April 1, 2025: Sarah and Kate explore the critical role trust plays in healthcare IT transformation. They discuss how trust accelerates adoption of new technologies, why leadership consistency builds credibility, and practical ways to measure trust within your organization. Learn why even the best digital initiatives can stall without proper stakeholder trust and how cybersecurity efforts depend on being seen as trusted protectors rather than just enforcers.
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Today in health IT we are discussing health system change happens at the speed of trust. Welcome back to today in Health it where we explore the latest developments in healthcare information technology.
I'm Sarah, and joining me as always is Kate. We're diving into a compelling article from Becker's Hospital Review titled Health System Change Happens at the Speed of Trust. Good
morning, Kate. Morning, Sarah, and that title really says it all. Trust is often talked about as a soft skill, but this article makes the case that it's a strategic lever and one that directly affects how quickly and effectively change happens within a healthcare organization.
I. Yeah, exactly.
Especially for our audience of HIT executives, leaders who are constantly balancing innovation, adoption, and risk. Understand how to build and protect trust, which is essential. So let's break it down into some key points and discuss what this means for healthcare it. So the article kicks off with a foundational truth without trust.
Even the best initiatives can stall, whether it's a new digital front door, a major EHR upgrade or an enterprise data overhaul. If people do not believe in the direction, it's going to be very hard to get momentum.
Yeah. And that just doesn't apply to clinicians or frontline staff. That includes your leadership peers and board members too.
We talk about trust a lot and there's a reason for that. So a great question for health IT leaders to ask is. Do people trust that we're implementing technology for the right reasons and that it'll actually help them?
And if the answer is not a resounding yes, it might be time to revisit how you're engaging your stakeholders.
Transparency, early involvement and consistent feedback loops are key trust builders, we're both big fans of organizational change management and how those principles apply truly all the time.
So the second key point is that this article stresses that leaders set the tone. So trust isn't something you can delegate.
It's modeled and that includes showing up consistently, being clear about priorities and being willing to listen.
I also liked how the article emphasized that consistency plus communication equals credibility. And for IT leaders, it's not just about timelines and go lives, it's about how we communicate risk, setbacks, and progress, and also how we're bringing our teams along for the journey in those conversations.
And I think one of the most compelling lines in the piece is that the pace of change is limited by the trust in the system. That is true in so many aspects of life, but especially in healthcare. And if you want transformation to happen fast, you have to start by building trust. This really applies to digital transformation efforts.
I'm also gonna throw in the merger and acquisition, or anytime you're bringing things together, because when clinicians trust that your new tech will reduce friction and not add to it, then the adoption will skyrocket and Otherwise change is met with resistance or outright avoidance, and there's this whole space about knowing how much change your organization can absorb or handle at a given time.
I was talking to a CIO yesterday who said, change velocity. How fast can we go? Is something we need to figure out and be able to effectively measure. Because if you go too fast, you're gonna miss out. If you go too slow, you're gonna miss out. And so what is that perfect balance of the velocity, the change that you're introducing into the
Yeah, I like that. And along those lines. You can ask this reflective question, where is trust slowing us down and what can we do to rebuild it? It's an uncomfortable but important exercise, especially before a big implementation or restructuring or really any major initiative,
which is the next point about connecting trust to cyber cybersecurity and data stewardship with patient data breaches and ransomware attacks on the rise.
Trust in your cyber posture is more critical than ever.
Absolutely. And if your staff doesn't trust, your system is secure, they might work around it. And that opens the door to shadow it and compliance issues. So CISOs need to be seen as not just enforcers, but trusted protectors of patient and operational data.
I see this with capes on fact to remember when Drex got his cybersecurity team capes at Vibe a couple years ago that the team was handing him out because from a patient perspective, the stakes are just as high. A single data breach can erode community trust and even influence where patients seek care and that entire.
Continuum, Kate, of being able to essentially reduce or eliminate shadow it from an organization when it starts to creep back in. It's like when you get picnic ance in your house and you're just always chasing the different spaces where they might be. Being in front of those conversations, those relationships, those perspectives will really help you.
Of control is the wrong word, but at least an overview of where things are happening. And in some cases you may allow a mini shadow IT team because it's part of a sanctioned or partnership that you have established. And that group happens to be able to be very effective at, say, managing some of their data.
So if there is going to be shadow it, you wanna know about it and be a part of it.
I think that term is so appropriate. 'cause it sounds scary because it is, when I think about that I get chills down my spine. That is a bad thing. Like the picnic ants. So the final point is more of a reminder and that's, that trust is not a one and done achievement.
It requires continuous effort and renewal.
That means being able to measure trust and not just assume that it's there. So leaders should consider tools like employee sentiment surveys, adoption metrics, and even stakeholder interviews to understand where trust is strong and where it's fraying. In my most recent.
CIO role. We did an NPS survey about it, and we got it down. Worked with the marketing team to have, four or five questions we asked annually about how we were showing up and how we were performing organizationally, because by being that transparent and sharing the comments and sharing the results, we were building trust with the organization that they knew that we cared about how they felt about our impact on their daily lives and workflows.
Yeah, it sounds like a good environment. And so we have to remember, trust is . Cumulative. Every transparent conversation, every time you honor a commitment, you're depositing into that trust account, but it can be withdrawn quickly. So consistency really is everything
For our listeners in HIT leadership, two key questions to take back to your teams this week.
Number one, where is trust enabling or blocking our ability to innovate? And number two, what are we doing intentionally to build, protect, and measure trust across the organization?
Those are great questions, this is a powerful discussion starter that at the team or board level, especially in a climate where technology is moving faster than ever, and trust is the currency that enables us to keep pace.
Exactly. And that's it for today's episode. Join us tomorrow when we discuss RWJ Barnabas Health Teams up with Uber to eliminate transportation barriers. Remember to share this podcast with a friend or a colleague. Use it as a foundation for daily or 📍 weekly discussions on the topics that are relevant to you and the industry.
They can subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Kate, thank you for joining me. Thank you, Sarah, and thanks for listening. That's all for now.