Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
Are you ready to take your personal brand and business development to the next level? Then you won't want to miss the exciting new podcast dedicated to helping you tell your story in the most compelling way possible. Join me as I guide you through the process of building a magnetic personal brand, creating valuable relationships, and mastering the art of networking. With my expert tips and practical strategies, you'll be well on your way to 5-star success in both your professional and personal life. Don't wait - start building your 5-STAR BRAND TODAY!
Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
The Care Revolution: Empathy and Technology with LaToya Watkins M.S.
Ever wondered how a leader in healthcare administration forges a path from medical assistant to innovator, while revolutionizing patient care through technology? Latoya Watkins joins us to share just that, unraveling her journey filled with grit, empathy, and a deep-seated passion for enhancing healthcare delivery. Latoya not only recounts her career trajectory but also gives us an exclusive look into her experience with our Brave Brand Strategy Program, which sculpted her into the powerhouse brand she represents today. She delves into her vision of a tech-infused healthcare future, where artificial intelligence and empathetic care coalesce to redefine patient outcomes and efficiency.
As we navigate the corridors of patient-centered healthcare, Latoya discusses the transformative impact of bringing care into the comfort of patients' homes and the role of technology in freeing up valuable time for clinicians. With her keen insights from her tenure as a center operations director, she sheds light on the symbiosis of customer service and care coordination, painting a vivid image of a healthcare landscape where reduced wait times and improved experiences are not just goals but realities. Furthermore, Latoya emphasizes the significance of diversity and inclusion, sharing how an environment rich in cultural understanding can lead to better care for all. Her stories of community advocacy and hands-on leadership exemplify the undeniable influence of a dedicated healthcare professional committed to patient-centered care.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!
Welcome to another episode of Follow the Brand. I am your host, grant McGaugh, ceo of 5 Star BDM, a 5 Star personal branding and business development company. I want to take you on a journey that takes another deep dive into the world of personal branding and business development using compelling personal story, business conversations and tips. Development using compelling personal story, business conversations and tips to improve your personal brand. By listening to the Follow the Brand podcast series, you will be able to differentiate yourself from the competition and allow you to build trust with prospective clients and employers. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make it one that will set you apart, build trust and reflect who you are. Developing your five-star personal brand is a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. If you have any questions from me or my guests, please email me at grantmcgaw, spelled M-C-G-A-U-G-H at 5starbdm B for brand, d for development, m for masterscom. Now let's begin with our next five-star episode on Follow the Brand. Welcome to another inspired episode on on Follow the Brand. Welcome to another inspiring episode on the Follow the Brand podcast, where we delve into the journeys of phenomenal professionals shaping their industries. I am your host, grant McGaugh, where we help you build a five-star brand that people will follow, and today we are connecting across the coast to spotlight a visionary leader in healthcare. Joining us from the vibrant San Francisco Bay Area, home to many Silicon Valley tech companies, is the remarkable Latoya Waki. Latoya is not only a seasoned health administrator with over 15 years of dedication to healthcare, but she is also a vibrant advocate for incorporating technology and AI into healthcare to enhance patient care and operational efficiency. Latoya has recently completed our Brave Brand Strategy Program, where she refined her approach to career development, emphasizing her expert knowledge in healthcare administration. Her journey from a hands-on medical assistant to a strategic health leader showcases her commitment to innovation and patient-centered care. In today's conversation, we will explore Latoya's impactful career, her insights on the future of healthcare and how her personal brand of compassionate innovation is setting the stage for her to ascend to even greater heights. Let's welcome Latoya to the Follow Brand Podcast, where we are building a five-star brand that you can follow.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Follow Brand Podcast. This is your host, grant McGaugh, and I get to go all the way out to the West Coast. I need to go out there and visit more often, and there's one person I really, really need to see when I go out to the San Fran, san Jose, oakland area, the former champions that are out there, the Golden State Warriors. You know they've had their run and then not, but they've done some great work in the meantime. However, you know Latoya Watkins lives there. She's been doing fantastic things in healthcare. We just worked together on. I've taken her through my program Brave Brand Strategy. She's looking to enhance in the world of career development and she wanted to showcase her thought expertise in the realm of healthcare administration that she has been doing for a number of years. I wanted to showcase her thought expertise in the realm of healthcare administration that she has been doing for a number of years. I wanted to bring her on to the show. She's so excited and I don't want to hold her back any longer. Latoya, you'd like to introduce yourself.
Speaker 2:Hi everyone. Yes, my name is LaToya Watkins and I am a health administrator. I've been in the healthcare field for about 15 years, so I'm excited just to go through my different stages in my career and I'm very excited about how my future looks in healthcare. I'm really excited and passionate about healthcare.
Speaker 1:Well, let's unpack that just a little bit. 15 years, boy, it doesn't seem like it's been that long. And as you look back and think about the pivotal moments that you have experienced in healthcare, and going back to why you got into the industry in the first place, take us through a little bit about that journey. Why did you choose healthcare as a profession?
Speaker 2:I just chose health care as a profession because of how I am as a person. You know like I'm empathetic, I'm passionate, I'm a serving individual, um. So I just kind of wanted to go into a field where I can be safe, be safe in environment, where I can inflict those qualities into the workplace and also to make an impact in the workplace. And I didn't think of any other field that I can go into but health care.
Speaker 1:Well, that makes sense. No, so you're driven to it by your own particular brand, and that is in the empathy world. You have a lot of empathy and you're also very innovative and, as you see the change over your time in the industry, what is the most impactful thing that you're seeing now taking shape in the healthcare industry?
Speaker 2:Right now taking shape in the healthcare industry. I would say it took a long time for us to incorporate technology. So I was there when, working side by side with doctors, when we first got the I think it was called the electric medical record and then we advanced to EHR. So I'm really happy about how we are really using the tools and the technology and healthcare and I'm really excited about, you know, the future of technology and healthcare. I know we have some health care affiliations right now in Congress that's kind of advocating for us to use AI in health care. You know AI is the future in health care. I think it can help, you know, with doctors to give them back their time, you know, with chart notes, even with leaders dealing with administrative tasks with patients. So, you know, hopefully Congress and lawmakers will allow us to implement AI technology in healthcare.
Speaker 1:That's very, very important. We don't want to be laggards in the technical field, as healthcare has been over time. I don't think we can afford to do that, because this does collapse. The windows of time makes things a lot quicker to get good information, especially if it's precise and that is, accurate information that you can trust. Trust is so big in healthcare. Help our audience understand that. Were you a hospital administrator? Are you a community health leader? Were you running clinics? Help us understand your role.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I started off working in practices, medical practices with doctors, so like outpatient. So I was a medical assistant, assistant in various different specialties. So right now, because a lot of big health system has brought up, had bought practices, doctor practices, so now it's called ambulatory care. So it's like the same type of delivery. Where I was working in medical practices it's now called ambulatory care settings. I'm an outpatient. So in different specialties I worked in pediatric OB, rheumatology.
Speaker 2:Actually with Michael Jackson, dr, dr Metzger I'm not sure if he's still around now, but I used to be his medical assistant. So I just worked in just various fields in the outpatient sector and even in the workplace. I would always be innovative and had a pretty much influence even as a medical assistant how to make change in the workplace, to make processes better, so that kind of what sparked my interest in healthcare leadership. So then I kind of withdraw from the healthcare field as a medical assistant, pursued my education, higher education, received my bachelor's of science in health administration and management and my master's in healthcare management, went in as a medical assistant and came out a healthcare leader, a health administrator.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that Now you've gone through my program and you've seen the strategies that were put together that's around your own personal brand and I'd like you to tell the audience your experience in working with me and how that has helped you frame your whole career journey and how you're headed in a whole other direction at this point.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I would have to say that your strategy, so I would have to say that your strategy, dylan, with being brave and it's basically has given me the opportunity to be bold bold in my career and to also be courageous, like I was telling you previously, you know, I went and I started to think 10 years ago and envision how my career would be, which I'm in it now, 10 years. Fast forward, I'm in it now. I'm in a health administrator. But you know, just being in your program just kind of really had me think. You know, where do I see myself in the next 10 years? Or where do I see my career, and you know, over the span of 24 years, and just being bold and courageous and to take the necessarily steps to always continuously learn and just kind of think innovatively and have that vision type of visionary type of mindset. So you know, with that being said, I kind of see myself, you know, in leadership roles as, like, a CEO in healthcare settings. And then you know, like, think of the steps to get me back.
Speaker 1:That's what it's all about. It's providing the framework to understand if you're going to get to another role. What does it take to be there so you become the person that you're aspiring to be? Yes, right, yes, you know. You think 10 years previously like, well, what was I aspiring to be? Now you've become that person. Yes, now you know, you've got the necessary certifications and the education and the experience. And here you are, you're on this next journey. I wanted to ask you this because this is so important. I know you work with this because you're interfacing not only with the clinicians on a daily basis, but you're also dealing with the patient population and what their needs are. And if you had to say, like, what would you like to see as a change in the delivery of health care, as opposed to as it is today?
Speaker 2:I would like to see us really focusing on patient-centered care.
Speaker 2:So I know, like in operations, there is a sector in healthcare that's called care coordination and that care coordination can start from, you know, patients being seen at the hospital and then they're getting discharged into nursing facilities or even receiving home health care or if they need referral to like specialty. And I would like for us to kind of like really amplify and concentrate on care, for nature really talked about in operations. But it is a sector in operations because communication and transition of care is very important with the patient's experience. If we can kind of amplify and kind of like hone in on making that delivery better with care coordination, the patients will have a lot better experience in healthcare. It would alleviate stress as well. It would eliminate stress because a lot of times communication is dropped or the patients are not really informed or their transition of care doesn't go through very smoothly. So if we can focus on care coordination, that kind of ties into patient-centered care, and then that can also improve the patient's satisfaction in receiving health care.
Speaker 1:That's very important. It's very important. First you're using data-driven strategies to measure and then you're really getting the information directly from the patients Like what is your experience? What is really going on? We got into this. You know, part of the BRAVE framework is all about authenticity. You got to be authentic. Sometimes you don't like the feedback that you get in a medical setting because some of the information is like no, you thought it was a great experience. For my lens it wasn't so great. And here's why here are some of the things that are happening.
Speaker 1:I know you've seen this transition even into home health care, where people would rather be taken care of in their home because they just feel safer and feel more familiar than going, you know, directing them to maybe a facility or a hospital setting and things like that. You've got to take those things into consideration. Conversations do you have with your patients to really help them understand the experience of being or going into the the health care ethos, if you want to call it that, because there's so many moving parts. How do you help that person who's like 60 years old? They've never really, you know, been involved in the health care system. They're about to go into it. They probably have some misconceptions. What kind of conversations do you have?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So you know, at my previous role as a center operations director at Cassandra, my patients just knew that I was like always on the floor available for them. My team knew if there was like communication they can. I had an open door policy. They can come speak to me. A lot of times the patients would ask yeah, I want to speak to the director Latoya, and you know I have conversations and I get the feedback from them and it's mostly about coordination and customer service. You know. You know something wasn't communicated with them, they didn't, the right information wasn't transferred to them, and so that kind of really affects their, their experience. So care coordination is very important and just like you were mentioning earlier about being authentic, you know, being authentic, showing up in the workplace, having that good communication, being knowledgeable and having a helping hand just goes a long way with patients. They really do appreciate someone that makes time for them, that can listen to them and have the resources and can make change in the workplace. I like those.
Speaker 1:And I like how you say you make yourself accessible to the patient so they can talk, and it makes them feel better when you say, okay, this organization has my best interest at heart. They're really trying to help me. And as a team, I know when I'm a patient I want to be part of that team. I want to know what's going on. I think patients today want more information. I know you're a big technology advocate now. I mean, that's something that was, like you said, before you got into the business really wasn't that big of a deal. Maybe it was more paper centric. Now it was more paper-centric. Now it's more electronic centric. A lot more consumers now are getting information, uh, through, whether it's the internet or it could be artificial intelligence, like a chat bar, something like that. How do you feel technology really is going? As you said earlier, as you look three years out, five years out, 10 years out, what do you need to be from the technology lens in healthcare?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so with the technology lens, like I said, it's going to buy back time for our clinicians, for our administrative staff and our leaders.
Speaker 2:So, and you know, if we can trust the technology, it will give us more time to provide that patient care for patient care, and that's what health care is really about. So, just you know, having you know the technology that can reduce um wait time, you know wait time, um, you know, if we're not like charting notes all the time, we can have some type of technology to help with that, that would be great patient care. If we can also, like I said, reduce patient care wait times, less time for the patient to be seen by a clinician or a provider. Also, accessibility, if we, you know, with accessibility, there's technology out there that will provide that accessibility where patients can get that real-time, faster care into healthcare and that, just you know, improves their satisfaction. And then you know that improves the way the United States healthcare delivery, deliver care, and that's what we want in the future is, you know, patient satisfaction, patient-centered care is going to be huge in healthcare in the future.
Speaker 1:I believe that We've got applications like remote patient monitoring, telehealth applications, real-time monitoring and data-driven insights. So you need data-driven insights to understand what possibly are predictive analytics that can be used for patients so you can anticipate problems before they happen, which is always a great, great great thing before they happen, which is always a great, great, great thing. I wanted to ask you this because we both are part of the National Association of Health Services Executives and there's a keen focus on diversity and inclusion, and you know it was obviously very, very big, you know, before the George Floyd incident, and then it got huge with the George Floyd incident, and now it seems to be like people are stepping back. You know, away from diversity and inclusion for whatever reason, in certain areas of the country. From your lens, why do you feel diversity, equity and inclusion is so important in your role in healthcare? Ready to elevate your brand with five-star impact?
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Firebrand Podcast, your gateway to exceptional personal growth and innovative business strategies. Join me as I unveil the insider strategies of industry pioneers and branding experts. Of industry pioneers and branding experts. Discover how to supercharge your business development, harness the power of AI for growth and sculpt a personal brand that stands out in the crowd. Transform ambition into achievement. Explore more at FirestarBDMcom for a wealth of resources. Enact your journey with our brave brand blueprint and begin crafting your standout five-star teacher today.
Speaker 2:Well, diversity and inclusion. I firmly believe the value of diversity and inclusion in the workplace in many different areas because basically what it does is it celebrates you know, our roots in america. It also foster a workplace that values diversity, equity, inclusion. It gives, it gives culture, it provides a sense of belonging and respect amongst your peers, colleagues, our patients, people that have various different backgrounds, our perspectives, our experiences. That's who we are in America. We come, we're a melting pot. We have different backgrounds, different experiences, so we should really value that with that equality or we're all equal, we all have experience, we're all educated and this is what America is about and we need to show up and inflict that into the work. And that's very important when you know, when I'm like hiring for my team, or if I'm working with colleagues and peers respecting their background, interested about their background, love to hear their different perspectives, to make change and to make better processes in the workplace.
Speaker 1:That's so important. It's so important to be reflective of the whole. Important to be reflective of the whole Because if you're making strategies, you're making policies from the health organization that you're working with. It's got to be reflective of everybody as much as you can and you've got to get input from your community of how they want to engage with the healthcare system. I think that's so important. I want to ask you this because right now you know there's someone listening who may be interested in your service. They may be interested in having you come on board with their organization and they have, you know, different administrators. They have different teams. They have different administrators. They have different teams. They have different stakeholders in health care. What strategies do you use to engage with the various stakeholders in the health care world, whether it's the clinician world, the operations, marketing, finance? Help us understand if we bring you in and you work for us, which strategies would you employ?
Speaker 2:um, the strategies is basically um I kind of mentioned it earlier about communication.
Speaker 2:Communication it's very important and I also mentioned about belonging and being respectful among um each other, our peers, our patients, our, our colleagues, our staff, our team.
Speaker 2:So it's really important to build that rapport, you know. Build that rapport with different stakeholders, you know, engage with them, get to know them as an employee, as a peer, as a colleague, is very important. We're all educated, we all have experiences and we have different perspectives that we can bring in the workplace. But if you can just kind of clone in and build that rapport first with the clinicians, the providers, let them know you're down, you're engaging with them, everything know, everything else will fall into place, whether, if you need to come together and make change policies in the workplace, implement policies and procedures, meeting, make changes in the workplace, if you have that rapport with your team, things can, you know, kind of go a little bit more effective of, you know, making change in the workplace. So that's what I like to do. I'm a very interpersonal person. I like to engage with people, be enthusiastic and really get to know them as a person, versus as an employee, a colleague, a peer or a professional.
Speaker 1:I like that. Since we're talking about brand, personal brand when you think about your brand now, you have to describe your brand to someone. Someone says what's your brand? What would you say?
Speaker 2:My brand is I'm a community advocate Very knowledgeable I'm really passionate about diversity and inclusion. Very knowledgeable about healthcare innovation. So just enthusiastic, reliable, innovative healthcare leader, that's my brand.
Speaker 1:I'm going to agree with that. I'm going to definitely agree with that. This has been great. And before I go, I also want to ask you give us an example. Think about your last 15 years and think about in your role and think about how you were impactful for patients, that you were able to do something to change the outcome because you got involved. And because you got involved, it was a positive result. Can you give us a story around that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I mentioned before, you know, just like patients and their experience, being patient centered and their experience is the reduce of weight talk. You know, when you go to our doctor's office you want that efficient, you know attention, individualized care. You don't want to spend all day at the doctor's office. So at my previous experience as a center operations director, that company had issues with wait time. So that's what I did I got together with my center medical director, my team, other directors and we just kind of like strategize and review the data that was from our EHR and scheduling techniques to make the wait time, to reduce the wait time and make care more accessible. So that's that's something that I really advocate for is reduce wait time and accessibility in health care and that really does um, it really does help with patient satisfaction and receiving health care service.
Speaker 1:it's very important oh, I, I agree, I I'm waiting for the doctor to make appointment and then you finally go to see the doctor and then you wait, wait, wait more. Then, before you know it, you've burnt a whole day. You've gone to the doctor it probably took 15 minutes, and then they send you on your merry way. You're like, wow, I didn't go burnt all that time and I got to go deal with traffic again. Nobody likes that, you know.
Speaker 2:Right, nobody right, you know right. So we gotta. We gotta, like that's my thing is like, when I go into a healthcare organization ambulatory care operation, like I don't want my patients waiting, I don't want them to get good quality care and have that accessibility whenever they need to see a doctor, we have appointment time and reduce wait time, you know. And then if you can provide that to the patient, oh my God. Patient satisfaction scores go up. And that's what I did for the company that I was previously working for as an operations director at Cassandra. The patient satisfaction scores were low. I got in there, revamped the scheduling policies and procedures the EHR put you know appointment blocks in there and I improved. I improved the wait time, reduced the wait time and our patient satisfaction scores went up like 43%.
Speaker 1:Well, that's a big drop to the bottom line. Yes, went up like 43%.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a big drop to the bottom line. Yeah, sure.
Speaker 1:You know, because not only are you working with the operations, you understand the finance that takes place and you know your numbers and you know how to deliver value, and I think that is so, so important. I want to ask you one last question, and that is I want you to be very candid. Let the audience know you know I didn't know before. You're like, hey, do I want to engage with grant on this program as far as, uh, the brave brand strategy, before now you've gone through it, you're on the other side of that. Talk to them about the experience that you had and some of the values that you believe you gave.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the vision that I was able to give is, you know, strategy. To be able to strategize, you know, have vision. You know I use those skills as well as vision and to also strategic planning. So, just like all those skills that you would need, you know, in the workplace as a health care leader, the program just really, you know, had me to, you know, contemplate and think.
Speaker 2:Ok, in an organization, you know, how does my vision align with their strategic goals? You know how you know the strategic goals of their organization and my vision. How can I align them together? How can I, you know, branch them together? And that's what this program allowed me to go through and to think. You know, when you're strategically planning out things, write them down. Write them down a clear you know, a clear plan of your goals and your objectives and how you're going to get there. How you're going to get there and also have a vision. You have to see, like you know, whatever your objectives are, you have to see it come to light. And that's what happened going through this program. I had a vision and we went through the strategic process, we went through different plans and we implemented and, you know, we, we got through all the action items to produce a product. To produce a product.
Speaker 1:That's what it's all about. The product is you, and I like that. We went through the skills gap analysis and you get to see, like all right, how do I sit in relation to other people in my field and the people that are a little bit below me some are on the same level, some are there that are one or two steps above and then that's how we get to that strategy right? So you're like all right, this is who you want to be, because they're already in the role that you want to ascend to. What steps? What do I need to get there? You did that, and everybody you know. I talk to you all the time, but you have to write your own story. I like that. You are able to capitalize your story, put it on paper, write it through and really get into it, because that makes it real. Would you agree with that?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, it makes it real. That's what it's like. Have that vision, write it down, and then you're going to see the end product.
Speaker 1:That's the only way to make it happen.
Speaker 2:That's the only way to make it happen.
Speaker 1:That's the only way to make it happen. We're making it happen with you. This has been wonderful. I really loved working with you. If there's anything you want to leave the audience with before we leave and I know I already know you're going to probably get three or four calls after this all these people like I want you to work with me. I need a person like you I need. You're going to probably get three or four calls after this. All these people like I want you to work with me. I need a person like you. I need your energy. I need your vision. I need somebody that knows how to get things done.
Speaker 2:What would you like to leave us with? Just some advice for emerging health administration leaders. Strong leadership skills is very important in health administration. Also, you know, going into the future, we kind of discuss how you know technology can help healthcare, so kind of embrace healthcare. I mean embrace technology and healthcare. That's another thing I want to leave with Patient-centered, it's all about the patient. It's about the patient, the doctors that's their mission. Their mission is the patients and as administrators, we're there to support the team and to help navigate through challenges. So be patient-centered, build strong relationships with people is very important and prioritize quality and safety and health care organization and also be resilient and adaptable. You know there's you know, things in my career, my career trajectory. I went to through different journeys and milestones and to get through that I had to be adaptable and to be resilient, you know, through different challenges in life and in my career and to also continuously learning it's very important and development within yourself and in your team.
Speaker 1:Man. Well put, well said, thank you. That is wisdom to take to heart for anybody. That's how we grow, that's how we make life interesting, right? So you've got to be able to step out of your comfort zone, step into new zones, but step with understanding and have a plan for where you're going. I love that. I love that. So, if the audience would like to get in touch with you, what is the best possible way?
Speaker 2:Well, I have an email and my email is my last name, which is Watkins W-A-T-K-I-N-S First name, latoya L-A-T-O-Y-A-0-1 at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:Excellent, and they can reach you on LinkedIn as well.
Speaker 2:Yes, linkedin. Yes, you can find me through my first and last name, latoya Watkins. However, there's quite a few people out there in the universe with the same name as I, so that's why I mentioned my email, jess Watkins. Latoya01 at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:That's it. But you are the one and only right yes, one and only on the Follow Brand Podcast, that is for certain. And if your audience would like to tune in to all the episodes of Follow Brand, which there are over 150 different episodes to learn from people like Latoya Watkins, you can reach me at 5, that's the number 5, star S-T-A-R-B-E-M, that's B for brand, d for development, m for masterscom. This has been wonderful, latoya. Thank you so much for being on the show thank you, goodbye, everyone stay well.
Speaker 1:Thanks for joining us on the follow brand podcast. Big thanks to full effect productions for their incredible support on each and every episode. Now the journey continues on our YouTube channel Follow Brand TV Series. Dive into exclusive interviews, extended content and bonus insights that will fuel your success. Subscribe now and be a part of our growing community sharing and learning together. Explore, engage and elevate at Follow Brand TV Series on YouTube. Stay connected, stay inspired. Till next time, we will continue building a five-star brand that you can follow.