Meet the new president and CEO, Jim Hinton
As the nation transitions under a new administration that will undoubtedly influence the direction of health care on a national scale, Baylor Scott & White Health is going through a transition of its own. On January 16, 2017, the system welcomed its new president and chief executive officer, James H.“ Jim” Hinton. Jim replaced Joel T. Allison, who retired.
Although Jim says he wasn’ t looking to move from his former position as president and chief executive officer of Presbyterian Healthcare Services— the state of New Mexico’ s largest provider of health care— he was certainly well prepared. During his tenure at Presbyterian, which spanned more than two decades, Jim led the development of its integrated system, which includes Presbyterian Health Plan and Presbyterian Medical Group. He has also been named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the industry by Modern Healthcare magazine.
In 2014, he served as chairman of the board of the American Hospital Association( AHA), which represents nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems and other providers of care through advocacy and public policy.
“ I wasn’ t looking for a job when this came along, but the reputation at
Baylor Scott & White, the reputation of its clinicians, the opportunity to live in a great community like Dallas and to work across the state of Texas was just too much to pass up,” Jim said.
“ I have traveled extensively throughout the United States and have been exposed to many other health care systems,” Jim said of his experiences with the AHA.“ I have witnessed hundreds of variations— systems serving health care needs in rural, inner-city / urban and suburban communities. I have seen different models of how physicians are organized. I have seen differences in the effectiveness and influence of health insurance plans on citizens in various populations. I think all of those things helped me view the Baylor Scott & White Health system through a broad and informed lens.”
During the February Baylor Health Care System Foundation board meeting, Jim met many Foundation board members. He’ s eager to continue developing relationships with our special friends.“ We have some very generous donors who have put a mark on this system forever,” he said.“ We need to continue to cultivate that generosity, and encourage those connections in every way that we can.”
6
Technology and the Patient Experience
Jim is looking forward to building on a strong history of taking care of patients in the communities we serve. One area that interests him is scaling the use of health information technology to improve the patient experience.
“ I don’ t think any of us would have a relationship with a bank that didn’ t have electronic banking. That is just a basic requirement for the institution and the consumer ─ having quick access to financial information,” Jim said.“ Consumers come to health care with those same expectations. I think that the goal of a system like Baylor Scott & White should be to connect as much of the care process, the financial responsibility process, and the registration and scheduling processes, as can be connected through a common or easily navigable platform.”
He noted that in many parts of the country now, face-to-face doctor visits are being supplemented with video visits, and other“ asynchronous interactions,” such as the use of email for doctors and patients to communicate with one another.“ The system has made big investments in that area. There’ s a few more to be made. Each year, we have to be more convenient than we were the previous year,” Jim said.