Voices of Innovation, Meet the Authors: Virtua Health

Welcome to another drop of Voices of Innovation: The Author Series. The book I am referencing is Voices of Innovation, second edition. It is a best-practice manual: we took the framework that HIMSS has on innovation and gave real-world examples from around the globe of people and organizations actually leading innovation. All of us as authors and contributors are not taking any money; all profits and royalties go to Mary Crowley Cancer Research, a center that does phase-one clinical trials, where the mission is "Hope lives here."

Virtua Health submitted a chapter in the People and Technology section on digital transformation and innovative governance. TK, can you tell us what you are doing to achieve those kinds of results?

Tarun Kapoor (Chief Digital Transformation Officer, Virtua Health): Virtua has been living through digital transformation for the last couple of years and longer. One of the things we are very proud of is our governance structure. Governance gets a bad rap because it is usually synonymous with slowing down or saying no. There is a saying we go by: how come there is always enough time to fix it, but there was never enough time to do it right the first time? Governance helps us look for blind spots; it forces us to check ourselves at a couple of implementation points.

One key lesson: we are a digital transformation office, but we do not own the projects by ourselves, and the IT team does not own them by themselves. We always partner with an operator and co-own it. The sponsoring executives both put our necks on the line. If we are both not prepared to go after this, then we are not ready to do it right now. Governance does not mean single dictatorship; it means shared governance, watching for blind spots.

Dr. Angela (Lead Physician for Telehealth, Virtua Health): I have the pleasure of working closely with the Digital Transformation Office on projects that are clinical in nature. When we are spinning up another digital-first practice or implementing a new tool for clinicians or patients, I offer the clinician perspective on process, patient experience, and clinician experience.

Danielle Wilson (Digital Transformation Office, Virtua Health): There are a lot of ideas and strategies at the leadership level, but to make these projects a reality you need a strong engine operating and implementing these tools. On governance: if we do not have teams and other departments checking what we are putting out there, once something is live you could hit additional roadblocks. Because other leaders sit on these governance structures and chime in before a project launches, we already have their insight and buy-in, so it is a much softer conversation for the rest of the organization.

Krishna Kurapati (CEO, QliqSOFT): We are a digital health company focused on innovating new workflows and working with organizations like Virtua to realize their vision. When Virtua came to us with a problem, we sat down with them, created a drawing board, used our existing tools, and created a new set of tools. It is an iterative process, working in an agile fashion, starting with an MVP and putting it into realization. In a simple way, it is scrappy innovation: you do it as you go, and 100 percent is not required on day one. That is where the Virtua team and we aligned so well. As a small company with an innovation mindset, we were able to find the right partner.

What you are doing at Virtua Health is amazing in your communities. Thank you for making it happen, for putting your thoughts on paper, and for being willing to share it. The feedback from edition one was that it was a game changer for many organizations that are not blessed to have people like yourselves. There is a book now, and we are such a great community that everyone can talk to each other.