When the Guthrie Clinic hired Terri Couts as VP of Clinical Applications in 2016, it was for a very specific reason: her Epic expertise. To say that the Epic implementation hadn’t been going well is a massive understatement. Clinicians were leaving in droves — in many cases, citing the EMR as a key factor.

Couts, however, believed it wasn’t the technology itself, but rather, the way in which it had been deployed. And so, she led an effort to revamp the entire process, “from the time we onboarded a new clinician all the way through upgrades,” and focus heavily on building relationships with users. The strategy quickly paid dividends, as clinician satisfaction rates skyrocketed, and the organization achieved STARS 10 Epic Status.

Even more importantly, a playbook was established for future projects, helping to ensure that Guthrie would be able to roll out projects more efficiently in the future. During a recent interview, Couts talked about how her background helped prepare her for the CIO role — which she took on in July of 2021, why it’s so critical to focus on the end user, and how her team hopes to lessen the documentation burden on nurses through its Nightengale Initiative.

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Key Takeaways

* For Guthrie, the primary focus in 2022 is in three key areas: patient experience, quality and expanding virtual care. “By meeting patients where they are and having high quality outcomes, everything else will follow.”

* Both Couts and Guthrie’s new CEO, Edmund Sabanegh, Jr., previously spent time at Mayo Clinic, and are applying some of the same philosophies. “We’ve changed our thinking.”

* Unlike in years past, CIOs don’t necessarily have to understand all aspects of technology. What’s more important making sure the end user – whether that be patients or caregivers – in focus.

* Through the increased use of virtual care services and remote monitoring, Guthrie is “transforming to more of a holistic approach to care versus providing the traditional task-oriented care.”

* One of the positive impacts of Covid? “It has made us more agile. In healthcare, we have a tendency to overthink and over analyze everything, and it slows down our ability to deliver on a product.”

Q&A with Terri Couts, SVP and CIO, The Guthrie Clinic, Part 1

Gamble:  Thanks so much for putting aside some time to speak. Can you start by giving a high-level overview of Guthrie in terms of the types of care you provide, where you’re located and things like that?

Couts:  Guthrie is an integrated health system offering the full spectrum of health services. We’re located in Pennsylvania and New York, kind of where the southern and northern tiers of both of those states mesh together. We have five hospitals — two in New York and three in Pennsylvania, and about 36 associated multispecialty clinics. We are primarily rural care and we serve a large population over a wide geographic area.

 

Gamble:  So you cover the gamut of care. I imagine that’s one of the biggest appeals of the organization.

Couts:  It is. When I first started here, I wasn’t that familiar with the organization. But I committed to listening because I was recruited by a colleague I had worked with before, and I just fell in love with the organization. They’re very family oriented. They have a philosophy based off the Mayo Clinic; it’s very physician focused as far as managing practices. And the culture was very appealing — that’s why I joined. I’ve been here about six years.

 

3 Core Objectives