What’s changing in healthcare technology and the biggest challenges healthcare organizations are facing now

Early in his life, Mike Brown discovered transistor radios, which kindled a lifelong fascination with technology that led him to study computers in college. Along the way, he found he enjoyed networking with people just as much as building IT networks. 

Brown’s role as a Spectrum Business account executive specializing in healthcare enables him to pursue both his passions. He values every relationship, considering each and every client to be a friend, and works tirelessly on their behalf to provide technology solutions that advance digital health initiatives, help improve the patient experience and provide high-quality care.

We recently connected with Mike to discuss what drives him, changes in healthcare technology, the biggest challenges healthcare organizations are facing today and more.
 

What drives you every day?

It might sound cliché, but I’m driven by making sure my clients get what they need. I consider my clients to be my friends, and therefore I treat them like friends, which to me means taking care of them, and being honest about what we can and can’t do for them. It also means listening. I follow the old adage that we were given two ears and one mouth, so we should respect that ratio and listen twice as much as we talk.

Not being able to see my clients face-to-face lately has been miserable for me because I really enjoy spending time with them, but I make sure we connect via videoconference every few weeks.
 

What’s one of the biggest changes you’ve seen in healthcare technology over the years?

When I started in technology sales over 15 years ago, many healthcare organizations considered their IT networks and infrastructure to be a liability. It was a chore and expense to maintain. But that way of thinking has changed: Now technology is viewed as an asset. For health systems, technology is a direct and immediate way to enable innovation, and improve the patient experience and level of care.
 

How is Spectrum Business helping healthcare organizations meet their technology needs during the pandemic?

Healthcare networks have been moving towards telehealth for a while, but the pandemic greatly accelerated adoption. We’re helping healthcare clients deliver telemedicine services by providing high-bandwidth fiber connectivity that supports new and expanding telehealth programs.

The pandemic has also changed how healthcare organizations do business and support employees. Things are no longer focused on one centralized work area. For example, as a result of COVID-19 one of my clients went from 25 locations to literally hundreds overnight because most of their employees started working from home. We increased their bandwidth to support more videoconferencing, and added redundancy for their network so they can continue to operate if there’s a service disruption.
 

What’s one of the most challenging client requests you’ve received?

I once had a client hand me a list of ten new locations he wanted to connect to their existing Spectrum Business network — and he needed one of them to be up and running in just two weeks. So I pulled together all the right people, and through a lot of collaboration, we were able to fast track everything and get the location connected in less than the two-week timeframe.