I recently had the opportunity to attend an event in my hometown of Atlanta that honored the top 25 women in healthcare – a group of powerful and intelligent providers and payers that are leading the industry into a new era. The awards were preceded by a conference featuring such illustrious speakers as the US Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin. I think it’s safe to say that everyone in the audience came away feeling like yes, we’ve come a long way, but that there is so much more to be done in terms of truly transforming healthcare delivery. With women making up more than half of the healthcare workforce, we are well positioned to lead that change. (Check out my colleague Cynthia Porter’s blog for an in-depth recap of the event.)
A few days later, as the cyclical nature of social media typically leads me to do, I first came across a HIMSS LinkedIn group discussion on what it’s like to be a woman working in the tech industry, and then read the full Huffington Post article that prompted the discussion. To summarize Rebekah Cox’s article:
* the environment is generally rough
* you generally feel alone
* but you do have access to opportunities
* results matter and are powerful
* being a woman in tech is a competitive advantage
* technology is awesome
Having lunched with ladies that provide healthcare, and read the aforementioned technology-specific article, I began to wonder if things were any different for women in healthcare IT. So I posed the question to my friend and colleague Jessica Clifton, Product Manager at Billian’s HealthDATA.
“I sort of stumbled into technology as a profession,” she explains, “in large part due to the evolution of our company over the past several years. I was immediately aware of the great chasm that seems to exist between those that are technically minded and those that are not, and found my niche in helping to bridge that gap. As natural communicators, I think women make great cross-channel conduits, which may be why more women in technology end up in management positions, as alluded to in the Huffington Post article.
“I think women consider things in matrix (i.e. relationally): It’s not simply ‘Here’s my to-do list.’ It’s ‘Here’s what has to be accomplished, here is the proper order to address things in, and here are the ways that could impact things.’ That last part is the doozy. It’s uniquely feminine and both a blessing and a curse. On the positive side, that might translate to putting more thought into the end-user perspective, or giving more tactful consideration to how you deliver feedback. On the negative side, it might mean it’s easier to fall down the rabbit hole trying to account for all possible outcomes only to be disappointed by the one potential that evaded you, or being overly concerned with keeping the peace and catering to too many people at the cost of the better business decision. ‘Careful walking that tightrope, girlfriend.’
“I’m a fan of efficiency, and technology (done well) gets you there faster than any other means. I love the logic that comes with the environment. Never before have I had a better forum for perfecting argument presentation, backed with sheer, hard-thought fact. Sure, egos still exist, so emotion occasionally creeps in, but generally speaking, I love the no-nonsense approach that the tech field affords. It’s a confidence boon when your point prevails, and it’s even more beautiful to divide and conquer with a team of like-minded individuals and see the final product come to fruition. Things are constantly evolving so there is always a new challenge.
“I’m happy to see more women entering into technology roles because I could use the company, and it’s a relevant perspective to add to the tech equation. If women and men do indeed think so differently, it only makes sense to consider both perspectives when building products. I don’t know of too many technologies designed for a single gender.”
Jennifer Dennard is Social Marketing Director for Atlanta-based Billian's HealthDATA and Porter Research. Connect with her on Twitter @SmyrnaGirl.
