6 Essential Strategies to Start Reinventing

“The changes needed in health care begin with the exchange of information, ideas, and thought-provoking discussions presented throughout this series…with respectful tension and a genuine challenge to the status quo.”

—Scott Wolf, DO, MPH, FACP, Physician Executive, Berkeley Research Group Associate Director

At the beginning of this series, I called attention to the many challenges and threats facing healthcare organizations, but at the same time, it is not the threats themselves that make healthcare leaders vulnerable; He also said that it is not possible to respond in real time when the situation arises.

This is the final article in a 14-part weekly series where we share insights from the 2024 Personalization Era Healthcare Summit. We heard from a wide range of healthcare professionals, including leaders across all aspects of healthcare organizations, from the boardroom and C-suite to the patient's bedside. Topics include why better care requires respect for individuality, how industry incentives interact with respect for individuality, and how to shape an organizational culture so people know they matter. I picked it up.

In this article, we share highlights from a discussion with Scott Wolf, DO, MPH, FACP, a physician executive and associate director at Berkeley Research Group. Dr. Wolf is a practicing physician and has led health system organizations as chairman and in various management positions.

To conclude the summit, we addressed the following questions: What are the most important reinvention strategies for healthcare leaders in today's era of personalization?

We framed the conversation around six strategies that I have identified over the years as the foundation of innovation.

1. See opportunities in everything

Dr. Wolf reiterated some of the major challenges facing the U.S. healthcare industry, many of which are discussed throughout this article series.

“While U.S. health care spending approaches or almost exceeds 20% of GDP, quality outcomes lag far behind other developed countries,” Dr. Wolf said. “We have supply chain issues, unprecedented workforce challenges, and regulatory and compliance issues. The future of health care is in the hands of today's leaders and the beliefs they had when they started us. It depends on what impact you can have on learning, unlearning, relearning, and repeating.”

We need to see these challenges and threats as opportunities. But when we're in the middle of it, it can be difficult.

“One of the reasons we don't see opportunities is because we're constantly dealing with fires every day,” Dr. Wolf said. “We're coming out of financial fires, quality fires, workforce fires. We need to address the urgency of these issues, so we're moving some of our minds and mindsets away from them. We need to create gaps and really give the team time to come together and think about what those opportunities are.”

But you have to do it intentionally.

“There are so many opportunities that can exist that you have to answer certain questions clearly,” he said. “And with every such opportunity there is a ‘shining light,’ and we can follow that shining light because we feel it will come and solve the problem without actually asking the question. Often, does that glowing light answer a very specific question?

2. Anticipate the unexpected

Answering a specific question is one thing. But we also need to go looking for questions we haven't asked ourselves yet.

“Anticipating the unexpected requires incorporating the perspectives of all stakeholders sitting around the table,” Dr. Wolf said. “All of our patients, colleagues, healthcare professionals, and from the very top of our organizations to our caregivers all have different perspectives. It could be a blind spot.”

And it's not enough just to invite people to participate. We must show them that sharing ideas and perspectives is not only safe, but beneficial.

“We need to develop a culture of total engagement,” he said. “You have to create a funnel of innovation. The top of the funnel is very large, where everyone pitches an idea and then goes through an identification process. So, at the bottom, there's a well-thought-out solution. But , those ideas come from everyone in your organization and even your community, and they help shape your ideas and strategies to take you to the next level.”

3. Unleash your passionate pursuits

When people feel liberated, when they feel free to achieve their highest potential, they will be amazed at their abilities.

“There is nothing more empowering and invigorating than providing people with an opportunity to contribute,” Dr. Wolf said. “The important thing is to actively embrace and accept those ideas and opinions, and that gives people the power to make decisions.”

Dr. Wolfe gave an example of this in action. His previous organization had a surgical technologist who arrived every morning at 5:30 a.m. and it was his job to make sure all operating rooms were stocked with the right materials for the day. . During the day, if he ran out of something, he would have to run down the hallway and around the corner to get more supplies and bring them back. One day he approached Dr. Wolf with an idea.

“If we could put floor-to-ceiling racks outside every operating room, we would stock the racks and just open the door during the day and the material would be there.”

They did it.

“It was a small investment, but we got it done,” Dr. Wolf said. “He didn't have to waste a few minutes, which saved him turnover time. A few minutes multiplied several times a day can go a long way.”

But time savings weren't the only benefit.

“The passion this young boy had was immense as his ideas were welcomed and implemented,” Dr. Wolf said. “And that led to a lot of other ideas and thoughts from colleagues in the group. So just by being involved, just inviting and recognizing his input, a tremendous amount of passion was unleashed. Ta.”

4. Live with an entrepreneurial spirit

You don't have to be an entrepreneur to be an entrepreneur. You just have to have an entrepreneurial spirit.

“Our current status quo is not working, so we need to embrace that entrepreneurial spirit and be willing to take risks,” Dr. Wolf says. “Failures happen, and you have to fail quickly and learn from the experience. But at least take advantage of the opportunity, think differently, and gather support and input from your colleagues. We need to do this together.”

If you're not seeing much innovation within your organization, take a closer look at the systems you've built and the culture you've established. It may be getting in the way.

“You must cultivate a spirit of innovation within your organization to enable you to think differently, see differently, and act differently,” says Dr. Wolf. “As the saying goes, you get what the system is designed for. Unless you change the system, you can't expect the results to change.”

Sometimes the hardest part of reinventing and transforming is first getting rid of everything that gets in your way.

5. Work with a generous purpose

I believe that medicine was born out of a spirit of giving, sharing, and serving others. How can you maintain that mindset while dealing with challenges every day?

“This is the concept of servant leadership: serving others before yourself,” Dr. Wolf says. “I've been trying to emulate that throughout my career. I've always run into lumps and bumps. After a while, you get stuck in the quagmire of the status quo. And then I try to reignite that passion and become a servant.” -It's important to be able to lead with a sense of generosity of purpose and giving.''

The stakes are very high in this industry.

“The outcome (of teaching with generous intentions) depends on how the patient perceives it,” Dr. Wolf said. “They know when they are truly being served, and the same goes for healthcare providers and employees, they know when they are truly being served by the organization, but beyond that, they know when they are truly being served. , we know when we are underserved.”

6. Lead to leaving a legacy

Leaders have a great deal of influence over the direction of their organizations. How are you using your influence?

“This is one of the most important, it’s at the top of the list,” Dr. Wolf said. “Today's leaders must act as coaches and mentors, because within an organization there may be three or even four generations of people working for the common good. If our leaders don't lead with a desire to leave a legacy, a desire to lead, and a commitment to leadership, there will be a gap in our future leaders.”

That's true, and it goes both ways. Leaders also need to recognize that they have much to learn from young people who come into the industry without any of the burdens of the status quo.

“As leaders, we have to be vulnerable,” Dr. Wolf said. “To attract innovation and ideas, we have to be vulnerable. That’s the job of leaders. They don’t have to have all the ideas. Their role is to just lead the way.” So when those great ideas come forward and percolate to the top, they can really make a big impact. They smooth the way for those ideas to be implemented.”

Watch this short video to learn more about the panel.

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