"Tech Talk USA" with Casey Hossa from Cardinal Innovations Healthcare

Each week on “Tech Talk USA,” our host Jeff Hootselle sits down with experts in the information technology world. This week, Jeff spoke to Casey Hossa from Cardinal Innovations Healthcare.

Using managed care makes more services available to more people, in a way that is cost-effective for the state and taxpayers. Since the organization’s founding, Cardinal Innovations Healthcare has been dedicated to improving the health and wellness of our members and their families in North Carolina.

To learn more, visit https://www.cardinalinnovations.org

Short company description: Medicaid payor for 20 counties in North Carolina.

What is your competitive differentiator?: Behavioral Health and focused on the mind, body and spirit, working to be the best specialty payor for individuals with long term care needs such as developmentally disabled or substance abuse.

How did you get started in the technology field?: I started as a developer working for one of the big consulting companies (Big 8). I was excited about the opportunity to build something that would be used and brings value to an organization.

What do you consider to be the biggest challenge when bridging the gap between IT and the overall business for most companies?: The recognition that technology is not the differentiator, but the business model/process that is enabled through technology is the differentiator. Strategy and governance must become more adaptive and continual, and operating models must become more tightly integrated and agile to accelerate execution of solutions and refinements to deliver optimized operations and innovation.

What is the best or most worthwhile technology investment that you have made in the past 10 years?: Digital cloud based delivery for mobility. Customer and employee interactions have significantly and permanently changed, becoming more mobile, virtual and distributed. IT leaders must apply a total experience strategy to drive differentiating digital transformation that creates superior interlinked experiences for customers and employees.

What are the areas of technology that you see as being the most impactful to the business world in the next 5 years?: Data and Artificial intelligence (AI) is a catalyst for advanced process automation, human augmentation, and engagement. This will be unique to each organization's needs and strategy.

Connecting physical environments including factories, offices, city blocks and neighborhoods will become “smart spaces” within which people will interact through multiple touchpoints and sensory channels for an increasingly ambient experience. We see these in small arenas like Disney or unique care organizations.