- Prepare to dive into the forefront
of healthcare innovation at our 14th annual meeting coming
up on April 8th
through 11th at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, with thousands
of industry leaders converging over four dynamic days
of discussions on crucial topics from health IT
to executive leadership.
It's where the future of healthcare takes shape.
We can't wait to connect with you in person
and engage in these important conversations.
- This is Laura Dedo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
I'm thrilled today to be joined by Tina Esposito,
senior Vice President and Chief Data
Officer at Advocate Health.
Tina, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
- Thank you, Laura. Thanks for having me.
- Now, I am really looking forward to talking
with you further about some of the big things
that you're doing at Advocate Health
and you know, what you're looking ahead for.
But before we dive into that question,
can you tell me a little bit more
about yourself and your background?
- Sure. Happy to. So, yes, thanks for having me.
Tina Esposito, chief Data Officer for Advocate Health.
Uh, I've been with a legacy with, with the organization,
with a prior to that legacy organization.
Um, so I've been affiliated with, with this, um,
organization for 25 years.
I celebrate my 25th anniversary March 1st of this year.
Uh, I came to this role, uh, I had started, if you will, uh,
in one of our hospitals, advocate Lutheran General Hospital.
Um, and I always say, uh, I was doing data
before data was a thing.
Um, and so I've been really been able to see firsthand, um,
how the organization has evolved both in understanding
of the benefit and value of data, information reporting,
analytics, et cetera.
Uh, and now has been able,
and I've also been able to kind of have a hand, if you will,
in, in enhancing that and improving, uh, our ability
and capability around that effort as well.
- Well, that's great to hear. And certainly, uh,
like you mentioned, a long legacy of having
that data-driven healthcare, um, which is exciting to see.
I know so many different health systems right now are trying
to figure out how to incorporate the immense amount of data
that they can gather today into the healthcare system.
So I'm excited to learn from your perspective
how things have evolved and
what you're really doing at Advocate Health now.
Could you tell me about one
of your most successful projects from the last year or two?
What did you do and how did you measure the results?
- Sure, sure. So I think
that there's a couple that come to mind.
As I mentioned, uh,
and perhaps as, as listeners are aware,
advocate Health is a relatively new entity.
It was formed, uh, with the merger
of Atrium Health in the southeast
and advocate Aurora Health in the Midwest.
Uh, so we've been, we've been sort of at this, if you will,
for a little over a year.
And a lot of the work that has gone on, and,
and I'm very proud of this, we have been very thoughtful in
how we are approaching our integration.
Um, and that, um, you know, that
that comes across in, in a number of ways.
In, in my world, in my area, we've focused on ensuring
that there is frameworks, uh,
and a framework around, uh, coming together as it relates
to data governance, to, um, ai, you know,
being responsible in how we consider AI as a tool for us,
and how we would, you know, uh, innovate and, and deploy it.
Um, very thoughtful in
how we were bringing legacy teams together
and ensuring that we were aligning ourselves accordingly.
Not as legacy organizations, but rather a new entity.
Uh, and given the size, certainly kind of the,
the changing strategy, if you will, as as that has evolved.
So I, I would say I'm very I of that.
I think the way to, to measure that is really to ensure
that, um, I, I think
that you've got a strategy moving forward,
a cohesive strategy, you have teammate experience that is,
is good, um, that people are, are understanding the value
that they bring to the organization.
They understand where they belong in the organization.
I would also point to some of
our outcomes really off the gate.
Um, you know, our safety
and health outcomes, for example, has,
has surpassed even some of the legacy efforts that we had.
So I, I think there's different ways of measuring it,
but I also think it's important just to be thoughtful
as we come together, uh,
before we actually do, let's think thoughtfully about
how we're gonna do it, uh, before we sort of hit go.
So I, I would say I'm, I'm probably most proud about that.
I think the other area, maybe more tactically, um,
that we've spent quite a bit of time on is, is sort of our,
our move to the cloud and,
and creating a modern data platform.
So as we think about, um, not only modernizing our data,
but creating a platform that will enable us, uh,
both from sort of an advanced data science perspective,
a digital perspective, an AI perspective,
uh, bringing that together.
Uh, it's been a couple years of,
of really thoughtfulness planning.
Uh, and we've really been able to realize, uh, ensuring
that we are, uh, enabling the organization through kind
of this cloud-based approach with, with data and,
and sort of the accessibility of it.
- That's great to hear. And certainly
that transition in the cloud
and being able to have a,
a cohesive platform I know can really, um,
make a big difference, as you were saying, um, to
how you're able to gather and corral some of that data
and then use it in a very meaningful and thoughtful way.
From your perspective and,
and given how quickly things are changing in the healthcare
field, how, what are your top priorities right now
and for the next 12 months, what are you really seeing
as being important and essential top of mind today?
- Sure. Well, I think it does go back to a, a couple, I,
I have a couple in mind.
I think first, uh, continuing to build out our,
our cloud strategy, moving more data into the cloud.
'cause what that does is it really enables you to pull, uh,
disparate sources together in, in sort of a,
a very technical, technically appropriate way,
but then also enabling it
and exposing it to the right folks so
that they can leverage it as part of their work, whether
that's, you know, operations or strategy or what have you.
So certainly that the other area
that I'm really interested in, um, is thinking about
how we better collaborate with, uh, our operators.
And so as we think about, um, all of the, whether that's,
you know, resources, we have, um, efforts that we,
how do we sort of better engage in a, in a,
in a more meaningful conversation
to really identify priorities?
What is value add?
Um, I think there's often this back
and forth that is a little bit more order taking,
and then we sort of are disconnected.
And so how can we strengthen
that a little bit in terms of how we do our work?
How do we ensure that operations has line of sight
and to maybe what we might be dealing with and,
and vice versa, how do we get ourselves much more in the
operator's shoes so that we can better partner, uh, in a way
that will help them be successful as well?
So a lot of work going on as it relates to triaging,
as it relates to staffing, as it relates to how we, um,
connect and how we sort of have those conversations
and ultimately identifying what kind
of the most important work needs to be done.
- That really makes a lot of sense.
And, you know, I can imagine it's easier said than done
to bring together a organization with the breadth
and depth that you have,
and then too to become, uh, better partners and,
and like you were mentioning, have
that operational efficiency that can be so meaningful.
- Yeah, absolutely. I, I think you have
to be very broad in terms of your thinking
and sort of taking a step back
to understand the big picture, but then also getting very
deep and very practical, um, to ensure that, you know,
even at the local level, folks have what they need to,
to do their, do their work and, and run their day.
- Absolutely. Um, that makes a ton of sense.
And along those lines, you know, as times grow
and evolve, how do you anticipate your role
and teams will change based on the needs of the rest
of the system and the patients that you're serving?
- Well, I think we have to be really flexible.
I think the business of healthcare is changing.
I think there's still a core that needs to be, um,
about the patient and always, uh, as such.
But, um, these organizations have become incredibly complex,
uh, and there's affiliations
and there are other, um, you know, aspects of the business
that we just really need to make sure
that we're aligning ourselves accordingly and,
and, you know, how we've always been doing the work may not
be the way that we should be doing it.
Uh, in the future. I'm excited, for example, on maybe, um,
things that could be enabled by technology, whether
that's AI or something else.
And so how can we quickly pilot, understand
and incorporate, uh, new technology or,
or sort of kind of novel ways of, of doing our work
to ultimately make us more efficient?
Uh, I think that there's value, for example, in ensuring
that we are very focused on doing what the data,
not just pulling the data.
So how do we make that clear?
How can we better guide, how can we better consult so
that ultimately, um, things are action oriented in a,
in a way that would deem us successful
or help us close the gap
or, you know, um,
perhaps realize the strategy that we are deploying.
- That's fascinating to hear.
And you know, as you look at this change
and face these changes head on, especially going from,
you know, just providing the information, providing the data
to then making it actionable and,
and ensuring that people are following up
and, you know, having that, um, taking those actions
and those steps, how do you change the culture on that?
What is really from a leadership perspective, essential
to do, um, to get the results that you're looking for
and get the actions that you're looking for from the team?
- I think that's a great question. I'm not sure anyone's
cracked that nut, but I think some of what we intend
to do is really double down a bit on data literacy, um,
to ensure, I, I think even just raising this as something
that is an opportunity and ensuring that there is a, uh,
an understanding, a mutual understanding
between the business and IT or data and analytics.
You know, in my world it's data and analytics,
but I think you can replace that with any sort
of support service that exists.
I think having meaningful conversations on how
to be successful together, uh,
makes a huge difference in the data and analytics space.
I think a, a, a huge component of this is data literacy, um,
and sort of this notion of understanding what, um, needs
to occur in order for something
to be very successful with data.
So, and what I mean by that, and I,
and I, I know I referenced this earlier,
but, uh, for example, understanding very clearly
as a data leader
or as a, a data support, what's the question?
What's the business issue that we're trying to solve
for when I know context, I can much rather,
I can much better help support them from a data perspective.
Um, what you might need, right?
If I only have a, a request for a report
or a piece of information,
I may be missing the bigger picture.
So having that conversation with operations
and together understanding, okay, what's, what are the,
what's the business question we're trying to solve for now?
Let's together figure out what would actually get us there.
You know, what is the, what is the piece of data,
the reporting, the analysis, whatever insert,
whatever there, um, to help better support you.
So, um, certainly, certainly I think an opportunity for us.
I think also sometimes, um, you know, trying to figure out
what that balance is between centralized resources
and decentralized resources is, is often very important.
I think there are efficiencies that
that can be gained centralizing, um, infrastructure,
centralizing governance, centralizing aspects that ensure
that from a decentralized approach,
if someone is accessing this information,
they can be assured that it's correct, that it's valid,
that it's governed, uh, that, you know,
changes in the database have been incorporated and,
and sort of they don't have to think about that
and that makes their job easier as well.
So, uh, I think that also is,
is a huge component in understanding what is that line.
Sometimes it's a little blurry, um,
but if done well, I think it can be the most efficient way
for an organization to ensure
that they're leveraging their data.
- That makes a lot of sense. Tina, thank you so much
for joining us on the podcast today.
This has been a fascinating conversation.
I learned a ton and I look forward
to connecting with you again soon.
- Thanks so much, Laura. Appreciate it. I.