation, cybersecurity, how much you, you know, how innovative can you be when you're always concerned about those security and resiliency pieces of it? And then the funding and how do we continue to flow that to allow technology to help drive health care from a vehicle standpoint, we're still in IT for patients and providers. I never want anyone to ever think that, especially in our world, that it's not healthcare. First I talk about that. We're an organization. Our leadership style is we're healthcare professionals in the IT space. I say that often. And that's where the goal is of how do we balance cost, risk and innovation to push forward where healthcare can go.
- [07:30]
A
I love that. I think that sums up so well some of the different challenges, but then also opportunities that you have with the tech, technology with AI and what it really takes in order to transform the organization. Not just bringing technology in, but knowing how to implement it. And incorporate into the daily workflows to solve some of these big problems and really tackle the challenges that we're having head on. So when you think about. Yeah, I guess. Are there any specific examples you're looking at in the next year or two?
- [08:02]
B
Yeah, some things that we're doing for innovative wise were one, it's not innovative. It's actually assuring that the block and tackling of some technologies that are table stakes are out there like telemedicine and tele delivery. Those are some things that we're looking at. We're definitely looking at the cyber security framework and again using infrastructure and technology, how can we bridge the gap and resiliency and really make sure it's at control cost? So we're talking about being a cloud smart organization using cloud technologies not as the primary deliverer, but to stand up our resiliency. I'm really excited for where the hospital of the future. And I always say that and then go it is here and now. How can we use our four walls and bricks and mortar with sensors, with AI, with tele nursing and some other things that we're doing to really encapsulate that patient care and deliver more of that patient provider intimacy, but through our technology. So we're definitely looking at products that allow us to expand our services in tele, expand our services in patient education. There are also some things that are fun things which is interesting that as I came here, it's a very large institution, you know, even I came from Michigan medicine, same thing there. And something that you experience every day here and you see it are those patients that are coming here and for the most part they don't want to be here. You know, there are some life changing fun events why you would be at healthcare. But when they come here you should really be focused on how can they come in and be well and engage. But the first thing they got to figure out is how do I get to where I need to be, where do I need to park? So digital wayfinding and that experience of helping folks relieve some of the pressures of what it takes to engage with healthcare so they can focus on the relationship, what they need to do to be better, what they need to do to heal. That's something that's fun to look at. And we're talking about that as an organization of how can we give a great internal experience when they're here so they can focus on engaging with us and not focus on how are they going to wander around and get to where they need to be. Those are Some fun things that we're continuing to work on. I didn't touch on AI just because everyone else does, but it is in there in our conversations around how do we utilize it everywhere in our organization for everyone to work at the top of their license in facilities, in hr, in supply chain. You know, it's not just about those clinical AI tools for ambient voice. Those are very important clinical decision for AI. That's very important. But we're also looking holistically of how do we raise all boats using AI and raise all of our capabilities as healthcare professionals. So those are some, some of the exciting things that we're working on in short order.
- [10:51]
A
I love that. I think that's so cool that your capability to do all those things in the precipice of really strong transformation there at Iowa. Now, I think we've talked a little bit about growth and some of the ways that you see these changes occurring. But I am curious, what does that look like, that balance when you think about adding value to the organization? I think especially with technology and I, you know, it is expensive, as we've talked about in a big investment. So how do you know that some of the things you're doing are actually adding that value? Value. And really what do you do to measure that? What are some of the metrics and things you take into consideration as you're piloting and testing, then rolling out?
- [11:29]
B
Yeah, I always love the conversation around is it an expense center or a value center? You know, we're expense center. When you're looking at budgets and you're going, hey, we're in high health care and why are you one of the largest budgets? But it is about value and it is about what are we bringing to the table and pushing to the forefront. Here at Iowa, one of our goals is to be ahead of the business, but doing it in an intentional sort of way. We all know that money is tight, it is small margins around health care. And our focus is intentionality. Our focus is how do we reinvest in ourselves by really focusing on eliminating legacy technologies, overlapping technologies, and then driving new innovations in intentional ways. I've been a part of other organizations where they do a lot of pilots all over the place and they really don't know what they're trying to solve for might be the new cool, big thing to do and that's out there, but they really haven't engaged with the organization of what true problems are we trying to solve. What problems, if we solve them, are going to be the most impactful. And like you Said Laura. What are those metrics to show that we're bringing that discipline to our institution and having those conversations around technologies? Perfect example that I give you is when I talk about tele nursing. You know, there's point solutions that are out there for that, but can we get more value out of that being a platform based technology so we can maximize our resources, teach them a platform and expand on that platform? Also our end users are now not dealing with different systems. They're now more focused on how the technology is driving care instead of being a wedge. So when providing that value, it is about what's the, what are we trying to solve and getting to the root of that, what are we trying to, to deliver as far as our experience and getting to that, talk about those measurements of what it means to bring that value and then with that intentionality. And this is something that, you know, I'm learning as I have grown into the larger scale organizations. How can we move in an agile sort of way so there's speed to delivery in that innovation in that intentionality. So we're working on how are we assessing those things in short order, how are we bringing them to bear in front of our organization as well as being using our telescope in strategic planning, going, what is the next two to three years look like? And how can we maybe deprecate some old technologies so we can invest in the future and be in an investment fund of ourselves?
- [14:12]
A
Absolutely. I love that. And you know, that's such a great philosophy to have. And when you think about becoming an investment fund into yourself, when you become how you think about, you know, where the value is and how you're contributing overall, it'll just become even more critical over the next couple of years because I know so many hospitals and systems have tight budgets or looking at, you know, tight margins probably in the coming years given just the current environment, healthcare landscape, et cetera. So I think when you actually take that mindset and put into practice, what does that look like? Are there any other, I guess, investments that you still think are important to make, knowing that it's going to be challenging in the next couple of years?
- [14:53]
B
Yeah. You know, the other thing, Laura, that I think is helpful is now the partnerships that you form in the communities that you're in. Right. Every market has competition, some sort of competition or a community arm. Especially in Iowa, there's a lot of community and critical access hospitals. And I think another way to bring that value is how do we pool our resources together, not from a command and control standpoint, but From a leveraging all of our experiences, you know, we're all competing for talent, we're all competing for patient focus. We're all competing for the best quality of care that we can do. Now how can we do that in such a way that we get economies of scale, especially from a technology standpoint? That's something I'm excited about that's happening in Iowa. For those that are listeners might know, epic's Community Connect program, allowing organizations like Iowa who have direct connections and contacts to EPIC to extend ourselves out into the community areas so those folks can leverage the technologies at a lower cost sort of way because of the scale that we're able to provide it. And then looking to how do we build upon that. Something I've been so excited about coming into the Iowa market has been the Community Connect program that we have at Iowa. I've been thoroughly impressed with the partnerships that we have made through our Community Connect program. But the secret sauce is actually then those critical access hospitals that we're extending to, especially in Iowa, how they've come together and they've talked as a community now on how they leverage the tools and that's where you're going to get the investments, returns on these. You know, if we're all going out and buying the same systems and putting the same technologies, there's no economies and scales of that. How do we leverage our skill sets and our talents and our scale to really drive what can happen in a community and across the state? So I think that organizations need to hyper focus on that Michigan market. There was a lot of competition and we would call coopetition here in the state of Iowa. I'm seeing that it is more that community focus. It's less about competition and more how do we raise all boats. And that's something that I'm excited for. And Iowa is a key partner in that conversation, especially with the scale, especially what we provide with the skill sets, the talents of our providers, of our nurses, of our administration, and definitely our IT shops. So I think that that's another area that folks should look at is how do you partner in technologies versus going out and doing them on your own.
- [17:27]
A
I love it. I think that idea of partnership and being so ingrained with those collaborators within the community, in the companies that are willing to be part of that and part of that solution and partner with you to know what you need and build something that makes sense for the institution is so helpful. I think I've heard more than ever over the last year that partnerships are critical in the Healthcare space more than ever. So it's a team sport. And that's great to hear. Before we wrap up, I wanted to ask, where do you see some of the best opportunities for growth in the future?
- [17:59]
B
Yeah, good question. There's definitely more growth to be had around how we can extend our services, both internal to our organization and then thinking about how do they, how do they grow to the community. I think another area of growth is our talent and how do we invest even more in our talent, taking advantage of especially local talent, but also expanding ourselves. I think that as the community of it changes, you know, now that technology changes into AI or the ability to be remote, it really has changed the framework of how we utilize our talent and deploy them. So growth and maximizing our talent to the point of how are they involved, how are they getting into the passion of the mission, how are they bringing new technologies to the forefront are going to help us grow? I think the most part, for me, growth is truly going to be how do we control cost but bring those innovations to the table. AI in automation is definitely going to allow us to be more efficient, but it is going to be that hyper focus on how do we make sure the technologies enhance the patient provider intimacy and not just decrease it. And I think as we start seeing AI being a layer on top of some of the technologies that we've had, you know, that we've had EHR for years and now AI is allowing us to interact with big data and EHRs in a more efficient way so we can focus on patient care. I think that is going to drive more of the benefits of what we can get out of the collective data and EMR in our infrastructure and technology. So I'm excited for the growth and possibility of how can we be more efficient, but come at it with an all new light of innovation, connection, partnerships and collaboration.
- [19:44]
A
I love it. Joshua, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. This is such an inspiring and fun conversation to have and I look forward to connecting with you in the future.
- [19:53]
B
Thank you for having me, Laura. Always, always love participating in these.