Operational Excellence
As a kid, I remember that the best roller coasters were the ones that were both terrifying and exhilarating. You knew it was really awesome when you couldn’t tell the difference between screams of joy or fright. It was fun to look at the pictures the amusement park would take at the same spot…
Hospitals are making “substantial progress in improving safety,” according to an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report that found a 17 percent decline in hospital-acquired conditions from 2010 to 2014. That saved 87,000 lives and nearly $20 billion in health costs. HACs include adverse…
Deeply held beliefs can blind boards to the true nature of change. It’s time to challenge the orthodoxies. In the early 2000s, the Nokia board debated creating a smartphone. The company’s wireless handset was the global best seller. Management believed consumers would not use a touch…
• Pediatric facility design must enable excellent medical care while also offering playful features that engage, calm and delight young patients. • The patients may be small, but spaces must be big enough to accommodate family stays and large medical equipment. • Technology is a way…
When Canadian physician John Fernandes was told earlier this year that there would be no way to rid a four-year-old girl of the same Escherichia coli strain that had claimed her brother’s life, Fernandes turned to a physician crowdsourcing site hoping for better news. His persistence was rewarded;…
Health care executives and boards no longer can lead with only one organization in mind. Value-based payment, along with a renewed emphasis on developing healthy communities, makes care coordination among community providers in multiple entities a necessity.
Rural health care boards and executives are transforming their organizations for a new world of accountable care marked by changing payment models, heightened expectations for physician alignment and greater need for collaboration. The 2016 Rural Health Care Leadership Conference Feb. 7–10 in…
When your board hired your organization’s CEO, the competencies the CEO possessed likely were a major factor in the selection process. However, many of those same skills are not sufficient to lead the hospitals and health systems of tomorrow.
Getting there is half the fun, right? Keep that in mind this holiday season, all of you who will be loading the family jalopy with unruly kids, rambunctious pets, more baggage than you even knew you owned and every flashy distraction Silicon Valley has yet to devise. The ride to Grandma’s…
Successful hospital and health systems are rooted in a mission-driven focus. But that focus must include a continued sense of vitality, creativity, relevance and forward thinking if hospitals and health systems are to continue their success into the future. Who better to contribute energy, new…