Putting empathy at the center of the transformational equation

A conversation with Tamara Ward

Tamara WardSenior Vice President, Insurance Business Operations, Oscar Hello
Twitter: @OscarHealth

Tamara Ward, senior vice president of insurance business operations at Oscar Health, shares what happens when you put empathy at the center of the transformation equation. Sometimes it’s still better to start and fail at transformation than to never try because of what you learn along the way. Learn how Tam has learned to align transformation with business core competencies and not get distracted by the hot topics of the moment.

Take home episode

1. Tamara developed the ability to build diverse teams by looking at what value an individual brought to the team and how to complement that value by bringing additional people into the team. Her team-building skills and open-minded approach to opposition enable her to build teams that bring operational efficiency and innovative thinking to the business.
2. To create a successful transformation, discuss with leaders individual responsibilities, collective goals and ideas for improvement. Set clear measures of accountability and success. Engage with these leaders regularly about progress toward their goals.
3. More people need a plan to achieve what they want. Look at a previous successful plan and ask if the business is failing even where it hasn’t before, if customers are happy and if employees are happy, which will determine if the change will stick.
4. Many transformations fail because the business is too distracted by the hot topic of the moment. People will jump on an initiative without thinking about the return on investment for their particular company, the reason they are implementing the initiative, or whether this change aligns with the core competencies of the business.
5. When things don’t go as planned, look inward first. Take responsibility and lead from a place of understanding instead of blame.

Jeff Gurjipartner, Prophet
Twitter: @JeffGourdji

With more than 20 years leading high-impact marketing and strategy projects, Jeff brings a wealth of experience that comes from working in many industries as a marketing practitioner, management consultant and policy strategist. Jeff has worked extensively in the healthcare industry, including payers, providers, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare provider organizations. Additionally, Jeff has worked in food, beverage, agriculture, pet care, for-profit education, energy, and several industrial settings.

Paul Schrimpfpartner, Prophet
Twitter: @PaulSchrimpf

Paul is a partner in Prophet’s Chicago office, developing and implementing marketing, brand and customer experience strategies rooted in deep consumer insights and analytics. He is also a leader in Prophet’s healthcare practice, working with providers, payers and pharmaceutical companies. His healthcare experience includes work for clients such as Abbott, the American Medical Association, Anthem, Becton Dickinson and IBM Watson Health.

Priya Aneyaassociate partner, Prophet

Priya is the co-leader of Prophet’s Healthcare Vertical and has over 10 years of professional services experience in investment banking and strategic consulting, with an exclusive focus on healthcare. Priya’s expertise spans the healthcare sectors including pharmaceuticals, providers and payers. Her work is multidisciplinary, including brand-driven growth strategy, content and communications strategy, segmentation and opportunity assessment, business case development, culture transformation and customer experience.

This show is where healthcare leaders who are driving change in their organizations as well as today’s healthcare experience share their stories. In this podcast, you’ll hear from industry-leading healthcare professionals about their personal transformation journeys and what organizations can do to create the next wave of growth today and into the future.