At the Nashville Health Care Council we are honored to have a diverse community of healthcare leaders of every level. As healthcare evolves and grows, so does our Council membership. One way we support building and growing the healthcare talent pipeline is the Leadership Health Care (LHC) program. Leadership Health Care fosters the next generation of healthcare leaders by creating educational and networking opportunities for members. We look to our Leadership Health Care Board of Directors to share their experience and spotlight their achievements to provide lessons and examples of success for the full Nashville Health Care Community.
Meet LHC Board Member, Monica Greene, Director of Information Systems, Karoo Health
As a program of the Nashville Health Care Council, how has Leadership Health Care influenced your career?
Leadership Health Care has directly or indirectly curated my entire Nashville experience. I moved to Nashville in the name of health care from working in another industry in New York. I knew nothing about the healthcare industry and had few relationships to lean on for guidance. LHC became not only an educational resource where I could acclimate to each sector and understand trends in the industry, but most importantly a haven for building relationships. All of my mentors and some of my dearest friends today I owe to meeting via LHC events and programs.
“LHC became not only an educational resource where I could acclimate to each sector and understand trends in the industry, but most importantly a haven for building relationships” – Monica Greene, Director of Information Systems, Karoo Health
Tell us about a professional success story that you’re proud of:
My passion is empowering the people in my life and work. Leading, developing, and encouraging others to become more than they initially believed to be possible brings out the best in each of us. When thinking back to each program, team, or initiative I have successfully led or built, it’s the people with me that stick out the most. One of my favorite success stories involves leading a company-wide initiative with a presumably impossible deadline for which securing a major partnership was dependent. Prior to diving into any program development action items or project plans, I first brought multiple teams from several states into one conference room in Nashville across several days to simply get to know one another. That provided a trusting foundation for us to work at the pace and quality required to successfully secure the partnership. Relationships are the backbone of any success story.
What inspired you to choose your current career path?
Shifting my career from larger corporations and service providers to a true startup in a sector of the industry (cardiology value based care) that had yet to be successfully endeavored has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my time in health care. The ability to take something from zero to one is not for the faint of heart, yet that ground-up approach provides invaluable access to those we are aiming to provide a better life for each day–the patient. If you’ve heard me speak, you have heard me reiterate ‘Healthcare is human.’ This current path has been a reviving to experience that truth at a personal level through our mission of improving the lives of every cardiac patient in America.
What has surprised you most about working in the healthcare industry?
Heart. We can get very caught up in regulations, standardization, and strategizing on a daily basis (rightfully so), but it always seems to be a heartful testimonial from a clinician, care provider, or other patient-facing partners that reminds us of why we’re doing what we’re doing. I am so encouraged by the innovation and collaboration within our industry and our city right now, and I am confident in the solutions that will continue to minimize the gap between those providing care and those receiving care
If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice before entering the industry, what would it be?
Ask ‘why not?’ more often. There is value in taking pause to imagine and not assume the current way is the most optimal way. Be confident in your big ideas and challenge the status quo.
How have you built confidence and/or resiliency over the course of your career?
My faith first and foremost–and valuing the importance of advocacy. Not only advocating for myself, but finding those who will lift and those who I can lift. A turtle sitting on a fencepost didn’t get there by himself.
Learn more about the Nashville Health Care Council program, curated specifically for young professionals and emerging leaders, Leadership Healthcare (LHC).