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Would you like to exchange best
practices and ideas to improve care,

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enhance operational efficiency,

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and address financial
challenges with your peers?

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Becker's Healthcare is facilitating these
conversations at their eighth annual

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health, IT digital
health and R C M meeting.

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You can check your
eligibility for complimentary
attendance at the link in the

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description. We are excited
to welcome you in October.

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This is Laura Dedo with the
Becker's Healthcare Podcast.

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I'm thrilled today to be
joined by Kevin Bitta,

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chief Information Officer
at Evergreen Health. Kevin,

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it's a pleasure to have
you on the podcast today.

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Pleasure to be here.

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Now, I know we have a lot to talk about.

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There's so much happening in health
IT and the digital health space.

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It's really changing quickly. Um,
but before we dive into my questions,

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can you tell me a little bit more
about yourself and your background?

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Sure. I, uh, actually started at
Evergreen Health in, uh, January, 2000.

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So I've been there a little over 23 years.

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I started there in social care. I
worked in social care about 12 years,

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and then I moved over to
technology and data in about 2012.

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Um, so then I, I really built the
team from just me to what it is now.

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It's about 47 folks.

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Oh, wow. That's amazing. So, over the
years as you're building this IT team,

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you know, when you, I guess, first took
on the role, you imagine that it would,

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uh,

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become the strong of a responsibility
or how was that evolution like for you?

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Um, it was definitely interesting,
um, moving from, uh, just me, uh,

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having to do all of the work,
um, to then recruiting folks, uh,

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retaining those folks, training them.

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And then for me it was mostly
about kind of creating this culture

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that values people and that kind
of aligns with the organization's

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goals. I think as the organization grew,

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it was also a matter of being in
those conversations to kind of, um,

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adjust to how healthcare
was changing at the time.

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Got it. That makes a
lot of sense. You know,

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I'm excited to hear more about the
culture that you've built there throughout

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our discussion today.
From your perspective,

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what are some of the
opportunities that you, um,

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are excited about right now as well
as the headwinds you have your eye on?

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Actually, a lot of the work that
I'm doing is looking internal.

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We're doing two major things
right now over the next,

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I wanna say eight to 12 months.

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We're doing a lot of optimization of
our current systems and workflows.

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We're working with a lot of our
internal patient facing areas,

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really to refine the work they do and
how they use technology and information.

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Uh,

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we're also looking at a lot
of the software that we've
implemented over the past

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couple years. As you know,

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COVID was quite the disruptor with
technology and the use of technology to

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support a hybrid workforce, and
even in the healthcare space, um,

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providing care in a different
way. So we're, we're,

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we're turning back and we're looking at
those areas and those systems and kind

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of saying,

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what can we do to make things better
or improve the experience for the

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user. Um,

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the other thing that we're doing is
we're looking at people and culture.

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So again, I kind of mentioned that for me,

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creating that culture that values the
employee is so important to me. Um,

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having, uh, having a workforce that
feels valued, that feels heard,

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um, that gets kind of the buy-in
from their employer that says, here,

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we're gonna train you, or we're gonna,
we've got your career in mind. Um, that,

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that to me, there's, there's
a lot of value to that.

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I feel like Evergreen has given me that
opportunity in allowing me to move from

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social care to technology. Um, and so, uh,

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that's something that I value and I want
to pass on to the employees in my area.

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Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's
amazing to hear and definitely, um,

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helpful perspective to
understand is, you know,

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I'm sure the teams that you work with
build their careers and work on, um,

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you know, what's next for them. They
can really take your example as, uh,

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something that, you know, a very
shiny and clear pathway now, you know,

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it's exciting to think about
how much healthcare has changed.

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I know you mentioned the pandemic
and during that time there was, um,

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just a lot of change in movement.
So, you know, what are you,

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I guess, today, um, and, and then,
you know, looking into the future,

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how are you thinking about growth and
adding value to Evergreen Health overall?

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Um, yeah, I'm, like I mentioned,
the technology we have in place, um,

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whether it's software,
just technology itself, um,

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we've been doing a lot
of kind of upgrades to,

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to everything from the
network systems, um,

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to cybersecurity, um, to
also, like I mentioned, uh,

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the areas that touch our patient
care. And for us, um, it's, uh,

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we see patients in a different
way. I mean, we're, we're, uh,

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fairly qualified health center look alike,

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so a lot of the work we do is out
with as a community health center. Um,

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so it's not just, um,
primary care patients, um,

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but it's also folks in the
behavioral health space. And, uh,

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we do have, um, a lot of,
uh, drug users that we, um,

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apply a lot of our technology to help
them and help reach out to them and help

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them stay connected to healthcare.

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So there's a lot of small areas for
us that we're looking at these, um,

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solutions and going,

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how are we gonna scale up and how are
we gonna add value to the way we treat

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patients, uh, in that way. And
then again, just stating it again,

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adding value and aligning with the goals
of the organization is, I think it's a,

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it's a never ending task because
healthcare, as you know, shifts,

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it moves and within each organization,
the values of the organization,

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the goals of that organization shift and
change as we add on different services

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or different care delivery models.

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And then technology and data and
information has to do its best to kind of

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work alongside and, uh,

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collaborate and partner with the folks
who provide care to those patients.

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So that's, I feel like that
keeps us on our toes enough. Um,

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and so we're always trying to make sure
that we're aligning, um, with what,

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what's ahead of us as
far as healthcare goes.

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Got it. That makes a
lot of sense. You know,

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and definitely hard to look on the
crystal ball and always know how to stay

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ahead of things,

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but it seems like you've got a great
system in place and a great foundation to

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do that. Um,

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when you are looking at the
organization as a whole today and,

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and where it's headed, I know
there's a lot of headwinds right now.

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We talked through some of them and a
lot of places as well are a few seeing

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their resources, um,
dwindle just a bit. Um,

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so for those organizations that
are thinking through, you know,

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maybe they have limited budgets or
resources, how do you think through what,

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um, investments or, or risks are
still worth taking this year,

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especially in a year where, you know,

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there might not be the same financial
resources as organizations have had in the

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past? I.

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Think a lot of that is,
um, good communication.

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I know that we've been having those
conversations, um, at our leadership team.

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And I think open communication obviously
is, is so important at that level. Um,

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talking about, um, the areas
that we can find efficiencies,

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the areas that we can, um, do things
in a different way, that that, um,

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improves the way we do care, like I said,
but still, still values the user. Um,

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whether the user is the, the people we
serve or the folks providing the care.

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Um, I think that for us, as we, as
we do make those shifts and as we do,

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you know, as the dollars tighten, um,

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for us it's a matter of let's make
sure we're all on the same page.

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Let's make sure we know, um, the areas
that we might reorganize or shift.

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We all know the impacts.
It's just that kind of,

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that conversation you have
across the table with,

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with all the folks that are important
around that table. I think that that's,

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for me, that's the biggest part of it.
It's, it's a lot less conversation about,

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um, technology and data.

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It's more just a conversation about what
are the needs that we have in front of

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us? Let's work together because we have
a great relationship. Let's collaborate,

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let's partner together. I think
that's the biggest piece for me.

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Got it. That makes a lot of sense.
You know, and, and really, uh,

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from the team and culture perspective,

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it seems like it'd be an amazing
place to be and a place to work. Um,

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when you are building your team and when
you were hiring so many folks over the

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last few years, uh,

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what did you really look for in somebody
to bring on the team and, and how, um,

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were you able to really retain them?

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Especially over the past few years when
I know there's been a lot of turnover

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for a lot of organizations.

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I, I, I think there's a measure of,
um, maybe luck involved, honestly. Um,

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but I, I, I look at,
uh, the leaders in my,

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in my area that I work
with, and quite honestly,

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the, the benefit of working
at a community health center,

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as people line up to the mission and you,

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you can see that they wear that on
their, on their sleeve. They're,

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they're there for, um, making
an impact in people's lives.

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They believe in the
mission that Evergreen has.

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They believe in the values that we
have there. Um, and they want to,

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they wanna serve that population that
we serve. So I think that helps. Um,

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and then just kind of tying back
to that, I, I think for me, um,

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so I was raised on a, on a
reservation in the Southwest.

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It didn't come from much. And for someone
to come in and allow me to, um, to,

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they allowed, you know, me to take
chances and, and make mistakes,

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and they put training in front of me
and they said, here you go. You're,

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you're building this,
um, kind of like I said,

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and building from scratch
and knowing that, um,

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I was given the opportunity to
make mistakes and learn as I go. I,

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I try to make sure that's a culture, um,

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that's in place for my
teams and my leadership.

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And I've seen them actually
use that same model, um,

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just to encourage their folks to
grow and learn. Um, and again, as a,

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a community health center,

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we don't have all the dollars
of a larger organization. Um,

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so the folks we bring in, a lot of times
we have to train and upskill them. And,

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uh, that, that, I guess for us, the
benefit of that is the folks really,

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truly feel invested in because we're
talking to them openly about their

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career opportunities. And we, we have
lost folks to larger organizations,

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but we celebrate those losses
because it's great for them,

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it's great for them in their career
path, and we're open about it.

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We're having open conversations
about it wherever, you know, as,

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as much as we can. So that's, that's some
of the, the culture piece that I, uh,

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appreciate and I try
to value with my team.

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Absolutely. I love that. I, I think
that makes a lot of sense, you know,

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and it is really helpful
for you to walk through.

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Now before we wrap up our conversation,

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I wanted to look into the
crystal ball one more time.

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Where do you see some of
the best opportunities for
growth and development for

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your team and yourself and the future?
Where do you see, um, adding skills or,

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you know, really, uh,

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needing to grow as the healthcare
industry and technology evolves.

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On the technology side for
an organization our size, um,

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we are actually, uh, moving, we've been
moving over to cloud for some of our,

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uh, solutions. We had a
lot of on-prem solutions,

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and so we're shifting over
to cloud wherever we can.

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So we wanna get out of the business
of, of maintaining hardware, um,

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and devices. And we want to kind of shift
that over to cloud, wherever we can.

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Um, while, you know, accepting
some level of risk there. Um, on,

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on the people side, um, you know, de and
I has a big, been a big conversation.

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And I think the culture that we
created, um, at Evergreen in general,

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uh, has been great. I, you know, we
serve a large LGBTQ plus population, um,

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and so for us to shift and, uh,

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see that there's needs with
other areas, I think for us,

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that one is an eyeopener like to look
at, to look internally and go, oh, wow,

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we we're deficient in these
areas, or we could do better. Um,

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but I think the other side of that coin
is we could take a page from how we've

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been serving other folks and admit
to where we are and saying, okay, we,

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here we are. Here's our baseline, um,
and here's some opportunities we can, um,

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improve. And I think having, um,

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open conversation with
folks about our progress,

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where we are and where we wanna be,

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and asking for their feedback and
their input has been very valuable.

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And we've learned a lot of lessons
along the way. Um, as you know,

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Buffalo has had some tragic
events recently, um, last May.

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And so we've had to really, uh,
make sure our presence was known,

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um, to our, to the folks
who work at Evergreen, um,

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in addition to the larger community.
So it's been quite, quite a,

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00:12:38,820 --> 00:12:42,860
i I would say, quite a, a tough
past few years. Like I said,

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a lot of lessons learned, but we've
really tried to make sure we continue, um,

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to look forward and, and just try to
find opportunities to grow and learn.

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Absolutely. Amazing. Well, Kevin,

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thank you so much for joining
us on the podcast today.

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This has been a really fun discussion. I
learned a lot and I, I look forward to,

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uh, connecting with you again soon.

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Thank you so much. I appreciate you.

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It's so important for leaders at the
top of organizations to keep learning,

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stay sharp, grow their networks,

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00:13:15,190 --> 00:13:18,320
help our audience better do this
in a more simplified, personalized,

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00:13:18,380 --> 00:13:22,280
and meaningful way. Becker's
Healthcare has launched my bhc,

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it's your trusted Becker's healthcare
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00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,160
connections, events and
learning opportunities.

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00:13:28,830 --> 00:13:33,720
Join the community free of
charge@www.my dot becker's hospital

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00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:35,680
review.com, and we'll see you there.