Becker's Hospital Review

56 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP MD: Or the light bulb with the high watt. You want the person with the 100-watt light bulb, not 25. Q: Setting out to build the next-gen EHR is a big under- taking and not for the faint of heart. What do you say to people who express doubt about your effort to transform a piece of technology, across all vendors, that's less than beloved by many physicians? MD: ere are always complaints about the EHR, in any place with providers. I think most people would argue that if you're going back to designing the EHR from the beginning, based on what we know today, you would probably do something different. You would create something much more conducive to your ability to actually provide improved qual- ity of care to patients. e EHR is oen limited in providing the kind of information we need to provide the comprehensive care people desire. at's a wonderful opportunity to break new ground and resist the con- straints of what's been around for a number of years. You've got to be able to look at the future and ask, "What do we think we need to improve healthcare outcomes and people's ability to stay well?" If you answer that, you are in the business of enhancing health, which means you need to be in the business of reforming the tools that help you do that. e EHR is one of them. If you aren't willing to ask this question, you're going to sit back and say, "is is too big. is is too difficult." Paul is an excellent partner who is willing to challenge the nature of his business. It's a pleasure to work with somebody who is not constrained by what is, but is focused on what should be. Few organizations, and few leaders, are wired that way. PB: If we're successful with this effort, which we all expect to be, we'll be successful around the globe. at's one major benefit of having Northwell as a partner in this effort, in that we can do this at scale with the vast breadth and depth of their service lines. It's going to be a vision-meld be- tween our two organizations. We're going to have issues, no doubt. Phy- sicians are going to be lined up outside of Michael's door, and engineers will be lined up outside mine. When challenges come up, Michael and I will be getting on the phone or the plane to talk about it. We won't not simply say, "Ah well, we tried. We had a great experiment. Why don't we flip the page and try something else." No. is has to get done. ere's no question that both organizations are lined up shoul- der-to-shoulder and leaning into this, to create something different for our doctors, nurses and patients. We want high fives from them when we're done, not people sitting back and complaining about the number of clicks or the fatigue they experience when using the tools. We take this obligation very seriously. Q: It's clear you both have a strong sense of what innova- tion is and isn't. What are some common misconceptions about innovation that you feel are important to clear up? PB: ere's the question of how you innovate, then there's the question of how you just say, "I'm going to build an app, put it on my phone and hope that a bunch of people use it." I'm not dismissing apps, I'm simply saying they must be connected to something bigger and broader to really deliver sustainable, long-term value. Will that app be used five years from now or just for the first 15 minutes of its life? It reminds me of the dot-com bubble, when everything was really interesting and people were excited about the growing opportunities around the internet. But just a few years later, most of those companies failed, shut down or went bankrupt. Apps are exciting in that they can start a conversation, but they are not innova- tion in and of themselves. MD: Another misconception is that innovation is only stressed in the C-suite of organizations. You have to see whether the innovative culture is on the front lines. Even if a C-suite has innovative thinkers, can they transmit that throughout their culture? If innovation isn't happening on the front lines and in middle management of the company, it's not hap- pening — that simple. Q: I'm even a bit self-conscious in posing these questions to you, in that it's easy to talk about innovation like we are now. Actually doing it is another matter entirely. As leaders of or- ganizations as large as Northwell and Allscripts, you can't afford lip service. How do you discern between the two? MD: Most people will tell you they're innovative and have innovative companies. e word is used so oen because the lingo is important. People constantly say, "I'm innovative." People in every organization I meet say they are innovative. It's important to make a distinction be- tween organizations that talk about innovation and those that actually innovate, and those who have a culture that pretends to be innovative and those with a culture that is truly innovative. We have to be careful not to overuse the term. PB: is is really where conviction comes in. ere are a lot of well-inten- tioned people, who are former clinicians, trying to get something done because they've seen something big happen at one point in time that was avoidable. ey thought, "Maybe if I could build a system or an app, I could prevent this from happening as it did to my family or to me." is is a group worth paying attention to, because there's a lot of really good ideas out there that people like Michael and I are always looking for. And these are the people who are passionate. ey have the twinkle in their eyes. ey really want to make a difference. ey have much more con- viction around doing something differently. I don't see a lot of that, quite frankly. Michael and I can sniff out your conviction pretty fast. n S P E C I A L G U E S T K E Y N O T E S John Bolton National Security Advisor (2018- 2019); U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005-2006); Senior Adviser, Rhone Group Howard Dean MD, Former Chairman, Democratic National Committee and Former Governor of Vermont Nikki Haley Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. (2017-2019) John C. Goodman President, Goodman Institute for Public Polic y Research Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing Legend, Successful Entrepreneur and Author, The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring Shaquille O'Neal 4x NBA Champion, Co-Host of TNT's "Inside the NBA" Sarah Kliff Investigative Repor ter, The New York Times BECKER'S HOSPITAL REVIEW 6TH ANNUAL HEALTH IT + REVENUE CYCLE CONFERENCE October 13-16, 2020 | Navy Pier, Chicago REGISTER NOW! bit.ly/3bj3lnH | registration@beckershealthcare.com | 800.417.2035

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