CHIME Fall Forum 21 – Donna Roach of University of Utah Health

Bill Russell 00:00:03 Today in health, it interviews from the chime Bill Russell 00:00:05 conference in San Diego. Bill Russell 00:00:07 My name is bill Russell. Bill Russell 00:00:08 I'm a former CIO for a 16 hospital system and creator of this week in health. Bill Russell 00:00:11 It a channel dedicated to keeping health it staff current and engaged. Bill Russell 00:00:16 Just a quick reminder. Bill Russell 00:00:17 I wouldn't be dropping interviews over the next couple of days and into Bill Russell 00:00:20 next week from the chime conference. Bill Russell 00:00:23 And then I'm going to have some more interviews from the next conference I Bill Russell 00:00:27 want to be going to, and then eventually I'll get back to Florida and to the studio Bill Russell 00:00:32 where we'll start looking at the news. Bill Russell 00:00:33 Once again. Bill Russell 00:00:34 Hope you enjoy this interview. Bill Russell 00:00:36 All right. Bill Russell 00:00:36 We're at the, uh, chime conference in San Diego. Bill Russell 00:00:39 We're doing another interview from the floor. Bill Russell 00:00:41 We have done a Roche. Bill Russell 00:00:42 Who is the CIO for university of Utah health. Bill Russell 00:00:45 Yes. Bill Russell 00:00:46 It's great to see you again. Bill Russell 00:00:47 Thanks. Bill Russell 00:00:47 We actually ran into each other at, uh, at BJC. Bill Russell 00:00:50 So you used to be at BJC, Donna Roach 00:00:52 BJC and worst in university. Donna Roach 00:00:55 Well, what'd you do there? Donna Roach 00:00:56 I was the vice president over epic. Donna Roach 00:00:59 So one instance of epic over two different tax ID companies. Donna Roach 00:01:05 Very interesting Bill Russell 00:01:07 two different tax ID company. Bill Russell 00:01:08 That's an interesting dynamic. Bill Russell 00:01:09 I was going to say over epic at any academic medical center is a, Donna Roach 00:01:13 it is, it is different competing priorities. Donna Roach 00:01:17 Definitely go on and you have to balance a lot of different, um, personalities. Donna Roach 00:01:22 You have a lot of different losses. Bill Russell 00:01:24 And do you have that, that disarming smile, like that's secure Donna Roach 00:01:26 area. Bill Russell 00:01:29 Let's, let's run that through governance. Bill Russell 00:01:30 Let's see how that goes. Bill Russell 00:01:32 And governance is really important Donna Roach 00:01:33 in a place like that. Donna Roach 00:01:34 It is, it is definitely an academics. Donna Roach 00:01:37 That's one thing that has surprised me is how much is committee run. Donna Roach 00:01:42 And I love something that, uh, Charro Goswami up at UWS said it's. Donna Roach 00:01:47 It's not committee. Donna Roach 00:01:48 You want to workshop, then you want to work. Donna Roach 00:01:50 Like I'm going to use that. Donna Roach 00:01:52 That was a really good way to think about Bill Russell 00:01:55 it. Bill Russell 00:01:55 So you're now CIO university, a university of Utah Donna Roach 00:01:59 hospital and clinics, uh, academic Bill Russell 00:02:01 medical center, I assume. Bill Russell 00:02:02 Yes. Bill Russell 00:02:03 Um, headquartered in salt lake salt lake city. Bill Russell 00:02:07 Okay. Bill Russell 00:02:07 But you have a Donna Roach 00:02:08 larger area than that? Donna Roach 00:02:09 Yes, we are a five state contenary referrals. Donna Roach 00:02:14 To the university of Utah, we are the only academic facility Donna Roach 00:02:18 and that five state area. Bill Russell 00:02:20 And you're between you and Intermountain Bill Russell 00:02:23 probably have what 90% market Donna Roach 00:02:25 share and, um, HCA Stewart, we're kind of those three Donna Roach 00:02:30 are the big players in music. Donna Roach 00:02:32 That's what we Bill Russell 00:02:32 find in most major metros is you have three players and a lot of Bill Russell 00:02:38 times it's not, you know, an even split. Bill Russell 00:02:42 They're at scale. Donna Roach 00:02:43 Yeah. Donna Roach 00:02:43 And you know, where are the academics? Donna Roach 00:02:46 So we, and we're Bill Russell 00:02:47 state. Bill Russell 00:02:47 And so you have to work with everybody or you the children's hospital as well, or Donna Roach 00:02:51 so the children's hospital is a, um, relationship with Intermountain. Donna Roach 00:02:56 It is, um, their facility, their EHR, but our physicians. Bill Russell 00:03:04 Okay. Bill Russell 00:03:05 That's interesting. Bill Russell 00:03:07 As much as I'd like to explore that, I'm not sure my audience would be really Bill Russell 00:03:11 excited about that, but I, but I do want to talk about like, what's top of mind, Bill Russell 00:03:15 what are you thinking about these things? Donna Roach 00:03:17 Um, a lot is digital roadmap. Donna Roach 00:03:20 So when I got there, I was asked to create, actually take what Donna Roach 00:03:25 they had in terms of digital. Donna Roach 00:03:28 Before we go there. Donna Roach 00:03:29 When did you get there? Donna Roach 00:03:30 Year ago? Donna Roach 00:03:31 October 5th was my Bill Russell 00:03:32 anniversary. Bill Russell 00:03:33 So you were, you were what? Bill Russell 00:03:35 Six to seven months into COVID at that point. Bill Russell 00:03:39 And really they wanted to focus on digital at that point. Bill Russell 00:03:41 So you really had responded to the pandemic. Bill Russell 00:03:43 You had some things in place we're ready Donna Roach 00:03:45 to go. Donna Roach 00:03:46 And they were like any academic or any hospital. Donna Roach 00:03:49 We went from zero to close to, I think 40,000, um, telehealth visits. Donna Roach 00:03:56 It just, um, the curve that we experienced now we've settled Donna Roach 00:04:00 off we're about 20,000 a month. Donna Roach 00:04:04 Um, and inpatient, uh, ambulatory visits have picked back up. Donna Roach 00:04:08 So what we're seeing in tele-health is just an add on to Donna Roach 00:04:13 our in-person ambulatory visits. Donna Roach 00:04:16 Oh, Bill Russell 00:04:16 interesting. Bill Russell 00:04:16 All right. Bill Russell 00:04:17 So digital, you come in in October and they're like, all right, Bill Russell 00:04:19 we have this digital roadmap. Bill Russell 00:04:22 I'm putting words in their mouth. Bill Russell 00:04:24 We now recognize how important digital is, especially in the age of the Bill Russell 00:04:27 pandemic is we need to reach people in a lot of different, different Bill Russell 00:04:30 ways that we used to have four. Bill Russell 00:04:31 So what, what did it look like to sort of, I assume you picked something Bill Russell 00:04:35 up that was already existing. Bill Russell 00:04:37 How do you, where do you start to ideate? Bill Russell 00:04:39 Do you go back into the organization? Bill Russell 00:04:41 Do you bring it outside people to look Donna Roach 00:04:42 at it? Donna Roach 00:04:43 I mean, actually it was kind of funny. Donna Roach 00:04:45 I probably week one, I got there and they said, we have this digital strategy. Donna Roach 00:04:50 We want you to run. Donna Roach 00:04:51 And partner with the CMIO who is great, absolutely wonderful Dr. Donna Roach 00:04:56 Hightower. Donna Roach 00:04:57 And I said, well, tell me digital strategy. Donna Roach 00:04:59 You have something, tell me what that is. Donna Roach 00:05:01 And they're like, well, it's our virtual tele-health program. Donna Roach 00:05:06 I said, you do, you do know it's more than that. Donna Roach 00:05:09 Like, we want to grow that bigger than just that one space. Donna Roach 00:05:13 So they suddenly they're like, well, yeah, yeah. Donna Roach 00:05:15 Cool. Donna Roach 00:05:16 Yeah. Donna Roach 00:05:16 Do that. Donna Roach 00:05:17 Go ahead. Donna Roach 00:05:18 Get that done. Donna Roach 00:05:20 Um, my, uh, doctor, hi Tara and I work together. Donna Roach 00:05:23 We actually did a couple of things right up front. Donna Roach 00:05:26 We brought in, um, impacted by users to help us with the initial, how do Donna Roach 00:05:31 we start to assess the environment? Donna Roach 00:05:33 Where are we? Donna Roach 00:05:34 What does governance start to look like? Donna Roach 00:05:37 How do we create the charter? Donna Roach 00:05:38 So in that first year, we pulled together a charter. Donna Roach 00:05:41 We pulled together, uh, what we call our digital enablement committee. Donna Roach 00:05:45 We looked at early on what should be on our road. Donna Roach 00:05:49 So we have like three key things on our roadmap, but we also went back Donna Roach 00:05:56 and said the same time that 2025 strategy refresh was being done by Dr. Donna Roach 00:06:02 Goode. Donna Roach 00:06:03 Who's the head of the medical school and kind of my boss's boss. Donna Roach 00:06:07 And he had a directed steps. Donna Roach 00:06:10 So every year there's a group of directed steps. Donna Roach 00:06:13 So we went and looked at all. Donna Roach 00:06:15 There were like 60, some directed steps for 2020. Donna Roach 00:06:19 We talked to, we've looked at that. Donna Roach 00:06:21 We said there's about 30 digitally enabled strategies in there. Donna Roach 00:06:25 We've talked to each of those. Donna Roach 00:06:27 And then we have, are starting to now put that back on the roadmap, using Donna Roach 00:06:32 our deck committee to help in the prioritization of where those should fit. Bill Russell 00:06:38 It's Intermountain is a, a strong digital. Bill Russell 00:06:45 Yes. Bill Russell 00:06:46 They're also operating at margins that cause I go to the JP Morgan conference, Bill Russell 00:06:49 they report out their margins and I, I look at those and I go, they have Bill Russell 00:06:52 to be the envy of just about every health system across the country. Bill Russell 00:06:56 So they have a fair amount of money to spend there. Bill Russell 00:06:59 Is there any sort of looking out of the corner of your eye going, what are Bill Russell 00:07:03 they doing over there or do you just try to focus in on that your specific Donna Roach 00:07:07 communities? Donna Roach 00:07:08 It's good to know what they're doing. Donna Roach 00:07:10 Um, Ryan and I. Donna Roach 00:07:12 Who's the CIO, we partner quite a bit and we're, we are, I don't see them as a Donna Roach 00:07:19 competitor, especially in the it space. Donna Roach 00:07:21 I think we have to partner and we have to be coming to the community and to Donna Roach 00:07:27 different vendors in the same way. Donna Roach 00:07:29 And so we're doing that partnership together, Bill Russell 00:07:32 sort of that expectation in the community. Bill Russell 00:07:33 If I thought, if I lived in salt lake, I would expect that the university Bill Russell 00:07:38 and inner mountain would work for. Donna Roach 00:07:42 Absolutely. Bill Russell 00:07:44 Th the neat thing is I think I could see you and Ryan working together. Bill Russell 00:07:47 I mean, you're two very reasonable people, very smart and have Bill Russell 00:07:51 probably really good teams. Bill Russell 00:07:52 I haven't met your teams, but I've interviewed some of Ryan's Bill Russell 00:07:55 teams over the year years. Bill Russell 00:07:57 They're really some of the top people in the industry on this stuff, you Bill Russell 00:08:02 could probably get a lot done just at Donna Roach 00:08:03 that level, I would think. Donna Roach 00:08:04 Yeah, just take one space. Donna Roach 00:08:08 We so at and T with the FirstNet rollout of, you know, the first responder network, Donna Roach 00:08:15 it's much easier for us to go together and talk to FirstNet and at, and T as a group, Donna Roach 00:08:23 rather than me going and him going now, he's got a lot more power and probably. Donna Roach 00:08:28 Get them to move on it, but us together and then showing the legislature Donna Roach 00:08:33 that we're working together is Bill Russell 00:08:35 what about like vaccination programs that, that Bill Russell 00:08:37 came at probably a little, well, no, that would have come right after you Donna Roach 00:08:40 got there. Donna Roach 00:08:41 Yeah. Donna Roach 00:08:42 So vaccine and the state of Utah was kind of interesting. Donna Roach 00:08:45 It was managed by the department of health within Utah. Donna Roach 00:08:48 It wasn't necessarily managed by the academics, so they would, Donna Roach 00:08:53 the state would give us back. Donna Roach 00:08:55 Yeah. Donna Roach 00:08:55 And we had to show, especially for us, we had to show 85% vaccination rate Donna Roach 00:09:02 before they would give us more vaccine. Donna Roach 00:09:04 So we actually didn't necessarily vaccinate the largest percentage. Donna Roach 00:09:10 The largest percentage of vaccinations came from the state. Bill Russell 00:09:13 It's interesting because my vaccination was a drive through a park Bill Russell 00:09:16 and it was paramedics, but essentially the, the card was filled out by the state Donna Roach 00:09:22 health department. Donna Roach 00:09:22 Yeah, the beauty of it. Donna Roach 00:09:24 When people were having it done at Utah health, if you had a, my chart record, Donna Roach 00:09:29 it automatically it's populated in. Donna Roach 00:09:31 And, and you know, some of those that was a clear pass and everything now Donna Roach 00:09:34 that's all kind of being integrated. Donna Roach 00:09:36 It's Bill Russell 00:09:36 nice. Bill Russell 00:09:38 Yeah. Bill Russell 00:09:38 I mean, I could pull up my phone right now and show you my vaccination on clear pass. Bill Russell 00:09:41 Cause I went to the health conference and it was required and it's interesting. Bill Russell 00:09:45 The next conference I go to they're like, Hey, bring your card. Bill Russell 00:09:48 I'm like, I don't, I brought my card. Bill Russell 00:09:51 I don't want to keep bringing my card. Bill Russell 00:09:52 Cause that cards kind of. Donna Roach 00:09:54 Yeah, it'll wear Bill Russell 00:09:56 down. Bill Russell 00:09:56 And I w I w wanted to know if I can just show you this on my phone and Bill Russell 00:09:59 they're like, we'd rather see your card. Bill Russell 00:10:01 And I'm like, that is such a healthcare thing to say. Bill Russell 00:10:04 I'd rather see your card. Bill Russell 00:10:05 Yeah. Bill Russell 00:10:06 Um, have you seen things progress? Bill Russell 00:10:08 Um, you know, we started using chat bots. Bill Russell 00:10:10 We started doing, uh, you know, telehealth. Bill Russell 00:10:13 There's a new, what we started to maybe integrate it in different ways and stuff. Bill Russell 00:10:17 Have you started, what are some of the things that maybe you started during Bill Russell 00:10:19 the pandemic that you think will. Donna Roach 00:10:22 No, I think definitely what the vaccine process us looking Donna Roach 00:10:27 at, how well we did, especially in the equity piece of it was really telltale. Donna Roach 00:10:32 We did a great job for the Caucasian population, but when you looked at Donna Roach 00:10:36 Hispanics, African-Americans native Indians, we didn't do such a good job. Donna Roach 00:10:42 And the beauty of the university of Utah is that they're willing to Donna Roach 00:10:47 look at it and say, we need to do. Donna Roach 00:10:49 And be more equitable and so really put some programs in place. Donna Roach 00:10:53 So they're buried when it comes to data. Donna Roach 00:10:56 They're very transparent. Donna Roach 00:10:57 You could go out there now and look at some of the data points that I'm Donna Roach 00:11:01 talking about and it's out there and it really is open to the public to Donna Roach 00:11:05 kind of see who, you know, how well we Bill Russell 00:11:07 do. Bill Russell 00:11:08 Yeah. Bill Russell 00:11:08 We say salt lake, but I mean, Utah salt lake Provo, and a bunch of Bill Russell 00:11:13 really neat towns, but their towns. Bill Russell 00:11:16 A lot of space in between those are you servicing Donna Roach 00:11:18 those areas? Donna Roach 00:11:18 Yeah, we do. Donna Roach 00:11:19 We are pretty much that pretty much that entire state of Utah. Donna Roach 00:11:24 And then a lot of those five state regions that don't have academic facilities. Donna Roach 00:11:28 We have a fairly, um, extensive connect program where we send physicians out to Donna Roach 00:11:36 other smaller regional hospitals to help with kind of connecting or doing programs. Donna Roach 00:11:42 We also have a really pretty cool program. Donna Roach 00:11:45 So Encore or corner, forget the name. Donna Roach 00:11:48 I get that name mixed up, but where we help train and do actually kind of Donna Roach 00:11:53 virtual training programs for physicians in other markets that wouldn't have Donna Roach 00:11:59 any access to that kind of training Bill Russell 00:12:04 to a company that was doing all this work in, in, uh, Bill Russell 00:12:09 ORs where they're actually watching surgeries and that kind of stuff. Bill Russell 00:12:13 They're training people from. Bill Russell 00:12:15 And doing that. Bill Russell 00:12:16 And I thought this is going to be interesting for rural health. Bill Russell 00:12:19 I mean, right now, I think we're sort of resigned to the fact that if you Bill Russell 00:12:22 need a major surgery, you're driving to salt lake, but you know, the Bill Russell 00:12:27 rural health stuff has me fascinated. Bill Russell 00:12:29 I didn't have that problem per se, in the markets that I serve. Bill Russell 00:12:33 But the, it is, is such a multifaceted problem. Bill Russell 00:12:37 The technology, maybe isn't up to speed. Bill Russell 00:12:39 You don't have the connectivity. Bill Russell 00:12:41 Uh, Uh, accessibility to doctors trained medical staff is not there. Bill Russell 00:12:47 Right. Bill Russell 00:12:48 Is that something that you guys have groups looking at Bill Russell 00:12:51 and you're bringing technology? Bill Russell 00:12:53 Yeah. Donna Roach 00:12:53 So, um, take our orthopedic hospital in our Creek team. Donna Roach 00:12:57 Nielsen rehab is Craig T Nielsen is state of the arts. Donna Roach 00:13:01 Whenever you come out to salt lake, you gotta come and you gotta see this. Donna Roach 00:13:04 Cause it is, it opened. Donna Roach 00:13:06 I, I feel bad for them. Donna Roach 00:13:07 They open right at the start of the. Donna Roach 00:13:11 So when they had their one year anniversary was smack in the middle of Donna Roach 00:13:14 it, but the, what they do awesome services to the point where when a patient comes Donna Roach 00:13:21 into the room, they can actually control all of the devices in the room by, um, Donna Roach 00:13:25 breath, if, if needed, if they have no capacity in their arms or their legs, um, Donna Roach 00:13:31 that the city itself is almost set up. Donna Roach 00:13:34 Like, it looks like the whole time. Donna Roach 00:13:36 And it, you know, you know, what rehab hospitals can sometimes look Donna Roach 00:13:39 like, or, you know, they're, they're not necessarily the prettiest. Donna Roach 00:13:43 This is very much, uh, state-of-the-art the programs, the Donna Roach 00:13:47 services and what they're doing. Donna Roach 00:13:49 The counterpart, the rehab, um, facility, just down the street, they Donna Roach 00:13:54 do surgeries and, and train residents and medical students on surgeries. Donna Roach 00:14:00 They, they kind of, um, project the. Donna Roach 00:14:04 And I got to do a tour of it, kind of an I'm kind of a geeky person. Donna Roach 00:14:10 They're like, do you want to see the cadavers? Donna Roach 00:14:11 And I'm like, you bet, I'm sure they thought, well, Donna Roach 00:14:14 let's freak out the it person. Donna Roach 00:14:15 And I'm like, no, I love, you know, but they, they actually take a cadaver bone. Donna Roach 00:14:20 They recreate it with a 3d printer and then they show and train the residents on Donna Roach 00:14:25 how do I place this pin in this cadaver? Donna Roach 00:14:29 They're projecting, you know, the whole surgery, medical students can kind of Donna Roach 00:14:34 be part of this because it's, you know, it's just a cadaver bone that's been Donna Roach 00:14:38 recreated, but it helps in the training process of those kinds of procedures. Donna Roach 00:14:44 It is, Bill Russell 00:14:46 man. Bill Russell 00:14:46 It's such a, must be such a fun job because there's so many aspects to Bill Russell 00:14:49 it that you get to get to play with. Bill Russell 00:14:50 Yeah. Bill Russell 00:14:51 Thank you Donna Roach 00:14:52 for stopping out. Donna Roach 00:14:53 Really good. Donna Roach 00:14:54 Yeah. Donna Roach 00:14:55 This is great. Donna Roach 00:14:55 Thanks. Bill Russell 00:14:56 Don't forget to check back as we have more of these interviews Bill Russell 00:14:59 coming to you, that's all for today. Bill Russell 00:15:01 If you know of someone that might benefit from our channel, Bill Russell 00:15:03 please forward them a note. Bill Russell 00:15:04 They can subscribe on our website this week, health.com or wherever you listen Bill Russell 00:15:08 to podcasts, apple, Google, overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, you get the picture. Bill Russell 00:15:12 We are everywhere. Bill Russell 00:15:13 We want to thank our channel sponsors who are investing in our mission to Bill Russell 00:15:16 develop the next generation of health. Bill Russell 00:15:18 VMware Hill-Rom Starbridge advisors, McAfee and Aruba networks. Bill Russell 00:15:23 Thanks for listening.