Mediation amid remediation Profiles in IT: Christopher Keene, Interim OH BIO

By By Howard Baldwin, IT Communications December 9, 2014 In the office of Christopher Keene sit a couple of sandstone elephants. They remind him of the joke that asks "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer: "One bite at a time."

The insight behind the joke comes in handy when you're entrusted, as Keene was, with the nitty-gritty of production support while Kaiser Permanente transferred its Ohio IT operations to HealthSpan, a division of Mercy Health. Keene is executive director, strategy planning & project delivery in the SCAL BIO, but he is also responsible for managing the transition of equipment, infrastructure, and applications under a two-year transition services agreement with HealthSpan that will complete on October 1, 2015. "It falls under the 'other duties as assigned' section of my job description," he says with a wink.

Transitioning all the IT resources from one entity to another is a large undertaking. The goal of Keene�s team: making sure that by the end of the services agreement the HealthSpan team is prepared to take the handoff without service interruption while managing the appropriate disposition of the costs associated with the roughly 300 applications used in the Ohio region. "My job is to make sure that when we turn out the lights on our applications, there are no more costs involved," says Keene.

He is responsible for more than that technical description, however. "Contractually, the transition was HealthSpan�s to envision and manage, but we still had a reputation to preserve, not only with our patients in Ohio but also in the greater market," he says. Keene was also concerned about the Kaiser Permanente employees in Ohio. "Some immensely talented and capable people in Ohio stepped up, even though there�s a great deal of ambiguity in their future."

Bridging a difference in corporate cultures Further complicating the transition was the difference between HealthSpan's more entrepreneurial culture and Kaiser Permanente's quality and process orientation. Even dealing with a cultural disconnect, Keene persevered. "I had to be an ambassador between the two cultures, representing not only our members but what we stand for.

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Once we understood our differences, we were able to stop talking past each other, and that improved communications."

"Chris determined it was his duty as a Kaiser Permanente employee to make sure that the work among the transition teams was successful," says Jim Crawford, vice president and business information officer, SCAL BIO. "He had to deal with anxious and concerned employees. He helped them by staying present in the work."

He also gained the trust of the HealthSpan team, says Claudio Abreu, senior vice president, Regional IT Operations, who nominated Keene. "He listened to understand their business drivers, their challenges, and how they defined success," says Abreu. "He helped them create and refine their transition plans so that they were on a better path to continue to serve members in the best way possible."

Being a mediator came naturally to Keene. "Since the early days of my career, I've been tossed into situations where two parties were far apart. I've learned that there's always, always a path forward. My role is unlocking the potential and facilitating the conversation, creating an environment of mutual respect. Sometimes the most effective leadership isn't hierarchical, it's facilitative."

For more Profiles in IT:

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