America's Aging Innovations

One topic I have found especially interesting this semester is the state of long-term care in America. Last week I explored what another country is doing. For this week, I wanted to see what innovations were happening in America. When it comes to taking care of our elderly population, there have been some recent innovations that represent a move towards patient-centered care. Once people saw the horrors of nursing homes that did not treat their residents like dignified people, they set out to change the status quo. Out of the darkness has come innovations like The Green House Project or the concept of aging in place that are designed to return autonomy and comfort back to our older Americans. Aging in place is defined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as “the ability to live in one’s own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level.” An AARP report found that 90 percent of adults over age 65 would prefer to stay in their home. How can we make this possible though when there are safety concerns? Partners for Livable Communities and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging are at the forefront of working to make Aging in Place a lifestyle for as many people as possible. As technology improves, so does our ability to make this a reality. There are assistive technologies, like home safety and security systems and telemedicine, that can be incorporated to make independent living possible. Policies and laws can be enacted that support working towards this goal. Far down the road, there are entire smart houses that can be made to address many of the common issues elders who live alone face. The concept of Aging in Place is great because there is room to tailor the experience to each individual and their needs.
    The Green House Project is on a mission to create meaningful lives. They are a national brand, run on an evidence-based model proven study after study to work. Green House homes are staffed with healthcare teams and made with the help of expert consultants. They are working to transform long-term care with a focus on caring, living and thriving. The concept starts with actually changing the physical environment typical of long-term care. These houses are set up like actual homes. They feature an open kitchen, living room, access to outside and private rooms and bathrooms. There are only 10-12 people per house. The set up fosters building community. These facilities still meet federal and state licensing requirements. Not only is the living environment different, there is also a focus on caring. The Green Houses focus on changing the typical institutional organizational chart and enabling deep relationships between the residents and caregivers. There is a culture of nurturing care and a family experience through common dinners. Family and guests are welcome to visit. The residents are given flexibility in their preferences and personal routines. They are encouraged to pursue what they are passionate about and continue personal growth. With both of these concepts comes the question of how to pay for them. The frustrating thing about these places is they are only available to wealthier individuals. They are rather expensive and only accept a small number of people. I hope that eventually we can reach this style and level of care for all individuals, without money as a barrier.

A Global View

This semester I have found an interest in long-term care. As discussed in older posts, there are many flaws in how we approach taking care of our elderly population. Because of this, I looked at comparison of the United States to the rest of the world. In the global world, America is unfortunately not a leader in taking care of our elderly population. What this means is there is plenty of opportunity to observe and learn from other countries with better spending rates and health outcomes. One country that does particularly well in treating their aging population is Switzerland, which was ranked #1 overall by Global AgeWatch in 2015 in their global index. Before beginning this discussion, I would like to point out that I am aware that just because an intervention or strategy has success in one place, does not mean it will work in another location. This is important to keep in mind when looking into other countries, but there is still value in referencing and adapting tactics to best fit our population. Switzerland provides a lesson in being proactive in dealing with their growing population of elderly and associated health and wellbeing concerns. The Swiss canton, an administrative subdivision, has placed a focus on active aging. This means they have developed programs on a local and regional level that focus on the mobility of the elderly population. These policies promote intergenerational solidarity. Switzerland does this well. In 2015, they had the highest proportion in the world of older people with “high physical functioning” at 79 percent. They also have a large, and growing population of older people suffering from dementia. Currently there are more than 110,000 citizens with dementia, that number is expected to rise to 300,000 by 2050. At the end of 2013, the Swiss took action to address this burden. They made a national dementia strategy with the goal of promoting a better understanding of dementia for specialists and their citizens (AgeWatch, 2015). This kind of policy would also be valuable in America. This is a general concept, that when applied to America’s own population could be successful. Using our own data and statistics, we should also promote understanding of dementia and how to best care for it here.

    In Switzerland, one of their efforts to support their aging population is a research study called “UrbAging: planning and designing the urban space for an aging population.” This project done in 2007 and 2008 looked into their older populations perspective on the use of public spaces (AgeWatch, 2015). Geneva has worked with the World Health Organization to develop “Age-friendly cities” for their residents. The US could do similar studies. Obviously, we would have different results but shaping them to our population would be valuable. There are also groups like Pro Senectute who work to improve the living conditions for the elderly. One of their projects, “Wohnen fur Hilfe” (Housing for Help) helps match older people with unused rooms in their house with a student who needs a place to live. In return for a place to stay, the student provides help and services. There is also a program in canton Valais called “Domino” where older people can co-rent an apartment with someone who is also their age. Then in 2012, Bern instituted a “Swiss network of age-friendly cities” with the goal of making strategies to help deal with the results of an aging population (AgeWatch, 2015). Programs like this could work in the United States. We could adapt them to fit the needs of the communities they would be instituted in. Using Switzerland’s spirit of community-building, the United States could benefit from better integration of the older population into our younger society. The Swiss work to urban plan for their older population. They created TRACY, which is a policy centering around transport needs of the older population. Their urban planning focuses not only on transportation for the elderly, but also making pedestrian areas safe (AgeWatch, 2015). This kind of policy would also be beneficial in the United States. We need to study our transportation systems and pedestrian areas and see if they meet the needs of a growing, older population. The U.S. needs to learn from Switzerland’s efforts to plan ahead and deal with the effects of an aging population before they become massive issues!

Link to AgeWatch:

AgeWatch Report Card: Switzerland. (2015). Retrieved November 9, 2017, from http://www.helpage.org/global-agewatch/population-ageing-data/country-ageing-data/?country=Switzerland

Leading the Charge

As another semester winds to a close, another year of the Resident Assistant (RA) hiring process begins. As a current RA, our hall staff was asked to go around and suggest qualities that we thought made up good student leaders. Afterwards, we were asked to pick what quality we thought was most important and what residents we thought possessed these qualities. What struck me was how varied all of our answers were. We clearly all have different priorities when it comes to leadership. This sentiment is not unique to our staff. I feel like I am always seeing books or speeches on what makes a good leader. All of these various forms of publication often have different messages and focuses. At some points, it can feel overwhelming. There are so many good ideas out there, but what to focus on? Luckily, I stumbled upon an article by the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst Insights Council that helped bring some focus to my research. This article, “Five Changes Great Leaders Make to Develop an Improvement Culture” presents five behavioral dimensions that a leader must have to create a culture of constant improvement. The healthcare industry is rapidly changing and focusing on these five areas can lead to improved health system performance. The five focus areas are willingness, humility, curiosity, perseverance, and self-discipline. These qualities are not something attained overnight. It is about changing oneself and continuously improving to set the tone for continuous improvement in rest of the organization. I liked how the researchers described that many of the CEO’s they worked with needed to practice and “act their way into thinking.” This reassured me that I will not have to be perfect right away. If these experienced healthcare executives still need to role-play situations and adjust their thinking, then I have plenty of room to do the same. One important takeaway I got from reading this article, besides the qualities to try to develop in myself, is that there is no glass ceiling when it comes to personal improvement. Even when you reach the top of the chain of command, there are always new ways to approach situations and more learning to be done. No one has all the answers and asking fellow colleagues is a great way to figure out innovative solutions. I’ll end this reflection with a common theme the researchers found in their group of CEO’s that inspires what I hope to do in my future, “Above all, they continuously build on their learning and dare to experiment.”

A link to the article:

https://catalyst.nejm.org/five-changes-great-leaders-improvement-culture/

Being the Difference

Last weekend I was fortunate to be able to attend the 2017 Conference for the National Collegiate Honors Council. Taking place in Atlanta, Georgia, this conference was an awesome opportunity to hear from both professionals and students. One session I attended was about how to show honors programs are a valuable addition to a university and how different schools approach that. One program director from Western Kentucky University discussed how his philosophy is to focus on expectations and not bribing. Instead of just listing off the added benefits that being an honors program might give a student, he asks them questions. He asks students questions like whether they would want the experience or not, if they could go into the program with an open mind, and if they would want the chance to develop themselves. This is what he called the expectation approach. He wants students focused on the developmental outcomes, and not just the benefits like a nicer dorm or early class registration time. As I was listening to him speak, I think this could be applied to management. As someone who could be a hiring manager one day, I would want employees with loyalty beyond just their benefits. Although benefits are an important component of being a competitive employer, I also want employees who are committed to bettering themselves and the organization. It is important that employees look to fit the culture and mission, vision and values of their employer. These qualities will help to make hire employees who are not only a good fit for the current state of the organization, but will create growth and progress in the organization.

Professor Bonica also touched upon this theme in class the other day. He emphasized how when we are looking to get hired for an internship we should focus on what we can do for the organization and how we can solve problems. He mentioned how we should not just look to be a “pocket” addition to the staff that follows someone around but doesn’t make a real difference. This made me think about this concept from the employee side, as opposed to the employer side. One way to set yourself apart is to go above and beyond. In my internship experience, I hope to showcase my leadership skills by being a problem solver. Using my experience of what I have done in the past, I will work to continue being proactive and a valuable addition to my future place of organization. I think this sets a good foundation for wherever my future career takes me!

Compensating Care

In a recent blog post, I discussed the future of long term care in America. In our policy class, we recently started discussing aging in America and the different facets to that face. One issue I was personally struck by was how many people are unpaid caregivers for a family member or loved one. The National Partnership for Women and Families reports that by 2050 the elderly population is expected to be nearly 88 million people, or 20 percent of our population (NPWF, 2015). These people face a large burden of chronic disease and other medical issues. When health problems arise, often times it is close family members who have to step up to take care of their elders. Unfortunately, there is no financial compensation for this work. Many people are forced to leave their jobs or put their own health on the backburner to work as a caregiver and also maintain another job. Across the United States there are at least 43.5 million unpaid family caregivers. Most of these people have paying jobs that are unrelated to caregiving services. Half of all these people still work full time. When an unfortunate medical event happens, these caregivers need time off to properly take care of their family while maintaining their own mental wellbeing (NPWF, 2015). Seven in ten caregivers report that they have to make accommodations at their workplace to take care of their loved ones. When the average caregiver over 50 loses the workforce to care for their parent, they can expect to lose $303, 880 in private pensions, social security and wages. If they are a woman, that number rises to $324,000 (NPWF, 2015). More than the financial burden these caregivers face, common experiences include depression, frustration, stress, higher rates of chronic disease and a diminished immune response (NPWF, 2015).

     The unpaid caregiver conundrum creates a vicious cycle. We need to institute policies that will help relieve the burden of unpaid family caregivers. There needs to be mandated paid family and medical leave for employees. Currently, only 13% of workers have access to this type of leave. In place we have the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) but that only provides access to unpaid, job protected leave for 60 percent of the workforce. There are still 60 million people who do not have protection under the FMLA. This policy should be expanded to cover everyone, but I also think we need to do more. Many Americans, even if they have FMLA protection, cannot take the leave because they cannot afford to take that unpaid break (NPWF, 2015). As a country we need to institute policy that enacts mandatory paid family and medical leave for people when they have to take on the role of an unofficial caregiver. Employers required to offer health insurance should also offer paid family medical leave. As mentioned earlier, being an unpaid family caregiver, leads to costly negative health outcomes like higher rates of chronic disease. Offering paid family medical leave can lower rates of associated negative health outcomes and thus lower costs of insurance. These policies should be available to anyone no matter their career or where they live. Another beneficial policy would be increased access to mental health services for caregivers. This could be tied into insurance policies. The associated rates of stress and depression that caregivers face require attention. It is like the airplane-oxygen analogy, you have to put your own oxygen mask on before you help others with theirs. If the caregivers slip into poor health, they will not be able to provide adequate care to their loved ones. There should be support groups created to help build community and let people know they are not alone. Overall, these policies represent just the beginning of creating a nation where caregivers are given the compensation they deserve and need. At the same time, this is a step in the right direction for more comprehensive policy related to this issue. As healthcare leaders I believe we have a moral responsibility to lobby for issues that relate to the health and wellness of our population. This particular issue is pressing and I am glad it was brought to my attention through my education!

Report from the National Partnership for Women & Families: http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/work-family/paid-leave/older-adults-and-caregivers.pdf

Making a Positive Impact

Typical of Professor Bonica’s courses, we are consistently being given opportunities to practice real-world skills in the classroom. This time, we were able to provide both positive and negative feedback to members of our semester-long project group. As I wrote out different feedback for my colleagues, I began to think about what I could say that would really benefit them. I did not want to give generic feedback that would prompt nothing more than skimming over it and a “That’s nice” response. I want my team to feel like I picked up on their unique strengths and provided valuable insight into weaknesses. Considering this will not be the last time I do this, it is a valuable skill to have. With dreams of being an administrator in my future, I foresee many times where I will have to evaluate future employees. I would like to consistently provide feedback that is useful and meaningful. How do I achieve this though? My first thought was the obvious: give people ways to improve upon their weaknesses. Although this is extremely important and could be the topic of a whole other blog post, it is not what I decided to focus on. After reading an article on the topic, I began to really consider how powerful positive feedback can be. Kristi Hedges writes for Forbes about “How to Give Concise Positive Feedback” in the workplace. She outlines her reasoning for why positive feedback is just as important to employee success as constructive criticism.

Many people may think that positive feedback is nothing more than a pat on the back or a way to soften the blow of criticism. This is not true though. Hedges writes “And while it is necessary to provide constructive criticism to help employees better themselves, providing too much can demoralize and create a negative spiral of disengagement. It’s the positive feedback that reminds people what they should be doing more of, and how to bring their strengths to bear” (Hedges, 2015). Positive feedback is a great way to show employees what they are doing well. One of Hedges’ tips is to be specific. By telling the person exactly what they did well in detail, they will have an easier job knowing what to repeat in the future. Another tip I really liked was making sure to keep positive feedback separate from negative feedback. If you try and sandwich the two together, the positive feedback loses it's power because it seems like a consolation prize. That or the message could be completely lost. Also, Hedges discusses how it is valuable to make positive feedback visible to everyone in the organization. Making praise visible allows other coworkers to congratulate each other and see what work is valued in the organization. I have noticed that Professor Bonica will often do this. He shows us exemplary work from our classmates which validates the student on their achievement, but also provides an example of what we should try and work towards. Overall, positive feedback is a great way to build community and make people feel good about the work they are doing. When balanced with constructive criticism when needed, positive feedback is a valuable tool in the workplace!

Link to Hedges’ article:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2015/10/07/how-to-give-concise-positive-feedback/3/#7f448fe732ba

Bridging the Gap

Going to the doctor’s office for a non-emergency related cause is fairly stress free for me. Sure, I might be bothered by whatever cold or ailment I think I’ve caught, but I am able to easily drive there. Filling out forms and billing information is easy when I know that I’ll have coverage. When I meet the doctor, we easily communicate because we both speak the same language. I am able to understand what they are saying and ask questions when I need to. These are all things that seem simple and I often take for granted. I was reminded how this is not the case for a lot of people in America after hearing a local executive speak. In our Management class we recently heard from the CEO of a Federally Qualified Health Center. This CEO discussed how his facilities serve very diverse populations. Over 60% of his patients at one facility do not speak English as a first language. This makes it critical to have interpreters and care that focuses on being culturally competent. His facilities also provide care no matter if the person can pay or not. You could clearly see this CEO was truly passionate about the work he does serving the communities that need it most. After listening to this CEO speak I was interested in looking into the benefits of culturally competent care and what role it plays within an organization. The Commonwealth Fund did research into the importance of culturally competent care and found that not only does it decrease disparities in care, but that it can also improve quality of care across an organization. The article quotes an Administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human services who said, “What we’re talking about in terms of cultural competency...is providing quality care to individuals who in the past have not received it...and when I think of quality care, that’s what we're looking for for all Americans”’ Cultural competence is a key part to improving the quality of care in an organization. Although it may not be as easy to measure as reimbursement rates or patient encounters, it is invaluable when it comes to providing patient-first care. I hope to continue learning more about cultural competency and how to implement best practices into an organization.

Link to The Commonwealth Fund’s Report:

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/usr_doc/betancourt_culturalcompetence_576.pdf

A Live Worth Living

After watching two elderly family members suffer from a serious heart attack and a stroke, I realized the frailty of life and the realities of aging. Fortunately, they were both okay but it was a reminder to me about how aging is inevitable. Although they both are able to live in their own homes currently, it made it clear that eventually they will require some form of assisted living. After discussing different forms of long-term care in class, I see how varied in quality their experience could be. In our class on Health Policy, we are reading a book by Atul Gawande called Being Mortal. In this book, Gawande explores the past, present and future of long-term care in America. Many of the problems in long-term care facilities stem from viewing aging as solely a medical problem to fix with medical interventions. Gawande stresses how important it is to give those who are aging reason to live and help them retain their dignity. Although I am not sure if I will work in any sort of long-term care facility or not, reading this book has been an eye-opening experience. If I am a leader in a place like a nursing home or assisted living facility, I hope to bring the lessons I have learned about how to make the experience of aging better. Gawande mentions how successful organizations have used techniques like bringing in animals, plants, and children. Giving the residents as much freedom as possible is another way that quality of life can be improved. The opportunity to retain as much autonomy as possible is another vital component to helping people age with higher quality of life.

    Today in our Management class we discussed how the burden is on society to help take care of aging and other needy populations. Gawande’s book touches on this also and how the culture of that society is often reflected in their long-term care. Often times, Americans view the elderly population as a burden. They either have to be taken care of by younger family members or put into a long-term care facility. What happens after the drop off isn’t always considered. Once an elderly person moves into one of these facilities, their life does not have to be over. If we focus on giving our elderly population as much of their former life as possible, maybe aging won’t be viewed so negatively. As a society, and as healthcare professionals, we have a responsibility to continue to move our long-term care industry towards a culture that does not view aging as a problem to be treated solely with medical intervention. I hope that we continue moving towards a culture of compassion that focuses on letting our elderly population retain as much autonomy as possible!

Gawande's book: https://www.amazon.com/Being-Mortal-Illness-Medicine-Matters/dp/1250081246

Being A Team Player

One of the courses the UNH HMP Juniors are all taking is Healthcare Financial Management with Professor Bonica. After a recent exam, he told the class that there was the typical spread of good and not so great grades. It was what he said after that really stuck with me. He told the class that as a cohort, it was the responsibility of those who did well to help our classmates do better on the next exam. Emphasizing how healthcare is a team effort, that mindset should start now for us in the classroom. Today I had the pleasure of attending the Northern New England Association of Healthcare Executives conference, Shaping the Future: Leadership and Public Policy in Health Care. The theme of teamwork and building relationships that Professor Bonica mentioned was echoed by other executives throughout both panels. This was particularly eye-opening for me to see how important building relationships is in the healthcare field. Panelists from both the discussion on succession planning and the policy talk highlighted different ways that building relationships is critical. One of the big highlights was building mentor/mentee relationships which are beneficial to both parties. Another thing I found particularly interesting was how the executives all agreed that you should always be training your replacement, even if that means training them out of the organization. On the policy side, many of the panelists explained how building relationships is one of the most critical ways to solving problems. One panelist highlighted how important it is to build community relationships before times of crisis because it is imperative to handling emergencies well. Overall, this conference was a great opportunity to bring the classroom to life! Many of the points professors have made in the classroom, were reiterated with real-life examples from panelists. I am thankful for everyone who helped to organize the event and it was a great success!

Drawing Conclusions

Back in high school, I was able to take a course in film production. This class took us through the basics of making a film from start to beginning. It was very hands on. Throughout the semester, we worked in groups to produce short films of our own creation. One of the most tedious parts of making a film was storyboarding. This was the process of physically drawing out every shot and transition from start to end. It was tedious, but I quickly realized the value when it came time to actually shoot our film because we knew exactly what to do and when. If our storyboard was lacking in detail, we quickly realized how much more time it would take to make decisions when the camera was rolling. The better our storyboard plan was, the easier it was to efficiently shoot a film. I recently watched a TED talk that made me think of this notion. Tom Wujec talks about the value of visual planning as a group in his talk, “Got a wicked problem? First, tell me how you make toast?” Wujec outlines how planning things out visually as a group allows you to synthesize several points of view, much like making a storyboard helps plan out camera shots. This technique can be applied to numerous levels of business from decision making to aspirations for the company’s future vision. He uses the example of making toast as a starting point but explains how his technique can work for much larger business issues. Drawing out possible paths of action, made of nodes and links, can align executive teams. Nodes are the tangible steps and links connect them together. I have never heard of this as a business strategy prior to watching the TED talk, but I would be curious to see how this would work in the healthcare field.  I could imagine the resistance that would come from a board of administrators if asked to draw out their plan, but I think it could provide really valuable when trying to figure out a solution that everyone can agree on. Because everyone starts by separately drawing their path and then working to bring the ideas into one best practice, the process naturally breeds compromise and discussion. Although it may not be a realistic practice for every medical facility, those in need of an extreme overhaul or faced with a particularly tricky problem may find this useful. Although this may not be realistic for many organizations, I could see potential value for different healthcare groups at certain points in their time!

Link to Wujec’s TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_got_a_wicked_problem_first_tell_me_how_you_make_toast

Let's Talk About Talking II

After writing my last blog post on the importance of how you speak to people and how to make them feel heard, I feel like there is more to be said about this topic. This was partially spurred by listening to an interview with Joni Spring on the Health Leader Forge Podcast. In this podcast, Joni says that one of the hardest things for her as a nurse in different leadership roles is having difficult conversations on performance. The close relationships she had with her employees made it hard to critique them. As I mentioned last week, I am an RA here at UNH. I have found that one of the hardest parts of the job is getting people in trouble. I think highly of my residents but even ones I am close to, still make mistakes. The hardest thing is having to call out someone I consider a friend. After thinking about this, I realized this will be a reality in the healthcare management field. There will be people who work for me that I will have to address issues with, no matter how much I like them as a person. I found this really interesting article in the Harvard Business Review that provided some good insight on how to have difficult conversations with your employees. Some of the big takeaways are to go in prepared and realistic. Expect that people probably won’t take the news well and plan out possible ways to respond. Another good tip is to put the conversation in perspective by talking about the future. Often times, our day to day lives can trap us into forgetting how much else is out there. If the conversation is framed in the context of how much this will matter in 5 months or 4 years, people may be more receptive to what you have to say. One thing I know I have a particularly hard time with is giving the bad news upfront. I often like to small talk and find an easy path in, instead of just jumping right into the tough topics. In a professional setting, it makes sense to cut to the chase. Time is money and as long as it is done with tact, there is no point drawing out a tough conversation. I’d like to pose the questions to those of you reading this, what are your tips for having hard conversations with your employees?

Links to the materials mentioned above:

Harvard Business Review Article: https://hbr.org/2009/03/7-tips-for-difficult-conversat

Joni Spring Interview: https://soundcloud.com/healthleaderforge/joni-spring-director-of-outpatient-nursing-and-clinic-operations-for-dhmc-edited (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Let's Talk About Talking

Working as a Resident Assistant at UNH, I have had to have some uncomfortable conversations. There have been times that I have had to address conduct issues or resident conflicts. Frequently, I feel like the bearer of bad news. Although these conversations are one of my least favorite parts of the job, they are an important part nonetheless. Residents have problems and I am their go-to person to address it. This can be tough, but has also taught me a lot of valuable skills in conflict management and intervention. Today in class, we were discussing the tension between nurses, physicians and administration that run pretty typical across different organizations. During this talk as a class, we were talking about what we could say to an agitated physician to help them feel heard and validated. After class I began to mull over this issue. Although what you say is important, I feel like how you say it is just as essential. I have learned this during my RA training that simple things like body language and tone of voice can completely change the course of a conversation.  This makes me think of one of my favorite quotes by Maya Angelou, “At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” Although Angelou wasn’t directly speaking to the healthcare administrator and physician dynamic, her words still hold a lot of value when we reflect on them. I hope that in my future career I am able to hold meetings where disgruntled staff members feel like their voice is heard. Although I may not always be able to give them the answer they want, I hope that I can make them feel like an important part of the organization and that I won’t just file their complaint away after the meeting is done and never think of it again. A big part of this is listening and trying my best to find solutions, whether that be through compromise or seeking out change. My goal in doing this is to create stronger relationships with employees in all areas of the future organization that I work for.

Can I Please Speak to Your Manager?

Working at a grocery store, I occasionally have customers who demand to speak to the manager. Often times it has nothing to do with what an employee has said or done, it is more about the fact that they know the easiest way to get an answer is to go straight up the chain of command. Those with more power have the ability to enact change, and any customer knows if they want their favorite brand of frozen pizza back their best chance is to let the manager know just how much they want it.  The manager then has to address any customer concerns and figure out a viable solution. 

So how does this relate to healthcare management?  Well, any business faces pressure to please their consumers. Any sort of medical facility still has "customers" to satisfy, and although they are not searching for their favorite frozen pizza, they still have needs they want met. Not only that, but the stakes are usually much higher. Medical professionals often see people in the more stressful situations of life. After listening to Anne Jamieson speak to our class about the role of being a Board member on a hospital, I was reminded how much personal investment leaders have in an organization. Jamieson spoke about how own personal experience as a board member at both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. She mentioned that as a board member at non-for-profit organizations especially, you put yourself in a tough position. Personal information, such as your name and address, is readily available. This means you can easily be tracked down if someone does not like the decision you make. What stood out to me was Jamieson's commitment to still being a part of so many different boards, even if it means sticking her own neck out. As a board member, she is personally invested in the direction the organization is going. One of the qualities a strong healthcare leader has is being willing to fight for what you believe will bring the most good to an organization, even if that may be unpopular. I admire people like Anne Jamieson who volunteer to be a Board of Trustee member and work to improve hospitals that serve the community. 

Time to Change!

  Welcome to my blog, Management on the Mind! Here you will find all my musings on what it takes to be a great leader in the Healthcare field. Although I do not have much authority on the subject yet, I hope this blog will lead me to not only explore, but prepare myself for my future management endeavors. One of the readings assigned for class this week talked about transformative leaders and what that looks like for an organization. The article, “The Leadership Challenge” discussed how when there needs to be change in an organization, it is the role of the leaders to make this go smoothly (Tichy, 1984). In a TED talk, “5 Ways to Lead in an Era of Constant Change” Jim Hemerling also explores the topic of transformation. His viewpoint is a little different, as he claims that we are in an era of “Always-On transformation.” In his updated view, Hemerling argues that we should always be changing and adapting. As a self-declared creature of habit, I am someone who is often quick to resist change. At the same time, I have come to learn that change is the only constant in life. What I do have control over is how to approach whatever change may happen. This is especially critical to understand as a leader. Hemerling outlined how a good leader will put people first during times of transformation, which is almost always happening nowadays. I loved how Hemerling explained that a strong leader will empower their employees to handle whatever may come their way. A boss does not have to handle everything on their own, but instead empower the entire company to continuously learn and grow.

    The idea of transformation and how to address as a leader is especially relevant in the world of healthcare. There is always new technology and new methods that professionals have to learn about and adopt into their everyday operations. By empowering employees, a good leader can inspire their staff to be excited and ready for any changes. I hope to do this as a manager one day. I do not want my employees to see change as a hassle, but instead as another chance to develop. I hope to follow Hemerling’s advice and put my employees first to help with both their personal growth but also the growth of the organization.

A link to Hemerling’s TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/jim_hemerling_5_ways_to_lead_in_an_era_of_constant_change

Tichy, N. M., & Ulrich, D. O. (1984). The Leadership Challenge- A Call for the Transformational Leader. Sloan Management Review.