Preventing Patient Readmissions Improves Bottom Line Results

Organizations that make discharge phone calls reduce non-reimbursable readmissions between 20-30%. Research shows that patient/family likelihood to recommend a hospital is above the 90th percentile when they receive a discharge call. Research shows litigation goes down when a patient receives a phone call after discharge.

So how do organizations execute discharge phone calls?

Who to call:

• Studies show that unplanned readmissions rank the highest among patients who are suffering from congestive heart failure, pneumonia, and complications from surgical procedures such as heart stents and major hip and knee replacements. As organizations make phone calls to discharged patients, this high-risk group should be the first priority.

When to call:

• Hospitals see maximum results when calling discharged patients within 24-72 hours of going home. They catch early signs of adverse events, misunderstanding side effects of medication, therapeutic questions, and nosocomial infections.

Who calls:

• Trained healthcare personnel. The Discharge Call Manager™ software makes it possible to provide high quality calls from non-RN’s, allowing RN’s to provide direct patient care and save organizational dollars. Questions asked during discharge calls can be developed that align with HCAHPS requirements.

What to say:

• Studer Group recommends including quality-focused questions, such as:
  • Do you have any questions about your discharge (home care) instructions?
  • Do you have any questions about your medications? Are you aware of side-effects? (Mayo Clinic Proceedings study: Only 14% of patients knew medication side effects, 28% knew medication names and 37% knew purpose of medications, August 2005)
  • Do you have your follow-up appointment scheduled?
• Many organizations ask Unit Specific questions dependent on where the patient received their care. Studer Group will be happy to share successful questions by unit, in addition to populating these into the Discharge Call Manager. Click here to access our Discharge Call resource page and Question Library.

Why:

Discharge calls produce better clinical outcomes and are the right thing to do for patients and families. It’s a great way to verify that patients understand post-care instructions which reduce preventable readmissions. Most importantly, lives are enhanced and saved.

For best practices and frequently asked questions about discharge phone calls, contact Rachael Johnson.

Announcing a New Study on Behaviors that Impact Safety

The research is clear – teamwork, communication and a collaborative work environment each directly impact patient safety, patient satisfaction, employee and physician turnover, and even healthcare costs. The expectations upon healthcare organizations to address these issues are also clear. With the Joint Commission Sentinel Event Alert last summer, leaders must create and implement a process for managing disruptive and inappropriate behaviors.

What is less clear is how well-trained healthcare professionals are in addressing and managing the types of unprofessional behaviors that undermine these same outcomes. In partnership with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the Studer Group is launching what we hope will be the largest ever study of disruptive behaviors in healthcare. Our goal is to identify the types and frequency of these behaviors and the tools and skills you have to deal with them. Whether you deliver direct patient care, provide support services or serve in an administrative capacity, I invite you and your colleagues to take part in this study.

This study was first announced in our monthly newsletter and remains open through Friday, June 12th. Click here to complete the survey. The 20 minutes of your time to complete the survey will provide insight into the training and resources needed in healthcare organizations to address disruptive behaviors that affect the well-being of staff and the outcomes of the patients we care for. We commit to sharing the results of the study broadly and free of charge this summer.

Every day, each of you makes a difference in the lives of the patients and families you care for. Thank you in advance for taking the time today to make a difference in your work environment by spending a few minutes to tell us about your experiences.

Yours in Service,

Craig Deao
R&D Leader
Studer Group

Studer Group and Vanderbilt University Medical Center Disruptive Behaviors Study

Have you personally experienced disruptive or intimidating behaviors in your organization? Or have you been in a position where you were aware of others” unprofessional behavior and found it challenging to manage? If the answer to either is yes, were you knowledgeable of your organization”s policies and practices in place to address these behaviors, and did you have the skills for managing the situation?

Effective January 1, 2009, the Joint Commission has a new leadership standard of “zero tolerance” for intimidating and /or disruptive behaviors in accredited organizations. We want to hear about your experiences with disruptive behaviors in your work environment and how well you feel supported to address and manage those behaviors.

In partnership with Vanderbilt University, the Studer Group is launching what we believe will be the largest ever study of disruptive behaviors and managing them in healthcare. Our goal is to identify the types and frequency of disruptive behaviors in healthcare and the tools and skills you have to deal with disruptive behaviors. If you work in health care, whether you deliver direct patient care or provide support services, I invite you and your colleagues to take part in this study.

Click here to complete the survey by Friday, June 5th. The 20 – 30 minutes of your time to complete the survey will provide insight into the training and resources needed in health care organizations to address disruptive behaviors that affect the well being of staff and the outcomes of the patients we care for. We commit to sharing the results of the study broadly and free of charge this summer.

Every day, each of you makes a difference in the lives of the patients and families you care for. Take the time today to make a difference in your work environment by spending a few minutes to tell us about your experiences.

Yours in Service,

Quint Studer

The RN Renewal Plan: Why It’s So Important To Help Nurses Reignite Their Passion for Helping Others.

All nurses are inspired at the start of their career, but over time, the stresses of the job can overwhelm their sense of purpose. Leaders that help nurses re-connect—in turn, see their organizations thrive.

Anyone who works with nurses knows the profession is a double-edged sword: the very qualities that attract caring, compassionate people to the field also burn them out. It’s true. Impacting lives on such a profound level, not only physically but emotionally and spiritually, can be exhausting beyond words. And because the energy and passion of nurses is so intricately connected to a healthcare organization’s bottom line, leaders must take steps to sustain these elusive qualities.

It’s this simple: nurses who find their work rewarding provide better clinical care. Plus, their happiness and fulfillment positively impact other nurses and the workplace as a whole. An organization staffed by nurses who feel a sense of purpose, who engage with their patients on a real, human level, is a healthy hospital in every sense of the word. So helping them re-ignite their passion for their work is a critical business goal.

So, how can leaders help nurses know their impact? Click here to access three “Spiritual Stretches” to help nurses stay connected to the difference they make, excerpted from Inspired Nurse, by Rich Bluni, RN.

It’s no wonder nurses are so inspired at the beginning of their career. They get to share in some of the most joyful times in people’s lives and ease their pain in the toughest times. It’s a privilege. And it’s as important for nurses to nurture themselves as it is to nurture their patients. Taking the time to tap back into this calling will help nurses give the best care possible.

Just envision a hospital filled with inspired nurses working to execute common goals. It’s easy to see why it’s worthwhile to do so: better clinical outcomes, less employee turnover and all the other results of employee motivation equal a healthy bottom line.

Click here to view a free 30 minute webinar on how to create a culture of work-life blend in your organization that will improve employee turnover and satisfaction.

The work we do in healthcare is very powerful. We change lives and bring comfort, joy and healing to each patient we meet.

Physician Engagement and Collaboration: The importance of aligning physicians with organizational goals to achieve and sustain service excellence

Medicine is in the midst of a new era. An era that redefines the influence that patient perception of care is having on market share, reimbursement, and the doctor-patient relationship. Patient-centric care founded on trust and communication has taken on a new priority in healthcare, replacing technology as a driver in the public’s perception of quality. Now more than ever, hospitals recognize the need to work with their medical staffs to develop and execute a service excellence strategy that drives patient satisfaction. Here’s why.

Today, patients are much more savvy in their desire to understand their diagnosis and plan of care. With the Internet age upon us, patients often come to physicians’ clinics, hospitals, or emergency departments informed with ideas on what their diagnosis may be, what tests need to be ordered, and what treatment they feel is necessary. Additionally, the age of transparency has made it possible for patients to differentiate average care from great care. This places a greater burden on us to deliver care that is perceived by patients as meeting their expectations as well as achieving desired clinical outcomes. Our failure to meet patient expectations adversely impacts patient loyalty.

Medicine is undergoing a transformation like none other in its history. We are moving from a pay for service to a pay for performance model. For the first time, reimbursement will be directly tied to patient perception of care. HCAHPS is just the beginning. In the near future, CMS and third party reimbursement will be directly linked to patient satisfaction metrics that will inevitably impact both inpatient and outpatient practices. Given the unsustainable medical inflation rate and continued rising medical costs in the US, a system to reward organizations for delivery of great and cost-effective care from those who deliver anything else but that, is long overdue. The pay for performance concept will drive competition and give consumers greater decision-making ability on where they want to receive care. Organizations that fail to effectively prepare themselves, and execute a successful strategy for the evolving pay for performance initiative will have a hard time surviving.

The common theme that ties together the above discussion points is the concept of patient perception of care. And what drives that more than anything else? Effective communication. Chang’s study as published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in May of 2006 clearly showed that patient’s global ratings of their health care are not tied to the technical quality of their care, but rather, to the quality of provider communication (Volume 144, Issue 9, pages 665-672). Effective physician communication is the key driver of overall patient satisfaction. Resnick’s recently published study in the Journal of Surgical Education (2008;65;243-252) showed that 61% of the variability in patient satisfaction is tied to physician behaviors. The remaining 39% was linked to nursing behaviors. Physicians more than any other group influence patient perception of care the most.

It is critical then, for healthcare organizations that want to effectively compete and survive the tumultuous economic uncertainties facing us today, to engage and collaborate with physicians to create an aligned strategy on the delivery of patient-centric care that promotes effective communication at all levels. Healthcare systems recognize the importance that physicians have on an organization’s ability to effectively compete and financially succeed. The problem is, hospitals and physicians don’t always think alike. There is often distrust, misalignment, and differing opinions between the two sides. This was again demonstrated in the recently released Press-Ganey 2008 Check-Up Report on physician perspectives on American hospitals. Three of the top five listed physician priorities on what impacts the physician-hospital relationship the most dealt with how well hospital administration communicates, responds, and collaborates with physicians to meet their practice needs.

In the evolving pay for performance initiative, physician behaviors will not only influence their own reimbursement, but hospitals’ as well. It is imperative that healthcare systems recognize the importance of collaborating with their medical staffs to create an aligned platform that promotes patient care quality and safety as well as drives patient perception of care, and executes an effective reimbursement and growth strategy that is mutually beneficial. Studer Group recognizes how critical this has become for physicians and hospitals.

Studer Group is creating a physician specific service line for 2009. The physician service line will help organizations engage and collaborate with their physicians. From an initial survey and analysis of an organization’s situation and specific needs, a comprehensive physician coaching plan and strategy will be formulated and executed to drive patient perception of care and satisfaction results. Paralleling the success of Studer Group’s inpatient coaching service line, the physician service line will utilize the evidence-based tools and coaching tactics that Studer Group has developed to achieve successful outcomes for the hundreds of clients that we have partnered with in the past.

This is an exciting yet uncertain time in medicine. There is real potential to significantly impact nationwide patient care quality and raise it to a level never before seen. Pay for performance will drive that. Many organizations face financial constraints never before experienced prior to the recent economic downturn. One thing is clear. Implementing a successful patient perception of care strategy and creating a culture of excellence is not only the right thing to do, but necessary for organizations to survive and thrive in the today’s economic uncertainty. The return on investment for engaging and collaborating with physicians is enormous. It is physician behaviors that ultimately drive patient satisfaction, impact loyalty, and create trust. Studer Group’s physician service line will help physician groups and healthcare organizations achieve their desired outcomes.

If you are interested in learning more about Studer Group’s physician service line, please contact me at wolf.schynoll@studergroup.com, or visit http://www.studergroup.com/physicians.

Yours in Service,

Wolfram Schynoll, M.D., FACEP
Studer Group Medical Director and Physician Coach

“But we’re already doing it!”: Why Validation Is the Key to Effective Hourly Rounds

No doubt about it: Hourly rounding is hot. And no wonder. In 2006 Studer Group’s Alliance for Health Care Research initiated a call light study—whose findings were published in the American Journal of Nursing—which proves how well it works. In addition, during the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s December 2007 Annual Forum, hourly rounding was described as one of the most powerful ways to redesign patient care, in addition to helping “restore sanity and joy to our workforce.”

Since then, the tactic has been implemented in hundreds of organizations across the country. So it’s no surprise that at conferences I attend, discussion invariably turns to this subject. When leaders are asked whether they are doing hourly rounds, many of them will reply that, yes, they are. And when you ask staff if they are doing hourly rounds, they will also tell you, “We’re doing it.”

So why don’t all organizations experience fantastic results from hourly rounding? First of all, some organizations have been known to deviate from the original formula we set forth. It is critical to follow the eight behaviors of hourly rounding, which you will find explained in detail in the Hourly Rounding DVD and implementation guide available on the Studer Group website at www.studergroup.com.

The eight behaviors of hourly rounding are:

1. Use opening Key Words.
2. Accomplish scheduled tasks.
3. Address the “Three Ps”—pain, potty, position.
4. Address additional comfort needs.
5. Conduct environmental assessment.
6. Ask, “Is there anything else I can do for you? I have time.”
7. Tell each patient when you will be back.
8. Document the round.

In our experience, the main difference between those that are successful and those that are struggling to achieve results is validation—or, said another way, lack of validation. If you want to drive the results described above, you have to Validate, Validate, Validate.

The most often heard excuse from staff regarding hourly rounds is, “We are already in the room that much anyway,” or “I am already doing those things.” Certainly this is the perception that many staff have; however, it is often not the reality. If it were, we would not hear so many patient complaints like, “I don’t see my nurse enough,” or “The staff seems so busy.”

Done right and properly validated, hourly rounding will improve your patient care and satisfaction. Here are just a few principles to keep in mind:

Face time is not enough. Staff must understand that hourly rounding is not about getting in the room every hour. It is about doing the eight behaviors every hour—which just happen to require us to be in the room to do them.

Nurse leaders, it’s your job to validate. It’s the nurse leader’s task to validate that the eight behaviors of hourly rounding are being implemented with enough consistency to achieve results. The key? Rounding logs. I have yet to see an organization be successful in getting the level of results we mentioned above without using them. I also advocate for the use of an annual competency that will add credibility to this skill and make it as important as all the other skills we validate annually. But even annual validation is not enough in the early phases of implementation, which can last sixth months or more. Nurse leaders need to continue frequent validation long enough to ensure that the staff’s initials on the log truly represents that all eight behaviors were accomplished.

Yes, validation takes time—but it’s worth it. If the validation is so critical—why do we have such a hard time doing it? The most obvious answer is time. Validating skills directly by observation is certainly an investment in time, but those organizations that bite the bullet and get it done will tell you the results they get far outweigh the time spent.

Trust, but verify. Many nurse leaders will tell me, “When I verify rounding, the staff feels like I don’t trust them. They think I am checking up on them.” Well…that’s because you are—but it’s the right thing to do. At Studer Group we call it trust but verify. After all, we trust that a physician will do a history and physical on every patient, but we still verify that he has done it. And we trust that a pilot will do his pre-flight checklist, but, again, we verify. As a leader on your unit, you have the ultimate responsibility for the competency of your staff. For critical skills a “trust but verify” approach is necessary—and hourly rounding does qualify.

“Soft” validation doesn’t work. I sometimes see nurse leaders invest the time in doing the validation but use too soft of an approach to get the real value. For instance: “Sara, I appreciate being able to shadow you and validate your hourly rounding skills. I think you did a great job. The only thing I didn’t hear was you using the closing key words. I’ll go ahead and check you off but please be sure to do them next time.” In this case, we have left open the door for Sara to continue to forget to use one of the eight behaviors of hourly rounds—Use closing key words.

Take the ACLS approach. I recommend you use an approach most clinicians are very accustomed to if they have ever tested for ACLS or similar certifications. That is, you need to be 100 percent correct to pass certification. You would never be ACLS certified and have them say, “You were pretty close on that dose of medication; just be sure to check closer next time.” If you are validating skills, take an ACLS approach and give specific and immediate feedback on each of the eight behaviors. This way the staff will know what they are doing well and what they need to do differently.

With diligence in validating skills, a tighter discipline to get all eight behaviors done well, and verification that they are actually occurring with every patient…the results will come.

For more information on tools that are available to help you implement hourly rounding in your organization please click here, or feel free to contact George Scarborough with questions.

Yours in service,

Lyn Ketelsen, RN, MBA

Studer Group Coach Leader

The Power of “I’m Sorry”: Why Service Recovery Matters Deeply In Healthcare–and How to Help Your Employees Find the Right Words

If you or your staff have ever been surprised by a patient complaint–and who hasn’t?—you know how easy it is to say the wrong thing. Well standardized key words can defuse tension, create positive patient perceptions of care and, ultimately, create better patient and organization outcomes.

You know your employees care deeply about their patients. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be working in healthcare in the first place. Yet, mistakes do happen. Conditions aren’t always ideal. Patients get upset. And no matter how sincerely a staff member wants to “make it right,” sometimes she just can’t find the words. And this is where service recovery training comes in. You can teach your staff to handle complaints and field tough questions the right way–a way that doesn’t only solve the problem, but also reduces patient anxiety and improves patient perception of care.

The way a single employee handles a single complaint–whether the problem is caused by her own mistake, someone else’s, or just the reality of 21st century healthcare–determines how that patient feels about your hospital or practice. When all employees respond to that complaint in the right way, well, it can have a powerful impact organization-wide.

We know there is a strong connection between a patient’s state of mind and her clinical outcome. When we say the right words to a distressed patient we not only increase the likelihood that she’ll give us a high satisfaction score, we actually help her heal. And both factors are critical to an organization’s long-term prosperity.

Here’s the thing: when most of us are surprised by a complaint, we can’t come up with a good response on the spot. Perhaps we get shut down, or get defensive, or toss out an automatic answer that the patient (mistakenly) perceives as arrogant or condescending or indifferent. The patient gets more upset and the situation escalates.

What to do?  Leaders can teach employees the right words for tough situations—apologies that defuse tension without assuming or casting blame. Have your team members come up with the common complaints they get.  Develop great responses to these complaints that put the patient at ease.  Most importantly, practice.  Role model responding to the complaints with the appropriate answers.  You’ll feel the difference.

The newly published “I’m Sorry To Hear That…”: Real-Life Responses to Patients’ 101 Most Common Complains About Health Care by Susan Keane Baker and Leslie Bank ,offers great sample answers. It helps leaders teach employees the right words for tough situations.

For example, let’s say a sample patient complaint is about food: The food is tasteless! The tea is never hot, the cereal is too thick, and the toast is soggy! Baker and Bank’s book offers the following selection of apologies for such a situation:

I’m sorry to hear you’re not enjoying your meal. I’ll check your nutrition orders and ask the dietician to visit you. She may be able to suggest some alternatives. Shall I make you a cup of hot tea right now?

I’m sorry. Good nutrition is important to your recovery. We have some snacks on the unit. Is there something I can get you? I could make you some fresh toast or a sandwich.

Even though some special diets are very strict, our Food & Nutrition team strives to provide tasty food. I’m going to ask your nutritionist if there are spices we can use to add flavor to your meals. What do you use at home?

The idea is for an organization to standardize these responses across the board, so that all employees are singing from the same “service recovery” choir book—and so that all patients in all departments have the same positive experience.

Teaching staff members how to say ‘I’m sorry,’ and say it the right way, is not just a nice thing to do. It’s a strategic business tactic that pays off in tangible ways. Such training helps employees do their jobs more effectively and gain more satisfaction from their work, which results in higher productivity and less turnover.  And of course, it results in happier patients who feel genuinely respected and cared for.

Words are more powerful than most people realize. An empathetic apology takes only a few seconds and costs nothing, yet it can completely change a patient’s perception of care. In hard economic times, especially, that’s no small matter.

Yours in Service,

Quint

For more service recovery resources including information on the book “I’m Sorry to Hear That…” click here.

Eliminating He Said, She Said

If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably interested in creating or sustaining a culture in your organization that gets results. If so, then here’s a simple question to ask yourself to see if you’re on track, “If an employee at my organization is upset with another employee, who do they tell?”

If the answer is HR, or their boss, or that person’s boss – actually, if it’s anything other than the employee they’re upset with – then your culture is at risk of being derailed.

I have learned that a key building block of a strong culture is for employees to address each other directly, especially when they are upset, frustrated, disappointed, etc. Of course, it’s equally important to have direct conversations that are positive, but those usually aren’t the problem. When the message is tough, all too often we ask someone else to carry it for us.

At my first meeting with the leaders of Baptist Hospital, I had a shredder at the front of the room. To make a point about the importance of talking to each other directly I fed the org chart into the shredder. Sometimes the org chart gets in the way of this basic human expectation that we talk directly with people when appropriate.

Instead of going directly to a person they’re upset with too often employees go to their boss. Then that boss talks to the other person’s boss, who then talks to the person the original person was upset with, who then is supposed to go to that original person to talk to them about the issue. That’s confusing even writing it now; imagine how much time that sucks out of an organization every day.

Of course I am not saying there’s anything wrong with organizational charts. They serve many useful purposes, particularly in ensuring that all employees are rounded on, for development of internal teams, for knowing which leaders to be managed up and who to send thank you notes to. But, they’re not guides for how communication should flow within an organization.

As another example, years ago I received a call from an IT manager of a Chicago hospital. She called to tell me that some of her peers, who were also managers, were upset. They were worried about the organization and themselves. I asked her, “Why do they come to you?” It turns out they came to her because they knew she would carry the message on their behalf – to me, and to their CEO if need be.

So why did she do this? Because she cared about these individuals. Her intentions were great. But this is called enabling behavior and actually does more harm than good. People can fall into this trap of helping others solve problems that they can and should solve themselves. The messenger feels better because they are doing something they believe helps, but in the long run no one benefits.

I suggested to this IT manager that she let them know she will not carry their message, but that she was willing to coach them on how to talk to the CEO. She took the advice and called me back a few days later to close the loop. She said the people were stunned, but she felt so much better. She said a weight had been lifted off of her.

One final story. When I was SVP at a Chicago-area hospital I was frustrated with another senior leader. I went to my boss, the CEO, to share my frustration with my peer (and his direct report). I stated my case and expected to hear some appreciation for sharing the story and then a commitment from my boss that he would talk to this other leader. Instead, he said, “What did she say when you shared your feelings with her?”

I was thinking inside, “She reports to you; you should talk with her! That’s hard!” Instead, I did something else that is also hard for me: I kept my mouth shut. He then told me to talk with her directly, and if there were still issues after this all three of us would meet.

That day I learned one of the best life lessons ever. I learned to talk directly, not hide behind an organizational chart. I also realized how healthy this is in an organization since it can profoundly reduce the type of passive-aggressive behavior that sucks the energy out of us.

We take this very seriously at Studer Group and work hard to practice what we coach. To guard against the behaviors mentioned above we ask all employees to sign a set of standards of behavior even before they interview with us that includes a section about directly resolving conflicts with peers.

Here are some recommendations:

1. When there is an issue that should be addressed directly with someone, go directly to that person rather than “up the chain of command.”
2. Exceptions for this are illegal or certain unethical behaviors, which should be handled according to organizational policy.
3. Use “I” statements with the individual to indicate how you feel, why, and the impact on others. You can learn more about this method of conflict resolution by clicking here.
4. If someone comes to you about issues they should take up directly with someone else, ask them, “Have you talked directly with this person?” If the answer is no, then encourage them to do so. Do not carry their message for them. Of course the same exceptions listed above still apply.
5. If a person goes to others rather than addressing something directly with you, then you might not be as approachable as you should be. Ask that person what you need to do so that they feel more comfortable coming directly to you in the future.
6. If you’re a leader, be sure to hold up the mirror before assuming you do this better than your reports. In fact, we find that leaders aren’t great with this either. It’s a foundational skill for leaders, and it can be honed.

Can this be uncomfortable? Yes, just like most behavior change is. But if you want to create a great organization you can’t allow this passive-aggressive behavior to continue. By not going to someone directly, one does not develop their own skills, time is sucked up that could be better spent elsewhere, and the culture you are trying to create or sustain is eroded.

The old way of communicating, where the org chart is used as a guide for who should talk with whom, only support the silo thinking that we need to work so hard to breakdown, since we know these communication challenges even affect the safety of the patients for whom we care. Going directly to people breaks down silos. People start acting like adults, carrying their own message and resolving their own conflicts. Conflicts are resolved quicker, relationships are strengthened and leaders spend less time arbitrating “he said, she said” conflicts.

Work-Life Blend in Healthcare

Work-life balance for women is such a vital issue in healthcare. It impacts the quality of life for the majority of healthcare workers, since 80% are female, and has a direct impact on both clinical quality and operational results. Studer Group conducted the largest study ever on how women in healthcare balance their work and life.  These findings will be released publicly today. I want to bring them to your attention.

Research has proven that lower employee turnover is correlated with shorter lengths of stay and a lower mortality rate.  Dr. Gerald Hickson’s work at Vanderbilt in patient safety and litigation shows that smooth handoffs and good explanations are critical to excellent safety and reducing claims. Staff satisfaction and turnover are the foundation of excellent performance, which is why these study results are so critical.

Here are a few findings based on 7,792 respondents:

• 75% said they would choose a career in healthcare again.
• 73% would recommend a career in healthcare to others.
• 48% are satisfied with their work life, with 23% being very satisfied.
• 47% are satisfied with their home life, with 28% being very satisfied.
• 36% are satisfied with their current work life blend with only 9% being very satisfied. A sobering statistic.

The majority of women rarely dedicate time to their own personal and emotional needs. Of note, 46% reported tending to their own needs no more than a few times per year.

45% stated that they experience work-family conflict at least one day or more per week. The following factors were associated with a higher degree of work/family conflict: non-day shift work, mandatory overtime, having children younger than 18 at home, and having caregiving responsibilities for other dependent relatives. Due to the passion and skill of healthcare workers, they are the ones relatives and neighbors turn to in their time of need. Thus, leaders must take extra steps to assist healthcare workers to achieve an improved work-life blend.

The demanding 24-hours-a-day patient care environment, combined with the strong built-in desire to be of service to others, makes being a healthcare leader challenging and demanding.  Leadership is the key component to creating a work place that attracts and retains talent.

Click here to access the full study results as well as recommendations on which tools and techniques will enable you to build and refine a work environment that is a great place to work and therefore a great place to receive care.

Many healthcare organizations are also the largest or second largest employer in the area.  Better places to work means better communities to live in. In these challenging economic times, the organizations that align the human capital best will be those that have the most success both clinically and financially.

Click here to view a complimentary webinar on how to create a culture of work-life blend in your organization.

Quint

The Foundations of Healthcare Leadership

In today’s blog I want to offer senior leaders a guaranteed solution to one of your biggest frustrations: how to provide new and emerging leaders the skills they need to do their job. To help, we have created a brand new Institute called The Foundations of Healthcare Leadership, which will be held for the first time October 29-30 in Newark, NJ. I invite you to send your new and emerging leaders risk-free. If you don’t see results, we’ll refund the registration.

All leaders need to be able to run effective meetings, efficiently communicate with stakeholders, handle tough questions, hold people accountable and prioritize activities. But how many of us have had formal training in these skills? Based on our research, not many.

In healthcare, the vast majority of our leaders are promoted from line positions one day to leadership positions the next day, with little or no training in between. For years, I’ve asked individuals who attend our institutes to stand up if they received an MHA or MBA and then completed an administrative fellowship prior to holding their first leadership role. Having asked this question to literally tens of thousands of leaders, I can tell you that only about 5% follow this traditional path. This means the employer must provide the training. That’s unfortunate; because these graduate programs provide outstanding educational experiences and deserve more credit then they receive for the many things that are right about our healthcare system.

At these same institutes, we hear from new and emerging leaders that they don’t feel they have enough time to accomplish their goals. However, as we’ve seen literally thousands of times through our coaching sessions, the issue isn’t time. It’s skill.

When these skills aren’t well-honed and consistently deployed in all areas of an organization, we lose time. That’s time that could be spent with family; time that could be spent at an anxious patient’s beside; time that could be laser-focused on achieving our goals.

We built this Institute to fill the gap in leader training, and we are confident that attendees will see clear outcomes such as reduction in employee turnover, improvement in patient and employee satisfaction, and noticeable gains in financial and clinical performance. If you don’t agree that the cost to attend was more than offset by these gains, just let us know what you think the Institute was worth and we’ll refund the difference, up to the full amount of registration.

The one-and-a-half day Institute will focus on the practical skills that separate the best leaders in healthcare from all the rest. We call these the foundations of healthcare leadership:

• Talent Management
  • Selecting talent
  • Building a successful team
  • Developing and retaining talent
  • De-selection

• Communicating Like a Leader
  • Answering tough questions
  • Communicating with impact
  • Combining prescriptives with passion
  • Leading change

• Time and Energy Management
  • Running effective meetings
  • Overcoming “full plate syndrome”
  • Delegating responsibility

• Mastering Your Professional Development
  • Getting results
  • Holding yourself and others accountable
  • Critical thinking
  • Understanding and communicating the external environment, such as HCAHPS, “Never Events” and other game changing trends

• Aligning the Behaviors of a Team
  • Aligning individual behavior to organizational goals
  • Rounding for outcomes
  • Using Key Words at Key Times
  • Rewarding and recognizing positive performance

The presenters for this new training institute are a perfect complement to the curriculum. Over his 23 year career, Bob Murphy served in a variety of roles, from nurse to department leader to administrator, learning valuable experiences and insights with each new responsibility. He now contributes to healthcare on the national stage through his work with Studer Group, where he serves as a coach and speaker, teaching leadership skills across the nation.

Bob will be joined by Beth Keane, Studer Group’s expert on communication skills, conflict resolution, and tactics to attract, retain and de-select employees. Beth has become one of our most sought after national speakers because she provides very specific tactics that her audiences can immediately put into place to transform their own results and those of the organizations they serve.

Leadership is the essential ingredient for achieving organizational results. We’re excited to launch this new training forum and hope you consider attending. We know your organization and your leaders will benefit, or the registration fee’s on us.