Susan Salka serves as President and CEO for AMN Healthcare.
On Friday, September 22, Susan Salka will give a keynote talk at Becker's Hospital Review 3rd Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place September 21 through September 23 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Susan's session, click here.
Question: Looking at your IT budget, what is one item or expense that has surprised you in terms of ROI? How so?
Susan Salka: One of the more progressive surprises in our IT expenses has been the shift of costs associated with building our own technology systems to partnering with solution experts to drive business results. The rise of Software as a Services (SaaS) or cloud-based solutions has enabled technology to be delivered in less time while incorporating best practices to achieve great results. Just as our healthcare clients partner with AMN to provide recruitment and staffing expertise, we also partner with leading technology providers to deliver innovative solutions that best address our customer's needs. The costs will sometimes move from an amortizable capital investment to an operating expense, but the benefit is well worth the shift in accounting.
Q: Finding top tech talent is always a challenge. Say a CIO called you up today to ask for an interview question that would distinguish the best candidates from the mid- to low-performers. What question do you suggest he or she ask?
SS: Our core business is recruiting the best healthcare talent for top healthcare providers across the nation. We are also a growing organization, and we source a lot of great candidates for our corporate offices as well. Whether we are hiring for a nurse specialty unit or bringing in new IT talent, we always start with a question on what motivates their interest in healthcare. We look for answers that involve an understanding of how their role — whatever it may be — improves patient care. With technology hires, you certainly want the person in the role to be technically skilled, but they must be able connect technology to enable business strategy with a greater purpose to help others. They must be curious and passionate about new ideas and driven to find new approaches to solve complex challenges. Your top performers will also have empathy for the patient and an advanced understanding of how technology can enable our clients and clinicians in providing better outcomes for their patients and families.
Q: We spend a lot of timing talking about the exciting innovation modernizing healthcare. It's also helpful to acknowledge what we've let go of. What is one form of technology, one process or one idea that once seemed routine to you but is now endangered if not extinct? What existed in your organization 2-5 years ago but not anymore?
SS: The idea of building technology systems outside of consideration for the end user is something we've happily retired at AMN Healthcare. I think most IT organizations think about building tools that empower the business to do its best work, which is true for AMN, but we've extended that idea to invest in technology that also delivers an outstanding digital experience for our clients and clinicians. The external appeal and value of the technology we used has eclipsed the internal needs of our organization. We are lucky to be living in a fast moving mobile and data-centered world these days. We can respond to our customers quicker and with data-rich workforce insights to improve patient care. Working in partnership with our customers, we can evolve our technology to better serve their needs through predictive analytics, social engagement and mobile applications.
Q: Tell us about the last time you were truly, wildly amazed by technology. What did you see?
SS: I am most amazed by the opportunities that data can provide to inform healthcare workforce decisions. Predictive analytics is just one great example of this. Within a predictive analytics solution, a healthcare organization can now forecast staffing needs — based on information like census and community data and historical trends — to create a customized and validated model that can develop a workforce schedule up to 120 days before a shift. While the technology is interesting on its own, it is really about enabling a healthcare provider to optimize their workforce and patient outcomes with the right skilled clinician at the right time. By enabling a facility to accurately predict and schedule a nursing unit, for example, healthcare providers can boost clinician job satisfaction, reduce stress and turnover, and best deploy their nursing staff to ultimately deliver a better patient experience.