Innovation in healthcare: How Houston Methodist focused disruption inward

Author's Biography

Roberta L. Schwartz , PhD, FACHE, is the Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer of Houston Methodist Hospital, one of the Texas Medical Center’s founding institutions. She is responsible for overseeing all operations at the 952-bed hospital, which has been named by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 1 hospital in Texas for ten straight years and has also been named to the publication’s prestigious “Honor Roll” of America’s best 20 hospitals four times. In her role as chief innovation officer, Roberta is responsible for advancing and expanding Houston Methodist’s digital innovation platforms, including telemedicine, artificial intelligence and big data. Before joining Houston Methodist, Roberta worked as director of business development for Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, as a consultant and project manager to several academic medical centres for APM/Computer Sciences Corporation, and for CMS (HCFA). Roberta earned a Master’s in Health Science from Johns Hopkins University and an honours undergraduate degree from Barnard College at Columbia University. She has a PhD from the University of Texas School of Public Health. Roberta has been recognised nationally for her professional and non-profit work. She was most recently recognised by Modern Healthcare’s Top 25 Women Leaders as one of its 10 Women to Watch. Roberta is also involved in many non-profit organisations such as Lifegift OPO, Robert M Beren Academy and the UOS Synagogue, Young Survival Coalition and many breast cancer organisations.

Letesha Montgomery , RN, MHA, FACHE, is the Vice President of Operations and Patient Access for the Physician Organization of Houston Methodist. She is responsible for clinic operations, access strategies, referral management and ambulatory clinical quality for the Houston Methodist Primary Care and Specialty Physician Groups, with over 1.3 million patients visits annually. She is also a member of the Houston Methodist Center for Innovation, an interdisciplinary team leading organisational transformation through technology enablement. Before joining Houston Methodist, LeTesha served four years as the Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for the Memorial Hermann Physician Network and Accountable Care Organization, where she was responsible for one of the largest clinically integrated physician associations of 4,000 members. LeTesha transitioned to the Houston healthcare market after 11 successful years as an operations leader at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

Thomas R. Vernon Thomas Vernon, RN, BSN, Ed.M., CTD, serves as Vice President of Talent & Experience at Houston Methodist. He has been with Houston Methodist since May 2015. His responsibilities include talent acquisition strategy, organisational development, employee and leadership development, and support for the patient and employee experience. He serves as a member of the Houston Methodist Innovation Center and is Co-chair of the Houston Methodist Human Resources Strategic Innovation Center. Previously, Tom was with Cleveland Clinic for 25 years in a variety of roles. As Senior Director for International Patient Experience, he consulted with organisations around the world to help them learn, implement and sustain the employee and patient experience best practices of Cleveland Clinic. Tom is a registered nurse and has also held leadership roles in the areas of clinical education, human resources and learning technology. He holds a Master of Education degree in Global Human Resource Education from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Cleveland State University. He is a certified professional in talent development by the Association for Talent Development.

Ken Letkeman is Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President at Houston Methodist. In this role, he serves as the key executive responsible for information systems and technology, including overall delivery of the applications, communications, computing and security infrastructure that facilitate Houston Methodist’s clinical and business operations. In addition to sustaining Houston Methodist’s day-to-day IT operations, Ken and his team are earning praise and recognition as early adopters and implementers in innovation technology. Ken’s central belief in effective, efficient and secure operations drives his leadership of Houston Methodist’s nearly 600 IT employees. The IT division at Houston Methodist supports approximately 27,000 employees, including more than 5,200 employed and affiliated physicians in eight hospitals, nine emergency care centers, a research institute and more than 120 outpatient clinics. His 30 years of healthcare technology experience includes being CIO at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and CEO at Marshfield Clinic Information Services, Inc. before joining Houston Methodist in 2018. Ken has served on various boards, including The Immunization Project (TIP), in Texas, and the Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network (WISHIN). Ken holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honors) from the University of Manitoba, Canada. (U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks Houston Methodist in its annual Best Hospitals list, naming Houston Methodist Hospital No. 1 in the Houston metro area, No. 1 in Texas and an Honor Roll recipient.)

Murat Uralkan , MHA, serves as the Director of Innovation at Houston Methodist Center for Innovation (CFI). He is responsible for the projects in CFI’s portfolio and strategic initiatives, operations of the Tech Hub, a living laboratory for digital innovation and managing strategic partnerships of CFI with industry partners. Murat has been with the Center for Innovation since its inception and previously served as the Program Manager, growing the Center for Innovation to an award-winning nationally recognised digital innovation leader. In an earlier role, Murat held the Administrative Fellow position at Houston Methodist and worked with the executive leadership on various strategic initiatives, including the formation of the Center for Innovation. Murat worked as a consultant with Houston Methodist Global and has diverse international project experience, having completed strategy, business development and operational commissioning projects in Dubai - United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He holds a Master of Health Administration from Sloan Program at Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Bogazici University, Turkey.