Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1514598
27 CIO / HEALTH IT Further illustrating the blending of marketing and digital, Houston Methodist's marketing arm aims to heighten the patient experience by improving its online appointment booking and find-a-physician features, helping better match patients with relevant providers who have openings in their schedules. "Our market research has shown that (patients) want more of a partnership with healthcare systems and with their providers," said Laura Lopez, senior vice president of marketing and communications at Houston Methodist. "People are focusing more on health and well-being and looking for big healthcare brands to be thought leaders in these areas." e eight-hospital system plans to get there by juicing up its blog, social media, e-newsletter and e-digest, as well as delving deeper into "more easily digestible content" such as podcasts, videos and infographics. Ease and accessibility of care will be top of mind for Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health's marketing department. Patient education is ever important. "While utilizing traditional and digital tools to drive service line volume remains a priority, it is important that we open doors and direct patients to the right level of care at the right time — in a manner that makes sense to them," said Sandra Mackey, chief marketing officer of the 48-hospital system. "It is essential that patients understand the difference between primary care, urgent care and the emergency room to help secure appropriate and cost-effective care." Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health's 2024 marketing approach will help further the 22-hospital system's multiyear strategy of driving "growth with purpose," said Jennifer Bollinger, senior vice president and chief consumer and brand officer. Ms. Bollinger started in the role last February. "is intentional growth aims to extend our high-quality care to more individuals and positively impact more lives," she said. "Our bold brand promise aligns seamlessly with internal work we've completed to reimagine our vision, mission and values." But in 2024, it all comes back to AI. Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health is investing in the technology to "increase the speed and reach of media placement, CRM automation and overall creativity," said Julie Spencer Washington, executive vice president and chief marketing, communications and customer experience officer. "For Trinity Health, AI is only as valuable as its ability to help us improve health outcomes for individuals and whole communities," she said. "We will need to remain agile, creative and responsive, using all the tools, new and familiar, to pinpoint the needs of our customers and our communities." n What CIOs are focusing on in 2024 By Naomi Diaz I n 2024, hospital and health system CIOs are focusing on exploring generative AI use cases, with the aim of driving greater efficiencies for their organizations and staff. Becker's asked five hospital and health system CIOs: What is one thing you are laser-focused on for 2024 at your organization? Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length. Michael Elley. CIO of Baptist Health (Little Rock, Ark.): We will be hyper-focused on evaluating, partnering in development and deploying generative AI to appropriate use cases throughout our organization. Spanning from clinician effectiveness and patient experience all the way to cybersecurity augmentation efforts; these are just a few areas we are excited about exploring. Michael Saad. CIO of Munson Healthcare (Traverse City, Mich.): The one word I would use to describe our 2024 focus: empowerment. We are focused on providing our team members with the tools and relevant data that empower them to provide the best care possible for our patients. For our caregivers, this means providing them with tools to assist with clinical documentation, information sharing and clinical decision-making. For our administrative areas, this means automating repetitive tasks and providing them with tools so our patients can better access our services and connect with our providers. Scott Waters. Chief Information and Technology Officer of Overlake Medical Center (Bellevue, Wash.): We are moving from smaller pilots and use cases into utilization of gen AI at scale for Overlake. I will be focused on continuing to establish the necessary governance structure to ensure that AI use in our organization is vetted effectively using multiple lenses (ethical, access/equity, patient/caregiver safety, efficiency, etc.) and involving a diverse group of people from our organization, medical staff and our community. If we are effective in the evaluation, prioritization and deployment of gen AI technologies to solve the right challenges, we will see an accelerated timeline from initial pilot to widespread use. I am very excited and focused on the potential to take a big leap forward in 2024 in this area. Will Landry. Senior Vice President and CIO of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (Baton Rouge, La.): We are laser-focused on helping to improve revenue cycle operations. This also includes improving RevCycle technology and systems support. Roger Lutz. CIO of Independence Health System (Greensburg, Pa.): Key role will be continuing to recruit in a tough talent/labor market. n