In this special Speaker Series, Becker's Healthcare caught up with Kim Swafford, group vice president of telehealth and health technology strategy at Providence St. Joseph Health in Renton, Wash.
Ms. Swafford will speak during the Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference on "Aligning IT with Business Goals: Dealing with Practical Challenges" at 2 p.m. Friday Sept. 21 Learn more about the event and register to attend in Chicago.
Question: Can you share your best advice for motivating your teams?
Kim Swafford: My best advice for motivating teams is to keep team members informed. Not only of the “wins”, but also the opportunities and challenges, and the need to develop new solutions. For a team to be motivated it must be a collaborative experience, ensuring team members are free to express their ideas.
Q: In the past 12 months, how have you adapted to new patient experience expectations in the age of consumerism?
KS: [We have been] increasing channels for consumer connections, creating an omni-channel experience where the consumer can interact with the health system on their terms. Our organization has made great strides over the last several years to launch new communication channels, [such as] chatbots and enhance existing channels via phone interactions, online scheduling, apps etc.
Q: What's the best thing you've read lately?
KS: A wonderful book called, Lovability: How to Build a Business That People Love and Be Happy Doing it [by Brian De Haaff]. This book provides excellent insight on how to focus on developing a complete product experience that creates loyalty, trust and love. It provides an innovative perspective of how startups create new products, focusing on the customer experience and team culture in a unique way.