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 LEAD IT Profile - Meghan Hendricks
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2011 - Vol. II
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E-mail article
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Meghan Hendricks
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Director of Shared Services > Wisconsin Integrated Information Technology & Telemedicine Systems (WIITTS) > Madison, WI
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Describe how the patient support experience has changed over the last 3-5 years. Or, how do you see the patient support experience changing or improving in the future?
We started providing on-demand support to our MyChart portal customers in 2006 after the conclusion of our pilot. Our philosophy and approach remain the same - if they are going to use MyChart 24x7, we should be available to help 24x7.
With that said, our patients play a big role setting the future direction of our portal. We complete online satisfaction surveys and ask them to share their opinion on what features would improve their experience. Their input weighs heavily into our project prioritization.
Was there a career move or previous job that best prepared you for your role today?
I worked as a project manager for a software company for five years. Surprisingly it wasn't the technology exposure at the software company that provided the best experience.
Learning to develop strong relationships with a diverse customer base in order to understand what makes them tick - and thereby determining how I could adjust our team's approach to provide high-quality - personalized outcomes was invaluable.
For individuals starting out in IT today, what advice would you give them?
Communication skills are key. You will often be a change agent - change in and of itself is scary, and then your customers may be intimidated by the technology. Always remember to explain the reason for the change. How it will make their life better, improve revenue, etc. They still may not like the change, but at least they won't think, "Oh, there goes IT again."
A top priority in a new IT job should be figuring out the goals of the operations side of the house so you can understand how your services can improve their life.
Describe the importance of teamwork in your department, and how it impacts patient outcomes or patient experience.
Our team manages electronic health records. Everything from when the patient walks in the door until payment is received from the insurance company. We rarely make a system change that doesn't impact another team member.
Due to this dynamic, healthy peer relationships are critical. If they don't reach out to each other, we will trip up the care teams we support and our solutions could result in sub-optimal care.
Pertaining to healthcare and technology, how are you self educating? What are you reading, following, etc.?
There are endless formal professional development opportunities. I could list specific tweets, blogs, magazines, and newsletters … and they truly are important to keeping up.
However, some of the best knowledge I gain is through peer networking and conferences. Healthcare is a very collaborative field - sometimes the best ideas come from discussing common challenges with peers who may have a unique perspective.
Personal
Years in the industry: 13 in IT, with the past eight in healthcare IT
Family: husband, Tom, and two fat cats in Madison.
Hobbies: Traveling, gardening, reading unique interests or experiences "I've been on two airplanes when they were hit by lightning (it's scary!). Maybe that explains why our tech team thinks I give off strange energy that breaks most mobile devices!"
Professional
Locations: Six hospitals and more than 50 clinics
Users: 11,000, with an additional 80,000 patient portal users
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