"Learning never ends, change never stops": Q&A with Intermedix CEO Joel Portice

Becker's Hospital Review caught up with Joel Portice, CEO of Intermedix, to discuss the most memorable advice he ever received and the technologies he's most excited to see applied to healthcare in the next few years.

Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for style and clarity.

Question: What are some of the technological capabilities you are most excited about?

Joel Portice: I would say I'm most excited about the predictive analytics capabilities machine learning offers as our industry works to improve quality care and efficiencies for physicians. It's fascinating how various technology solutions can now utilize machine learning to continuously learn from operational and provider data and detect, with a high degree of accuracy, various life-threatening diseases before they reach critical stages. At Intermedix, we are currently utilizing machine learning to predict, with 98 percent accuracy, the risk of a patient contracting sepsis before he/she is admitted at a hospital facility.

Additionally, the introduction of blockchain technology within the healthcare industry continues to show great promise. This is still considered to be new to our industry — so, understandably, there's a lot of misleading claims out there on how this technology can be applied. However, if you can sift through the hype, you can find real value in what distributed ledger technology can offer for a number of healthcare processes. Blockchain gives providers in the industry the opportunity to share information more seamlessly and efficiently — without having to deal with as much back and forth. It feels as though we are back in the late 90's, on the verge of another shift in the way we interact with our information.

Q: What's one piece of advice you remember most clearly? 

JP: Something that has really resonated with me and been the foundation of my career is the idea of maintaining focus. To me, the concept of focus is very three-dimensional. In order to attain authenticity, build trust with those you work with and achieve success, your attention needs to be focused on fulfilling promises, taking care of colleagues and delivering superior results.

Your focus should always be fixated on the present, ensuring that these three important actions are always occurring to drive your business forward. I've always greatly admired and respected Winston Churchill, and one of his famous quotes that really speaks to the importance of focus is, "It is a mistake to try and look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time."

Q: How do you keep your leadership and management skills sharp?

JP: To become a truly effective leader, I believe that it requires practice, commitment and dedication. Every leader needs to approach his or her role each day with an open mind and remember that learning never ends and change never stops.

Staying up-to-date with industry news and actively engaging and networking with other leaders helps me continuously learn and bring a fresh perspective to my role. I try to read anything I can get my hands on — articles and books that are not only relevant to the healthcare industry, but that can also help me refine and further develop my leadership skills and approach.

I think it's also important to always welcome and try to listen to advice from my colleagues. Feedback always helps me identify areas I can continue to improve upon and where there's opportunities to adapt certain skill sets to meet the evolving needs of the organization.

There's always room for both personal and professional development, regardless of your role, and, to me, taking time to concentrate on your individual growth is an invaluable and worthwhile exercise that can only benefit you in future endeavors.

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