462- How Do We Get to Right? w/Christopher Childs

GUEST BIO

The skill Christopher Childs credits most for his success has nothing to do with technical ability: listening more than he speaks and meeting people where they are. The CIO of Evans Army Community Hospital, speaking for himself, explains how a master technician can also become a master isolationist, and why he tells his branch chiefs to use IT as a force multiplier and a healthcare enabler.

He describes telling his own leadership that he is not the help desk, why he asks every department for downtime procedures so nobody uses IT as a crutch, and the two questions behind his decisions: does it help deliver safe, quality care, and does it make the patient experience better. Then come his four pillars of leadership, compassion, passion, standards and discipline, and the Frankenstein IT you get when nothing is standardized.

Chris also pushed for the hospital's Innovation Board, a bimonthly meeting where anyone in the organization can bring an idea to the experts who would have to deliver it. It brought IT to the table before decisions get made, and it runs on one rule: how do we get to right? He closes with how he sells standardization when the payoff is slow, using Vocera badges that let the hospital drop five contracts, and with the legacy he wants to leave.

Episode Show Notes

Navigate through key moments in this episode with timestamped highlights, from initial introductions to deep dives into real-world use cases and implementation strategies.

[00:00] Introduction: from the MLB draft to the Army

[06:59] Listen more than you speak

[14:04] Master technician, master isolationist

[16:25] In the business of healthcare, and downtime procedures

[22:13] "I am not the help desk"

[26:36] Why technicians rarely get to learn leadership

[33:21] Safe, quality care and the patient experience

[38:17] Four pillars: compassion, passion, standards, discipline

[42:14] Showing passion, and the Innovation Board

[48:35] A seat at the table: how do we get to right?

[55:12] Selling standardization, from Batman to Vocera badges

[68:33] Words of wisdom: the legacy you leave

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Listen more than you speak. When someone seems distracted, offer to have a different conversation than the one you're having.

Pick the framework your organization delivers on and run every decision through it. His: safe, quality care and the patient experience.

When leaders treat you as the help desk, say so plainly, and send the call to the person whose job it is.

Make every department keep downtime procedures, so a planned maintenance window doesn't stop the work.

Standardize before you scale. Patched-together good ideas turn into Frankenstein IT that nobody can fix when it breaks.

Give people a standing room to bring ideas, and steer the talk toward how to get to right, so a no costs nothing.

462- How Do We Get to Right? w/Christopher Childs