Phoenix-based Banner Health named former Target executive Christy Anderson executive director of its innovation group in 2017, and since then she has overhauled how the system approaches innovation, according to a Business Insider report.
Here are four decisions Ms. Anderson has made since joining Banner:
1. Prior to Ms. Anderson joining the health system, its innovation efforts were divided by insurance type; Ms. Anderson reorganized the department into three distinct teams, including the internal innovation lab, a venture group and an organizational culture and IT alignment team.
2. Ms. Anderson worked with team members in the internal lab and venture arm to identify issues and develop customer insights. As a result, the team developed a chatbot to alert individuals in the emergency room of wait times throughout their stay.
3. Top executives at the health system as well as its board of directors have been supportive of Ms. Anderson's changes and new ideas, which made the transformation easier, she said. "Doors were opened for us, we didn't have to knock them down," she told Business Insider.
4. Banner gave Ms. Anderson and the innovation department a mandate to pursue revenue-generating projects, and she decided the innovation team would pay for the pilot stage of a new technology from its existing budget and then request additional funding if it proved successful. This move ensured the financial aspect of her project didn't become a sticking point to business-driving innovation.
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