Healthcare is 'inside-out,' happening outside the walls of a hospital, says HIMSS CEO and President Hal Wolf

HIMSS President and CEO Hal Wolf addresses leaders Monday during the HIMSS23 Executive Summit in Chicago.

Photo: Susan Morse, HFN

CHICAGO - To kick off the HIMSS23 Executive Summit on Monday morning, HIMSS President and CEO Hal Wolf told a ballroom of C-suite leaders that healthcare is no longer happening inside the four walls of a hospital.

Healthcare is "inside-out," Wolf said of the new paradigm of care driven by patient expectations for convenience and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The theme of the need for digital change, innovation at scale and better communication, especially among a remote workforce, continued through talks given by keynote speaker and author Erica Dhawan, and Dr. Richard Gray, CEO of Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

Dhawan spoke to the idea that "connectional Intelligence" – fully maximizing the power of networks and relationships – has the ability to unlock new and unrealized value.

"True authenticity doesn't start with one email or meeting," Dhawan said.

But what got the audience on their feet was an impromptu Bollywood dance in which the crowd stood on their feet and danced to two simple moves performed by Dhawan. At least three quarters of face-to-face communication is taking place nonverbally, she said, and 70% of current connections are hybrid, taking place through email and messaging.

The shift means we need to communicate carefully to make sure both that we're being understood and we're understanding what's being written to us and its priority.

"Maniacal clarity" is: When you have an ask, ask who needs to be involved, what is the delivery date, what is the ask and what is the priority level, she said.

Extroverts tend to dominate meetings. Introverts can be heard by emailing an email agenda to participants ahead of the meeting to get feedback.

"Leaders driving innovation need to understand differences," Dhawan said.

COVID-19 highlighted a lot of our challenges, Gray said, such as healthcare is too fragmented and not affordable enough.

Hospitals are trying to meet these challenges through digital innovation, but the main barriers aren't technical, but institutional processes, Gray said.

"To unleash the value of digital health, (we) must reengineer procedures," he said. 

The current "one patient at time going through the system" will not drive transformation, Gray said. Infrastructure must be created at scale, which means working with complimentary partners. 

AI is currently being inserted in steam-powered systems, he said, comparing today's transformation to Thomas Edison's efforts to generate electricity on a large scale through steam power. 

Shifts will change care outside of the hospital, Gray said, echoing Wolf's "inside-out" comments.

Mayo has Medically Home and a Care Hotel programs and new in-person space is geared for the more critically ill.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org

Erica Dhawan will offer more detail at her HIMSS23 presentation " Executive Summit Keynote: Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence." It is scheduled for Monday, April 17, at 8:45 a.m. - 9:20 a.m. CT at the Marriott Marquis Chicago, Level 4, in the Grand Horizon Ballroom.