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Hi, everyone. This is Scott King with the

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Becker's Healthcare Podcast.

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I'm thrilled today to be joined by doctor

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Robert Insoft, chief operating officer at Franciscan Children's

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Campus at Boston Children's Hospital System. Doctor Insoft,

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how are you doing today? Thanks so much

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for joining us. We appreciate it. Yeah. Doing

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very well. I was busy in health care,

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but appreciate that you reached out and look

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forward to contributing.

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Absolutely. You know, it's it's always busy. It's

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a busy time especially.

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So I definitely appreciate your time and and

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wanna get your expertise on a lot of

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big trends and and topics in health care.

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But before we do that, before we dive

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into the conversation, wondering if you could please

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just share a little bit about your background.

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Sure. I originally trained I'm trained as a

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a pediatrician, which is still near to near

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and dear to me because I still practice.

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I'm also a newborn,

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intensive care specialist.

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So as a neonatologist,

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newborn specialist, I've been practicing for over twenty

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five years and have actually, directed and been

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chief of two major perinatal centers and,

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also serve as a chief medical officer of

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a large health system and now in the

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role of chief operating officer.

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Boy, it sounds like you certainly wear a

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lot of hats as do most COOs of

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health systems.

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In addressing that, I'm just curious what you

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think is your

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biggest responsibility out of all the things you

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do and manage as a COO.

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You know, it's interesting. I I look at

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my role very differently. I think my biggest

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responsibility

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is managing a team of leaders, which I'm

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extremely proud of, to making sure that every

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single day they're doing the best job possible

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in providing the best care to our patients

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and families

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in the most effective and efficient

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way of caring for our families for our

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staff. And that's what I'm most proud of.

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Absolutely. I think, you know, across health care,

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we hear about happy staff leads to happy

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patients, so that's wonderful that's a priority for

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you.

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In in getting more to your health system,

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can you

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detail what the biggest biggest accomplishment

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from the past year was for you?

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Yeah. In our particular health hospital is part

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of a growing health care system within

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what I'm most proud of is that I'm

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helping to lead a,

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a very a very large group of staff

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while they're transitioning into a larger health care

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system. You know, health care integrations are going

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all over the country.

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And when you're a smaller entity and you're

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becoming part of a bigger health care system,

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there's a lot of, you know, nervousness,

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you know, apprehension, etcetera, as well as excitement.

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And I think what I'm most proud of

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is that I've been able to help with

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the cultural changes that we need to make

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so that we can make our integration

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our integrations more seamless

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and more positive.

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What do you think the most difficult part

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of an integration like that is?

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I think the again, every system is different.

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Every group of professionals is different. But I

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think the most difficult part and also most

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rewarding is making sure that you always remember

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the history.

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You you appreciate the history and respect the

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people that are merging into a bigger health

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care system and that you, you know, allow

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them to bring what is essential for them

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into that larger health care system. Just because

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you're bigger doesn't mean you're always better, You

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but you are different, and we wanna make

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sure that,

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what our staff has learned

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and, been through is respected as their part

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as they go through this integration,

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journey.

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I think it's a great point. Kinda no

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matter the system and the the size of

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that system, there's certainly a rich history there.

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So, yeah, absolutely

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great point.

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What were the big organizational goals

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you set for your system in 2025,

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and how are you tracking on those goals

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now?

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Yeah. I think they would our goals are

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pretty much divided up into multiple categories like

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other hospitals and health care systems.

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You know, we're looking at certain key efficiency

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goals, just trying to you know, making sure

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that care can be provided for in a

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more efficient and yet,

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cost effective manner. So that's the first set

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of goals.

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Another set of goals is specific, you know,

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departmental integrations, how we actually achieve those goals.

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Certain departments being integrated into a larger health

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care system, there's a lot of boxes to

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check off in terms of getting there, and,

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that's been a big part of what we've

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been doing every single day.

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And the third part is delivering, you know,

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high quality patient experience, making sure that with

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all the business that we're doing in the

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background, that we're not forgetting our primary goal,

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and that's making sure that we deliver the

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best care to our patients in the least

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disruptive of an environment.

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What are you what are the top things

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you think lead to that kind of that

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that high quality care that you just mentioned?

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I think there's a number of factors. First

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of all, you have to again, and this

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is something that has changed with me in

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my career having navigated health care system through

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COVID, you know, a couple years ago. We

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used to always think that the patients come

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first, and, of course, they're the high highest

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priority. But for me, it's the staff.

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You have to have an engaged,

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high quality,

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positive,

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thinking

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staff because if you don't have that, then

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high quality care is not something you're ever

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gonna achieve. So we always think about, you

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know, focusing on the patients first and foremost,

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but that, to me, philosophically, sometimes leaves the

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staff at a disadvantage.

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I look at it from a different lens.

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You have to have an invested,

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high quality, well trained,

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again, happy staff

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because that's gonna be what you need to

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deliver high quality care. So the focus is

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on the staff that delivers you what you

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need in patient care.

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Absolutely.

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What are the headwinds or challenges you anticipate

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for next year or two for for your

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staff?

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Yeah. I think the the biggest headwinds and,

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again, it's not just for our staff, but

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it's for our it's health care in general,

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is that, again, nothing new, nothing novel. You

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have to learn to do more with less.

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And, also, to be open this is actually

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something I'm learning in my in my own

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career. You have to be able to be

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open to new ideas about

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structure, about organizational structure.

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Classic ways of, you know, who reports to

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whom and why, I think, really need to

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be thought about differently.

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And you need to be

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fluid and malleable

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as to,

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how you need to set up your organization

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to meet whatever your specific goals and needs

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are. You know, coming into an organization, I

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can tell you firsthand,

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those that reported to me and those departments

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that reported to me, it's it's changed about

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50% in three years. And the reason for

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that is because the needs of the of

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the institution has changed, and therefore, you have

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to kind of flex with it and be

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able to go with that, to accommodate those

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needs.

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You know, the the COO position is one

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that certainly

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evolved over time in health care. How have

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you seen that role change?

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You know, it's interesting. I'm new to the

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COO role as of three almost four years

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ago, and I was a chief medical officer

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for almost a decade before that. And there

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is a lot of, you know, obviously, overlap.

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But what I think makes the COO role

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distinctive

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is that, again, you have to have your

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hands in every piece of the organization in

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terms of making sure everything is running well.

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You have to let people know that they

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can't work in silos. They can't be making

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decisions

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over in one corner without understanding the effect

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on the other corner. And I think that's

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what makes the COO role very exciting and

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very unique is that you have to be

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that role that looks at all the corners,

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okay, of the room to making sure that

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whatever is decided in any one particular entity

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works for everything else. Because as you know,

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in health care, not any one thing is

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is independent of the other. Everything touches each

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other. So, again, that's the exciting part of

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being a COO is that you need to

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be somebody who wants to and thrives

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on linking everything together to making sure your

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health care organization runs as effectively as possible.

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Yeah. And I know you said you're a

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bit new to the COO position.

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With all the things you have to do,

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all the responsibilities, do you think

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you learn to multitask better the last few

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years, or do you get better at managing

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your time more efficiently?

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I think both, actually. Multitasking

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is is

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is is absolutely an essential piece of this

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role. And I would I would say to

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anybody, you know, when looking at roles like

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this, that you have to be honest with

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yourself in terms of what your style of

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of work is. Obviously, there are certain roles

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that I would never undertake because it doesn't

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fit my own personality.

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I think to be an effective chief operating

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officer, you have to be somebody who is

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willing to and excited by

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multitasking

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and being able to be,

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a little bit of a jack of all

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trades.

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And the last question I have for you,

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doctor Insoff, how are you evolving as a

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leader?

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Great great question. I think I'm learning from

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feedback that, again, like every every other health

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care leader hears, listen more and speak less.

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That's first and foremost.

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I think by hearing everyone's viewpoint,

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you engage your staff more. You don't wanna

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jump out and make decisions in front of

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your your team without hearing what their opinions

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are because, otherwise, you're gonna sway the direction

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in which they're gonna think. So, again, listening

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more, saying less,

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and engaging your directors and managers

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so that they feel empowered. And, most importantly,

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they feel supported by you. They need to

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know that they care about you that you

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care about them. And I think that it's

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actually a factor that sometimes is a make

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or break in terms of health care systems

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and health care system leadership relationships.

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Were there any leaders that that you learned

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from, that you drew some things from?

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Yeah. I actually do have.

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Just like everybody else, I've learned a lot

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of of of what works and what doesn't

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work from previous health care leaders that I've

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had to work with or work under. For

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the most part, it's been on a positive

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side. Sometimes it has not been. I think

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everyone learns things that they want to avoid

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from previous

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relationships.

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On the other hand, you learn what is

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most effective for you and your institution.

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So, again, when I say you learn, you

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learn what works well and what doesn't. And,

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and that's the part about growing in any

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particular health care role.

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Doctor Hinsult, thanks so much for a great

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conversation. I appreciate you joining the podcast. I

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look forward to working with you again soon.

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Great. Thank you so much.