Q&A with Englewood Health CIO Inderpal Kohli: “Only 20 Percent of It Is About Tools.”

CIOs and other leaders face a harsh reality. Because of the highly sought-after technical skills they’ve attained, most of the IT team can find a job in any industry – one that offers more money, in many cases.

So, what’s keeping these talented workers from seeking (potentially) greener pastures? That’s where leadership comes in, said Inderpal Kohli, VP and CIO at Englewood Health. “If they choose to work in healthcare IT, my primary goal is to connect them with the mission of the organization,” and to ensure they understand “what’s at the end of the service or a tool I’m providing.” The more people understand about how technology impacts care delivery, the more invested they become in driving those technologies forward.

During an interview with Kate Gamble, Managing Editor at healthsystemCIO, Kohli talked about the work his team is doing to advance digital transformation across the organization by focusing on specific uses cases and outcomes. He also discussed the key foundational components in enabling digital health – including a solid infrastructure and alignment with operations; his “passion” for improving IT service management; why he believes the emphasis should be on growing individuals and not necessarily leaders; and what he has gained by teaching.

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Bold Statements

Because we are on a single platform, that lends itself to supporting integrated care across multiple disciplines. The infrastructure is there. The technology is there. We just need to ensure that operations are aligned with IT.

The challenge with digital transformation is that the key constituent is not your internal user group, it’s the patient. We don’t know their workflows; we don’t know how they will interact with the system. And so, we’ve had to rethink this process.

It is excitement with caution about what the responses will be. We, as a sponsor group, educated ourselves and are planning to pilot it. If it’s successful, we’ll ramp it up.

This isn’t about tools. In fact, only 20 percent of it is about tools. More and more, it’s about people, process, and methodology, and that’s where I’m focused.

It’s not just about growing leaders; it’s about growing everyone where they are. It’s growing my entire team, right? Everyone undergoes growth. And it’s not always just about titles; it’s about learning. It’s about knowing more than you did before, and it’s about able to do more.

Q&A; with Inderpal Kohli, VP and CIO, Englewood Health

Gamble:  Hi Inder, thank you for your time, we really appreciate it. I know this time of the year is busy, but it’s always busy, right?

Kohli:  It’s always busy.

Gamble:  To start, can you provide a high-level overview of Englewood Health — what you have in terms of bed size, where you’re located, things like that.

Kohli:  Englewood Health is a prominent health system in Northern New Jersey covering five counties both within New Jersey and New York. Our primary facility is a 300-bed hospital complemented by an extensive outpatient network which includes physician practices, hospital outpatient departments, imaging, therapeutic services, and more. We have a team of about 1,200 medical staff members advancing the mission of patient care. We offer both primary and specialty care services. Our vast physician network includes specialties such as cardiology, GI, orthopedics, and neurosurgery. Within the health system we have cardiology, cancer care,