MGMA Podcasts

Daniel Williams: 00:00

Hi, This is Daniel Williams, senior editor at MGMA, host of the MGMA Podcast Network. We are back with another MGMA member spotlight podcast. Today, we're with Sula Correa Garza. Sula is an MGMA member. And first, I just want to welcome you to the show, Sula.

Sula Coria-Garza: 00:21

Thank you for having me, Daniel.

Daniel Williams: 00:23

Yeah. So, just a little backstory on Sula. I have known her name for many, many years going back, I think, I want to say to 2018 or 2019. And you may or may not know this, Sula, but your name kept trending as the person who listened to the most MGMA podcast. You were like, I've got to meet this Sula Correa Garza.

Daniel Williams: 00:49

I've got to know who this is because she's our super fan.

Sula Coria-Garza: 00:53

I'm definitely a super fan. I love your podcast. I've said this before. You have a great radio voice, and Thanks. It's very intriguing.

Sula Coria-Garza: 01:02

And so I've I've really enjoyed listening to the podcast because there's the folks that you've been interviewing and all the sessions that you you have on the podcast are just really interesting. There's a lot that I learned from them, so I really enjoy listening to them in Austin traffic. That's about an hour drive to work every morning, so.

Daniel Williams: 01:22

Yeah, well, that's so cool, and it's so good to get that kind of, well, anybody loves good feedback, but I mean, it's good to know where you're listening, how you're listening, just so we can end what you think of the topics, themes, those kinds of things, because then it helps us bring y'all the best content that we can and the right content as well. So I'm just thinking about you listening there and your name kept popping up, trending, and there was another person who was listening too and y'all would battling back and forth. It'd be one and two on who listened to the most podcasts. But you've got that hour long or so drive in the Austin area. You're commuting in.

Daniel Williams: 02:08

Talk about what you're looking for. When you're listening to a podcast like that, are you listening to just try to get through that hour long drive? I

Sula Coria-Garza: 02:18

will say it did start out that way, but then the topics that you would cover were very relevant to what I was dealing with in the organization. So I appreciated that, and that's what kept my interest in your podcast.

Daniel Williams: 02:32

Yeah, well, that's wonderful. So let's talk about the organization then. Where do you work? You're in that Austin area. Tell us what's So the organization and what you do

Sula Coria-Garza: 02:43

I work for People's Community Clinic. We're a nonprofit organization, federally qualified health center. I have been with the organization now for seventeen years. I've been in the nonprofit space now for about thirty years, and I know that tells my age, but the beauty of being a nonprofit, it's because, you know, it's the passion that you have for the community and the patients that we serve. And at one point, I was in the legal field, a nonprofit space, and again, it's the clientele.

Sula Coria-Garza: 03:14

So I could really relate to our patients, our clients, but now in the healthcare space, it's been great. So that's what we do there.

Daniel Williams: 03:22

So what's your role there?

Sula Coria-Garza: 03:23

So I'm the director of health information and technology services. Know it's important know, I oversee the IT team as well as our healthcare, health informatics team, and medical records, our health information management team. But I work really closely with senior leadership in regards to process improvements, especially with the technologies. Right. Oversee that.

Daniel Williams: 03:49

Has that blown up, you know, these last couple of years? We keep hearing stuff, terms like AI, artificial intelligence, ambient AI, all these different things that are being integrated, layered onto regular healthcare. And even beyond that, I've experienced it as a patient, the portal side of it, you know, the access. Like in the past, maybe you got a phone call back, maybe you didn't. Now there's a lot of communication via text, communication very immediate in that way.

Daniel Williams: 04:23

Tell us from your side of it, are you seeing from the technology side of things?

Sula Coria-Garza: 04:27

Everything you just described is pretty much the foundation of our health center. We use all of those tools. Again, the beauty and the reason that I'm here is really to learn more about the AI in the healthcare space, but at a higher level. And so having Noli Resso today was just a really I really appreciated her session as the keynote speaker. I wrote it just to note, Dan, you know, Implementing AI in healthcare setting requires so much thoughtfulness and consideration.

Sula Coria-Garza: 04:59

Well, we've been there for quite So a couple years unfortunately, that has hinder us. But after listening to her today and really involving our staff to provide us with use cases, I feel like we're gonna be able to move the needle forward, and I'm sure others are really grateful for me saying that out loud. So,

Daniel Williams: 05:23

That's wonderful. So, what are the challenges right now and in the immediate future as far as technology and healthcare? Because sometimes, if I can say this, hopefully you correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me like a lot of the technology is there, but they're like barriers. They're things that are holding things back. I'll give you an example.

Daniel Williams: 05:46

I'm sure you were part of it, but when we had the pandemic, all of a sudden, in over a weekend, people were able to implement telehealth and telemedicine. Like, you were able to do this in a weekend. What's going on here? Why are we holding back in a lot of ways? So what are you seeing as some of those barriers or challenges to implement some of the technology you said that you've heard from leading speakers on the topic and what you're seeing in the workplace as well?

Sula Coria-Garza: 06:13

Before the pandemic, it was all about competing projects. Okay. That it really was at the bottom list, basically. With the pandemic, as we mentioned, we were an organization that we just implemented something we could have not done in five years.

Daniel Williams: 06:31

Yeah.

Sula Coria-Garza: 06:32

And so we have made those changes, and the challenges that we've had is on the security aspect.

Daniel Williams: 06:40

Right.

Sula Coria-Garza: 06:41

Ensuring that we have everything that we need in place, but at the same time, we don't want to be left behind, and that's where we're at right now is we have to move forward, and so I love that I can't say it enough I love that the topics that you all have at this conference today really hones in on the AI and how it can be implemented, you know, with different phases. Yeah.

Daniel Williams: 07:06

Let's talk about AI then. So, it seems like I say this a lot. So, I'll use an analogy here. I've had an iPhone only, only for about eleven years. I cannot remember life before it.

Daniel Williams: 07:25

Was like, And I'll just sleep with I use it in many ways throughout the day to communicate, to do research, to provide entertainment, all these things. Now, fast forward, AI, we're not even really into the you know, we're getting into like two years of AI, and I'm seeing it evolve every day just from the work I do to provide content to MGMA members. You're on the healthcare side of things. You're seeing it change. Talk about that.

Daniel Williams: 07:59

How has it been integrated in your practice, or how are you utilizing it or your team utilizing it in their workspace?

Sula Coria-Garza: 08:06

So we started with a small project. Again, it's more so on the translation services. So we've noticed that. Now a lot of our patients are communicating with us through the patient portal, but they do have different languages, and there's not a tool available to be able to translate what our providers are completing, you know, as far as the treatment, So they're having to go outside of the EMR system to actually have that translated. And as you know, there are available free software systems out there, but we run the risk of HIPAA.

Sula Coria-Garza: 08:41

So of course So that is the one project that we did introduce that is AI, without calling out the brand name, but it's been great because it can immediately in real time translate any language that we need, and we're able to communicate with the patient in real time. Yeah. That's been one of

Daniel Williams: 09:02

let's talk about your relationship with MGMA then. How did that get started?

Sula Coria-Garza: 09:06

So in 2019, I was planning I really was interested in trying to do more improvement in my own profession, and so I was really interested in seeking out avenues that were available to me. And MDMA has been available to me for quite some time through our Health Center Control Network, and I just didn't really engage until 2019. And ever since, I haven't let go. You know, like you said, my name appears. I also had the privilege to be able and I say it's a privilege because I was able to complete the certifications that you all have for finance, operations, human resource, And so I'm looking forward to get continuing that.

Sula Coria-Garza: 09:52

So I'm a lifelong lifelong learner. I I love this one phrase that I heard from someone, learning with humility. It's That's me. I mean, if I make mistakes, I'm okay with that. You know, what's most important is just moving forward.

Sula Coria-Garza: 10:08

Yeah.

Daniel Williams: 10:09

Tell us an experience with MGMA that has really stayed with you, you know, something that you'd want to share with us, either an experience through some of our learnings, through an event, through any of the other programs that you've been involved in. It could be networking, mentoring, anything else you'd like to share.

Sula Coria-Garza: 10:31

Networking is amazing. I've met some really good friends that I can call friends now in the FQHC space. It was interesting because it was in Boston in 2022. At that conference, it was an eye opener, and it was interesting because we all sat down at the table and we were actually all experiencing the same thing. We have to provide the services, but how do we not lose out so much?

Sula Coria-Garza: 10:56

So I met friends in Florida, Arizona, Kentucky, and it's just it's been great. So, networking, it's been really helpful.

Daniel Williams: 11:07

Yeah, it's so interesting that you mentioned that, because a lot of the studies that have come out after the pandemic talk about anxiety, stress, depression, and a leading cause of that in many of those studies they find is loneliness. And it's that feeling like, I'm alone in this, but you're talking about in this networking, like if you're going through a challenge or a problem in your practice, and then you can get to an event or through some other networking vehicle through MGMA or somewhere else, you can learn from somebody that's in Kentucky, Florida, wherever else, and you go, Woah, you're going through the same things I'm going through. Is that how it's working for you?

Sula Coria-Garza: 11:53

That is exactly how it's working for me. We don't have to be alone. You've given us a channel to be able to talk with, even if we were a little hesitant to share that within our own

Daniel Williams: 12:08

Your office, your organization. Yes. Yes. It's so interesting that you bring that up. I have noticed that because we have some platforms that we provide for MGMA members.

Daniel Williams: 12:21

And what I've noticed is if I'm having a presentation or some content that might be interactive that provides a space where people share, and it might be some challenging things that they're sharing there, If there are people from their own organization there, they might be a little reluctant to do that. But if they're in there in a network of people who have the same types of jobs but not at the same organization, they feel very much more open in sharing that information. Is that some of the things that you've Yes, experienced you as

Sula Coria-Garza: 12:57

must have been listening to my lunch meeting with the others. It's great that we can just openly share the challenges that we're facing and that we're basically sharing our vulnerabilities without any hesitation, and I think it's great because, like you said, when there's others in the room that we have to answer to, it may be a little hesitant to show that side of us because we all want to do our best in our positions. I thank MGMA for that.

Daniel Williams: 13:27

Well, good. Well, I have one last question for you. We've been talking a lot about the workspace, about you as a lifelong learner, about you as a podcast listener, as an MGVA member. But we're human beings, too, even though y'all directly in health care. So, how do you strike that worklife balance?

Daniel Williams: 13:49

What do you do when you're not working?

Sula Coria-Garza: 13:51

I like to say that I like fishing. I don't touch the fishing rods, but I do throw them out there and I catch something, and then they do the rest for me. That is so relaxing, believe it or not. So, if you don't fish, I would totally recommend it. It gives it's just, you know, my outlet to relax and rest outside of the in the water away from the city.

Daniel Williams: 14:18

That is wonderful. Well, Sula, Coria Garza, thank you for joining us.

Sula Coria-Garza: 14:23

Thank you for having me.

Daniel Williams: 14:24

All right. Well, that is going do it for this episode of the MGMA Member Spotlight Podcast. For everybody listening, we'll provide some direct links to learn even more about Sula and the work she's doing. Until then, thanks for being MGMA podcast listeners.