In this special Speaker Series, Becker's Healthcare caught up with Viraj Patwardhan, vice president of digital design and consumer experience at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.
Mr. Patwardhan will speak on a panel during the Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference titled "Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Personalized Care," at 2:00 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?
Viraj Patwardhan: One of our team principles is, "obstacle is the way." We at Jefferson Health are trying to "reimagine healthcare," which is not an easy task. We face obstacles every day. For teams to be successful and motivated, we need to find solutions in the most difficult situations.
Q: What's the best thing you've read lately?
VP: Timely question. I just finished reading Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs by John Doerr. The book was recommended to me by our chief digital officer, Neil Gomes, PhD. It was amazing to read how Google became a billion-dollar company by using OKR's — objectives and key results — as their foundation. We in the healthcare industry will benefit immensely from this approach.
Q: What is your No. 1 dealbreaker when it comes to evaluating vendor partnerships?
VP: If a client-vendor relationship is purely transactional, that's a dealbreaker for us. In the everchanging world on technology and innovation, healthcare needs more partners than vendors — companies that are willing to work together with healthcare systems to create win-win solutions. We at Jefferson Health are always looking to work with partners who are willing to collaborate and cocreate with us.