From PBX Operator to Chief Innovation Officer with Rachel Papka

What do you do when healthcare is your calling but the patient side is not your path? Rachel Papka figured that out the long way.

She started at a hospital as a PBX phone operator. Worked through ER registration, landed in radiology, and was asked to become a super user when the hospital adopted its first electronic medical record. There were no certifications for healthcare technology at that time. No clear career path. She learned on the job and never looked back.

That first step grew into 15 years inside a health system, a three-year run overseeing Nevada’s health information exchange, and eventually the Chief Innovation Officer role at Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging. Steinberg is now part of Intermountain Health. Her title changed, but her approach never did: understand the process, understand the people, then match the technology to both.

But as much as this episode covers healthcare technology, it really covers something else: learning to show up better when the pressure is on. Rachel talks openly about being “seen as difficult” early in her career, what a 360 assessment cost her when it was delivered without care, and the year her doctor gave her the evaluation that changed everything: “Rachel, you’re one of the most intelligent people I’ll ever meet. You’re great with technology. You have implemented and you’ve changed so much. Now it’s time to work on the people.”

She shares how mentors and business coaches play different roles, why her emotional responses to feedback were not weakness but a signal about how feedback was being delivered, and the small specific practice she uses to keep herself grounded when a tough conversation is about to go sideways.

WHAT RACHEL PAPKA DOES NOW:

Rachel is the Chief Innovation Officer at Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging (now part of Intermountain Health), where she oversees change management, the contact center handling close to 3,000 calls per day, and the Health Information Technology department. She describes her role as having one foot in operations and one foot in technology.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CONVERSATION:

Process first, people second, technology third

Before any implementation, Rachel asks: is there even a need for technology? She maps the workflow, identifies who the end users are, and only then matches the technology to that reality.

Mentors and business coaches are not the same thing

A mentor is like a cricket on your shoulder – deeply invested in who you are, growing with you over time, and available when you are in crisis. A business coach is trained, brought in for a specific event or goal, and gives you tools. Both serve a real function and they are not interchangeable.

How feedback is delivered determines whether it can be received

Rachel broke down in early feedback sessions, which got labeled as being difficult or emotional. But the problem was not her. It was feedback arriving without context, care, or a path forward. Understanding that difference changed how she receives criticism and how she gives it.

Finding your grounding tool matters

Rachel worked with her coach for eight months before realizing that reaching for her water bottle was her natural grounding move in a high-stakes moment. Finding your own version of that is worth the effort.

Reflect on what went well before building what comes next

Rachel’s annual family practice is to review the vision board from the prior year and ask only: what went well? Not what didn’t. Then she builds the vision for the year ahead. She calls the whole practice reflecting and projecting.

TOPICS COVERED:

• Starting as a PBX phone operator and finding healthcare technology by accident
• Why nursing wasn’t for her and what that self-knowledge gave her
• Becoming a super user and training clinicians across the country
• What workflow analysis actually means and why it must come before any technology decision
• Moving from a health system to the health information exchange to outpatient radiology
• The mentor who redirected her career and still connects with her today
• The distinction between a mentor and a business coach and when you need both
• Being called “a bull in a China shop” and what she has done about it
• The 360 assessment that introduced her to her own patterns
• The evaluation at year one: “Now it’s time to work on the people”
• Why the way feedback is delivered changes whether anyone can receive it
• Using water as a physical tool to ground yourself in an emotional moment
• Asking “are you in a good mood today?” before a hard conversation
• Vision boards, annual reflection with family, and building the year ahead
• Manifestation as action, not just intention

WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR:

• Healthcare professionals who want to understand the technology side of their field
• Tech professionals who want to work in healthcare
• Leaders who are receiving feedback and struggling to hear it
• Anyone who has been called “too much” and is working on channeling that instead of suppressing it
• Anyone building their first vision board, or their tenth
• People who don’t fit neatly in one lane and are still figuring out how to describe what they do

CONNECT WITH RACHEL PAPKA:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-papka-31b7a48/

ABOUT CAREER DOWNLOADS:

Career Downloads explores technology careers through conversations with professionals who share their journeys, lessons learned, and practical advice. Hosted by Manuel Martinez, each episode exposes listeners to different technology roles and helps them manage their own careers more successfully. New episodes release every Tuesday.

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