TDP143: The Guthrie Clinic’s CDO, Terri Couts: Phishing Your Own Staff, AI, and more...

Episode 143 of The Digital Patient - Stories from the frontline of Digital Patient Engagement - featuring Terri Couts, Chief Digital Officer at The Guthrie Clinic. Show notes 👇
[00:00:07] Introducing Terri Couts, Chief Digital Officer at the Guthrie Clinic, highlighting her unique career transition from teaching to nursing and eventually to healthcare IT;
[00:00:27] Ms. Couts shares her initial aspiration to become a physician, her brief stint in teaching, and her eventual shift to nursing driven by a desire for a more dynamic work environment.
[00:01:21] How Ms. Couts transitioned from dealing with pediatric heart surgeries to exploring healthcare IT after a suggestion to learn about Epic systems;
[00:02:29] Early involvement with Epic, starting from needing to configure it for pediatric use at Akron Children's Hospital;
[00:03:15] How saying "yes" to new opportunities, even those outside her initial comfort zone, helped her ascend to the office of the CIO unexpectedly;
[00:04:13] How Ms. Cout's nursing background enriches her approach as a digital leader, particularly in developing technologies that genuinely support patient care and provider workflows;
[00:12:01] Implementing Artisight, computer-vision AI to help detect patient falls, enabling the team to go from 1:1 nurse-to-patient care, to 1:16, and how they overcame initial resistance to new technology;
[00:13:39] How to be proactive with innovation by encouraging a culture of 'failing fast' to allow for quick learning and adaptation;
[00:14:53] The ongoing challenge of sustaining innovation is addressed through a cultural shift towards continuous improvement and reevaluation of processes; Ms. Couts emphasizes the importance of maintaining a commitment to innovation not as a one-off project but as a long-term operational philosophy;
[00:16:16] Key takeaways from Ms. Couts' recent HIMSS panel on managing lean IT teams, emphasizing the importance of strategic alignment and transparent prioritization to convert skeptics into supporters of IT initiatives;
[00:18:21] Shifting the perception of IT from a cost center to a collaborative partner by improving transparency and communication, thus fostering a more collaborative culture between IT and operations;
[00:19:04] How to prevent burnout within a lean team, maintaining good relationships with vendors who act as partners, and ensuring these partnerships contribute positively to project delivery;
[00:21:02] Ms. Couts shares her views on AI, emphasizing that while AI has potential, it should be viewed as one of many tools in the toolbox, not a standalone solution for all problems;
[00:22:02] Advocating for AI to be used as a co-pilot to enhance clinician capabilities rather than replace them;
[00:27:27] Strategies for educating healthcare teams on underutilized tools and functionalities, particularly in Epic, using tailored approaches based on individual clinician data to maximize product usage, alongside regular IT rounds for direct engagement and problem-solving;
[00:28:35] How including end-users in the conversation early helps longterm sustainability by understanding specific needs and workflow concerns;
[00:30:33] Effective strategies for enhancing cybersecurity awareness and responsibility across the organization;
[00:34:25] Leveraging proactive security measures such as randomized phishing tests to educate and prepare staff for potential cybersecurity threats, ensuring everyone is equipped to recognize and respond to security risks effectively;