Becker's Health IT + Clinical Leadership 2018 Speaker Series: 6 questions with Washington Regional Medical System - System Clinics, Clinic Administration Chief Nursing Officer, Kathleen Imhoff

Kathleen Imhoff, MBA, BSN, RN, CMSRN, serves as the Chief Nursing Officer - System Clinics, Clinic Administration for Washington Regional Medical System.

On May 10th, Kathleen Imhoff will participate as a panelist at Becker's Health IT + Clinical Leadership 2018. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place May 10-11th, 2018 in Chicago. 

To learn more about the conference and Ms. Imhoff's session, click here.

Question: Describe one of your best colleagues. What it is that person does/brings that makes them indispensable to your organization?

Kathleen Imhoff: I work with many great people but one of my best colleagues is a person that is incredibly patient, very forward-thinking, has a personality that immediately puts others at ease, and is also extremely intelligent in every way. This person sets a positive tone at our meetings, represents our clinic administration team well, and not only has a wonderful knack for understanding how others are feeling in a given situation, but also for addressing those feelings so progress can be made. This person is easy to relate to and reminds each of us to consider the grander scheme of things versus pushing a more personal agenda. I think all those qualities make this person completely indispensable to the culture and growth of our organization. This person also challenges us to cultivate those same qualities in ourselves — even when it is difficult to see them in yourself!

Q: What did you notice about your healthcare experience the last time you were at the receiving end as a patient?

KI: Honestly, how nice the staff I came in contact with really were and how much they really wanted to help me feel better! I was in a physician office just a few weeks ago and I was feeling terrible. I commute about an hour and fifteen minutes one-way to work each day, so all I could think about was how am I going to get myself home when I was feeling so bad. My care provider could sense that was a pressing issue to me and was very accommodating to me. She offered me options that would facilitate me feeling better quickly so I could make my drive home and [get better] over the next few days. In my current position, I do have to focus much of my time on how to get patients involved in their own care. Being able to interact with a provider that was so nice and caring to me definitely fostered a want to be engaged in my own care. I was able to simplify my own ideas on the subject and refocus on empathy as a strategy to engage patients.

Q: All healthcare is local. What about your market influences your organization's business or operations most?

KI: Community need and benefit, for sure. I am lucky enough to work for an organization that builds on what our community needs to optimize regional healthcare offerings and individual health status. We are located in an area that has three large health systems and one smaller organization in competition to be the provider of excellence and glowing patient choice in the area. In some cases, my organization attempts to offer specialties that the other systems do not provide to the community. In other cases, we just try to be the better organization at what we choose to do — in business, in providing for the community and in being an employer of choice in the area.

Q: When was the last time your organization responded to concerns or needs expressed by physicians? What unfolded?

KI: In my current position, I see this on a daily basis! I would say that we just try to hear the provider out when concerns or needs are voiced and attempt to make a plan with the provider to move forward. In most cases, we can fix issues and meet needs pretty quickly if we can just come together and talk about them. Sometimes, things do not go in the favor of the provider but being able to talk through situations helps those situations move forward a bit more easily.

Q: What change in reimbursement is your organization feeling most acutely and how is it affecting your 2-5-year strategic plan?

KI: This is an easy question for me to answer. My organization is focusing a ton of resources on population health management and all the alternative payment programs that go along with the service line. I refer to population health as a service line because, like any other service line, its growth is going through stages that require much preparation, alignment of resources, significant financial and time investments, as well as the development of infrastructure and processes for continued growth. Just like many other healthcare systems, we are realigning our way of thinking.

Q: As a leader, what is the best investment you made in your own professional development in the past five years?

KI: I am very new in my position with my organization, aside from my higher education, I would say learning how to get plugged in with current happenings in my new healthcare market has been my best investment. So far, I am accomplishing that task through attending events and conferences that afford me the opportunity to network with other professionals and by subscribing to healthcare news options for tidbits, too. While I did come into my position with some great mentors and resources at my disposal, it was still hard to get up to speed with my new market area when I first started my position as a CNO. In general, I am anticipating that this first few years with my new organization will be centered around getting the "lay of the land" and understanding where the organization is focusing their energy and resources. I think that understanding my current climate and how things relate to my new position will lead me to determining where my own weaknesses and opportunities lie.

Q: How do you see the barrier between competitors and collaborators changing?
KI: I think the day is coming for all competitors to become collaborators. For example, if you look at a many of the alternative payment models that are speckled across the different payer sources right now, it is easy to see that setting up a patient medical home is key. From that patient medical home, all other healthcare decisions are made and appropriate care is planned and delivered for a given patient. When a patient seeks care outside of that medical home and its plan, both the provider and patient have consequences. I see this becoming a catalyst for collaboration because these types of healthcare models force all entities providing care for a patient to communicate and work together in order to maximize patient benefits and financial gains. I hate to mention finances in the same conversation as patient care, but the truth is that people will do more of what they get paid to do. Healthcare is changing to a model that rewards entities that coordinate care and communicate that care for a patient better. If we are all on the same page, we all benefit with our patient!

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