Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: We can't not talk about artificial intelligence.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: I would say I am really optimistic about ethical use of AI and really.
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Specifically in the domain where our clinicians will be able to harness the power of tremendous research data in a much more rapid fashion.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: We tend to in our organization not.
[00:00:22] Speaker A: Just call it artificial intelligence, but augmented.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Intelligence because we really believe that it.
[00:00:27] Speaker A: Is part of augmentation of skills that we have today that can just help us be faster.
[00:00:36] Speaker C: Welcome to the A and M Significant Healthcare Voices podcast series featuring insights on healthcare trends and hot topics direct from industry leaders.
Welcome To A&M's significant healthcare voices podcast series.
[00:00:51] Speaker D: I'm Christina Park, a managing director at Alvarez and Marsal's Healthcare Services practice within our health industry group. I'm joined by my co host, Lex.
[00:00:59] Speaker C: Polari, who's a director also in our healthcare practice today. We're thrilled to have Selma Ferhat Bogovic Fidi join us today in our podcast. She's the Senior Vice President and Chief.
[00:01:10] Speaker D: Information officer at Point 32 Health.
[00:01:13] Speaker C: In her role, Selma leads a wide.
[00:01:15] Speaker D: Range of teams across Point32 Health's information technology landscape. She does everything that includes engineering, data management, cyber and information security technology, portfolio management, and brings new capabilities to market for the organization on a daily basis.
[00:01:32] Speaker C: We're excited to hear your story today.
[00:01:34] Speaker D: Selma, and I can't wait to dive into our conversation and learn more about your history, your career and your work.
[00:01:40] Speaker C: Welcome to the podcast.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: Thank you so much for having me as a guest today.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: I really look forward to a great conversation.
[00:01:47] Speaker C: Great.
Well, maybe let's start with your career path. It reflects a really strong career trajectory.
[00:01:54] Speaker D: For from starting as a software engineer, as you began your career, you became.
[00:01:59] Speaker C: A consultant, and for much of your.
[00:02:01] Speaker D: Career you've kind of moved and progressed. And now you've moved into health systems.
[00:02:06] Speaker C: At Tufts Health plan and then point.
[00:02:07] Speaker D: 32 health, which is where you are today as the CIO.
[00:02:11] Speaker C: Would you tell us a little bit.
[00:02:12] Speaker D: About your journey in healthcare and about what motivates you in healthcare technology?
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: What a great question. To start with, I would say our.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Career paths are never quite exactly how.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: We imagined them during our teen years, are they?
[00:02:25] Speaker A: One thing that remained consistent for me.
[00:02:27] Speaker B: I really knew that I was going.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: To be a technologist. From early on. That was my passion.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: I had a really strong love for math and physics and science and really those early days of.com World Web Design.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: User experience, those were very, very exciting times.
[00:02:48] Speaker B: So of course, as I was selecting my college degree, that was the path that I chose.
Now finishing College starting in software development.
[00:02:57] Speaker A: I really did not think that I.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: Was going to start a consulting career at that time. Stumbled upon the consulting somewhat and began.
[00:03:06] Speaker A: My career in consulting world in financial services.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: And I really thought I was going.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: To stick with financial services.
But in early 2000s I ended up on a project in healthcare space specifically.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: For a health plan and really truly.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: Never left since then.
[00:03:23] Speaker B: I would say from healthcare perspective, there's.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Just so much more to do from providing truly equitable access to care, advancing disease research, to truly reducing some of the complexities in navigation in the healthcare.
[00:03:39] Speaker B: System that we see today.
To me, that is these challenges and.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: Complexities of them is part of the excitement of why I really love this field.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: And above all, I truly believe that technology plays a critical role in enabling.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: Solutions to these complexities and that it makes me excited to come to work every day knowing that even a small portion of my day's work can actually be of help to an individual who.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: Is trying to stay ahead of their health and wellness goals or those who might just have received a challenging diagnosis and are trying to understand how to best proceed.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: That truly is the best motivation.
[00:04:18] Speaker D: That's amazing. And as we think about the ability.
[00:04:22] Speaker C: To leverage, like you said, the ability.
[00:04:24] Speaker D: To leverage technology in how we address the health care needs of the country and access to care and making sure people are getting the right care at the right time, technology is going to play an ever more pervasive part in that. I agree with you 100%.
[00:04:41] Speaker C: Talk to us a little bit about.
[00:04:43] Speaker D: As you've made those changes, jumps and those leaps in your career and you, you kind of called it out a little bit on the healthcare front. You always knew the technology side was there and that was always. I truly remember those dot com eras. So I understand and get that. Did you ever feel like there was a time when you had to take.
[00:04:59] Speaker C: A leap of faith or take a.
[00:05:01] Speaker D: Significant risk in your career and kind of what allowed you or enticed you to do that?
[00:05:07] Speaker B: Christina, I feel like I've taken a couple of those over the course of my career. I would say that first probably major one was leaving really successful consulting career.
[00:05:18] Speaker A: To join regional Health Plan and not just only to go to industry and join the health plan, but it was at the time that health plan was going through that critical technology enabled transformation journey.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: And you know that that's a, it's.
[00:05:33] Speaker A: A risky proposition to leave an organization.
[00:05:35] Speaker B: Where you're established for 13 years. You kind of have an understanding what your path might look like leaving, you know, A lot of great mentors and colleagues and leaping into a role that.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: Potentially could not be successful.
[00:05:48] Speaker B: We know many of those technology transformation journeys that didn't go quite as well.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: So it was certainly a good leap of faith, but I would say guided by three key things that really, truly mattered to me.
[00:06:03] Speaker B: First one was tremendous mentors who were.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: Able to nudge me to go a bit further than I thought I was.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: Ready for at that particular moment.
[00:06:13] Speaker A: I think that's so tremendously important, having.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: People who are not just going to.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: Support you, but who are also willing to push you a bit.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: Because often enough I would say, especially.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: Females, if I may stereotype for a.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: Moment, we're hard on ourselves and we.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: Want to check off every possible box on the job description before we apply for it.
So having people who will nudge you to go above and beyond and maybe.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: Even if you're not feeling ready is really, really.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Second thing during those, during those moments to me was support from my family. Right. That really allowed me to explore these careers and take these high pressure roles, knowing that even if that particular choice might not work, experience of trying, it will be well worth it for us and that support will help navigate us through.
[00:07:08] Speaker B: And then I would say last, I.
[00:07:10] Speaker A: Don'T know, maybe this is just me, but I have this unwavering desire to just learn more. Even if experience is not as successful.
[00:07:18] Speaker B: Or if we encounter obstacles and challenges that, you know, I'm always learning from.
[00:07:23] Speaker A: Each one of those and that keeps pushing us forward and makes you willing to take further leaps later on in your career. And I think that's really, really tremendous.
[00:07:32] Speaker D: That's, that's inspiring. I think those leaps of faith and having those right mentors, like you said, and kind of that right environment to be supportive of that does make it.
[00:07:43] Speaker C: Not less risky, but certainly trying something.
[00:07:46] Speaker D: New and really having an impact perspective, I think that is a tremendous way to look at it and really think through making impact across the industry.
Maybe thinking about it from a future in healthcare technology, yet another risk and another jump and leap of faith. What are you seeing and how do you coach your teams? How do you mentor people? How as we look at the future of healthcare and the impact that technology can have in that future, particularly patient.
[00:08:16] Speaker C: Outcomes, access to care, how we're delivering care, what do you see in the.
[00:08:20] Speaker D: Future and how do you think about positioning it as you're continuing to push an organization and lead an organization through that change?
[00:08:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I would say this is one.
[00:08:31] Speaker A: Aspect of a technology leadership role that has changed tremendously. For us over the last few years, you know, previously maybe you had to be an expert in a certain technology and deliver that to the organization and deliver that in your industry field and.
[00:08:47] Speaker B: Demonstrate your level of expertise.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: And I think that still matters. But this new aspect of guiding and mentoring not just our teams, but our enterprise and organizations on how to take advantage of technology solutions has really become very important and very different in the last few years.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: I think in healthcare, as I mentioned earlier, I think technology really plays a critical role.
I'm specifically thinking of, for example, advancements.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: We have made in telehealth that really truly have enabled access to care to those who are in the most rural locations.
But when we talk about future and.
[00:09:28] Speaker B: Where we are right now and what.
[00:09:29] Speaker A: I potentially see as as years evolve, we can't not talk about artificial intelligence.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: I would say I am really optimistic about ethical use of AI and really.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Specifically in the domain where our clinicians will be able to harness the power of tremendous research data in a much.
[00:09:51] Speaker B: More rapid fashion, we tend to in our organization not just call it artificial intelligence, but augmented intelligence because we really.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: Believe that it is part of augmentation of skills that we have today that can just help us be faster. I think the ability to detect early symptoms, early diseases, truly make tremendous difference.
[00:10:14] Speaker B: In a more favorable patient outcome. And I think AI can play tremendous.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: Role in that domain. I really do.
[00:10:22] Speaker E: All right, well, as we think about some of the things that you have led and you oversee the strategic technology portfolio management, could you share a little bit about a project or initiative that you're particularly proud of and why it stands out to you? Especially as we think about all of these up and coming areas in technology.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: This is a tough question.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: On annual basis we deliver, I would.
[00:10:47] Speaker A: Say probably about 100 plus initiatives across.
[00:10:50] Speaker B: Our enterprise wide portfolio. So the amount of tremendous effort and.
[00:10:55] Speaker A: Work that our teams do on daily basis, monthly basis and releases that they.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: Deploy is really, really tremendous.
[00:11:03] Speaker A: So it's tough to find a favorite, but maybe I'll select few that I can share a few tidbits and insights about.
First one is project that almost was as Phoenix Rising. After a very challenging time in 2023.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: We experienced cyber ransomware attack as an.
[00:11:24] Speaker A: Organization and that was very challenging, but it truly demonstrated ability of our team.
[00:11:31] Speaker B: To stand together and work not just.
[00:11:34] Speaker A: Through the recovery, but also figure out how to build the project's portfolio.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: Coming out of that recovery and in.
[00:11:47] Speaker A: A very rapid fashion post the recovery stages, we were able to formulate three year technology roadmap that was Complex I will call it Spiderweb of infrastructure improvements, cyber and information security enhancements, plus the new capabilities and new vendor partnerships that that we put in place and that project has been tremendous.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: We managed to deliver on all of.
[00:12:13] Speaker A: The goals and objectives we have set.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: Forth for ourselves in 24 and are.
[00:12:17] Speaker A: On a good path of delivering those in 25. And it was just a great example of how a challenging situation did not stop our teams in their tracks. It actually brought up the spark of.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: Creativity, innovation, advancement of capabilities and set.
[00:12:37] Speaker A: Some pretty aggressive goals for us as a technology, but also as an enterprise and we were able to successfully deliver on those. I can certainly talk about many others from transformation perspective of replacement of large.
[00:12:51] Speaker B: Core admin systems to advancements of sales.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: And capabilities platforms that we have done.
I am looking forward to a couple.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: Of initiatives that we have on our.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: Roadmap for this year and next.
[00:13:04] Speaker B: We are very much focusing on our.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Service and experience and advancing those through.
[00:13:10] Speaker B: Use of modern technologies and through deployment of some artificial intelligence for our servicing agents.
So really exciting work ahead and lot.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: To look forward to.
[00:13:23] Speaker E: Amazing.
As somebody who is about 10, 11 years into their career, your career is actually very inspiring to me and I love to see your career trajectory and learn more from you. So what advice do you have for aspiring leaders or professionals looking to make an impact in healthcare technology or perhaps in community health?
[00:13:46] Speaker A: First, we have so much to do, so please, if you have any interest in healthcare technology or not technology, please join us.
[00:13:55] Speaker B: It will take an army of passionate.
[00:13:59] Speaker A: Colleagues, peers to really advance everything that we would like to advance and in.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: Health care for, quite frankly, for everybody across the nation.
[00:14:11] Speaker A: So to me, that's the first plea to everybody.
Healthcare needs good talent and we absolutely would love you to join us.
My second advice to those of you.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: Who may be starting your career path.
[00:14:23] Speaker A: And career journey is, like I mentioned.
[00:14:26] Speaker B: Earlier, never think that that path is set.
[00:14:29] Speaker A: Always be willing to explore and deviate a little bit from it. You never know what you're going to learn. If you take maybe a route that you did not necessarily necessarily originally envision or explore, take those leaps of faith, they are important.
Even if you feel that you may not be fully ready, even if the job description does not necessarily perfectly align with experience that you might have had.
[00:14:53] Speaker B: So far, be willing to lean in.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: Take that risk, you know, find good mentors and people who will coach and guide you through that learning experience, I.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: Think that is really important.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: That's what matters to me when I'm.
[00:15:07] Speaker B: Building my team or hiring individuals on our team.
It's not always just the experience that they have and that they bring to.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: The table, but also their willingness to.
[00:15:16] Speaker B: Explore, learn and innovate.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: And I think that is tremendously important right as technology continues to advance, as.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: We think about more of low code.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: To no code generation, if we think.
[00:15:31] Speaker B: About artificial intelligence, I think that desire.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: To explore, bring creativity, bring thoughtful thinking and empathy and human aspect to it is going to be always really, really important.
[00:15:43] Speaker D: Thelma, thank you so much for the conversation today. Really appreciate it as I think about point 32 health and the incredibly important role it plays in the New England and Massachusetts market. We applaud you and are grateful to have you as a role model and leader in that organization and running the information technology area of point 32 health. And really thank you for sharing your insights and experiences and helping our our.
[00:16:11] Speaker C: Listeners better understand sort of the importance.
[00:16:13] Speaker D: Of mentorship of technology and healthcare across the spectrum. So thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us today.
[00:16:22] Speaker B: Thanks so much for having me, Christina, and I really truly hope that this.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: Will spark some of you to join us in healthcare technology, if nothing else.
[00:16:33] Speaker B: And always happy to have these conversations.
[00:16:35] Speaker A: Especially with young professionals who are thinking about their career paths and journeys.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: So thank you again.
[00:16:41] Speaker A: Pleasure to be guest today.
[00:16:43] Speaker D: Fantastic. And to everyone who joined us, thank you for listening. For more information about A and M.
[00:16:48] Speaker C: And to find more of our podcasts, please visit www.alvarezmrsal.com healthcare. Thanks and have a great day.
