Hi, everyone. This is Scott King with the
Becker's Healthcare Podcast.
I'm thrilled today to be joined by doctor
Robert Insoft, chief operating officer at Franciscan Children's
Campus at Boston Children's Hospital System. Doctor Insoft,
how are you doing today? Thanks so much
for joining us. We appreciate it. Yeah. Doing
very well. I was busy in health care,
but appreciate that you reached out and look
forward to contributing.
Absolutely. You know, it's it's always busy. It's
a busy time especially.
So I definitely appreciate your time and and
wanna get your expertise on a lot of
big trends and and topics in health care.
But before we do that, before we dive
into the conversation, wondering if you could please
just share a little bit about your background.
Sure. I originally trained I'm trained as a
a pediatrician, which is still near to near
and dear to me because I still practice.
I'm also a newborn,
intensive care specialist.
So as a neonatologist,
newborn specialist, I've been practicing for over twenty
five years and have actually, directed and been
chief of two major perinatal centers and,
also serve as a chief medical officer of
a large health system and now in the
role of chief operating officer.
Boy, it sounds like you certainly wear a
lot of hats as do most COOs of
health systems.
In addressing that, I'm just curious what you
think is your
biggest responsibility out of all the things you
do and manage as a COO.
You know, it's interesting. I I look at
my role very differently. I think my biggest
responsibility
is managing a team of leaders, which I'm
extremely proud of, to making sure that every
single day they're doing the best job possible
in providing the best care to our patients
and families
in the most effective and efficient
way of caring for our families for our
staff. And that's what I'm most proud of.
Absolutely. I think, you know, across health care,
we hear about happy staff leads to happy
patients, so that's wonderful that's a priority for
you.
In in getting more to your health system,
can you
detail what the biggest biggest accomplishment
from the past year was for you?
Yeah. In our particular health hospital is part
of a growing health care system within
what I'm most proud of is that I'm
helping to lead a,
a very a very large group of staff
while they're transitioning into a larger health care
system. You know, health care integrations are going
all over the country.
And when you're a smaller entity and you're
becoming part of a bigger health care system,
there's a lot of, you know, nervousness,
you know, apprehension, etcetera, as well as excitement.
And I think what I'm most proud of
is that I've been able to help with
the cultural changes that we need to make
so that we can make our integration
our integrations more seamless
and more positive.
What do you think the most difficult part
of an integration like that is?
I think the again, every system is different.
Every group of professionals is different. But I
think the most difficult part and also most
rewarding is making sure that you always remember
the history.
You you appreciate the history and respect the
people that are merging into a bigger health
care system and that you, you know, allow
them to bring what is essential for them
into that larger health care system. Just because
you're bigger doesn't mean you're always better, You
but you are different, and we wanna make
sure that,
what our staff has learned
and, been through is respected as their part
as they go through this integration,
journey.
I think it's a great point. Kinda no
matter the system and the the size of
that system, there's certainly a rich history there.
So, yeah, absolutely
great point.
What were the big organizational goals
you set for your system in 2025,
and how are you tracking on those goals
now?
Yeah. I think they would our goals are
pretty much divided up into multiple categories like
other hospitals and health care systems.
You know, we're looking at certain key efficiency
goals, just trying to you know, making sure
that care can be provided for in a
more efficient and yet,
cost effective manner. So that's the first set
of goals.
Another set of goals is specific, you know,
departmental integrations, how we actually achieve those goals.
Certain departments being integrated into a larger health
care system, there's a lot of boxes to
check off in terms of getting there, and,
that's been a big part of what we've
been doing every single day.
And the third part is delivering, you know,
high quality patient experience, making sure that with
all the business that we're doing in the
background, that we're not forgetting our primary goal,
and that's making sure that we deliver the
best care to our patients in the least
disruptive of an environment.
What are you what are the top things
you think lead to that kind of that
that high quality care that you just mentioned?
I think there's a number of factors. First
of all, you have to again, and this
is something that has changed with me in
my career having navigated health care system through
COVID, you know, a couple years ago. We
used to always think that the patients come
first, and, of course, they're the high highest
priority. But for me, it's the staff.
You have to have an engaged,
high quality,
positive,
thinking
staff because if you don't have that, then
high quality care is not something you're ever
gonna achieve. So we always think about, you
know, focusing on the patients first and foremost,
but that, to me, philosophically, sometimes leaves the
staff at a disadvantage.
I look at it from a different lens.
You have to have an invested,
high quality, well trained,
again, happy staff
because that's gonna be what you need to
deliver high quality care. So the focus is
on the staff that delivers you what you
need in patient care.
Absolutely.
What are the headwinds or challenges you anticipate
for next year or two for for your
staff?
Yeah. I think the the biggest headwinds and,
again, it's not just for our staff, but
it's for our it's health care in general,
is that, again, nothing new, nothing novel. You
have to learn to do more with less.
And, also, to be open this is actually
something I'm learning in my in my own
career. You have to be able to be
open to new ideas about
structure, about organizational structure.
Classic ways of, you know, who reports to
whom and why, I think, really need to
be thought about differently.
And you need to be
fluid and malleable
as to,
how you need to set up your organization
to meet whatever your specific goals and needs
are. You know, coming into an organization, I
can tell you firsthand,
those that reported to me and those departments
that reported to me, it's it's changed about
50% in three years. And the reason for
that is because the needs of the of
the institution has changed, and therefore, you have
to kind of flex with it and be
able to go with that, to accommodate those
needs.
You know, the the COO position is one
that certainly
evolved over time in health care. How have
you seen that role change?
You know, it's interesting. I'm new to the
COO role as of three almost four years
ago, and I was a chief medical officer
for almost a decade before that. And there
is a lot of, you know, obviously, overlap.
But what I think makes the COO role
distinctive
is that, again, you have to have your
hands in every piece of the organization in
terms of making sure everything is running well.
You have to let people know that they
can't work in silos. They can't be making
decisions
over in one corner without understanding the effect
on the other corner. And I think that's
what makes the COO role very exciting and
very unique is that you have to be
that role that looks at all the corners,
okay, of the room to making sure that
whatever is decided in any one particular entity
works for everything else. Because as you know,
in health care, not any one thing is
is independent of the other. Everything touches each
other. So, again, that's the exciting part of
being a COO is that you need to
be somebody who wants to and thrives
on linking everything together to making sure your
health care organization runs as effectively as possible.
Yeah. And I know you said you're a
bit new to the COO position.
With all the things you have to do,
all the responsibilities, do you think
you learn to multitask better the last few
years, or do you get better at managing
your time more efficiently?
I think both, actually. Multitasking
is is
is is absolutely an essential piece of this
role. And I would I would say to
anybody, you know, when looking at roles like
this, that you have to be honest with
yourself in terms of what your style of
of work is. Obviously, there are certain roles
that I would never undertake because it doesn't
fit my own personality.
I think to be an effective chief operating
officer, you have to be somebody who is
willing to and excited by
multitasking
and being able to be,
a little bit of a jack of all
trades.
And the last question I have for you,
doctor Insoff, how are you evolving as a
leader?
Great great question. I think I'm learning from
feedback that, again, like every every other health
care leader hears, listen more and speak less.
That's first and foremost.
I think by hearing everyone's viewpoint,
you engage your staff more. You don't wanna
jump out and make decisions in front of
your your team without hearing what their opinions
are because, otherwise, you're gonna sway the direction
in which they're gonna think. So, again, listening
more, saying less,
and engaging your directors and managers
so that they feel empowered. And, most importantly,
they feel supported by you. They need to
know that they care about you that you
care about them. And I think that it's
actually a factor that sometimes is a make
or break in terms of health care systems
and health care system leadership relationships.
Were there any leaders that that you learned
from, that you drew some things from?
Yeah. I actually do have.
Just like everybody else, I've learned a lot
of of of what works and what doesn't
work from previous health care leaders that I've
had to work with or work under. For
the most part, it's been on a positive
side. Sometimes it has not been. I think
everyone learns things that they want to avoid
from previous
relationships.
On the other hand, you learn what is
most effective for you and your institution.
So, again, when I say you learn, you
learn what works well and what doesn't. And,
and that's the part about growing in any
particular health care role.
Doctor Hinsult, thanks so much for a great
conversation. I appreciate you joining the podcast. I
look forward to working with you again soon.
Great. Thank you so much.