Building a Purpose-Driven IT Organization

Leader to Leader, a podcast from Healthcare IT Leaders, features bi-weekly conversations with some of the brightest minds in healthcare.

On our latest episode (S1, E12), host Ben Hilmes, MHA, FACHE enjoys a wide ranging conversation with Chris Paravate, MBA, CHCIO, PMP, CPHIMS, CDH-E , CIO at Northeast Georgia Health System .

In the interview, Chris gives an overview of the steady growth of NGHS during his 14 years and describes a pivotal conversation early in his tenure in which he asked his CEO if she wanted a 'thrive' strategy or a 'get by' strategy. Getting by, he explained, would mean a minimal investment in maintaining legacy systems.

"Whereas a thrive strategy means that people will love their technology. And they’ll regard technology as one of the strongest aspects of their daily operations. I know that was pretty aspirational at the time. And she said, I want a thrive strategy.

I said, okay, I need 200 million (dollars) and 18 months, and I need you to be the executive champion, and we’re going to take the entire organization through a transformation. And at that point, she paused for a long time. And then she said, Okay, let’s go."

Connecting to Purpose

Ben and Chris also discuss the overall culture of the health system and the critical role of core values in decision-making and hiring.

Chris wants employees to demonstrate emotional maturity and humility, and he asks his team to see problems through the eyes of the customer as a way to ensure investment in the solutions.

"Every single person in IT connects to our purpose," explains Chris. "It's because we're not only providers of care. We're receivers of care."

View the complete episode on YouTube below. Follow and subscribe on Spotify, Amazon, Google, Apple, and most other podcast networks for new episodes of Leader to Leader.