Blogs

Meet Donna Houle, Infor Healthcare Vice President and Clinical Officer. Donna joined Infor in December and comes to us with more than 30 years of experience as a senior healthcare executive in hospital operations and consultancy. In this interview, Donna shares perspectives from her family legacy in nursing to the intersection of technology and patient care.

I am in contact with a lot of practicing nurses. They are dealing with populations that are hit hard, and they find themselves floating to units outside of their comfort zone with little to no training. They are scared and overwhelmed. They are trying to do the best they can with what they have, and want to trust the technology solutions that work for them.

Since COVID-19, there is a new urgency around identifying supply and staffing gaps and then putting into place the technologies needed to solve critical challenges. We know there is a direct correlation between nurse job satisfaction and how well they are able to treat patients. And while Infor is a technology company, it has never been more important for us to remember that our work is about making sure staff is healthy and feels taken care of.

Through it all, we have kept our aim on making caregiver's lives easier. We know that’s what helps them provide the best, and most safe, patient care. We have worked directly with administrators, listening to them about what we can do to help with COVID-19.

Today, I lead the teams that facilitate and support how healthcare clients use our products and functionality, specifically in two important areas. The first is human resources. Staffing makes up sixty percent of hospital costs. Efficient staffing is key to financial survival for providers and key to supporting nurses in their work. No one wants a frustrated nurse. The second core area of my focus is supply management. All caregivers know that if we don’t have the right items, at the right time, patient care suffers.