By Renee Jensen

The rise of COVID-19 has changed the way the healthcare industry and our society operate, seemingly overnight. The uncertainty of the future is sobering and stressful, but I believe there may be a silver lining to this experience that is hard to see when you’re in the thick of a pandemic. Once we get through the heat of the moment, we could see some positive changes to our families, health, communities, and the way care is delivered.

By Charles “Chuck” Taylor

Several factors influencing inventory management for hospitals have remained unchanged for decades. Current industry metrics and usage gaps offer insights using accurate benchmarks to appropriately establish inventory levels and rules for facility department managers to follow. The reality is that older plant operations and layouts unfriendly to users make inventory management harder.

By Clay Holderman

The desert in Springtime is stunning to me. The monochromatic brown of winter begins to recede and colorful new life somehow reemerges. In spite of all adversity, it always returns. This COVID-19 pandemic will also recede in a time. The isolation of this long winter will be replaced by blossoms of new life. Some early blooms are already visible.

By Rebecca Sowell, MSN, RN, CRRN, ACM-RN

Grief and pain are congruent, meaning they are one in the same in many ways. Unless there are outward signs of emotion in an individual who is grieving, a stranger would never know if the person they are meeting for the first time is suffering from grief.

By Charles “Chuck” Taylor

The limited articles publishing facts and metrics for hospital supply chain staffing presents a gap of the what, where, and why of supply chain labor. The supply chain manager may believe having a person working in each task is the most efficient use of staffing without matching each person’s productive hours to overall productivity.

By Clay Holderman

Saturday of Easter weekend is day 30* for New Mexico’s COVID-19 battle. In the Christian tradition, it is that silent Saturday between the defeat of Good Friday and the victory of Easter Sunday. In our state response, I find myself quiet and reflective, and relatively at peace. How could that be in the midst of our biggest healthcare challenge in a century? As I reflect on New Mexico’s preparedness, I am struck by the unity of effort in our healthcare system and in our state.

By Deb Mohesky

Dedicated to helping organizations coordinate and expedite their initiatives, the Chief Transformation Officer (CTO) is the newcomer to executive teams in healthcare systems. Though a little-heard-of position only a few years ago, the rise of mergers between health systems and acquisitions of smaller hospitals by larger networks has created rapid change in the healthcare industry.

By Rand O’Leary

What makes a good organization great? A strong team working together with a clearly defined purpose. The cohesiveness and organizational might that builds strong teams often begins at the top, with leadership leading by example and focused on achieving objectives at every level.

By Charles “Chuck” Taylor

Operational assessments unearth solutions to improve elements of supply chains. However, very few assessments include all elements and best practices with workable metrics on labor and inventory.

By Pamela J. Gallagher

The spread of COVID-19 has turned the U.S. healthcare industry upside down, and healthcare executives and professionals are having to relearn how to care for patients in the midst of a pandemic. The loss of life and peace of mind are sobering. I also believe that the way we deliver care during the coronavirus can provide healthcare leaders with an opportunity to re-imagine how we care for our patients in a post-pandemic world.

By Rodney D. Reider

These are extraordinary days to be a leader in the healthcare industry. In this unprecedented time of uncertainty, there are many reasons for concern, and I don’t want to trivialize the impact of COVID-19 on our families, neighbors, and communities. However, I also see many reasons to be encouraged, particularly when I look around me and see my fellow healthcare professionals tirelessly caring for our patients.

By Michael “Mike” J. Jones

Over time, InnovateHC has developed a proven track record of expertise in advising healthcare managers through leadership transitions and organizational change in governance structure, physician engagement, physician recruiting and retention, and value-based care. The global explosion of SARS-CoV-2 and its resulting COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020 have shaken every facet of the collective U.S. healthcare system from supply chain to care delivery.

By Lee Ann Liska

It has been a hectic month, watching the traverse of the coronavirus across the globe, and it‘s migration to North America. Many of us worried that the impact of the virus was overblown, especially with the “run” on toilet paper.

By Clay Holderman

Like all healthcare leaders, I have found myself in a world I would not have recognized when I wrote my 2020 goals at the end of 2019. As we work around the clock to procure PPE and keep our workforce safe so they can be here for our communities, the weight of the decisions and the pace and intensity of the work can be overwhelming. I stood in my back yard after a call last night and I was mesmerized by a million tiny lights - and I realized - they only appear so bright and beautiful because they are penetrating the darkness.

By Susan Walberg

The Coronavirus pandemic is all over the news, and is affecting us all, especially those in healthcare on the front lines.

For those of us who are responsible for compliance, there are many new challenges, issues, and questions that arise as this situation rapidly unfolds. In addition, the federal government has been providing daily briefings which often announce new changes.

By E.W. Tibbs

We are taking a deep dive on Resiliency using four phases to achieve and maintain resiliency.

By Renee Jensen

At one of the hospitals I served as CEO, I brought in an executive coach to work with our senior leadership team. At the end of our time together, the coach complimented my team, saying it was one of the most high-performing groups he had ever worked with. I was shocked.

In retrospect, I truly believe the reason for our ability to perform at a high level was our deep trust in one another, established through a genuine desire to know and care for each other.

By Pamela J. Gallagher

There is reluctance in the healthcare industry to adopt new price transparency technology. Some healthcare providers are ignoring it all together, saying they’ll wait and see if anything comes of it.

But this technology isn’t “coming.” It’s already here. With the technology in place and demands for increased affordability coming from consumers and legislators alike, this technology is just one little tilt from being mainstream—and I believe that it can change the healthcare industry for the better.

By Dr. Mike Zappa

Leaders are always on stage; they are not allowed to have a bad day. It sounds a little harsh, but indeed true. Think about what would happen if your leader walked around showing the weight of the world on his/her shoulders. They might not be that obvious or dramatic, perhaps even deny they're having a bad day if asked. The fact remains that their team could tell, perhaps even strangers: less talkative, less eye contact, just business, appearing distant and distracted. Remember, we garner more truth from non-verbal cues than from the spoken ones: posture, position, and facial expression are key forms of honest communication.

By E.W. Tibbs

Each phase, much like the stages of grief, take a different amount of time for each person. The most important thing to remember as you work through the five phases of a career crisis is to allow yourself to be human.