Excellent, On Average
Picture it: the quarterly quality review for a joint replacement service line. Ninety-day readmissions are at 4.2%, ahead of the benchmark. Patient-reported outcome collection is above target. Length of stay is at the goal. The slides are “green” from edge to edge, and the meeting ends four minutes early, which in health system time is…Read More
The “July Effect” Your Leadership Pipeline Needs
Earlier this month, thousands of brand-new physicians walked into teaching hospitals across the country and began caring for actual patients. Many had never written orders that counted. Some got lost on the way to the unit. And the system held. It held because nobody expected it to hold on talent alone. The new…Read More
The Joy Advantage
Picture It. An executive leadership team gathers for its weekly operations meeting. The agenda is familiar. Staffing shortages. Operating margin. Patient access. Quality metrics. Regulatory updates. Technology implementation. The dashboards are full. The pressures are real. Just before the meeting adjourns, someone pauses. “Before we move on…I want to recognize something.” A nurse redesigned a…Read More
What Leaves When They Leave
Picture it: A health system spends four years building a community health partnership. A single leader drove it – showing up at community centers and school health fairs, training primary care teams, learning which community stakeholders to call when the system’s credibility needed to be vouched for. The programs worked. Surgical referral gaps started to…Read More
The Community Health Session You Skipped May Have Been the One You Needed Most
Picture this. A med tech leader is scanning the agenda at a major healthcare conference. There are sessions on robotics, AI, outpatient migration, reimbursement strategy, surgeon engagement, data platforms, and market growth. Then, tucked somewhere between the innovation showcase and the executive networking reception, there it is: Community Health Improvement. They pause for half a…Read More
The Silo Tax
There is a version of this story I hear across healthcare all the time: a clinical team is trying to improve outcomes, a quality team is tracking variation, a community health team is building partnerships, a data team is refining dashboards, a workforce team is trying to address retention and burnout, and a med tech…Read More
The Authority You Already Have
There is a particular kind of meeting every healthcare leader knows. You are sitting in a conference room, or more likely on a screen with twelve boxes and three cameras off, listening to an update on work that everyone agrees matters. The data points are there. The team is there. The need is obvious. And,…Read More
Steady Hands in Shifting Ground
Picture it: a leadership team is gathered around a conference table. One person is reviewing legal guidance. Another is scanning the website for language that now feels risky. Someone else is asking what should happen to the mentorship program, the member award, the workforce initiative, the community partnership, or the research study that was once…Read More
Progress Is Happening – Don’t Miss It
Lately, I’ve found myself thinking about this more than ever: How do we stay motivated when the need feels endless? In healthcare, and especially in work rooted in improving systems, advancing inclusion, and strengthening communities, there is no shortage of problems to solve. Access gaps persist. Teams are stretched. Expectations continue to rise. And just…Read More
When Commitment Outpaces Infrastructure
Picture it: A health system announces a bold initiative to close disparities in surgical outcomes. There’s a press release. A town hall. A task force with an impressive name and a longer list of attendees. Twelve months later, the data hasn’t moved. The task force has met six times. The co-chairs have changed twice. And…Read More