Category Archives: Talent Management

“We’re looking at a tsunami”

Posted on by • Posted in Childcare, Coronavirus, Crisis, Crisis Management, Cybersecurity, Health System, Healthcare Providers, Home Care, Home Health, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Infection Control, Infectious Virus, Intensive Care (ICU), Leadership, Nurses, Paid Time Off (PTO), Pandemic, Talent Management • Leave a comment

https://mailchi.mp/a3d9db7a57c3/the-weekly-gist-march-20-2020?e=d1e747d2d8

Yesterday we spoke with a senior healthcare executive leading the COVID-19 response for a regional health system on the West Coast. Their area is now experiencing exponential growth of new cases, with the number of local diagnoses doubling every couple of days. In all likelihood, they’re less than two weeks from having the number of cases seen in harder-hit areas like San Francisco, Seattle and New York City. She said the “anticipation of what is about to happen” is the scariest part of the around-the-clock work they are doing to prepare.

But that two-week lead time has given them precious time to organize, and she generously shared key elements of their action plan. Their preparation work—surely similar to what hundreds of health systems around the country are doing—impressed us not only with its breadth, depth and comprehensiveness, but also the level of energy and confidence conveyed by the hundreds of actions and decisions, large and small, the system is making every day. Here are some of their important learnings so far:

  1. Even though the surge of patients has yet to begin, staff are “worried and scared”. They are concerned about PPE shortages and personal safety and stressed at home with schools and daycare closed. Detailed and regular communication is more critical than ever—and they’re trying to answer every inbound concern or question from associates directly. They are funding and expanding childcare options for staff, through partnerships with community organizations and daily stipends for home-based care.
  2. As the system works through worst-case scenario planning, they anticipate the need for critical care nurses, respiratory therapists, and emergency physicians will be the worst bottlenecks, and they are working to cross-train adjacent clinicians and build new staffing models to increase capacity. While most providers are deeply dedicated to providing care for COVID-19 patients, a small number have already “called off” and refused to report—creating unanticipated questions around how to manage these difficult situations.
  1. As they prepare to implement new surge staffing models, the system is now navigating through a period of downtime. With elective procedures cancelled and some ambulatory sites closed, they currently need fewer nurses and clinical staff than a month ago, and are creating policies, like allowing staff to go negative into PTO, to maintain income while they wait for the surge. Staff who must work in-person are working variable shifts to reduce crowding. They are also working to credential nurses and staff furloughed from local ambulatory surgery centers, so they have them ready to deploy when needed.
  1. IT staff are working nonstop to quickly make it possible for all eligible employees to work remotely, and to enable staff to safely gain access to the system’s intranet while guarding against new cybersecurity threats. The system is training and enabling hundreds of doctors to deliver care virtually, including affiliated independents.
  1. Guidelines for coronavirus patient management and recommended PPE practices change daily; it’s a full-time job for clinical leaders to keep up. Doctors are eager to try novel and creative treatments for very sick patients. (For instance, one doctor is developing a 3-D printed device that will allow one ventilator to be used for four patients simultaneously.) This eagerness to “do something” is understandable but creates a bit of chaos as leaders work to create policies around how to best manage patients.
  1. While leaders communicate with other health systems and local and state authorities daily, the vast majority of decisions are made internally, on the fly. For instance, the system is connecting with now-empty local hotels and universities to provide options for low-acuity patient capacity, but leaders hope that parallel efforts at other organizations can be brought together into a more unified regional response. For now, however, coordination would likely create unacceptable delays.
  1. Long-term health and stamina of staff is top among the system’s concerns. “If I borrow worry from the future”, this leader said, “I am worried that we are facing years-long trauma, both emotional and financial, and I’m not sure how we will sort it out”. For now, efforts to support staff and provide moments of relief and joy, are critical, and very appreciated by front-line team members.

We left this conversation emotionally overwhelmed ourselves, and with a huge sense of gratitude for clinicians and health system leaders. Americans can take comfort in the amount of work that is taking place even before critical patients begin to appear—and that doctors, nurses and hospitals are truly dedicated to providing us the best possible care under circumstances they have never faced before. If you know about creative approaches or new ideas organizations are putting in place to contend with the current situation, please let us know. We’re eager to share great ideas!

 

 

 

EVERY HOSPITAL BOARD NEEDS A CEO SUCCESSION PLAN. HALF ARE FAILING.

Posted on by • Posted in Board, CEO, Executive Session, Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Interim CEO, Interim CFO, Interim Executives, Interim Resources, Leadership, Leadership Continuity, Leadership Unplanned Departure, Succession Plan, Talent Management • Leave a comment

https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/strategy/every-hospital-board-needs-ceo-succession-plan-half-are-failing

The organization needs to have a strong sense for who will lead next. That’s ultimately the responsibility of the board, not the incumbent. This article appears in the July/August 2019 edition of HealthLeaders magazine.

The departure of a CEO can severely disrupt an organization’s progress, especially when the leader leaves suddenly without a clear successor. Despite the well-known need for succession planning, an alarming number of healthcare provider organizations are chugging along without a plan in place, just hoping that their top executives stick around for the foreseeable future.

Forty-nine percent of hospital and health system boards lack a formal CEO succession plan, according to the American Hospital Association Trustee Services 2019 national healthcare governance survey report. That leaves them vulnerable to the disruptive gusts of a CEO’s sudden departure, and it can inhibit their ability to pursue longer-term strategies by leaving them overly dependent on one leader’s vision.

The failure of these boards to formalize CEO succession plans is outrageous and unacceptable, says Jamie Orlikoff, president of the Chicago-based healthcare governance and leadership consulting firm Orlikoff & Associates Inc. and board member of St. Charles Health System in Bend, Oregon. “Whatever the reasons are, it’s just a fundamental and inexcusable abrogation of a basic governance responsibility, so I am nothing less than shocked that the figure is almost 50%,” Orlikoff says.

Why Plans Aren’t Made There are typically a few basic reasons why an organization may be slow to finalize a CEO succession plan. Perhaps the current CEO just doesn’t want to talk about it, Orlikoff says. Some executives are more comfortable talking to their families about their own life insurance plans than they are talking to the board about what to do in the event of their sudden departure, he says. Or perhaps it’s the board members who don’t want to talk about it. Orlikoff says at least four board chairpersons for various organizations have told him in the past seven years that they don’t want their current CEOs to leave and that they don’t want to think about succession planning because the recruitment process is too burdensome. Or there could be an unhealthy power dynamic between the CEO and the board, with the CEO asserting control over tasks that should be handled by the board members, Orlikoff says.

What makes the relationship between the CEO and the board so tricky is how it ties together two distinct relationships. On the one hand, the CEO and the board are strategic partners defining and executing a shared vision. On the other, they are an employee and an employer. “Those are two very, very different and very important functions,” Orlikoff says.

“Some boards have great difficulty envisioning the distinction between those two roles.” A board should lean on the CEO as a strategic partner because the CEO is likely to know more about the industry and more about the local market than the board members do, Orlikoff says. But when the board neglects to assert its proper place in the employer-employee relationship, the CEO may be given free rein over a broader scope of issues than is appropriate, and that can impede the CEO succession planning process, he adds.

In other words, while it’s perfectly appropriate for a CEO to groom a potential successor, the board should not defer to the CEO’s selection, and the CEO should not insist that the board do so. How to Fix This The existence or nonexistence of a formal CEO succession plan is often a symptom of whether the relationship between a CEO and the board is healthy, Orlikoff says.

Notably, the task of devising a succession plan is one exercise that can improve that relationship, he adds. While the detailed steps each organization should take will vary from one situation to another, there are two specific items that Orlikoff recommends: 1. Ask about the mundane threat of a bus.

Whether you’re a CEO or board member for an organization without a formal succession plan in place, there’s one straightforward question you can ask to kickstart productive dialogue on the topic: What do we do if our CEO gets hit by a bus tonight? The question is nonthreatening. It doesn’t signal a CEO’s possible intent to resign or retire. It doesn’t suggest the board members are thinking about giving him or her the boot.

It simply asks, as a matter of fact, how the organization will maintain continuity in the event of an unplanned CEO departure, just as parents would speak with their families about life insurance, Orlikoff says. The CEO should tell the board, without any other senior leaders present, whom the CEO would pick to step into the interim CEO role, Orlikoff says. That will inevitably prompt follow-up questions: Would the interim CEO be a good permanent replacement? Which of the requisite skills do they lack? How well do they align with our long-term needs and vision?

The conversations about an unplanned CEO departure will flow naturally into questions about a planned departure. Where are we in the current CEO’s contract cycle? When does the CEO want to retire? What skills and traits will our next CEO need to lead the organization into the future of healthcare?

Conversations about an unplanned departure should begin on the very first day of a new CEO’s contract, Orlikoff says. Conversations about a planned departure should begin at the end of the CEO’s first year, he says. For a CEO with a five-year contract, the board should start asking halfway through contract whether the CEO wishes to renew a contract or leave the organization, and the board should know three years into the five-year contract whether the CEO wants to stay, he says.

Hold executive sessions without the CEO present. An increasing number of hospital and health system boards are routinely listing executive sessions on their meeting agendas, and that’s a good thing, according to the AHA Trustee Services survey. A slight majority, 52%, of all respondents routinely included an executive session in the agenda of every board meeting, according to the survey report. But 26% of system boards, 59% of subsidiary boards, and 48% of freestanding boards still don’t.

Even if a board has an executive session, though, that doesn’t mean members are able to fully discuss the topics in their purview. The survey found that CEOs participate in the entire executive session for a majority, 54%, of all boards. That includes 41% of system boards and 57% for both subsidiary and freestanding boards. That deprives trustees of an opportunity to discuss the CEO in his or her absence and might impede the CEO succession planning process, Orlikoff says.

Related: 4 Steps for Planning CEO Succession Boards should think of their meetings in three stages, Orlikoff says. The first stage includes everyone in the room, including board members, the CEO, senior executives, and invited guests. The second stage is a modified executive session that includes the board members and CEO only, which is where the majority of the meeting should take place. The third stage should be an executive session with the board members only. “Confident, secure CEOs know that their boards need to go into executive session without them present occasionally in order to perform certain governance functions. They encourage it,” Orlikoff says. “Insecure CEOs or those who are attempting to control and manipulate the board are very uncomfortable with executive sessions and don’t want the board going into an executive session.”

It’s Mutually Beneficial While it may be difficult to prompt board members to think about a future under different leadership, CEOs who do so are not only investing in the organization’s long-term success but also signaling that they are the sort of leader willing to make investments in the organization’s long-term success. “When a CEO goes to the board and says, ‘You guys need to do this,’ … it demonstrates an incredibly high degree of confidence.

It also demonstrates an incredibly high degree of commitment to the organization,” Orlikoff says. “It shows that you’re thinking beyond yourself,” he adds. “You’re thinking about the best interests of the organization, that you’re willing to have difficult conversations for the good of the organization.”

“INSECURE CEOS OR THOSE WHO ARE ATTEMPTING TO CONTROL AND MANIPULATE THE BOARD ARE VERY UNCOMFORTABLE WITH EXECUTIVE SESSIONS AND DON’T WANT THE BOARD GOING INTO AN EXECUTIVE SESSION.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Not having a formal succession plan may be a symptom of an unhealthy relationship between the CEO and the board.

When CEOs prompt the board to think about who will lead next, it demonstrates self-confidence and commitment to the organization.

 

 

 

The role of the modern Hospital & Health System CFO: 3 things to know

Posted on by • Posted in Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Leadership, Partnership, Recruiting, Strategic Leadership, Talent Management • Leave a comment

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/the-role-of-the-modern-cfo-3-things-to-know.html?utm_medium=email

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The role of hospital and health system CFO has changed in recent years. CFOs are now change agents within their organizations and are deeply embedded in the day-to-day operations of the business.

Speaking on a panel called “The Evolving Role of the CFO” at the Becker’s Hospital Review 8th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable in November, a panel of health system CFOs and finance leaders from across the country discussed how the finance chief role has changed and expanded.

The five panelists were:

  • Jeanette Wojtalewicz, senior vice president of Omaha, Neb.-based CHI Health
  • Nicholas Mendyka, vice president of system finance operations at Minneapolis-based Allina Health
  • Doug Welday, CFO of Evanston, Ill.-based NorthShore University HealthSystem
  • Kris Zimmer, CFO of St. Louis-based SSM Health
  • Mike Browning, CFO of Columbus-based OhioHealth

Here are three takeaways from the discussion:

1. CFOs are strategic leaders. The panelists noted that younger CFOs — those in their early 30s — come to the role with a fresh viewpoint. They are strategic and drive performance across the organization. Though CFOs who have been in the role for a decade or two may have a more traditional viewpoint, they’re adapting to the role of the modern CFO and embracing their more strategic position.

2. CFOs need different skills than in the past. The CFO role has expanded beyond traditional finance and accounting, and the skills CFOs need have changed too. When recruiting new members to their teams, the CFOs on the panel said they look for candidates with natural curiosity, data visualization skills and natural leadership abilities.

3. Clinician-finance partnerships are important. New payment models link quality of care to reimbursement, making it vital for CFOs and their teams to develop an understanding of the clinical side of the business. This has caused some health system CFOs to change their approach to training. The panelists said they try to help their teams develop an understanding of each department and learn how clinical and finance are connected.

 

Ochsner to pay tuition for future physicians, nurses who pledge to 5 years with system

Posted on by • Posted in Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Nurses, Physician, Physician Workforce, Primary Care, Recruiting, Talent Management, Tuition Funding • Leave a comment

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-physician-relationships/ochsner-to-pay-tuition-for-future-physicians-nurses-who-pledge-to-5-years-with-system.html%20?utm_medium=email

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New Orleans-based Ochsner Health System created a $10 million tuition fund to grow its own workforce amid current labor market challenges, according to The Advocate, a Louisiana news outlet.

The system will begin by paying tuition for a cohort of 30 primary care physicians and psychiatrists. The physicians must commit to working in Louisiana with the health system for at least five years to receive the funding.

Ochsner has plans to offer similar scholarship opportunities for employees who want to become licensed practical nurses or registered nurses. It plans to ultimately cover tuition for about 1,000 employees, according to the report.

Read the full story here.

 

 

10 Health Care Trends To Watch In 2020

Posted on by • Posted in Best Practice, Best Practices, Electronic Health Record (EHR), Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Market Consolidation, Market Power, Market Trends, Outcomes, Primary Care, Recruiting, Social Determinants of Health, Talent Imperative, Talent Management, Telemedicine • Leave a comment

https://blog.providence.org/news/10-health-care-trends-to-watch-in-2020?_ga=2.242868994.1447754200.1576610293-1113187070.1573499391

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With 2020 shaping up to be another big year for health care, executives at Providence, one of the largest health systems in the country, today released their annual New Year’s predictions.

External forces will continue to bear down on health care, Providence leaders said. Politics, technology, social issues, labor shortages and heightened consumer expectations will all play a role. As a result, providers will feel more intense pressure to accelerate the transformation of health care.

“The question is whether providers can pivot fast enough,” said Rod Hochman, M.D., president and CEO of Providence. “In 2020, health systems that can get ahead of the major trends will be best positioned to meet the future needs of their communities.”

What can you expect next year? Here are Providence’s top 10 predictions.

  1. The value of health system consolidation will come to fruition in the form of large scale improvements in clinical quality and outcomes.

One of the most important reasons health systems have consolidated in recent years is to improve clinical quality and spread best practice across scale. Because clinical integration takes time, this will be the year that significant results begin coming to fruition. For example, Providence has leveraged its seven-state system to reverse the alarming national rise in U.S. mothers dying in childbirth. Thanks to collaboration among its clinical teams, Providence is one of the safest places for moms to give birth, having nearly eliminated preventable maternal deaths over the last three years. At the same time, Providence has reduced the cost of caring for moms covered by Medicaid, as well as the cost of NICU care. Expect more examples of improved outcomes and costs to emerge in 2020 as proven practices in other clinical areas begin bearing fruit on a large scale.

  1. Corporate social responsibility will take on a bigger role in tackling homelessness, suicide, the opioid crisis and other social issues that affect health.  

More companies will partner with health systems, government agencies, social services and other nonprofits to take action on the social determinants of health. Be Well OC is one example of the type of coalition that will make a significant impact in 2020. The public-private partnership in Orange County, Calif., brings diverse organizations together to meet the urgent need for mental health and addiction services in the community. Meanwhile, in cities like Seattle, Wash., health systems like Providence are partnering with the business community and other not-for-profits to address the growing homelessness epidemic.

  1. Personalized medicine and population health, two seemingly opposite approaches to health care, will begin working hand in hand to improve outcomes in the U.S.

The path to a healthier nation will be accelerated by treating both the unique needs of the individual down to the DNA level, as well as common issues shared by people in similar demographics. Health systems like Providence, for example, are using genomics to pinpoint a person’s biologic age, as well as tailor medical interventions to the individual. At the same time, Providence is coordinating care and resources across broad segments of people through steps such as cancer screenings and improving access to housing and nutrition. Combining the power of these two disciplines will help catapult the health of the nation.

  1. Health systems will prioritize digital access to care, convenience and personalization to compete with disruptors and collaborate with big tech.

Delivering same-day access to care – how, when and where people want it – will be a burning priority for health systems in 2020. New entrants will continue to disrupt the space and raise consumer expectations. Leading health systems like Providence will stay ahead of the curve with digital platforms that integrate telehealth, its in-store clinics at Walgreens and its vast network of specialty, primary care and urgent care clinics across the Western U.S. To help patients navigate these care options, Providence will also continue to develop its artificial intelligence capability, making its AI bot, “Grace,” more pervasive, helpful and capable. Providence will also continue to engage patients between episodes of care by providing personalized content and services to keep them healthy while developing a long-term, digitally engaged relationship with patients.

  1. As more health systems partner with tech companies to bring health care into the digital age, patients will count on providers to serve as the guardians of their personal health information. 

Machine learning and artificial intelligence will raise the potential for new breakthroughs in medicine and care delivery, and data will be key to this level of innovation. But whether tech companies are prioritizing the best interest of patients will remain a lingering question for the American public. Patients will look to providers to be their voice and advocates when it comes to protecting their health information. Expect providers to stand up for data privacy and security and take the lead in ensuring data is used responsibly for the common good.

  1. The race to bring voice-activated technology to health care will heat up and will be a central feature in the hospital and clinic of the future.

Just as Alexa and Siri are transforming the way we live our personal lives, voice and natural language processing are the future of health care. Expect innovation to accelerate around smart clinics and hospitals that make it easier for clinicians to treat and care for patients.  Voice commands that process and analyze information will support clinical decision making at the bedside and the exam room. As part of a new partnership between Providence and Microsoft to build the “care site of the future,” clinical communications and voice-activated technology will be a central feature.

  1. Simplifying the electronic medical record will become a rallying cry for clinicians.

With burnout on the rise among physicians, nurses and other caregivers, reducing the time it takes to chart in the electronic medical record will be key to improving the work environment for clinicians. Shifting the national conversation from EMR “interoperability” to “usability” will take on greater urgency. A simplified, more intuitive EMR means clinicians can spend less time on the computer and more time focused directly on patients, creating a better experience for clinicians and the patients they serve.

  1. The health care workforce will continue to evolve and adopt new skill sets. At the same time, talent shortages will become more pronounced.

As the sector changes at a rapid pace, the health care workforce will need to add new skill sets to keep up with innovations in medicine and care delivery. Clinicians will also need to become more proficient in managing the social determinants of health and caring for the whole person, not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. Health systems will seek to stay competitive in a tough labor market by offering attractive pay and benefit packages. A commitment to investing in education and career development, as well as creating engaging work environments, will also be a key focus for retaining and recruiting top talent.

  1. Price transparency will remain a hot issue. But the focus needs to shift to giving patients the information they want most: what their out-of-pocket costs will be.   

Patients deserve to know what their health care costs will be up front, so they can make informed decisions as they shop for care. Rather than inundating them with a deluge of prices and negotiated rates for hundreds of services that may or may not be relevant to their personal situation, more emphasis needs to be placed on helping them understand what their specific out-of-pocket costs will be. The amount individuals pay is typically based on their insurance coverage. That’s why health systems like Providence are actively developing price estimator tools and self-service portals, based on blockchain and AI technology, to help patients more quickly and easily access this information.

  1. New alternatives to “Medicare for All” will emerge in the presidential debates. One viable option that should be taken seriously: free primary care for every American.

In the 2020 elections, concerns will be raised over whether Americans will lose their private commercial or employer-sponsored insurance under a Medicare for All plan. A new campaign platform — free primary care for all — should be considered as a more effective, affordable alternative. By guaranteeing access to primary care, the nation can focus on prevention, chronic disease management and helping Americans live their healthiest life possible. Providence is participating in the current administration’s innovative primary care pilots, which are showing positive results in terms of better outcomes and reduced costs.