As president and CEO of Winston Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health, Carl Armato oversees 15 hospitals and over 350 physician practices across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
Mr. Armato joined Novant in 1998 as vice president of finance and operations for the physician division in Charlotte (N.C.) and Winston-Salem. He climbed the ranks, holding multiple leadership positions before named president and CEO of Novant in 2012. Prior to joining Novant, Mr. Armato served as vice president of operations for First Care Physicians and director of finance for Baton Rouge, La.-based General Health System.
Mr. Armato took the time to answer three key leadership questions from Becker's.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and style.
Question: Is it important for CEOs to have a public presence? If so, how do you go about that?
Carl Armato: Absolutely! Transparency is an area we embrace at Novant Health, and part of that is the opportunity for me to communicate directly to team members and the communities we serve. In fact, I have been blogging to team members for over six years, which has served as one of the ways Novant Health is building a culture of openness and transparency. I've shared personal stories about my childhood and how, as someone living with Type 1 diabetes, I've been immersed in healthcare my entire life. Difficult topics are covered, too, including how we sometimes hire people who don't share our values. I also share much of that information on LinkedIn with my followers.
It's also important for the CEO to be active in the community to ensure the organization is in touch with the needs of our citizens. I serve on boards, attend events and even coached some of my children's sports teams when I could. It's important for the community to see our team engaged in the health of residents where we live and the communities we serve.
Q: In the past 12 months, how have you adapted to new patient experience expectations in the age of consumerism?
CA: Today's consumers are dictating change in an ever-evolving healthcare environment, because they are accustomed to other industries catering to their personal needs. Healthcare organizations can no longer view a patient as just a patient — they are consumers that demand access to healthcare solutions on their time. And it needs to be done where they wish to seek care and at a price they can afford.
As a leader in transforming care, Novant Health has worked hard to meet consumers' needs by shaping new services and experiences that resonate most with our consumers. We are one of the highest adopters of consumer-friendly aspects in our customized electronic health record, which our consumers can access through our patient portal, MyChart. We've turned on appealing features, including integrating the application with Fitbit and Apple HealthKit data so physicians and patients can track fitness goals together.
It's more important than ever to offer our patients easy and convenient access to care, so we also conduct convenient e-visits and video visits that save a trip to the physician's office. That's also why we offer more express and urgent care clinics for minor illnesses and injuries throughout our communities.
Q: How do you develop leaders within your organization?
CA: Novant Health has several leadership development programs to equip our leaders, including our physician leaders, with the tools they need to succeed within our culture.
We start with a new leader orientation that all new leaders attend, even if they are not new to the organization. Our leader academy has been offered for years and provides professional leadership development and practical education. That program has been one of the best building blocks we have in creating a unified culture. We are also intentional about creating programs to develop more diverse leaders, including personal coaching and Leveraging Internal Female Talent, also known as our LIFT program. Last year, we launched an acute nurse manager academy to develop our nurse leaders and provide them with the tools and vision to navigate an ever-changing and complex work environment.
Finally, we are very proud of our health and resiliency program that we originally developed to address physician burnout. It's been a tremendous opportunity for providers, nurses, leaders and team members to participate.
These programs help our leaders know how to manage others, drive the strategy of the organization, and partner with providers and nursing to keep us patient-focused and true to our mission, vision and values. These programs help us drive a culture that is committed to delivering a remarkable patient experience, in every dimension, every time.