Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1476979
48 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Apps, bots & beyond: A conversation with Kaiser Permanente IT chief Diane Comer By Giles Bruce K aiser Permanente has long been known as one of the leading health systems for IT and digital innovation. So Diane Comer was excited to take over as the Oakland, Calif.-based provider and health plan's executive vice president and chief information and technology officer in April 2021, having been with the organiza- tion since 2007. Becker's recently spoke to Ms. Comer about the evolution of health IT and what health- care tech developments she's looking for- ward to in the future. 1. What attracted you to working in health IT? I came to Kaiser Permanente because of the opportunity to increase my skill set and broaden my horizon, and in the process, I became committed to the organization's vi- sion and mission. 2. How has the field changed since you started working in it? Technology is constantly changing and to- day's emphasis is on enhancing the consumer experience via digital channels. Our technol- ogy capabilities are vast and wide-ranging, including cloud, apps, APIs (application pro- gramming interfaces), containers, and mul- tiple off-the-shelf products integrated with in-house developed solutions. e menu is rich, and it's the job of the technology world to make it simple and seamless. And — oh, by the way — all of this technol- ogy needs to be securely protected against any and all cyberattacks. It's now about balancing the technology which transforms your business objectives while protecting your environment. 3. What health IT issues are you spend- ing most of your time on today, and what are your strategies for them? I spend much of my time on strategic topics, including how to create an environment that enables Kaiser Permanente to meet our ob- jectives of providing high-quality, affordable and more accessible care across the U.S. My role requires myself and other IT leaders to lead, advocate, influence and bring our ex- pertise around technology into larger busi- ness conversations and decisions. IT delivers the technology that enables Kai- ser Permanente to transform healthcare and the consumer experience. We're the group that makes it happen. 4. What health IT innovation that you were involved with at Kaiser Perma- nente are you most proud of? I'm most proud of the work my team has done to deliver innovative technology plat- forms at scale. Kaiser Permanente has over 52 million patient health records, making it the largest civilian electronic medical record in the world. Our pharmacy platform provides the tech- nical backbone for the nation's largest non- profit, acute care pharmacy system. Our telephony platform allows us to connect with our members and manages volumes of more than 178 million calls annually. Our cloud platform enables Kaiser Permanente to deliver our digital and consumer-first vi- sion, allowing every digital experience to be developed in a consistent manner and at a faster pace. In 2021, Kaiser Permanente provided ap- proximately 28.8 million scheduled phone and video visits — about 37 percent of all ambulatory care visits. My role as CITO is to define an environment that fosters creative leadership and support for incredibly large- scale and critical technology initiatives. 5. What do CIOs need to think about in a high inflationary environment? A high inflationary environment adds pres- sure to the cost of our supply chain and the cost of our workforce. We are moving be- yond the oen and overused phrase of "do- ing more with less," and now focusing on changing the work to reflect what is import- ant and what matters, and for the work that does matter, finding ways to make it easier for people to do the work through automa- tion, standardization and more. Image Credit: Sundry Photography/Shutterstock