Selected Podcast
Meet the 2020 ASHRM President
Hala Helm, Vice President for Risk, Compliance and Legal for Palomar Health and ASHRM's 2020 President, discusses the strategic plan for ASHRM in 2020.
Featuring:
Hala has worked in healthcare risk management for over twenty years and has deep experience in many diverse aspects of risk management including risk finance, captive insurance, loss prevention and mitigation, claims and litigation management, corporate compliance, and enterprise risk management. She has worked in a variety of healthcare settings, including large regional multi-hospital integrated health systems, academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, small independent community health systems, and ambulatory clinics and physician groups.
Hala Helm, MBA, JD, CPHRM, DFASHRM
Hala Helm is the Vice President for Risk, Compliance and Legal for Palomar Health, at a district hospital system in Southern California. In this role, she is responsible for the oversight of the risk, compliance and legal functions, including clinical risk management and loss prevention, claims handling and oversight, corporate insurance programs, corporate transactions, contract review, board governance, and corporate, legal and regulatory compliance.Hala has worked in healthcare risk management for over twenty years and has deep experience in many diverse aspects of risk management including risk finance, captive insurance, loss prevention and mitigation, claims and litigation management, corporate compliance, and enterprise risk management. She has worked in a variety of healthcare settings, including large regional multi-hospital integrated health systems, academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, small independent community health systems, and ambulatory clinics and physician groups.
Transcription:
Michael Carrese: Welcome to the ASHRM Podcast made possible by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management to support efforts to advance safe and trusted healthcare through enterprise risk management. You can visit ashram.org/membership to learn more and become an ASHRM member. I'm Michael Carrese, and on today's show we're delighted to be able to introduce you to ASHRM's New President and find out what's in store for the organization in 2020. She is Hala Helm Vice President for Risk Compliance and Legal for Palomar Health. The hospital system in the San Diego area. Ms. Helm has worked in healthcare risk management for more than 20 years in a variety of settings including large regional multi-hospital, integrated health systems, academic medical centers, and teaching hospitals, small independent community health systems and ambulatory clinics and physician groups. She graduated from Purdue University with a degree in allied health and has an MBA from Indiana University, and also a law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law, and she was also a faculty member at the AHA for 12 years. Welcome to the program.
Hala Helm: Well, thank you.
Host: So why don't we have you start by talking a bit about the work you're doing now for Palomar Health and then we can get into other parts of your background. But what are some priorities for you right now?
Hala Helm: So for Palomar Health, I wear a lot of hats. I am responsible for the legal department, the corporate compliance department, the risk management department, and the regulatory accreditation licensing department. So as I said, I wear a lot of hats, have a lot of projects going on. So right now we are working on projects related to our licensing and accreditation. We have our date survey coming up very shortly here we are working on insurance renewals. We have a July one renewal and we understand that it's a hard market, so we're getting prepared for those renewals as well. And those are just a couple of the things that are top of mind right this moment.
Host: Yeah, busy job. Would you say you have an overall philosophy of how to approach risk management and all of these responsibilities?
Hala Helm: Yeah. I think for me risk management is always about problem solving for the organization and being a trusted advisor to give them the best information possible in situations that are complex and perhaps bring some risk to the organization. So that has always been my philosophy no matter which particular hat I'm wearing at the moment. It's always important for me to give the organization the best advice possible. So for me, I actually liken it to informed consent that my job is to give the risks, the benefits, and the alternatives for any particular problem that the organization brings me and then give them the best information that I can to help them make an informed decision.
Host: And is that how you become a trusted advisor or what else is involved in building that relationship of trust?
Hala Helm: I think you can only build relationships of trust one interaction at a time. I mean there isn't a magic bullet to that I think you have to be willing to take on the problems that people bring to you. I think you have to be credible and give them the right information. Sometimes that means not giving them the information or the answer that you wish were true, but the one that actually is supported by the facts and the regulations. But honestly like all relationships, it's just one interaction at a time.
Host: So what do you enjoy most about this work?
Hala Helm: I think I like the problem solving aspect. It's always been fun for me to be handed kind of a big knotty, thorny problem and be able to help folks figure out the way forward or to untie the knots a little bit. So that's always fun for me. I like the variety. I can't imagine another job where I get to touch and see and interact with as many different aspects of a hospital organization as the role that I have. Because I literally interact with everyone. And so that's fun.
Host: As we mentioned, you've worked in a variety of settings in your career and I wondered if you could talk about how that range of experiences is going to influence and inform the work you're going to do as president this year.
Hala Helm: It's been interesting for me because I have worked in a lot of different settings and I think what's most interesting is whenever you go into a new organization, everyone thinks their problems are unique. And what I've seen in our organizations and in jobs in various sizes and types of organizations in various parts of the country is we're all kind of struggling with the same thing. So while there are best practices out there, there are also things that continue to plague all of us in terms of difficult to solve problems in healthcare. And so that's what I would say is that we're not really that unique. I think also for me working with physicians, I spent a fair amount of time working in the physician and ambulatory setting and that was really important for me. I think prior to doing that I had a real hospital focus mindset and didn't appreciate how important the physicians were to the healthcare delivery enterprise, which sounds funny, but when you work in a hospital environment everything is kind of hospital centric. So being on the doctor centric side I think really opened my eyes to how important they are as our partners.
Host: You're listening to the ASHRM Podcast made possible by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management to support efforts to advance safe and trusted healthcare through enterprise risk management. Visit ashrm.org/membership to learn more and become an ASHRM Remember our guest today is Hala Helm, she is the Vice President for Risk Compliance and Legal for Palomar Health, the hospital system in the San Diego area and she is also ASHRM's President for 2020. So Hala, as you look forward to your year as President, what are you thinking about in terms of connecting to organizational strategy and what you'd like to accomplish?
Hala Helm: So we're working on I think two big things that are kind of interrelated in terms of our strategic objectives for this year. And the first is related to enterprise risk management. Just got back from our first board meeting and we have a great group of folks that has totally redesigned our enterprise risk management education component and we'll be rolling that out at Academy this April. And so I'm very excited about that. And the second is leadership for risk managers. And I strongly believe that that's tied to understanding and implementing ERM, enterprise risk management. But it goes beyond that. And so we have a great group of really seasoned and experienced folks from a wide variety of backgrounds working on a lot of things related to leadership and risk management. And I'll be very interested to see what they bring forward in terms of solutions.
Host: And what are some thoughts about developing leadership in risk management? What do you think it takes to be a good leader?
Hala Helm: I think it takes an openness and a willing to explore lots of options and not just react to things that may seem risky or inadvisable at first. I think risk managers sometimes are so risk averse that they have a tendency to shut down ideas and kind of be the department of no. And so I think to be a leader you really have to look beyond that and understand what risk is tolerable for your organization, work with your leaders to understand that risk tolerance and respond appropriately in terms of being able to give advice within those risk tolerances and not just say no to anything that sounds remotely risky.
Host: What would you say is the biggest challenge facing healthcare right now from a risk management perspective?
Hala Helm: I think that some risk managers are unprepared for enterprise risk management and I think that there is a danger in that and that boards of directors of healthcare organizations are very savvy. You know they come from other industries where enterprise risk management has been in place for a long time and that's what they expect to see. And there are healthcare organizations that they're leading because they expect it, it will happen. And if risk managers are not prepared to lead that endeavor, then I think there is a risk that other aspects of the organization such as legal, such as compliance, such as internal audit will be prepared to step in. So I think that's a real risk for risk managers. I also think that the gray area between risk and quality, still continues to be undefined and there's a risk that risk management will be subsumed into quality if they can't make their own value proposition as a standalone department.
Host: So in a very broad sense, what is ASHRM's role and what are you hoping it accomplishes for its members under your leadership and just in general?
Hala Helm: So ASHRM for me has been, first of all the source of education knowledge. I knew nothing when I started in risk management. I mean absolutely nothing. And the first thing that my very first boss in the risk management field did was send me to ASHRM to learn. So I think that ASHRM is invaluable for anyone who wants to learn. And the second thing that's important for ASHRM members is the ability to network, whether it's at the annual conference, getting together with your friends and colleagues that you may only see once or twice a year, whether it's through the ASHRM exchange and picking people's brains to understand what their best practices are. And even after almost 25 years in risk management, I still from time to time post a query on the ASHRM exchange and ask people for their best practices or advice on a problem that I'm not sure how to solve. So I think that those two things, education and networking and just having those resources out there and knowing you're not alone, that's what ASHRM brings.
Host: Well, that's a great point to end on. We're going to have to wrap it up there, but I want to thank Hala Helm for being with us today. She's the Vice President for Risk Compliance and Legal for Palomar Health, the hospital system in San Diego County. And ASHRM's President for 2020. Thanks very much for being with us.
Hala Helm: My pleasure. Thank you.
Host: This podcast is made possible by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management to support efforts to advance safe and trusted healthcare through enterprise risk management. You can visit ASHRM.org/membership to learn more and become an ASHRM member. I'm Michael Carrese. Thanks for listening.
Michael Carrese: Welcome to the ASHRM Podcast made possible by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management to support efforts to advance safe and trusted healthcare through enterprise risk management. You can visit ashram.org/membership to learn more and become an ASHRM member. I'm Michael Carrese, and on today's show we're delighted to be able to introduce you to ASHRM's New President and find out what's in store for the organization in 2020. She is Hala Helm Vice President for Risk Compliance and Legal for Palomar Health. The hospital system in the San Diego area. Ms. Helm has worked in healthcare risk management for more than 20 years in a variety of settings including large regional multi-hospital, integrated health systems, academic medical centers, and teaching hospitals, small independent community health systems and ambulatory clinics and physician groups. She graduated from Purdue University with a degree in allied health and has an MBA from Indiana University, and also a law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law, and she was also a faculty member at the AHA for 12 years. Welcome to the program.
Hala Helm: Well, thank you.
Host: So why don't we have you start by talking a bit about the work you're doing now for Palomar Health and then we can get into other parts of your background. But what are some priorities for you right now?
Hala Helm: So for Palomar Health, I wear a lot of hats. I am responsible for the legal department, the corporate compliance department, the risk management department, and the regulatory accreditation licensing department. So as I said, I wear a lot of hats, have a lot of projects going on. So right now we are working on projects related to our licensing and accreditation. We have our date survey coming up very shortly here we are working on insurance renewals. We have a July one renewal and we understand that it's a hard market, so we're getting prepared for those renewals as well. And those are just a couple of the things that are top of mind right this moment.
Host: Yeah, busy job. Would you say you have an overall philosophy of how to approach risk management and all of these responsibilities?
Hala Helm: Yeah. I think for me risk management is always about problem solving for the organization and being a trusted advisor to give them the best information possible in situations that are complex and perhaps bring some risk to the organization. So that has always been my philosophy no matter which particular hat I'm wearing at the moment. It's always important for me to give the organization the best advice possible. So for me, I actually liken it to informed consent that my job is to give the risks, the benefits, and the alternatives for any particular problem that the organization brings me and then give them the best information that I can to help them make an informed decision.
Host: And is that how you become a trusted advisor or what else is involved in building that relationship of trust?
Hala Helm: I think you can only build relationships of trust one interaction at a time. I mean there isn't a magic bullet to that I think you have to be willing to take on the problems that people bring to you. I think you have to be credible and give them the right information. Sometimes that means not giving them the information or the answer that you wish were true, but the one that actually is supported by the facts and the regulations. But honestly like all relationships, it's just one interaction at a time.
Host: So what do you enjoy most about this work?
Hala Helm: I think I like the problem solving aspect. It's always been fun for me to be handed kind of a big knotty, thorny problem and be able to help folks figure out the way forward or to untie the knots a little bit. So that's always fun for me. I like the variety. I can't imagine another job where I get to touch and see and interact with as many different aspects of a hospital organization as the role that I have. Because I literally interact with everyone. And so that's fun.
Host: As we mentioned, you've worked in a variety of settings in your career and I wondered if you could talk about how that range of experiences is going to influence and inform the work you're going to do as president this year.
Hala Helm: It's been interesting for me because I have worked in a lot of different settings and I think what's most interesting is whenever you go into a new organization, everyone thinks their problems are unique. And what I've seen in our organizations and in jobs in various sizes and types of organizations in various parts of the country is we're all kind of struggling with the same thing. So while there are best practices out there, there are also things that continue to plague all of us in terms of difficult to solve problems in healthcare. And so that's what I would say is that we're not really that unique. I think also for me working with physicians, I spent a fair amount of time working in the physician and ambulatory setting and that was really important for me. I think prior to doing that I had a real hospital focus mindset and didn't appreciate how important the physicians were to the healthcare delivery enterprise, which sounds funny, but when you work in a hospital environment everything is kind of hospital centric. So being on the doctor centric side I think really opened my eyes to how important they are as our partners.
Host: You're listening to the ASHRM Podcast made possible by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management to support efforts to advance safe and trusted healthcare through enterprise risk management. Visit ashrm.org/membership to learn more and become an ASHRM Remember our guest today is Hala Helm, she is the Vice President for Risk Compliance and Legal for Palomar Health, the hospital system in the San Diego area and she is also ASHRM's President for 2020. So Hala, as you look forward to your year as President, what are you thinking about in terms of connecting to organizational strategy and what you'd like to accomplish?
Hala Helm: So we're working on I think two big things that are kind of interrelated in terms of our strategic objectives for this year. And the first is related to enterprise risk management. Just got back from our first board meeting and we have a great group of folks that has totally redesigned our enterprise risk management education component and we'll be rolling that out at Academy this April. And so I'm very excited about that. And the second is leadership for risk managers. And I strongly believe that that's tied to understanding and implementing ERM, enterprise risk management. But it goes beyond that. And so we have a great group of really seasoned and experienced folks from a wide variety of backgrounds working on a lot of things related to leadership and risk management. And I'll be very interested to see what they bring forward in terms of solutions.
Host: And what are some thoughts about developing leadership in risk management? What do you think it takes to be a good leader?
Hala Helm: I think it takes an openness and a willing to explore lots of options and not just react to things that may seem risky or inadvisable at first. I think risk managers sometimes are so risk averse that they have a tendency to shut down ideas and kind of be the department of no. And so I think to be a leader you really have to look beyond that and understand what risk is tolerable for your organization, work with your leaders to understand that risk tolerance and respond appropriately in terms of being able to give advice within those risk tolerances and not just say no to anything that sounds remotely risky.
Host: What would you say is the biggest challenge facing healthcare right now from a risk management perspective?
Hala Helm: I think that some risk managers are unprepared for enterprise risk management and I think that there is a danger in that and that boards of directors of healthcare organizations are very savvy. You know they come from other industries where enterprise risk management has been in place for a long time and that's what they expect to see. And there are healthcare organizations that they're leading because they expect it, it will happen. And if risk managers are not prepared to lead that endeavor, then I think there is a risk that other aspects of the organization such as legal, such as compliance, such as internal audit will be prepared to step in. So I think that's a real risk for risk managers. I also think that the gray area between risk and quality, still continues to be undefined and there's a risk that risk management will be subsumed into quality if they can't make their own value proposition as a standalone department.
Host: So in a very broad sense, what is ASHRM's role and what are you hoping it accomplishes for its members under your leadership and just in general?
Hala Helm: So ASHRM for me has been, first of all the source of education knowledge. I knew nothing when I started in risk management. I mean absolutely nothing. And the first thing that my very first boss in the risk management field did was send me to ASHRM to learn. So I think that ASHRM is invaluable for anyone who wants to learn. And the second thing that's important for ASHRM members is the ability to network, whether it's at the annual conference, getting together with your friends and colleagues that you may only see once or twice a year, whether it's through the ASHRM exchange and picking people's brains to understand what their best practices are. And even after almost 25 years in risk management, I still from time to time post a query on the ASHRM exchange and ask people for their best practices or advice on a problem that I'm not sure how to solve. So I think that those two things, education and networking and just having those resources out there and knowing you're not alone, that's what ASHRM brings.
Host: Well, that's a great point to end on. We're going to have to wrap it up there, but I want to thank Hala Helm for being with us today. She's the Vice President for Risk Compliance and Legal for Palomar Health, the hospital system in San Diego County. And ASHRM's President for 2020. Thanks very much for being with us.
Hala Helm: My pleasure. Thank you.
Host: This podcast is made possible by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management to support efforts to advance safe and trusted healthcare through enterprise risk management. You can visit ASHRM.org/membership to learn more and become an ASHRM member. I'm Michael Carrese. Thanks for listening.