2011

On Oct. 19, at the StuderGroup’s “What’s Right in Health Care” conference, five healthcare experts shared key takeaways for healthcare leaders in a session titled, “10 Minutes That Count.”
In the session, each speaker was given just 10 minutes to get across an important message that could be taken back to the healthcare leaders’ organizations and have a real impact.

First to take the stage was Bob Murphy, RN, Esq., FACHE, and international speaker and executive coach with StuderGroup. He shared lessons on “how to get people to do what you want them to do.” He left the audience with three key ways to achieve this

Written by Molly Gamble A surplus of pilot programs paired with uncertainty over which models will actually stick is leaving many hospitals overwhelmed and feeling as though they can’t participate in more than one, according to a Politico report. Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System withdrew its application last month to participate in CMS’ Pioneer ACO

Hospitals have long provided services aimed at improving the health of their communities, usually as part of their community benefit programs. It’s hard to find a hospital that doesn’t offer educational sessions, free screenings and other preventive health services, and many hospitals go beyond that. For example, hospitals are increasingly using nurse managers to coordinate care for specific patient populations, particularly those with chronic diseases, and oversee care for a variety of patients outside the traditional walls of a hospital. In the past, care coordination and population health management was relegated to the most sophisticated integrated delivery health networks with significant managed-care contracts or safety-net and other hospitals in low-income communities whose missions are deeply guided by community health improvement. However, healthcare reform legislation and other catalysts are beginning to pressure hospitals to take a broader view toward their role in community health. Systems and facilities of all sizes that have long been focused on providing high quality care in the hospital must now turn toward keeping patients out of the hospital, and the transition won’t be an easy one for many

Written by Bob Herman   Here are 25 statistics on recent physician salary and compensation trends. Of the nine different geographic areas in the United States, annual median physician compensation was the highest in the North Central region so far in 2011 at roughly $225,000. Hospital ownership of an orthopedic surgeon‘s practice could impact the physician’s annual compensation. For

1) Lawsuits against the mandate to buy health insurance.

Since Congress is unlikely to repeal healthcare reform in the face of President Obama’s veto, any repeal in the next two years would have to come through the courts, and that prospect is becoming more likely. A federal judge in Florida became the first to reject the whole law, rather than just its highly unpopular mandate to buy insurance. He concluded the law is not “severable,” meaning if one part is removed, the rest would have to go, too. That’s a legal concept, but it is also an apt description of the interlocking nature of the law’s provisions. Keeping the popular protection for people with pre-existing conditions, for example, requires that everyone have insurance. Without such a mandate, people would have no reason to buy coverage until they got sick.

Healthcare leaders are finding that physician integration will be critical for achieving the increased efficiencies and coordination necessary for meeting healthcare reform standards and for producing savings. Although integral to the formation of accountable care organizations, hospitals are pursuing physician integration regardless of plans to create an ACO because of the changing landscape in healthcare. While these changes are just beginning, several chief medical officers and medical affairs executives share challenges and strategies to establish a successfully integrated system.

Education
A common challenge noted among leaders is the lack of specific information regarding ACOs and other models for physician integration. Sharing knowledge and educating others is thus key to beginning to align physicians with a health system. Kersey Winfree, MD, CMO of Oklahoma City-based SSM Health Care of Oklahoma, says education is needed at both the basic level — what integration means — and at a higher level, addressing the implications of integration and other changes in healthcare delivery

Healthcare recruitment is progressively changing due to Industry demand. This is a dynamic industry that is changing rapidly as more and more demands are placed upon it and yet more efficiency is needed. One area that is most in need of more efficiency within the industry is healthcare management. There are many problems with healthcare

“Leadership is always about promoting change. Be transformative, look to the future and be a leading change agent. As healthcare leaders, we should take the position as a leader should: that we have to transform the delivery system. We have to do things very differently than we did in the past, and that has to come directly from the CEO.” To transform the system, Mr. Dowling says leaders cannot be limited by previous practices or philosophies. “Forget some of the past. Forget the way it was. Break new ground; be optimistic, upbeat and positive.” Helping to build a new healthcare system demands leaders take risks, Mr. Dowling says. “Take some bold steps and take some risks. You can’t be so nervous about failure.” Mr. Dowling says the future offers many opportunities for leaders to make positive changes in the healthcare system. “The next ten years are going to be very exciting. It’s a good time to be in healthcare — take advantage of it. It’s not a time to be pessimistic at all.”

Alexander J. Hatala, FACHE, President and CEO, Lourdes Health System, Camden, N.J.

No employer wants to feel that they are hiring the sloppy seconds that got left over, when all the great job positions got filled up. However, there are still a lot of great employees out there. An employer simply needs to employ some great tactics to weed out the great employees, from the good or

Sometimes a manager can flat out forget that there is no department, without a team. While a manager or some other type of superior might be the star of the show, the show can’t move forward, or survive without the ensemble cast, or at the very least, a supporting cast working together as a team.

The fact is that the wise manager knows that when they are able to bring out the best in their employees, then everybody wins! But the unwise manager is afraid of anyone shining brighter than them, so they will keep the light and the talents of their employees hidden, or even stifled. This is a shame, because while the unwise and insecure manager is keeping the spotlight on themselves, all they are highlighting is poor management skills.

Here are some examples of an unwise manager