Katie Boston-Leary, BSN MBA MHA CNOR NEA-BC serves as the Chief Nursing Officer for the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center.
On May 10th, Katie Boston-Leary 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. Boston-Leary's session, click here.
Question: Who or what are the disruptors that have your attention? Why?
Katie Boston-Leary: [The] biggest disruptor right now is Amazon. I'm excited about the prospects of what they are going to do but I'm nervous about how it will possibly remove some opportunities for acute care organizations that will continue to lose volume to be stronger players in the ambulatory market.
Q: Describe one of your best colleagues. What it is that person does/brings that makes them indispensable to your organization?
KBL: One of my best colleagues is a mentor of mine. I've known this person for over 10 years, and she has remained true to herself and is pliable and adaptable with a finger on the pulse of changes in healthcare. It is rare to find a leader that has the ability to connect locally within their comfort zone of colleagues and also be just as effective externally on a larger stage with others at her level or higher in the healthcare arena. A true chameleon that impacts everyone she interacts with and a genius at the same time.
Q: What did you notice about your healthcare experience the last time you were at the receiving end as a patient?
KBL: I noticed a lack of connection with my nurse with no eye contact. More time and attention with the computer than with me. It made me sad [but I] didn't complain — this is the sad state of affairs with many our clinicians today. We are in a heavily automated and “protocolized” care delivery system built steeped in IT that has almost completely replaced connected care and critical thinking.
Q: All healthcare is local. What about your market influences your organization's business or operations most?
KBL: [Market influences] impact both ways actually. Health (il)literacy is very real and crosses all gender, socioeconomic statuses and zip codes. [We] still have more insured patients with the ACA but are still managing their care through emergency departments versus primary care and not enough primary care providers and not enough employment of nurse practitioner clinics.
Q: How do you define patient engagement?
KBL: Patient engagement is a ready, willing and able customer committed to owning their care regimen. [They] utilize available tools to stay on top of their wellness and care. Patient engagement is also an empowered patient that is willing to ask questions and is overzealous to learn as much as they can to stay well.
Q: As a leader, what is the best investment you made in your own professional development in the past five years?
KBL: Getting my MBA, reading and staying intellectually fed through all mediums — journals, social media, TV.
Q: How do you see the barrier between competitors and collaborators changing?
KBL: The walls will have to come down where we see competitors [instead as] collaborators to manage and own wellness in the communities that we deliver care. I worked with a smart individual recently that reformed competition to coopetition. Cooperating with past competitors to improve care delivery that is effective, efficient and is of value to the populations we serve. We have duplicate portfolios in care delivery between hospitals that are within yards or a few miles of each other. How can we compare and contrast what we do so that we can be selective about the care we provide and become stronger through partnerships?