Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Tenet Healthcare
Search every verified Paola Arbour interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2021 interview, Paola Arbour, then Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Tenet Healthcare, discussed the cultural transformation she was leading at the company. She described four strategic priorities: listening to the voice of the customer, changing the language of IT, building an innovation culture, and focusing on talent. Arbour stated that she defines culture through actions such as allowing people to present imperfect solutions, which she said builds energy for thinking differently. She noted that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization launched a telemedicine solution that "wasn't perfect but it worked," and she characterized this as an example of fostering a culture of innovation rather than a program of innovation. Arbour also discussed her approach to recruiting and team building, saying she focuses on "the things that cannot be taught" and trusts her gut when evaluating candidates. She stated that her leadership team had become "100% different" and that team members now hold each other accountable. Regarding external partnerships, Arbour said a strong relationship is based on "structure, relationship, proactivity, and escalation, not about contracts or pricing." She added that her organization had achieved transparency into its spending, which she said allowed customers to make decisions faster and enabled the team to reduce costs by about a third in three weeks.
“I believe a unique ability that allows for some element of empathy but also a tremendous amount of insight into what good looks like. This 360 degree view challenges service providers to be the very best that they can be and allows me to ask questions that challenge the status quo in healthcare.”
“If legacy structures continue to exist, then people stay in their comfort zone, they don't challenge the status quo, and they don't have the humility or humbleness to go do that and be wrong because they're supposed to be experts in their zone.”
“My way is we're going to build opportunities for people to do things that they haven't done before, to be empowered in ways they haven't been empowered before, and allow people forums and opportunities to voice their concerns and ideas.”
“We set up command centers where customers and employees can phone in and speak to people live for real-time support. This has been life-changing for them as they feel connected and not inhibited to speak their mind, which is a huge part of change management.”
“It's been hard to foster a culture of innovation because IT people tend to want an exact science and perfection before going to production. We've had to allow people to think out of the box and not be discouraged if it isn't perfect or if their ideas don't get adopted.”
“During COVID-19, we launched a telemedicine solution despite security, adoption, and training challenges. It wasn't perfect but it worked, and it built energy in the company for thinking differently and doing things differently.”
“I trust my gut when recruiting and focus on the things that cannot be taught, like character traits. I've taken chances on people who might not have been a perfect cultural fit initially but have grown into their roles. Now my leadership team is 100% different and holds each other accountable.”
“A great relationship with external partners starts with a partnership orientation that is empathetic and direct about what makes me happy or upset. It's about structure, relationship, proactivity, and escalation, not about contracts or pricing.”
“For the first time ever, my organization actually knows how much money we spend on what, where, and with whom. This transparency allows customers to make decisions faster and has enabled us to take almost a third of our cost out in three weeks.”
“If you collapse your verticals and look at workflow to execution or decision making, you get a core set of stakeholders who can make decisions quickly. Governance doesn't slow things down; it speeds things up and makes people accountable.”
Peter High speaks with Paola Arbour, the SVP & CIO of Tenet Healthcare, about the cultural transformation she's driving at Tenet ...
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