Michelle Stansbury is Houston Methodist’s VP of Innovation and IT Corporate Systems.
Michelle is often found speaking to large crowds or getting interviewed about Houston Methodist and innovation. Here we share an inside look at what inspires the person who has an ear to all the great ideas.
How did you end up working in health care?
After my first son was born, we had to take him to Texas Children’s, and I was so impressed with how it all worked and how everyone worked together. I knew from that point on that I wanted to get into health care. I also knew this meant having to start over a little bit. I was already well into my career, but I knew health care was where I wanted to be. I wanted to serve the greater good. How do you decide which innovation projects HM will work on?
It’s easy to get hyped up with all the digital technology out there, but we can’t say yes to every pitch. We look for a good idea to have three factors: - Solves a problem for Houston Methodist.
- Helps transform our business.
- Has a return on investment.
What inspires you?
Possibilities. Not just what’s been done before but asking, ‘Why?’ Technology offers many conveniences. We walk around with phones all day and they do everything. So, I like to think about the conveniences that we can create for our patients, clinicians and for our current and future employees. How do we incorporate “Know Me” into all the people we come in contact with and provide custom conveniences for each of them?
What do people ask you about when they hear you speak about Houston Methodist?
People are very interested in our Technology Hub. Before we had this, if someone had a good idea, we would have to create a pilot. This meant doing a mini-implementation or trying to get it into one of the nursing units. But now we have the opportunity to really bring something into the Technology Hub without bringing it into a real-life experience. Our clinicians or executives can come into the Technology Hub and see how the technology actually works. We can evaluate firsthand if we see value in it and if it creates efficiencies or a better patient experience. When will the Technology Hub re-open for tours?
We are hoping to get it open again soon, but COVID has put that on pause. In the meantime, we encourage everyone to take the virtual tour. You can do a virtual walk and check out the co-development space and the working rooms. It has a home of the future, a virtual reality room, a clinic of the future and a hospital room of the future. It’s great because we have a lot of products on showcase but in the back is the office space for co-development. This is where co-creation happens, and research and development takes place with the businesses we want to work with. For example, what we are doing right now with Amazon and voice-activated technology happens in these spaces. It’s a house
for all of us to test out technology in a mock-up setting.
Share Your Feedback
Future Engagement Activities?
With so many of us working remotely, it’s important that we all stay connected to our teams and colleagues. We are looking for virtual ways we can stay connected even when we are apart. But we need your feedback – Take two minutes to share your thoughts in this survey.
Smile – It’s Tiff’s Treats!
The day before our October virtual All Employee Meeting, Tiff’s Treats were delivered to everyone in IT, and we gathered some great pictures of the fun surprise. Click here to view some of our awesome employees.
Update Contact Information in MARS
If there is an emergency situation, we’ll use the Everbridge platform to quickly contact you, using your phone number in MARS to reach you. Be sure to log into MARS and click on the Personal Details tile to confirm that your contact information is up to date.
1 Bellaire Place UpdatesThere are several new updates to share about 1 Bellaire Place: - A self-temperature taking process will be installed in the downstairs lobby soon. Before you enter the elevator bank, take your temperature at the kiosk. If you have a temperature, please leave the building and take proper precautions.
- Harris Health is in the process of moving in. Many of their employees will be remote, for the time being, but they will occupy several floors in
the building.
- In early 2021, food service will be available on the 4th floor – the designated commons/dining area. This service is provided by a 3rd party and we will share more information as it becomes available. In the meantime, there is a vending machine by the building management offices on the first floor.
- If you visit 1 Bellaire Place – you may see a familiar face. Ryan Cox will be splitting his time between Bellaire and Holly Hall. Ryan will be at Bellaire on Tuesdays and Thursdays for Desktop Support and at Holly Hall on Mondays and Wednesdays.
- The new parking garage at 1 Bellaire Place is currently under construction with an estimated completion date of March 2021.
1 Bellaire Place Safe Team Meetings Some groups have opted to safely meet in the parking lot of 1 Bellaire Place. Another safe alternative is the courtyard (facing Fournace Pl.), accessed from the lobby. This courtyard has several covered seating areas and lots of space to spread out. As long as you maintain local and state-mandated safety guidelines you can always meet here.
ClinDoc – Parking Lot Team Meeting
Courtyard at 1 Bellaire Place
Bellaire Distribution List and Teams Channel
To help us better communicate with each other, an Outlook distribution list and Microsoft Teams channel was created for Bellaire. Look for future communications through the HMH-IT-Bellaire Place Teams channel or from it-bellaire@houstonmethodist.org. If you have a new hire who will work out of the Bellaire office in the future, or you were not added to this Teams channel, please send updates to Dixie Paulson.
IT New Employee Orientation (NEO) will take place virtually through Microsoft Teams on Thursday, Nov. 19, with eight participants. New employees will participate in a virtual coffee with senior leadership, listen to our experts across our division and share in a virtual lunch together. Feedback from our previous virtual session was very positive, and we are excited to make it happen again. Managers/Directors – please notify Marcella Fewox if you have a new hire who should attend.
Distribution ListsAttention managers and directors: Be sure your team members are on the Everyone-IT distribution list and any other appropriate distribution lists, e.g., IT-Bellaire, Everyone-HH, in Outlook. Updates should be sent to the IT Help Desk. Please review the lists and add any team members who may be missing, so they are aware of IT news and events.
Human Resources UpdatesClick here to download the October staff presentation. Communicating with your staff, especially during this time when many are working remotely, is an important part of employee engagement and retention. Use this opportunity to host video team meetings and have two-way conversations with your team.
Going the Extra Mile for Our Patients
At Houston Methodist, patients are at the center of everything we do. This year, Bindu Nair went the extra mile. When an elderly patient with COVID-19 and no smartphone, computer or family nearby needed to schedule a required video visit, the patient’s neighbor called our help desk. Fortunately, Bindu took the call and spent more than four hours working through various obstacles, including proxy access. After all the issues were resolved, she called the neighbor one last time to ensure everything worked out. “Bindu was amazing,” the neighbor wrote. “She stuck with me, giving me instructions and provided me with a contact number if I encountered problems. If it were not for the extraordinary effort of Bindu at the Methodist help desk, [the patient] would likely still
be waiting for a call back.” Thank you Bindu for your extraordinary commitment to our patients.
Congratulations to Michael Coleman for earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology from the American InterContinental University!
Congratulations to Ryan Essler for earning his Microsoft Modern Desktop Expert (MCSE) Certification!
New Wayfinding Software Launched at HMTW
Congrats to the IT Web Services team with special recognition to Amando Barajas, Arielle Rogg (Innovation) and Rashid Qureshi, on a successful launch of the new wayfinding software. Innovation funded this initiative to support our ongoing strategy to provide patients, families and guests digital navigation improvements. The new wayfinding kiosks went live at HMTW on Oct. 19 and the launch will continue at HMSL on Monday, Nov. 16. They will go live at every campus over the next few months.
The kiosks help our patients and employees find their way by providing step-by-step directions to key points in our hospitals. New features include 3D images, wheelchair accessible route options, the ability to send directions straight to your phone and more..
IT MATTERSIT MATTERS is our weekly IT related e-newsletter to all our Houston Methodist employees. Send your news and story ideas regarding system enhancements, workflow changes, new tools/resources, upcoming downtimes and general technical reminders to IT-Comms.
Congratulations to Our September Honorees. October Winners to be Announced this Week.
IT recently launched a new staff appreciation program called BRAVO Boosts, which helps us to better recognize and reward our amazing employees. Each month, names will be randomly pulled from the list of employees who received a BRAVO eCard the previous month. Winners will be selected from four areas: Corporate Systems, Ambulatory Systems, Technology and Shared Services and we’re combining Clinical Systems and Security. Each winner receives a dinner for their family (valued up to $100) to enjoy virtually with their manager and IT Leadership.
September winners: Tony Escobedo, Luis M. Garcia, Hoa Ha and Hanna Pascual. Look for the October winners to be announced in Ken’s Weekly Message this Friday. Each BRAVO you receive for recognition equals an entry in the drawing. So be sure to start recognizing your colleagues. To send an appreciation eCard, click the BRAVO tile in MARS.
Will Martin
New Employee
Sr. Applications Analyst
Kayla McCauley
New Employee
Application Analyst
Tijo Njaravelil
New Employee
Mobile Developer
Shiraz Noorani
New Employee
Sr. Server Engineer
Zachary Stanford
Oct. 25
Jasmin Stanford's Baby
Don’t see your marriage, birth or team announcement here? Send your great news or story ideas to IT-Comms!
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