Associate Highlight | Deployment

Q: Hello Layla! Tell the audience a little bit about yourself and how you got to The Resource Group.

Hello! I have been with The Resource Group for four years. I learned about opportunities with The Resource Group when I was attending Berea College. Scott Caldwell, The Resource Group President and CEO, had developed a relationship with Berea College as a Berea College Trustee and was deliberate about recruiting efforts at the college. Through this relationship, I was exposed to The Resource Group and the many opportunities available to students during a presentation. During that presentation I realized The Resource Group was doing something revolutionary in health care, and I wanted to be a part of it. I was able to secure an internship spot with the Texas market in 2014 and was hired for a full-time Analyst position on the Deployment Community in 2015. In 2017, I was promoted into the Consultant role where I have been since.

Q: Can you explain the role of the Deployment Community in more detail, and specifically your role?

The Deployment Community was developed in 2013 as a way to provide dedicated service and expertise to onboard new Resource Group Participants. At the time Ascension, our parent organization, had acquired four health systems in 12 months. All these systems were using different methods for resource and supply management and needed to be integrated into Ascension’s solution—The Resource Group. Since then the Deployment Community has grown in scope and not only onboards new Resource Group Participants, but also assist in filling resource gaps throughout the organization and aids in special consulting projects—which is what my role does. It is truly invigorating and constantly changing and evolving. We get the opportunity to learn from our end-users and are always finding new ways to improve and enhance our services as we work to support affordable, quality, patient care.

Q: What connects you to your work?

I’ve always felt passionately about service and helping those around you. In that work, I’ve noticed that there were constant efforts to aid those in need with food, shelter, education, etc. but as I was growing up, healthcare was not a part of those efforts and seemed like an exemption to fundamental needs. Specifically, it wasn’t viewed as a need, but rather as a choice. I believe healthcare should be a fundamental human right and wanted to do work that takes steps to provide that.

The Resource Group’s main purpose is to lower the cost of healthcare for our Participants; however, that’s just the beginning of what we do. Because we are able to save our Participants over $1.2B annually, that money has the opportunity to be redirected into our Participants’ Missions and Visions, to provide even greater access to care to the poor, vulnerable, and local communities.

Q: How do you believe you serve in your role?

To me, service is accomplished through several ways. We’re responsible for making our participants and end-users feel respected, supported, and listened to, and I’m intentional about accomplishing that. I’m able to serve in a broader sense by doing my job well through leveraging analytics, implementing savings opportunities, and supporting our internal communities and participants.

Then there is the less obvious. Knowing that the work I do impacts end-users, there is a level of thoughtfulness and intentionality to my work. We work to find quick and efficient solutions, and work to make the best experience possible. Allowing our end-users to understand how we can support them and connecting our work to theirs is the biggest way I serve.ity to become more streamlined and efficient is important as we continuously work towards affordable healthcare for all.