Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh

From Bedside to Boardroom: How Jodi Long is Bridging the Gap Between Clinical Care and Healthcare IT

• Grant McGaugh CEO 5 STAR BDM • Season 3 • Episode 26

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What transformative impact has technology had on healthcare? Jodi Long, an esteemed healthcare professional from Orlando, Florida, sheds light on her journey in nursing since 1997. Discover how the transition from paper records to sophisticated electronic health systems has not only boosted efficiency and safety in patient care but also introduced new challenges for bedside clinicians. Our conversation navigates the crucial balance between honing clinical skills and embracing technological demands, ensuring that patient care remains paramount despite any tech disruptions.

With the advent of electronic health records, patient care has seen a marked improvement through enhanced communication and accessibility. However, the journey isn't without its hurdles, particularly concerning interoperability between disparate health systems. We delve into the role of professional organizations like the Florida Nurses Association in nurturing career development and advocacy and the importance of continuous learning in this rapidly evolving field. Leadership and gender disparity within healthcare also take center stage, as we discuss how the underrepresentation of women in high-level roles is gradually changing for the better.

Leadership in healthcare technology is not just about bridging gaps but also about empowering the workforce. We emphasize the significance of mentorship and skill development, especially in addressing workforce shortages. The upcoming Women in IT event promises to be a platform for challenging the status quo and fostering impactful change. As we wrap up, we extend a warm invitation for listeners to continue the conversation on LinkedIn, fostering a community that thrives on shared stories and experiences in the healthcare and IT sectors.

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!

Speaker 1:

Hello everyone and welcome to 2025. This is Grant McGaugh on the Follow Grant Podcast. I am. First of all, we have a native Floridian as one of our guests. You don't get that all the time. We're going to kick this year off the right way. She is a wonderful person, she has been in health care for a number of years and she's very passionate around it, and she is going to be one of our featured speakers at the HIMSS South Florida Chapter Women in IT event in February at Nova Southeastern University, and I wanted to give my audience just a little bit of familiarity on who Jodi Long is, why it's important for all of us to tune in not only to this podcast, but to join us in February around this particular event. So, jodi, would you like to introduce yourself?

Speaker 2:

Sure, yeah, thanks, grant. Hi, I'm Jodi Long. I am from Florida, currently live in Orlando, florida. Been in nursing since 1997. So I like to tell everybody I started when I was 10. So, but not really. But I have been in nursing since right out of high school. I really wanted to be part of that community. I have a blended family. We have seven kids, my husband and I together, two cats and a dog, because you always have to fill up the house with everything else and we are very blessed to have the opportunity to provide and be part of our community here as well in Orlando.

Speaker 1:

Well, that is, that's the story. I mean, you know, that's a lot of individuals and people. That's the story. I mean that's a lot of individuals and people. As you are a caregiver, I can see why you fit. You know, that's a beautiful family. It's a beautiful family, right? So let's jump in. I want to talk to you. I mean, that's a 1997 nursing. This is 2025. Now, what is the most impactful changes that you have seen over that span of time?

Speaker 2:

Wow. So I would have to say technology has been the most impactful. I started nursing when we were still writing on paper. I was a CNA, a certified nursing assistant, and I worked in a long-term care facility and then worked in the hospital as well as a CNA, and everything was on paper, right. I remember, you know, when I was even a little bit younger than that, going into the hospital to visit, like my relatives, where people are still smoking at the nurse's station, right.

Speaker 2:

So, like I started nursing when there wasn't a lot of technology that helped you really like with your workflow and I would say, over the years, that's been a really big impact to how healthcare is, you know, providing care to patients and to family members, and it's made it more efficient. Sometimes, like there are a lot of barriers there, right, but it has made it more efficient for the providers, for the patients, for the clinicians and then looking at the outcomes of it. So all the way from electronic health records to IV pumps, to how we're really looking at how we're doing surgery, like none of this was really around back then, and so it has really allowed us to be more safe and provide safer care but also more efficient care as well.

Speaker 1:

Technology game changing, right? You know, before the Affordable Care Act came out, you know meaningful use and no one was doing electronic health records at scale. But then you had to make those changes and I'm sure this is the thing. That's what I've learned. I've been in information technology for 25 years and there's one thing to change technological changes within a business. But when you're in a profession like healthcare, life-saving seconds matter. Disruption is not something that you want. So you have a fine-tuned process that you're going through when you're dealing with patients, especially in critical care, urgent care, things of that nature and then you bring in a technology solution. Now, we kind of talked about this a little bit even earlier. Like you know what Tech is great. When it works, it's wonderful, but if it doesn't work, there's some kind of glitch or anything like that. It can be a real struggle, right? This friction. Let me ask you this point-blank question have you found that it's been more friction because of technology, or is it friction less in your world?

Speaker 2:

That's kind of a double edged sword, right, because it does add more friction and but in the end it makes it easier on the patient and on other people, right and when I say other people, that can be from, like your payers, certain providers, but for the bedside clinician it adds more friction and I'll say this as gingerly as possible, but I'll be very open about it. You know, there, I think, in the clinical environment they teach you how to be a clinician first. This is doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, cnas. They teach you how to be a clinician first and you have to do that without technology. Because what happens if technology goes down? Right, you still have to take care of that person in front of you. So you have to learn how to be a medical provider without technology.

Speaker 2:

And then now you have to layer in all of this technology. That's disparate, it doesn't integrate together. You're taking information from one system, trying to put it in another, and then now that becomes that impacts and adds friction to your workflow, because you're trying to be a medical provider and a clinical provider. And now you're trying to be a medical provider and a clinical provider and now you're looking at okay, now I have to take let's do vital signs very basic. Here's the machine that's doing the vital signs. I can push it into the electronic health record, right, there is a way that you can do that. You have to integrate it. Or I can take the vitals and now I have to manually enter them, right, and so that everybody else on the care team can see those vital signs, and that's everybody needs to understand what's going on with the patient. But now that is another added step that I have to do as a clinician, right. So it just depends on how it's built, which is really where my passion came from to become involved in information technology and these kinds of health systems.

Speaker 2:

Because, like I told you before, there's two currents in my life. You know, what has drove me to be where I'm at today is unburdening the bedside provider and reducing friction, right. So that's like one of my favorite words is friction, because it can be anything that can cause friction for a provider or a patient that we really need to look at right, and how do we make that less? And so that is why I got into this is how, as a clinician, can I make it better, how can we build these models or build these solutions from the beginning with clinical input, so it's not something that is causing more burden on them as they're using them at the bedside, but allows us to provide clinical care so that there's better outcomes for the patients and for us as providers. Right, because we all know there's a workforce shortage going on with providers, physicians and nurses. How do we make this better so we're not burning us out as well?

Speaker 1:

Now let's, let's unpack that just a little bit, because you're into a sweet spot here and I know that my audience is tuning in because they say you know what, Jody? She's no nonsense, she's, she's speaking from, speaking from experience. Can you give me two examples meaning they don't have to be long winded, but two examples of where technology was helpful in the work of either saving a lot or making a better patient outcome, and an example where technology was a hindrance?

Speaker 2:

Okay, well, you know I can say it can be the same example, right, but I will go with two different ones. The same example, right, but I will, I will go with two different ones. So where it's made, you know, our, our work easier is the actually I'm gonna probably just use the same one is the electronic health record having a place. So before, when it was all paper, there was these huge charts that you had to flip through and try to understand and try and put the clinical picture together. And so having an electronic health record, where things go into a system that now I can be in one part of a hospital, a provider or doctor could be in another part of the hospital, a respiratory therapist can be another part, and we can all document on the same patient to try and figure out what's going on with them. Right, we can all look at the same information, we can understand what's going on, we can get the clinical picture, and before that you couldn't, right, you just have this big clunky paper chart. However, that's also the hindrance, right, because now, as a patient, if I'm in one hospital or health system and I want to go to another hospital or health system, my records don't follow me.

Speaker 2:

Now there is. People will say well, there's Epic care everywhere and there's all of these other things that now are supposed in health information exchanges where that information flows. As a clinician I can tell you it's not that easy, right, like you're still having to dig, you're still having to look for information, and so a lot of that can be very burdensome on the patient, right. So now they're trying to remember everything. What if you come in a tundit, right, or you're in a coma? You can't like dispel all the information, right. But if we could have it all flow easier and have that integration to where that information comes in, you know it would be a lot easier for the patients and the providers for more efficient care.

Speaker 1:

Wow, great example. Great example of showing the good and the bad things that we need to do to get better. Because, again, technology is great when it works very good. I always look at as two different windows when I'm looking at deploying a technology solution, meaning if you're looking to collapse the windows of time, you need to do something quicker. It's a great tool, it's fantastic. Hey, we had done this better. We had this information, you know, just seconds before, a minute before, whatever it is. Or decision making support that's wonderful Also. That's that communication layer. Making support that's wonderful Also. That's that communication layer. So, collapsing the windows of time, then having better communication Technology is fantastic for communication. So many different ways you can communicate across those windows of time. You can do it at lightning speed. I love it. Now you gave me a great example around it. Now you're also part of the Florida Nursing Association. Tell us a little bit about that association and what it's, what's it for and how that has helped you in your career journey.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I am a huge advocate of people being part of their professional organizations. What your career is or what your goal career is, what your career is or what your goal career is right. Like I always, I mentor for American Nurses Association and for HIMSS as well for people who are getting into this space. So Florida Nurses Association is the state run nursing association that's part of American Nurses Association. So I am a member and I've been a member for oh gosh, I couldn't even tell you how long so it's been a while, because you know, I believe in professional organizations for your growth, for your development.

Speaker 2:

You know, as healthcare providers, we are lifelong learners. Things come at us and change every day and so we always have to stay up on the you know, evidence-based practices. What is the best practices that we need to be doing? How do we not only protect ourselves but protect our patients? Florida Nurses Association helps guide that for the state of Florida and for the nurses that are in Florida. They're very involved in advocacy and legislation, looking at special interest groups to figure out what is going on in the healthcare community and how can we best support the nurses who are working in Florida and the work that they do.

Speaker 1:

This is important, very important, because everybody was aware of their nursing shortage. You kind of alluded to that earlier. There's a lot going around in the COVID time frame. There's traveling nurses. There's just a lot of change occurring. And I want to talk about leadership in nursing, and not just in nursing itself, but in the health care profession, because I see the nursing profession is heavily female dominated. Am I right?

Speaker 2:

correct. Yes, right, I think Correct. Yes, I think the last statistic was like 70 percent around 70 percent are female 70 percent Right Of that, 70 percent, and you have to be totally accurate.

Speaker 1:

But think about this how many are actually leaders in leadership in health care or hospital policy? Government?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I would say probably less than 20% of that. And you know, and it depends on what kind of leadership you're looking at right, if you're talking about on the units as a charge nurse, it's higher. Right, but as you're climbing the ranks through a hospital or health system I'll put a little asterisk here it's changing, but and that's only been changing in the last maybe three to four years but as you're climbing those ranks through the hospital or health system it gets less and less. We also see that there's less clinicians and some of those C suite positions within hospital or within those health systems and that is, you know, changing as well.

Speaker 2:

But before that was really like hurtful to the nursing profession because you didn't other than a chief nursing officer or chief medical officer, so your chief medical officers are physicians who are guiding the practice of the physicians. And then your chief nursing officers were over all of, like the nursing operations and so you kind of had those two who would be like have a voice. But you know it's you're outnumbered, right, like you have a bigger, your boards are usually don't have a lot of clinicians on them, and so that really impacted that leadership of especially women in nursing right, or women in those leadership positions because it really was only one, which was like a CNO position. So if you look at how big a hospital is and how many nurses are in a hospital, most of them are women. You know there wasn't a lot of opportunity to get up to those higher level positions and so that was.

Speaker 2:

You know that was a little bit daunting. As you're like, wanting to be a leader, you're wanting to make change is how do I get there? Someone either had to retire or pass away and you don't want to. You don't want to wish that on anyone, right? So you're like how do I get there and how do I get my voice heard, which is really important?

Speaker 1:

This is an important topic and I look at even the household you just described at your head, and I'm sure you're the primary caregiver of that household. If your husband had to make all the care decisions and you only had a 20 percent input on that, how do you think your health care outcomes would be?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a good point, Right? Yeah, I'm lucky that my, my current husband now is able to. We've had those conversations, Right. But you know it is. It is a man, right? He? He works in construction management and he and procurement. He doesn't have a healthcare background, Right? So if I told him I need you to make the healthcare decision, he would be like I have no idea what you want me to do. I don't know what those words mean. I don't understand, like, what these things are. He's very educated and he could pick up on it and thank goodness for the Internet now, but you know, there it could. It does impact and so you can see how, as a health system, that could really be impactful of how nurses and physicians work when other people are making those decisions without the input of them at the table.

Speaker 1:

So important and that's why, from a technology lens, we have seen projects either fail or they're wildly successful because you have all the key stakeholders at the table. I've seen so many tech where you have a group of people, they bring it together. Like you know, we're going to solve this big problem. I've seen so many tech where you have a group of people, they bring it together. Like you know, we're going to solve this big problem. And on paper and it sounds great and the technology works, and then you get it out in the field and it fails miserably Because you did not bring the primary key stakeholders, the people that are doing the blocking and the tackling. Can you imagine?

Speaker 1:

I always use sports analogy because I like sports right. Right, where you know you've got the GM of, let's say, a football team we're in football season, right and the coaching staff. They all know, oh yeah, you know what that's a great play, right, that's wonderful. But they never share it with the players. They never share it. And by the time you share it with the players, they got to learn it.

Speaker 2:

Like you know, within a week You've been working on this for maybe a year and they're like all right, this is what we're going to do.

Speaker 1:

Go out there and implement it. You're like what? Wait a minute, you know? I mean, remember what we said earlier. These are critical situations. One misstep and a person can experience either a positive outcome or a medical error. This is important to bring all the stakeholders together. You're also part of HIMSS and you talked about the HIMSS Health Informatic Systems Society. You're a mentor for them. You understand not only the clinical view but the technical view. So you, as what I would call a key stakeholder, first talk to us about your role at HIMSS, why you are doing that, why you think it's important, and then talk to us about how you're using this platform for leadership.

Speaker 2:

Sure. So HIMSS is important to me because it allows me. So I have my nursing informatics degree so that I could understand technology better. When I first got that degree, I was like, where's that professional organization? Right, so there's ANNI, which is American Nursing Informatics Association, but I really wanted a bigger reach. I wanted to be able to understand how it all works together. So I found HIMSS when I was working at an EHR company, and they sent me to that organization, and I fell in love with the ideas of how they all really work together.

Speaker 2:

I know you've probably been to some of their conferences, right? Like? That floor is insane to be able to walk through and see what's going on, but then be able to ask those very hard questions to them of like okay, so how was this created? You know who was at the table? How does it now talk to? You know, from a hospital to a post-acute system? Right, Because you know not all patients go home, they go to some post-acute care, and then you can really start to understand where this comes from and how it impacts.

Speaker 2:

Himss is great about making sure, though, that they are doing the right thing, not only for the technology vendors who are part of that association and how they're wanting to get their message out, but also for us as members, for our growth, for our leadership, to give us a little bit more of that edge of understanding what's coming, where we've been, where we're going and what's upcoming right.

Speaker 2:

And I really like that. And being a leader in my organization now and within HIMSS, it really does help me then to bring in a different point of view, right? I was a nurse, I was a practicing nurse, still a practicing nurse all the way through all of this. And now how do I guide the next wave, right? How do I guide this next wave of people who are going to come in Because I'm not going to work forever, I'm going to retire, and you know, how do we carry on that mission for nursing and for providers to be able to use this like undisparated systems, right, like being able to use integrated systems to actually help us. And then, how do we eloquently speak about it? How do we get in front of executives who sometimes don't want to listen to that? They don't understand it.

Speaker 2:

We need to speak their language, just like we wouldn't ask, you know, a information systems for, like, an IT person at a hospital to run a code in the ER, right, it's the same thing. We have to come to this middle ground and that understanding. So, using HIMSS and using that platform, using the clinical background, we're able to then blend that and have these really meaningful conversations of what needs to happen within this technology so that it will work. You know we don't want people to use technology, especially nurses and doctors and then create a workaround right, because workarounds we all know we do them as clinicians because if it's not created the right way, we're going to do a workaround and that's when patient harm happens and we need to make sure that we're not doing that.

Speaker 1:

So important what you do, that you've got to have the right stakeholders at the table at the inception of the idea. Right, and then understanding all the different factors is very, very important. As you look at from the leadership lens and we talked about this a little earlier that we're not. There is a disparity of women in leadership roles at some of the higher levels, where these decisions are truly made. What can we do? Because this is going to be some of our conversation that we've got to move the needle forward.

Speaker 1:

Some will say, well, it's experiment, we just don't have the experience, we don't have the exposure. You're not, uh, understanding all the different factors of the, of the, of the business. Remember the business of health care. The finance uh, you might know the operational but you're not familiar with the finance. You don't understand the culture and the relationships. Relationships are so, so important. A lot of people might have the same technical acumen let's just say they might understand operationally how certain healthcare situations operate and move, but do you have the relationships to truly impact change? Talk to us about what you feel, from your lens, can move the needle.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to be a little vulnerable here for a second and say I was a night shift nurse for 15 years. I was a charge nurse in an emergency department. I worked my way up to the highest level I could on nights. But I had to work night shift because I was what you said. I was the breadwinner for my family, right. I had daughters I was raising, I was trying to keep food on the table and I was constantly in my heart, driving to be a better leader, driving that growth, wanting to be at a higher level, to have that voice.

Speaker 2:

But working nights constantly overlooked, right. And it really hit me one day where I was like you know, if you really want a strong leader and you really want somebody who understands how to operate this ER or this hospital without any outside influence, you got to go to your night shift, right, because they're the ones who are really like looking at, you know, a hospital that's running on a skeleton crew, there's not administration walking around telling them how things need to be done, things get done right. And they're actually like really strong willed people, right, number one be able to stay up all night. But also, they're strong willed. They're there for a reason. Not everybody wants to work nights, right, but they're there for a reason. And so I, as I grew the ranks, I started like saying to people like who can we start that succession planning from night shift right, because I think they are overlooked. When you're working during the day, administration walks around.

Speaker 2:

They know everyone's name during the day you bring them on night shift and half the time they don't even know, you know, the housekeeper from the charge nurse, right, because they're just like we don't deal with night shift. And so that was really like. One of the things I started changing when I became a director in the emergency department is how do I really look at people across all shifts, across all divisions? Because when you kind of like peg hole yourself into that and only wanting certain people, a certain education, certain people with certain degrees, certain certifications, you're really starting to block out that experience that they bring in.

Speaker 2:

Right, you know, I always say, like we're subject matter experts in our field, and so when you're sitting there looking for somebody who can carry all of these types of like subject matter expertise, right, like I shouldn't have to be an expert in finance, right, because we have a CFO that can do that, we have a whole division who can do that, and I shouldn't have to be an expert in marketing, because I'm not a marketer, but I do understand it.

Speaker 2:

Right, I've worked with them, I've been able to like understand what they're doing, but do they understand the clinical side of it? Right, like it is a lot of give and take and that's what we have to start changing is we can't expect somebody to be a subject matter expert in everything just so that they can get a leadership title. That's not what we're here to do. Right? Like some people are born leaders. They could become great leaders, you know, and I think that we have to look at that and say we can always teach them what we need them to know. But if they have a knack to be able to lead and get people to do things in very hard and difficult times and they can create calm out of chaos, they're a leader. And then that's how we really start making that change and not expecting everybody to know everything from the beginning.

Speaker 1:

I love how you said that, not letting those things become a barrier. Let's widen the lens, especially today when there is such a workforce shortage.

Speaker 1:

You can't afford to only look at half the team that's out there, right, you can look at all of them and understand their capabilities. And, as you said, who can we teach to actually expand their role? Because they got to get better? And there's always a succession, as you just stated. We're not always going to be here, we're all moving on, right? So who are we teaching? How do we get the bench filled? You're a mentor at hand because you're helping like hey, I understand there's someone out there that's you know, getting into this profession, that you can only get so much from what you call book knowledge. When you hit the floor, as you said, you hit the floor, you're like give me that book, you know. You throw it on the floor like that's not going to get it done. You have a general idea. Is what you have?

Speaker 1:

but you don't have a skill set. That comes from experience. It comes from exposure and expanding your reach. I want you to talk to us why you want to be a part of this Women in IT event that we're going to have in February, and who do you think should be there and what do you think they're going to get out of this.

Speaker 2:

I want to be a part of this number one because I love having a voice for my profession and for clinicians across the whole country, right, but especially here in Florida. And, you know, I love being able to have that voice. I love being able to speak truthfully and say how things are without fear of, you know, any type of you know repercussions. Right, because I want to make sure that people understand what's really going on. Right, I don't want to sugarcoat anything and I want people to be able to hear that story and I want people to be able to hear that story and I want people to be able to say and walk away and be like you know what, even if I change one thing about how I'm running my business, setting up my technology solution or working within a health system or working within the healthcare field, if I've changed one thought process or one thing, that is a huge win for me and that's what I'm out here doing, right?

Speaker 2:

And so, being at this event and being able to talk to other women or other people who are employing women within their services or within their line of business, you know, I want to make sure that I'm that voice. I want to make sure that they understand that you know there is opportunities there, and then for the clinical providers, that there's ways that we can impact our profession, not only working at the bedside and taking care of patients, but from a bigger lens. How do we impact our profession and have that voice? And so that's really why I'm excited to be here. I'm really excited to be talking with you today, being able to be there, because the more people hear what's going on and they understand, the more that we're going to be able to be there, because the more people hear what's going on and they understand, the more that we're going to be able to make that change, and that's really important for me.

Speaker 1:

Well, I want to thank you for being on the podcast. I want to thank you again that you're going to be on our panel for HIMSS on the program chair for the HIMSS chapter. We're a gold winning chapter and this is why we are a winning chapter, because we bring talent like Jody Long, the voice we need to bring these things out. So you're not just in your circle. I'm sure everyone knows Jody right, but we want to expand your reach because it's important for people to hear these stories, because this is how we get better. We cannot just succumb to the status quo. We've got to make change, an impactful change, a better change, a more positive outlook. Let the audience know how to get in contact with you, because I'm sure a lot of people are like I. Was on the night shift. I know exactly what she's talking about. I don't want to be overlooked. I want to get my voice out there because I know a lot of different things. Tell us how to contact you, I know a lot of different things.

Speaker 2:

Tell us how to contact you. So I'm very active on LinkedIn, so anyone can go to my LinkedIn profile. It's very easy. It's just Jody Long with my you know all of my certification behind it, because nurses love putting our initials behind everything, and so it's Jody Long on LinkedIn. I'm very active on there. I do respond to messages and then I have my email address. I can give it here or we can put it up afterwards, but people can contact me. You know, I love being able to talk with people and just work through problems, like if they just have a question I'm able to assist. I will, or I'll, get you in contact with the right person too.

Speaker 1:

Well, this has been wonderful. I want to thank you again for being on the show. I want to invite your entire audience to view all the different episodes of Follow Brand. You can do so at five. That's the number five, startbdmcom. There is a library of information there for you to improve, to listen to leaders like Jody Long. So you're like oh wow, grant, I just listened to Jody, I'm ready for 2025. So many other people that are there, so continue to tune in to the Follow Brand podcast on Five Star BDM. This has been wonderful. Thank you again for being on the show.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for having me. I enjoyed it. You're welcome.