J. Brett Tracy, MHA, PMP, CPC, serves as Vice President of Revenue Cycle for Carilion Clinic.
On September 15th, Brett will serve on the keynote panel "Carilion Clinic Panel" at Becker's 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 on September 13-15, 2021 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Brett's session, click here.
Question: What technology has taken on greater significance or value during the pandemic?
Brett Tracy: Telehealth, Internet bandwidth, teleconferencing, and remote meeting tools have come to the forefront during the pandemic. It is in establishing these necessities that build the foundation for collaboration and productivity. These technologies mitigate the gap of isolation people feel while working remotely or alone or through social distancing.
Q: How has the coronavirus pandemic forced a paradigm shift in your line of work, from your perspective?
BT: The pandemic has forced a paradigm shift in that the importance of effective communication coupled with enhanced productivity monitoring has risen to the list of top priorities. While effective communication and productivity monitoring should always be core building blocks, the pandemic has magnified the criticality of ensuring that these processes are fully optimized. We have increased our frequency of daily huddles as well as optimized our productivity analytics to equip leaders with more real-time decision-making tools.
Q: What is the most underrated trait of the best leaders?
BT: Resilience. What I have seen is that adversity reveals many things about a leader, including resilience in the ability and capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Many leaders have shown great perseverance and rallied their troops to ensure no voltage drop in business continuity and operations.
Q: What fundamentals would you encourage your peers to revisit and refine when it comes to health IT and revenue cycle management?
BT: We must revisit and prioritize consumer needs. During a time of financial crisis, we must be in sync with industry norms to offer flexible payment options for consumers to pay their bills. During a time of social distancing, we must be creative to optimize our patient experiences through telehealth options, from registration processes to the video visit with the provider to the delivery of the medication to the patient’s home.