By Rodney Reider 

For healthcare CEOs, as the size of the healthcare system grows, so grows their need to balance priorities. By organizational structure, larger system CEOs, including those individuals who are Physician CEOs, often coordinate with multiple individuals reporting to a board of directors. The CEO perhaps has a specific specialty from past experience––finance, legal, medical––with next-level leaders who broaden the operational bandwidth through their specialties. 

In contrast to the stand-alone hospital CEO who are more intimately involved in the daily operations of the rural or individual hospital, large system CEOs find themselves in larger cities with more public points of interactions and more team members among the healthcare staff to whom they must stay connected.

Time is always a factor

Hospitals are 24/7 operations, and large systems have hundreds or thousands of people relying on services at any given time. The large system CEO cannot reasonably be involved in these daily functions and resource needs. This CEO is consistently informed by the people they’ve entrusted with overseeing specific functional areas. The CEO must hire the correct people to provide operational knowledge and support who report back on the needs of the system.

By Rodney Reider

Recently I had the privilege to be a guest on the podcast, “Getting Your Hospital to Act Like a Startup.” My part begins in minute 28, but please enjoy the entire episode.

Summary:

The innovative path is the key to the future of successful healthcare. Innovation and technology are the indispensable components for tomorrow's care; unfortunately, health systems and hospitals often allow the here and now focus to take precedence over the future. The internal daily demands can force a loss of perspective and a diminished capacity for a cultural attitude of innovation. The future positioning of the healthcare organization is always where the CEO and leadership team must be viewing today's decisions for organizational viability and long-term success.

Designing and living a successful innovative culture is possible. The adoption of the "start-up" culture should be the drive of every CEO and leadership team. In this podcast I share my experience in working within health systems and discuss adopting the necessary characteristics to successfully acquire the adventure, joy, focus and discipline of a startup culture. In addition, the obstacles start-ups face when working with health systems is also explored.

By Rodney D. Reider

Politicians, businessmen, and even housewives ask the questions: “Why is healthcare so complicated?” “Why can’t it be simpler?” 

They even demand: “I need care, tell me the price, and don’t make me wait so long.” 

Amazon knows me as a member of Prime and maintains my information securely in the cloud.  Amazon knows where I live with my saved data/information and then delivers to my house in three days or even less.  They know me.  “Why do I have to keep filling out the same paperwork at my hospital every time I arrive?  It is my regular appointment with my same doctor and the same office and hospital.  Why don’t they know me by now?” 

Apple has all those apps I can just download from the app store for service, education, entertainment or every day conveniences. 

“If physicians and hospitals are so sophisticated with all their expensive equipment, why can’t I just get an app to simply make an appointment, review my bill and pay utilizing PayPal?” 

“I’ll tell you what causes a real headache, trying to pay a bill after a stay at my hospital.” 

Finally, “Why can’t I just download my healthcare information and take it with me wherever I go?”

Industry-wide, we providers are internally focused on creating results; too often myopic in our approach.  Ongoing comparisons within the healthcare industry are continuous and judicial yet we restrict our world toward outmaneuvering only the local competitors; however, our patients are judging us by the expectations created outside of healthcare through their engagement in the broader world of technology and business.  As leaders of the Provider sector, we often carryout numerous discussions resulting in mediocre attempts, limited investment and a haphazard focus to lightly adjust our way into the next necessary realm of healthcare’s future.  Yes, some such as Banner, UPMC, Kaiser, and Providence are having an impressive innovative approach and positive impact, yet most, even if they have established Innovation Centers, provide limited capital and secondary support.

Customer expectations originate from numerous smaller entrepreneurs to the headline grabbing Amazon, Apple, Walmart, CVS-Aetna advancements.  Payers such as United continue multiple acquisitions generating a ground-breaking family of companies striving to buy, disrupt, create, and combine beyond the healthcare landscape’s meager approaches.  Forward thinking innovators and disruptors from biotech, pharma and technology are continuing to enhance their progressions.  Their actions will have renewing and lasting effects on every portion of our future healthcare business.

Why I find Rural/Small/Stand-Alone-Hospital CEOs so Impressive.

By Rodney Reider

“Stand alone” hospital presidents provide a great deal to admire.   

I was the lead in a recent strategic retreat and the CEO was incredibly impressive as I watched her interact with her board, her physician leadership and her administrative team.  Once again it rekindled my awareness of how small hospital CEOs have to do it all.  They are the engaged in the community, lead in the facility, influence the physicians, head Human Resources, know all the staff by name and can even be involved in the revenue cycle, IT and compliance departments.

These words can immobilize the most courageous of hearts.  Many at the clinical sites believe corporate exists to disrupt and provide self-enhancement for the corporate individual making the demand.  The incoming request often appears as a consistent disruptor to the local individual who is focused on the hospital, clinic or community issues.  As a non-corporate individual, you are at the site addressing immediate and multiple priorities.  The demands can range from concerns for improving patient care, addressing colleague concerns or responding to the corporate enhanced financial issues to name just a few of the more common daily agenda items.  In fact, you may even be reacting to a situation affecting the greater importance (?) of your immediate supervisory interacting environment (i.e. keeping your local boss happy).  Whatever the corporate demand at the time, it can seem to distract from the work necessary to be successful at the site.  Furthermore, from the limited view in field, the request can sometimes make no sense as to its timing or priority except “Home Office needs it now.” 

Re-posted with permission from HealthTechS3. Original article here.

As a sequel to our last blog on Resilience: The 5 Keys to Becoming a Resilient Leader written by our CEO, Derek Morkel of HealthTechS3, we provide a 2-part Q&A series of informative insights from two of our exceptional interim executive leaders, on the true grit, perseverance and resilience they’ve had to demonstrate through their professional working careers as leaders.

Rodney Reider has a rich history of 25 years’ healthcare industry experience, having worked across various boards and with physicians, employees, and the community to strengthen core services to customers. As a strategic, enthusiastic, and accomplished leader he has mastered the ability to identify and draw upon team members’ strengths in order to optimize performance and face any challenges to reach a common goal.