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Podcast Q&A with Craig Richardville, Part 2: “Consumers Are Becoming the Destination.”

July 01, 2020

“We’re doing things a lot differently. We’re thinking about a future that looks a lot different than in the past.”
It’s a statement most, if not all, healthcare IT leaders can relate to, but it can take on various meanings. For Craig Richardville, Chief Information and Digital Officer at SCL Health, it means acting less like a healthcare organization and more like a technology or retail company. It means paying close attention to where the disruptors are going and integrating it as part of your strategy.
Recently, Richardville spoke with healthsystemCIO about how the pandemic has served as a catalyst for digital health – at least, for those that had a solid infrastructure in place; how SCL Health has benefited from working with startups; and how they’re leveraging data to move toward value-based care. He also shared his take on the importance of being agile, what Covid-19 taught the industry about vendor partnerships, and why he will admittedly “steal every good idea.”
Part 1
Part 2

* Working with startups to “plug holes”
* Goal to standardize across the system – “We have a new thought process.”
* Leaders as “chameleons”
* Digital engagement 24/7 – “It doesn’t go to sleep.”
* Shift from long-term strategies to short-term plans
* “It becomes a very fun, dynamic environment.”
* Evolution of disaster recovery – “We want to be part of the solution.”
* Covid-19’s wakeup call

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Bold Statements
We’re creating a new system with new thought leadership and thinking about how to act as an operating company; as a healthcare system versus a holding company.
That’s where we have to be very agile; knowing that the core values, the core processes, and our foundation won’t change, but all the things that surround it have the opportunity to change, and should change, as our external forces change us.
The digital workforce and digital engagement we’re creating — it doesn’t go to sleep. It’s up and running 7/24. And so whatever the customer needs or the patient needs or the provider needs, we’ll have it available.
As the environment shifts, that 30-day or 90-day plan enables you to more easily pivot that in a different direction, because you don’t have that foothold in place that’s keeping you from turning. It becomes a very fun, very dynamic environment.
I think this woke up our generation to the fact that this is the new norm. We have to be prepared to maneuver and to manage during difficult times.
Gamble:  I know you’ve had an interest in working with startups. What kind of impact have you seen there?
Richardville:  From my standpoint, there were a few that came to the table that were very nimble and were able to very quickly stand up a product or a service to help us during crunch time. Longer term, there are probably a few that maybe don’t make it through.
I actually had a great call recent with a local company called Vation Venture that solicited other partners to come in and do 30-minute pitches. From that, we’re starting to see that they truly understand not only what happened in the last couple of months — because they’re not trying to solve yesterday’s problem; they’re trying to prevent or understand what happens in the future, and what that future might look like. Many of them are playing in that newer space, whether it’s on the data side with artificial intelligence,