General Interview Questions Flashcards
Tell me about yourself.
I’m a registered nurse, and very early on in my career I grew frustrated watching my patients struggle to afford healthcare and navigate the healthcare system. It was negatively impacting their outcomes, so I decided that I could reach and help many more people, and more fundamentally, by focusing on improving healthcare value and delivery.
I took a job at Thomas Eye Group with no title or specific set of duties. They loved the idea of having an RN with an MBA, and I loved the idea of being able to learn all about healthcare. I ended up leading their information systems program, which gave me the opportunity to be involved in nearly every single aspect of healthcare delivery and practice management. Despite having almost no prior experience, I was so successful in that role that they implemented an annual MVP program and awarded the very first one to me, and I’m very proud of that!
Then I moved into advisory and account management roles and worked with healthcare organizations all across the country, ranging from small clinics to hospitals and health systems, even healthcare technology vendors. I’ve helped providers optimize operations and workflows and processes, maximize value from technology or services, and even set up strategic partnerships with other healthcare organizations.
For the past nearly four years I’ve been working with a Fortune 500 employer-sponsored health plan. I started out building a health information exchange, with the end goal of improving processes and on-the-spot quality through immediate access to patient data, plus the ability to mine the data for care path development, quality initiatives, value-based care management, and population health management….that sort of thing. My role has evolved so that now I work with the health plan client to identify and roll out care quality and cost containment initiatives with the providers, and I help the providers incorporate these initiatives into their ongoing operations.
It’s been a wonderful experience, and I feel like by challenging me to help them achieve their goals, my client partners have helped me grow as much as I’ve helped them.
This role with New Century Health really resonates with me due to your mission to “drive radical improvements in the quality and cost of care”. That same mindset is what has driven my career and is what compels me to get up and do this every day.
Why should I hire you?
What Do You Bring to the Table That No One Else Can?
I am uniquely suited for this role because I have the clinical knowledge – and as a nurse I was trained to focus on evidence based care – as well as the operational expertise to do this job. I’ve worked with both providers and payers, including employer health plans. And I have such a passion for partnering with clients to meet our mutual goal of improving healthcare value and delivery. As you have probably noticed, I am very goal oriented for both myself and the organizations I partner with – as well as patients – and I’m not satisfied until our goals have been achieved.
I also have the direct experience and qualifications to do this, along with strong transferable skills that allow me to bring a different and well-rounded perspective to the organization. My knowledge and experience ranges across all types of healthcare organizations, from small to large providers, healthcare services, healthcare information technology, compliance, and payers. I believe we will never fully optimize healthcare value and delivery until all of these aspects of healthcare are working together on the same page. I sometimes joke about it “taking a village”, but in reality, it does.
Are you a people person or a lone wolf?
I would say I’m a balance of the two. I’ve been in client management for several years, which requires me to be “the point person” and really take ownership of things, so in that respect I’m very comfortable with being self-sufficient and making decisions and taking action within the appropriate scope of my authority and expertise. At the same time, I know that I am not an expert on everything and I can’t do everything, so in order to be effective in my job I also know when to involve others to leverage their expertise and their unique perspectives on any given situation.
How are you at time management?
Do you consider yourself well organized?
I have excellent time management and organizational skills. Early on in my career I was trained in using the Franklin Covey system, and I have adapted it over the years to work in a more digital world, and to work for me both professionally and personally. It helps me to assess my workload for both urgency and value and to prioritize accordingly; that way, I’m focusing on the most important and value-added things at the right time, without letting small details slip through the cracks. In fact, Thomas Eye Group had me train all of their surgical coordinators and their management team on “my” system – using Outlook – which significantly reduced surgery cancellations due to common issues like not getting prior authorizations on time, forgetting which supplies need to be required for specific procedures, scheduling facilities, etc.
Why did you leave your last job?
Why are you looking for a new position?
SECOH/CIGNA/EHN
I have really enjoyed the work I’ve done with SECOH and have learned and grown so much; in fact, I feel like I’ve done some of the best work of my career in this role. However, I am employed by Cigna. And Cigna is a healthcare payer with over 70000 employees. And yet there is no one else in the entire organization who does what I do or has any knowledge or experience at all in what I do. That means that necessarily I have extremely limited resources for doing my job, and what I do doesn’t have the impact on Cigna’s core operations that I would like it to have. I’m looking for a role where my contributions bring more value and are more impactful to the overall organization. New Century Health has the same focus and vision that I have, so I believe this role would closely align with what I’m looking for in a new position.
COMPULINK
Compulink was a great opportunity to work with healthcare providers all over the country and to learn and grow exponentially. Unfortunately, I was initially expected to travel about 30% of the time, but as they started handing over more and more of their at-risk accounts to me, my travel shot up to nearly full time. Back then, my husband was also traveling extensively as a professional musician so we were never together. Neither of us were in a position to decrease our travel, and I had the most flexibility to change jobs, so when the opportunity with SECOH fell on my plate I took it. Since then our schedules have changed significantly and travel is not such an obstacle any more.
What is your biggest weakness?
I tend to set very high expectations for myself that aren’t necessarily very realistic or are objectively attainable. In the past that has led me to burn out easily. Thankfully, my career itself has helped me learn to manage this. I now try to approach goal setting in a more strategic way, just as I would with any client or employee. I use actual data and feedback to set goals and to measure my progress toward meeting them. This allows me to know how I’m doing and to know when I need to do a course correction or find a different way of approaching a situation so that I’m working toward goals more efficiently and I’m more successful at meeting them.
How would your friends/clients/coworkers describe you?
I think almost anyone would describe me as being a true partner. I feel that my role in any relationship is to work TOGETHER with the other party to meet the need. I don’t just blindly do what the other party is asking, because it’s important to me to do the right thing. I always try to look at the end goal and figure out the best way to get there – which might not be exactly what the other person had in mind. At the same time, I don’t bully anyone into doing things my way. I believe that we have to work together, and I explain where I’m coming from and why I have the perspective that I do. I’m not always right, and I’m willing to admit that. To me, as long as we’re getting to the same goal in the best way we can, I’m happy.
PERSONAL EXAMPLE: For example, my best friend was recently looking for a new house and grew frustrated at narrowing down her options and making the best decisions. She asked me for help, so we looked at the issue together. She had a very wide price range and hadn’t really narrowed down what features she was looking for. As a result, she ended up looking at houses that were really too expensive due to having nice – but not necessary – features, or looking at houses that were very affordable but didn’t meet her needs. I helped her identify what price range was optimal and what features she really needed and which ones negotiable. Then I did searches for her and sent her only those houses that met the requirements. That helped her focus and she found the house she wanted in just two weeks, whereas she had been looking for several months prior.
CAREER EXAMPLE: For example, the HIE that I’ve been working on started out as a closed, clinically integrated network. I quickly realized that the CIN model would not meet the client’s needs because the data set was too limited to bring enough value to the providers who utilized it and also for reporting and care path development needs. I suggested we open up the CIN to make it a true, regional HIE, which brought in exponentially more data and also garnered additional outside support for the project. So, not only did we meet the client’s goals, we exceeded them…just in a different way than originally planned.
What are your goals?
What are you doing to achieve your goals?
I want to work in an environment where I can help improve healthcare value and delivery. That’s my mantra, and I’m willing to do that anywhere that I can. However, ideally I would like to do that in an organization that is laser-focused on the same goals, which would allow me to truly maximize the impact and the value that I bring to both my employer and my clients. I believe that kind of environment breeds innovation and exceeds quality, and that’s important to me. That’s why I’m focusing on finding a position with organizations like New Century Health. I can see it in your mission to “drive radical improvements in the quality and cost of care”, your focus on patients, and your strategy of getting payers and providers on the same page in achieving that goal.
What do you do in your spare time?
I really enjoy home improvement, and over the years I’ve taken on more and more complex projects that have helped me develop my skill set, which in turn gives me confidence to take on more complex projects. I enjoy how home improvement challenges me to solve problems, be resourceful and creative, and keep my project management skills sharp. It’s very rewarding.
Is there anything else I should know about you?
I have an interesting anecdote to tell you that really illustrates my ability to form strong, effective relationships with my clients.
The HIE project started out with Employer’s Health Network. When I interviewed for the job I was told that the client was “the least desirable client ever”. Anyway, Cigna ended up acquiring this client and the project from EHN. However, the client made it absolutely clear that I was their most trusted advisor and that I was to remain in my role on the project, which was very flattering because the average tenure of people working with this client was only about 8 or 9 months. So at that time I had been there twice as long as almost anybody. In fact, my peers were flabbergasted that the client was so adamant that I continue working with them, because they routinely kicked people off their account; it was a revolving door.
I have now been with this client for nearly four years and have seen many other people come and go on this account. I believe my success with the client is due to the fact that we have the same goals and that it is just as important to me as it is to them to be successful and to achieve the value they originally sought. And I have to say…they truly are a challenging client, but that means they’ve also helped me think more strategically and outside the box, and as a result I feel like my skills have really been honed and I’ve developed substantially.
What is your biggest strength?
I believe my greatest strength is my passion for what I do. It helps me focus on and stay committed to the end goal. At the same time it informs my decisions and helps me be more creative and strategic. Because of my passion I am very goal oriented, but at the same time it’s of utmost importance to me to not just hit the target, but to do so in the best way possible with the most sustainable results. I’m not here to just check off a box. It’s almost as though I feel that I have a legacy to leave.
For example, when I was at Thomas Eye Group I really worked hard to revamp operations in a way that had a lasting, positive impact to the organization. I haven’t worked there in nearly seven years, and in that time almost the entire leadership team has changed, but they still know me…even people who didn’t work there when I did know who I am. Sometimes they still call me and ask for advice. It’s very flattering, and it makes me feel good that I was able to bring such long lasting value to the organization.
Why are you interested in this job?
The main reason I want to work for New Century Health is because your mission aligns so well with my own, which is to improve lives by improving healthcare value and delivery. As a nurse I can directly impact the health of a few patients, but as an advisor I can fundamentally impact the health of thousands and thousands of patients by making it easier for them to get access to effective and valuable healthcare. I believe that New Century Health is set up to do this in a very meaningful, effective, and impactful way, and I want to be a part of that. That’s important to me.
What was the last book you read?
I’ve been reading “The Five”, which is a book that tells the true stories of the women that Jack the Ripper killed. I know that sounds a little bizarre, but it caught my attention for two reasons. One is just the historical insight it gives into society at the time, which is absolutely fascinating. But mainly because the book is intended to help us see these women as who they truly were – as unique individuals - and how societal impacts at the time led them to their ultimate fate. It shifts the focus from the monster who killed them and makes them into real people and not just victims of a heinous crime. I think that resonates with me because it’s important to understand how a multitude of factors shapes and impacts all aspects of our lives, and how we all have a responsibility to others around us.
What are your favorite websites?
Google! LOL! That’s probably not technically a website, but I can’t say that I have a particular “go to” website. I am naturally very inquisitive and I’m always coming up with questions or things that I want to learn more about. So I research a lot, and that ranges from getting answers to silly questions like “Can we really see the Great Wall of China from outer space?” (we can’t) to acquiring actionable insight into things like “how to bridge gaps in healthcare services in rural areas” or “creative uses for health information exchange”.
Are you willing to travel?
Yes. In my line of work, relationships are very important and sometimes you have to meet face-to-face to develop those relationships and to really get to know and understand your co-workers and your client and their operations. With that said, I try to be smart about travel because it does consume a lot of resources, including my own, my employer’s, and my client’s. I try to be respectful of that and to make sure that any travel I undertake brings more value than if I didn’t do it.
Do you work well under pressure?
My entire career has been in high pressure roles. Certainly, nursing is a high pressure role with big stakes, and I feel like that helped prepare me for dealing with pressure in the subsequent stages of my career. And helping organizations achieve goals in a way that minimizes cost while maximizing value can be stressful. And certainly working with clients adds its own pressure, because I have to bridge the gap between maximizing value for my clients and my employer, and they often may not be on the same page. With that said, often times high pressure situations are when I’m able to tune out normal distractions and really have laser-like focus on what needs to be done and how to get there. Some of my best work has been done in extremely high pressure situations.
Can you start right away?
Out of respect to Cigna and my clients, I’d like to give four weeks’ notice. That would allow me time to wrap up some initiatives and to hand off my responsibilities in the most seamless way possible.
Are you a self-starter?
Absolutely. My goal every single day is to finish the day feeling like I accomplished something of value, so I’m always looking for ways to meet that goal. In my current position, I am the only person out of 74000 employees who does what I do, so there’s no one else to drive me. And of course, my clients rely on me to be that trusted advisor, which requires me to always be a few steps ahead.
What are your qualifications for this position?
As you know, I’m a registered nurse, so I have strong clinical knowledge. But I also have a well-rounded perspective of healthcare. I’ve lead healthcare information systems departments, and that has allowed me to learn about virtually all aspects of optimizing healthcare delivery. I’ve also made a point of keeping my skills up-to-date. I maintain my nursing license, and I’ve earned credentials that help me stay on top of my game, such as becoming a certified client success manager and getting my certification in Lean Six Sigma methodologies specific to healthcare. And I’ve leveraged that training and education to be more successful in the work that I do. It’s allowed me to learn more and develop faster for each experience that I’ve had, and as a result I’ve brought measurable value and quality to all of my clients and employers. I can and do put my money where my mouth is when it comes to being the best that I can be at the work that I do, and the work that I do is the same kind of work that New Century Health does.
Why have you had so many jobs over the span of just a few years?
I am committed to doing work that meets my goal of improving healthcare value and delivery, but it’s also important to me to grow and develop my skills so that I can do that work at the top of my game. I’ve really only had two short stints. One was with Resurgens Orthopaedics, and I left that role because it ended up not meeting my goals. It was a very technically oriented position, and while I did good work there, I didn’t feel that the work was helping me progress and develop in the right direction for me and decided to head it off at the pass before I went too far down the wrong path. The next short stint was with Compulink, and I left that role when the travel expectations were increased from around 30% of the time to nearly 100%. At the time, I had personal obligations that made this level of travel unsustainable, so I had to find a position that allowed me to have more balance. The good takeaway from these two experiences is that I’ve learned to better identify what my career goals are, what kind of work I want to do, and what kind of organization I want to work for, and I’ve learned new perspectives and ways of doing things that I find extremely valuable.
How do you make decisions?
Would you say you are good at making decisions?
I do think I’m good at making decisions. Some decisions are low risk and can be made more informally, while others are higher risk and need a more structured approach. My general approach, however, is to define the issue, lay out options and alternatives, and understand the possible consequences – good or bad. At the end of the day, though, I really try to keep the end goal in mind to make sure that I’m making the decision that best meets the need while minimizing the risk as much as possible.
For example, the HIE that I’ve been working on started out as a closed, clinically integrated network. I quickly realized that the CIN model would not meet the client’s needs because the data set was too limited to bring enough value to the providers who utilized it and also for reporting and care path development needs. I looked at various alternatives, such as provider contracting changes, turning over the network to a different organization, or adjusting the model. I ended up suggesting we open up the CIN to make it a true, regional HIE. That pathway had the reward of bringing in more comprehensive data as needed, but still allowed the client to maintain ownership of the HIE as an asset.
How do you handle difficult customers?
Funny you should ask. When I interviewed for my current position, I was told (not my words) that the client was “the least desirable client ever”. I’ve been on this account for four years, when the average tenure is about 9 months. So, they are challenging, but my approach is to use active listening to make sure that I understand their point of view, even if I don’t agree, I try to make sure that the client and I partner in resolving whatever the problem is – that way I know that I’m addressing their needs – and I always refer back to the common goal. I find that if I’ve developed the kind of relationship with my client that they know I’m right there with them, focusing on the same goal, even the toughest of clients will work with me to get issues resolved. It may be bumpy along the way – and some clients are just like that – but we make it work. That way everyone wins.
What do you know about our company? Competitors?
About New Century Health Care
Well, I certainly know the basics about New Century Health. You started off as a TPA about 20 years ago and over the years you’ve morphed into a VBC management organization, but with an emphasis on specialty care. In fact, that’s one of the things that sets you apart. I believe we are in a “second wave” of VBC right now, focusing on specialty care, in addition to primary care. And I like that New Century Health was kind of ahead of the curve on that. I think Evolent’s acquisition of New Century Health back in 2018 was a very smart move, because it allows the overall organization to round out their offerings more, and it will be interesting to see where we go next. Obstetrics maybe? Health systems? Who knows.
As far as competitors go
There are so many aspects to value based care, so I think it depends on how you parse the field, since many of your competitors may only handle certain aspects of VBC management, such as data analysis, population health management, or care path development. But I don’t see a lot of organizations out there that have quite the comprehensive approach that is clearly about VBC management overall that New Century Health and Evolent are building. There is still a lot of growth potential in this area, and I like that New Century Health is ahead of the curve, because I see a lot of organizations dipping their toes in the water – organizations ranging from built-for-purpose ACOs to major EMRs.
Like I said, though, I really appreciate New Century Health’s well-rounded approach to value based care management. I think the recent acquisition of Vital Decisions is a great way for the organization to demonstrate its commitment to value based care, but in a little bit different way that really focuses on the patient more so than just processes and numbers.
What did you like best/least about your previous job?
What I like the least about my current job is the same reason I’m looking for a new position. Cigna has been a wonderful organization to work for, and they’ve been beyond supportive of me. But, like I said, I am the only person out of 74000 people that does what I do. When they hired me they weren’t even sure what department to put me in, so I have always been an outlier. I don’t blame Cigna…it’s just the nature of the beast. I really want to find a role where the work I’m doing is more impactful and brings more value to the overall organization.
Now what I like the best is the actual work that I do. I enjoy working directly with clients – even a very challenging client – because it’s fun to help them overcome challenges and achieve their goals. Not that I want to be Mighty Mouse and “Here I come to save the day!”, but I do like to be THAT PERSON, THAT RESOURCE that helps the client meet their goals, because the work that I do shares the same goal. It helps them. It helps my employer. And it helps me!
