Denny DeNarvaez serves as President of Adept Health Shared Services for Novant Health.
On April 2nd, Denny will speak at Becker's Hospital Review 10th Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place April 1-4, 2019 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Denny's session, click here.
Question: What do innovators/entrepreneurs from outside healthcare need to better understand about hospital and health system leaders?
Denny DeNarvaez: One of the most frustrating issues for innovators/entrepreneurs in the healthcare sector is trying to launch solutions that impact so many stakeholders and finding that consensus among those leaders is hard to come by. Healthcare has not traditionally been a risk taker due to the fact that there are real lives at stake so it is an industry that is very cautious regarding change of any kind. That can cause a long lead time for decision making and adoption. Be patient---good ideas eventually make it through the system.
Q: Healthcare takes a lot of heat for not innovating quickly. What’s your take on this?
DD: As mentioned above, if innovation touches patients as it often does, the caution flag is raised. Not only does the innovation have to make financial sense and meet the needs of the consumer, it must be acceptable clinical practice and ensure patient safety is enhanced. That requires the consensus of many stakeholders and each one of those stakeholders adds their own opinion as to the worthiness of any new product or service adding to the timeline. Of course there are also many competing business interests as well inherent in the healthcare sector and usually new advancements are detrimental to one or more of those business interests.
Q: Can you share some praise with us about people you work with? What does greatness look like to you when it comes to your team?
DD: I am fortunate to work with bright, energetic and passionate people who truly care about the healthcare experience. Greatness to me with regard to my team is seen everywhere, every day as they interact with our clients and each other. They routinely decide how to tackle issues with little to no supervision and “get it done” and they also have a wonderful way of ensuring we fit in time for such things as volunteerism in the community. They are simply wonderful people that I am lucky enough to share an office with.