Source: Managed Healthcare Executive
The one constant in healthcare is that industry leaders must enter their roles with the understanding that little in the field ever remains the same. "We are an inherently complex industry and we shall always be complex, that's just who we are. Any leaders need to accept this degree of complexity and the ambiguity that goes with it," says Peter B. Angood, MD, FRCS(C), FACS, MCCM, chief executive officer and president of the American Association for Physician Leadership. "It's an ever-changing environment, so just being able to know and expect that is important."
It's one thing to say that this volatile time in healthcare presents special challenges, but Angood says that's just the name of the game. "We tend to say this is a very complex time in healthcare and there is dynamic change, but the inference on those types of comments is that there's some kind of outcome at the end of this," he says. "There's no new plateau, it's who we are as an industry so let's just get comfortable with it."
Healthcare leaders must be able to provide a strategic vision and interpret which new trends in this changing environment are a good fit for their organization, says Angood. "It creates kind of an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to things, to not react to everything that comes by. Not everything needs to be followed, but important trends need to be picked up on," he says.
The ability to effectively support the frontline
"The increasing focus on patient experience and shared decision making is an important trend that many say is long overdue, but it also requires a significant amount of change," says Angood.
The challenge of improving patient experience from a leadership perspective is to better manage patient-centered care and shared decision making while also helping patients understand the complexity of healthcare, he says. Leaders need to create an environment that allows patients to have an active role in their healthcare and have a good experience while also making them realize that what is good for them may not always be what they want.
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A strong awareness of organizational goals, position
DeChant believes that crucial healthcare leadership skills aren't completely centered in professional background, but also in mindset. "Right now, things are so uncertain that leaders need to develop organizations that can have the ability and agility to rapidly respond to changing external conditions and have the courage to take actions as they are indicated," he says. "Those are key business skills anyone in [a healthcare leadership position] needs to have."
One example of the importance of organizational awareness is appropriately navigating the growing trend of mergers and acquisitions. Managed care leaders must be well-versed in negotiating, and possibly creating larger market shares. DeChant warns that expansion must be carried out in an exacted and careful manner. "If you have an operation that is managed in a mediocre manner to start with and you acquire another operation, now you have two mediocre managed operations, so you don't give society a benefit. It's really important as organizations combine that they focus on ensuring they have the best possible management system across the entire enterprise."
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The ability to create strong, talented teams
Collaboration is an important component of good management and leadership, and Deborah Torain, senior account manager at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), says it's a critical aspect of helping an organization adapt to an evolving environment. In fact, a 2016 white paper Torain co-authored for CCL specifically points to collaborative patient-care teams as the first essential component of a six-step model to help healthcare entities thrive. To develop collaborative teams, leaders must increase engagement and foster an atmosphere that allows for agility and adaptability.
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Source: Managed Healthcare Executives (View full article)
Posted by Dan Corcoran on November 14, 2017 06:50 AM
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