“When we look back at the end of careers, or when we look back 10 or 15 years from now, we will have been part of the most exciting, transformational change that healthcare has probably ever undergone.”

That’s the mantra that Harold Moscho, vice president of information technology for Multicare Health System, and the rest of his IT frontline reiterate each day as they travel deeper into the widening ambiguity of today’s current healthcare climate.

And while some experts, providers and innovators may buckle and balk at a healthcare world so consistently in flux, the Multicare team has been thriving.

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“It couldn’t be a better time to be in healthcare. It couldn’t be a better time to be at MultiCare,” Moscho says.

There are a lot of reasons as to why that is, according to Moscho. For starters, communication is top-notch within the department – management intermingles with the IT team and there are numerous committees in place that foster an atmosphere of seamless connectivity.

During regular division meetings, for instance, there is a segment known as the “Spotlight on Excellence,” wherein frontline staff members who are working on really exciting and special projects are given the opportunity to showcase their hard work. This, along with MultiCare’s Best Places to Work committee, instills a great deal of pride and respect among the department, and allows workers to have more of a hand in their personal fates.

“To give people something fun to do, other than their jobs, can give them a bit of control over their own destiny,” Moscho explained.

The fact that it also happens to be a great time for innovation is icing on the Multicare IT cake.

“We’re defining today what healthcare is going to look like in the future, and I think that’s very exciting,” Moscho said. “Not so exciting when you’re in the details and you’re living through it every day, but when you think about it, back up and take a bigger perspective, it’s really pretty thrilling.”

Don’t be fooled – the MultiCare team faces its fair share of challenges with its successes.

“Every organization has plenty of room to improve, and we’re no different,” Moscho said. “I think the biggest challenge is that as things are happening in healthcare, as things are changing so rapidly, we’re left [asking] how do we really satisfy the thirst for information in a meaningful and timely way that the staff want. So we spend a lot of time communicating and it never feels like it’s enough.”

This “ambiguous environment tends to make some people a little uncomfortable,” Moscho noted, because definitive, concrete priorities and answers cannot be given regarding all of the projects and initiatives underway. But finding balance can do quite a lot to alleviate such uncertainty.

“Finding that balance, knowing that we’re in this together, we’re working through this ambiguous environment, but understanding that it’s really an opportunity in disguise, that we’re working through a period of time right now that’s going to be transformational to healthcare,” is what has taken the Multicare team far and will take them further still, Moscho concluded. 

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