Healthcare Strategic Growth Blog

Understanding, Trust, and Transparency are Three Keys to Success

By Brian Dailey

I recently finished David McCullough's "The Path Between The Seas," an overview of the planning and construction of the Panama Canal. The scale of the human effort put into this project is incomprehensible, but there is much to be learned from it about leadership, organizational alignment, and the importance of communication.

One way to think about alignment and communication is partnership. In the lead up to the construction of the canal, William Gorgas was sent to Panama to deal with the problem of malaria and yellow fever. At the turn of the 20th century, many were still skeptical of the connection between these diseases and mosquitoes. When Gorgas tried to advocate for resources to reduce the mosquito population, he was constantly met with resistance and skepticism. Even though it was his job to reduce the tropical diseases that ravaged the canal worker population, he was unable to do so because his peers viewed him as a challenge to be overcome, not a partner in the construction of the canal.

The first Chief Engineer of the canal, John Wallace, saw Gorgas as an annoyance. As an engineer, he was concentrating on "making the dirt fly" and did not consider Gorgas's medical background to be helpful with this effort. It wasn't until John Stevens became Chief Engineer that Gorgas was taken seriously. Stevens viewed Gorgas as a partner in a humanitarian effort. Once Gorgas was given the requested resources he was able to quickly eliminate cases of yellow fever.

Partnership—among individuals, departments, and other organizations—is pivotal to the success of any venture, whether it's placing a new outpatient clinic or connecting the Pacific to the Atlantic over fifty miles of mosquito-infested jungle. So how do we cultivate partnerships?

How Leaders Can Look Within for Answers

By Morgan Atkins

With healthcare reimbursement constantly changing, health systems and hospitals are searching for new revenue streams to diversify their income. Financial cuts, new regulations, and payer contract negotiations have pushed healthcare institutions to find new, creative ways to keep revenue flowing while still maintaining high quality care.

“Exploring diversified, innovative revenue streams” was listed as third most important issue of strategic importance in a recent survey of 146 C-suite executive. A Becker’s Hospital Review article covering this survey shared that “C-suite executives at both health systems and community hospitals are shifting their focus to nontraditional sources of growth rather than relying solely on conventional determinants of market share.”

Practical Tips for Maintaining a Growth Mindset in your Organization

By Morgan Atkins

Stratasan understands how paramount change is to progress. We strive to be trailblazers in the healthcare space, developing innovative tools and services that address our clients' growth goals. The best way we can effectively lead our clients and provide value is by innovative thinking that challenges the status quo. Our goal is to empower our customers with the strategies that will equip them to more effectively face a challenging and ever-evolving healthcare industry.

At the heart of innovation is the ability to reframe your perspective. Henry Ford once said "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." Often, the question itself limits what you think the possibilities are. If you have an open mind about the possibilities, you maximize your chances of building effective and unexpected solutions.

A Review: 2017 SHSMD Executive Dialogue

By Lee Ann Lambdin

Between February 21–22, 2017, a group of senior-level strategic executives gathered in Scottsdale, AZ for the SHSMD Executive Dialogue: Leading Change, an interactive seminar with in-depth dialogue about healthcare strategy and marketing. I had the pleasure to attend the meeting and learn from both presenters and other attendees.

The learning objectives for this event were the following:

• Critically consider major changes in healthcare and explore implications for healthcare strategy professionals.
• Examine in-depth, significant organizational imperatives and the role strategic leaders play in effective planning, implementation, and execution.
• Gain new insights into the expertise and approaches that will lead to personal and organizational success through open dialogue with recognized experts, along with peer strategic leaders.

With 3 speakers at this conference, one presentation from a sponsor, and an hour of Q&A and discussion after each speaker, there was a great deal of interaction and dialogue between the attendees. There were forty attendees, creating a true sense of intimacy and openness among those in attendance. In short, it was a very worthwhile meeting.