Interview with Dr. Kristy Taylor, Founder of Heka Healthcare Consulting, a One Stop Shop Healthcare Training and Performance Firm

Dr. Taylor, tell us something about yourself and your venture Heka Healthcare.

I have worked in healthcare and education for 15+ years, and this serves as the basis for why I started the consulting firm.  Years ago, I worked as a Healthcare Administrator while on active duty in the Air Force, from there I transitioned to education and have taught a variety of graduate and undergraduate courses in healthcare as well as done some consulting work.  Connecting with other healthcare professionals and seeing the need for a company like ours is why I chose to do this work. I enjoy working in healthcare, and I recently became a Huffington Post Contributor; all of my writing is geared towards highlighting issues within the industry and interviewing experienced professionals: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/rajeskum28-516.

I am passionate about educating people, and I felt there was a need to have a specialty consulting firm with experienced healthcare professionals who understand what it takes to provide comprehensive training and performance solutions.

Heka Healthcare Consulting is a healthcare training and performance one-stop shop consulting firm.  We provide the following services to clients, and if we can connect them with the right resource if we do not have it available:

• Performance Gap Analyses
• E-Learning and Instructional System Design Support
• Comprehensive Compliance Training and Management Solutions
• Six Sigma Lean and Kaizen Consulting
• Project Management
• Customized IT Solutions
• Talent Sourcing: Instructional Designers, Project Managers, Subject Matter Experts, & Training Facilitators
• Website Design and Content Development
• Educational Workshop Development and Delivery
• Leadership Training and Coaching.

According to you, what is the importance of health care training for various professionals involved in the medical profession, given the ever increasing complexities in the field?

Training is important, because the healthcare environment is constantly changing and making sure that your team has an updated skill set is crucial.  While training is important, we understand that it’s not the only solution.  Many companies advertise training programs for healthcare professionals, but we take that one step further by getting to the core of an issue. We focus on human performance improvement, but we have a team of professionals that can do it all, from training and development to Six Sigma Lean consulting.  We offer comprehensive performance improvement solutions that serve as a one-stop shop for providers.

When working with clients, we conduct a complete gap analysis to identify the core of issue, because there may be some underlying reasons other than training why the team is not meeting its objectives.  This may be due to personnel, policy, and technological constraints; our goal with any training program is to address the root cause.  Our holistic support solutions for healthcare companies outside of the scope of traditional training and development provides a greater value to the client.

If a client does not need us to manage their project, for example, we can source instructional designers, technical writers, and subject matter experts.  We can provide as little or as much help as the client needs.  We have an experienced team of software developers who can make a client’s vision come to life to include virtual reality experiences which are becoming more and more popular.  Additionally, we have project managers that can manage any project that the organization needs assistance with.

Also, we work with private practice doctorsby providing compliance management solutions, which may be more cost effective than designing a complete program.  Our compliance management services provide doctors with a learning management suite, compliance monitoring service, and access to our instructional design team that can offer customized solutions as the need arises.  Our small practice firms find this solution, particularly valuable because it helps them remain updated on the latest government regulations, while ensuring that their office remains in compliance.

Tell us a little bit more about the online training provided by the Heka Healthcare Academy.

The Academy has not officially launched yet, but we are developing affordable training programs that are designed for busy healthcare professionals.  We also will offer a few programs for individuals that are new to the healthcare community.  We would eventually like to partner with organizations to provided continuing education credits.  Our programs are trademarked and copyrighted and undergo an extensive peer review process to make sure that learners can immediately use their knowledge in the work place.

The first two certifications that we will release are the Certified Healthcare Six Sigma Kaizen Facilitator and the Certified Healthcare Project Management Facilitator.  In both programs learners will be taught the core principles that they need to improve organizational performance and successfully implement new programs and successfully manage projects and teams from start to finish.  All training is self-led, but the students will have access to an instructor who will engage with them in the classroom and offline.  I would love to do a second interview in the future to discuss the Academy in more detail!

Right now, we are providing training seminars under our brand based on hot topics occur in real time.  We can also design training programs on any healthcare or health education topic to meet our client’s needs.

What were the initial challenges that you faced as an entrepreneur?

Like many companies, we deal with the challenges of marketing and helping people to really understand what we do and who we are.  We have identified the need for our services, but this is a people oriented business, simply advertising online does not work.

We have discovered that our strength lies in the connections that we build with clients who refer others to us.  We also focus on developing partnerships with other companies and entrepreneurs because we understand the importance of relationships.  We succeed as a team, and we believe that that our team is inclusive of any organization that supports our mission, values, and goals.

We are registered in the SAM System to do business with the federal government, and have self-identified as a minority owned small business.  We also recently became a Small Business Association Certified Woman Owned Small Business and have applied to receive certification from the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Veteran Owned Small Business.  We are a member of our local chamber of commerce, and will be sponsoring several upcoming events.  Our goal is to partner with companies in the future that also are seeking government contracting opportunities within healthcare sector; these companies should be dedicated to improving the delivery of care for patients and focused on providing enrichment opportunities to providers.

How do you differentiate yourself from your domain competitors, if any?

We are a different kind of company, because we focus on connecting our clients with the right sources.  We offer holistic services outside of training and development; we provide a complete solution to performance improvement for healthcare organizations.  We are our client’s partners; we listen and design a plan with a variety options that will allow them to make the best decision for their organization.  We believe that consulting is a collaborative process, a partnership between us and the client.  Our goal is to empower clients, not to dictate what should be done; they are decision makers and we are here to provide guidance and support.

Secondly, we believe in community.  Our firm has launched several initiatives early on that demonstrate our commitment to serving others.  We understand that improving healthcare outcomes is not just about engaging providers, but we must also interact with healthcare consumers.  This is not a one-sided issue, and we believe in providing holistic solutions to closing the gap.

From the onset, we have immediately launched two programs geared towards educating consumers and encouraging more minorities to pursue careers in healthcare.  We will also be launching a scholarship program for women and continuing to sponsor health related events within our community.  We believe that by connecting providers and patients, we can contribute to closing the gap in healthcare.

We are a human performance improvement company, and our goal is to provide the right type of resources, coaching, and support to help healthcare companies succeed.

So, is your venture bootstrapped? 

Currently, we do not seek outside funding. Our team has done an excellent job of working together and keeping our operating costs low.  At this point and time, we are not seeking outside funding, but we may do so in the future as our company seeks to expand.

Right now, we are focused on building our brand and continuing to develop relationships with other potential partners.  

Finally, what’s keeping everyone busy at Heka Healthcare Consulting right now?

We have scheduled several upcoming events that will introduce our brand to the market.  We will be exhibiting at several healthcare business expos this year and releasing a series of free e-books and webinars.

Our e-books will be published under our own imprint, Heka Healthcare Publishing, and will be available for free on our website and Amazon.com.

Our Leading Successful Healthcare Teams:  A Think Tank for Healthcare Leaders of Tomorrow Summit will be September 13-15.  We plan to record the event for others to access if they are unable to attend; it will be available on our website www.hekaconsulting.com.

Additionally, we will continue to offer free webinars and other opportunities that will promote crucial conversations in healthcare as well as help people to learn more about what we do.  Those interested in attending our events can register at www.hekaevents.com.  We also have an events calendar on our page that lists what we are doing throughout the year.

Additionally, we launched the Jessie Levi Memorial Scholarship Fund for Healthcare Majors for students in the Glades Area of Palm Beach County; the link to access the scholarship is www.hekaconsulting.com/scholarships.

I encourage the readers of Times of Startups to check out some of our initiatives and ways that we are giving back to the community http://www.hekaconsulting.com/heka-initiatives.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HekaHealthcareConsulting/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/heka-consulting-llc

Twitter:  www.twitter.com/hekaconsulting

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hekaconsulting