Vibhas Ratanjee

Vibhas Ratanjee is a senior practice expert with Gallup, based in Gallup's Irvine, California office. Vibhas is a well-known speaker and author and has contributed several articles on leadership and organizational development as well as how new technology will alter the future of work and the customer experience. His writing has featured in several global publications, including the Gallup Business Journal and the Harvard Business Review. Vibhas specializes in organizational development, culture change, and executive-level engagement strategies, including strengths-based leadership and succession management. Vibhas is also an executive coach and a leadership consultant to senior executives and CEOs. Vibhas works extensively in the healthcare and financial services sector.

This article was co-wrote by Brian M. Parker, MD, and 

 a senior practice expert with Gallup, based in Gallup's Irvine, California office

Health care has been enduring significant change and costly disruption, which has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This ongoing industry-wide transformation requires considerably different qualities of leadership than those of previous eras.

One possible answer is to hire more administrators, financial controllers, or business executives, or engage outside consultants. Indeed, the number of administrators grew 3,200% percent in 35 years. Another is to introduce a new generation of physicians into hospital and health care system leadership roles. Physicians have first-person understanding of the challenges and opportunities of delivering health care. Putting them front and center of the patient experience incorporates their unique perspective into decisions that drive important patient outcomes.

It is also good for business. A U.S. News & World Report study of the top 100 best hospitals revealed that hospital quality scores are approximately 25% higher in physician-run hospitals than in administrator-run hospitals. Another research study showed that physician-led hospital systems had higher quality ratings across 12 medical specialties.

This does not mean that hospitals can be only run effectively by physician leaders -- there are many excellent dyad partnerships between physicians and administrators and there are excellent administrators who don’t have a clinical background – but it does mean physician-leaders offer a uniquely valuable perspective on hospital administration. 

However, effective leadership requires knowledge and experiences that vastly exceeds the health care economics classes, management workshops, etc. physicians receive in medical schools, residencies, or fellowships. Physician leaders need financial expertise coupled with a growth and performance optimization focus. They must know how to successfully manage stakeholders and navigate increasingly ‘matrix-driven’ hospital and health system organizational structures. Lastly, the focus on the quadruple aim in health care (population health, patient experience, reducing cost, and clinician / care team wellbeing) requires a specialized mindset and precise developmental experiences – all with 1 eye on present and the other on the future.

Physicians need early “crucible” experiences

Insufficient leadership education is a detriment to hospitals and physicians. A 2015 review of physician leadership development programs published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine highlighted significant gaps including limited use of interactive learning and feedback to help physician leaders develop greater self-awareness, and an overly narrow focus on individual-level rather than system-level outcomes. As a result, physician leaders’ base of knowledge and experience is too often ex post facto, which is when it’s least useful.

Without the depth and rigor of proper experiential leadership training – the kind that business leaders receive routinely -- physicians who want leadership roles often become autodidacts of leadership: consuming business books, management publications, and sometimes even formal course work. This takes a great deal of time and effort, and is inadequate instruction for leadership in the health care setting.

Physicians need real leadership experiences early on in their careers. These crucible events grant learning, growth, and increased capacity to lead effectively, resetting how physicians view their work, their impact on others, and their lives. In the absence of these opportunities, physician leaders must always learn how to lead by leading, obtaining knowledge just after it has the chance to benefit them or their organization. And while experience is consistently shown to be a better leadership skills lab than classroom training, ex post facto learning comes too late for optimal decision making in a physician's career. 

The leadership experiences physicians need most

In an increasingly uncertain health care environment, leaders need exposure to real challenges to test their mettle in real business situations. It is almost impossible to manufacture those experiences, but it is possible to position physicians to receive them organically and – importantly – coincident with each stage of a leader’s development.

To determine the ideal chronology and content of those experiences, Allegheny Health Network (AHN), as part of Highmark Health, recently collaborated with Gallup to ascertain and codify the critical key experiences that physicians need to become successful leaders. The research included in-depth conversations with 43 physicians, the majority from AHN, as well as successful physician leaders from 7 other health care systems. Each of these interviews lasted for approximately 45 minutes to an hour. After the interviews were completed, the AHN and Gallup teams also conducted several levels of content analysis, iteration and validation before the key experiences were confirmed.

This research made it clear that 6 discrete key experiences are essential.

Every physician leader stated that early, active involvement and leadership in administrative committees is an essential key leadership experience.

Committee experiences provide an essential mindset shift. Their involvement moves physicians’ focus from the individual to a '30,000 foot' view of the hospital, and teaches critical problem-solving skills related explicitly to non-clinical areas that can have a significant impact on care delivery. And participation teaches physicians that genuine team-based care and organizational solutions come from the collective intelligence and experience of the individual committee members.

However, note that superficial committee work or passive attendance easily wastes physicians’ limited time. Committees need to have specific mandates, defined work with measurable impact and, importantly, clear learning goals. Many physicians stated they also benefited from spending more time observing, emulating, and seeking advice from others, including senior physician leaders who could be trusted role models.

Hospital management systems are traditionally 'command and control' structures in which physicians are expected to know most if not all the answers.

But today's hospital structure is complex, matrix-driven, incorporates multiple lines of reporting – and can easily overwhelm physicians. It might even inadvertently drive some to operate with a silo mentality with minimal awareness of the broader organization. This study made it clear that physicians aspiring to leadership positions must intentionally involve themselves in a multidisciplinary, cross-functional project team aimed at important organizational initiatives, opportunities, or turnarounds. These projects help physician leaders gain an authentic understanding of stakeholders’ interests, opinions, and sometimes competing views. This enables them to communicate a strong vision and influential rationale for change – and an understanding that siloes prevent real change – while helping them adapt to the dynamic health care environment and thrive in the face of continuous disruptions. It also underscores the importance of building emotional intelligence in leadership development practices.

Hospitals can provide these experiences rather easily, but it must be done purposefully and at the right time in a physician’s career. Developing leaders can be given assignments with significant financial consequences, visibility, and exposure to executive leadership. They can take responsibility for a post-merger integration or revitalizing a failing unit, division, or program. Whatever the project, it must pull representatives from various functions, facilities, specialties, and roles across the hospital or system and unify them around the mission of the transformative initiative.

Physicians must learn to lead through influence rather than just authority. It’s a necessary component of effectiveness in a complex work environment in which rapport with other leaders is essential.

Physicians aspiring to be leaders would do well to gain the ability to productively communicate with – not talk at -- multiple stakeholders on non-clinical issues, both internally and externally. They need to become adept at meeting their objectives by cutting through politics and power equations through diplomacy and negotiation.

Those who do build a network of supporters -- which might not come naturally to all physicians – can help to broaden the physician leaders’ influence and provide indispensable support. Physicians can build this network by participating in internal activities alongside key stakeholders such as the hospital president and other C-suite leadership, and via external opportunities like medical societies and conferences. These activities provide a 'system wide' view of the health care ecosystem, and engaging with payers, managed care organizations, and other external professionals offer a vital education in the business side of health care.

Professional networking also opens a view onto other systems, processes, policies, and operational best practices that physicians can use to draft benchmarking standards drawn from other hospitals, health care systems, or out-of-industry exemplars. The pinnacle of this experience is sharing knowledge of cross-functional projects and care transformation initiatives with other physician leaders.

Most physicians, as a rule, dislike spreadsheets and financial administration. In a 2018 survey of more than 3,400 physicians, many said that electronic health records (EHR) and value-based care and reimbursement compromise the traditional doctor-patient relationship. Some research indicates that EHR failure can lead to clinician burnout, low job satisfaction and, according to a Stanford survey, a decline in clinical effectiveness for 1 out of every 2 clinicians.

Nonetheless, physician leaders need to learn the fundamentals of administration. There are numerous activities that enable rapid acquisition of experience, skills, and knowledge outside the scope of that which is taught in medical school or residency: job shadowing different functions/roles and engaging with subject matter experts; leading an assignment, job, or task; joining in strategy development, project management, resource coordination; or participating in budgeting, ROI analysis, and hospital management. 

These out-of-expertise skill building opportunities provide a holistic view of functions and programs and help physician leaders develop fundamental leadership capacities – especially in financial literacy. The economics of health care require a thorough knowledge of verbiage, utilization reviews, and business strategies including payer contracts, under-writing, annual strategic planning, annual budgeting, and resource planning.

These experiences build confidence and facilitate a more practical understanding of the technical skills that are pre-requisite for growing into the next leadership level or role. But perhaps more importantly, they help physicians understand administration so they can make effective strategic decisions with a more significant impact on patient outcomes.

The role of a mentor is crucial in developing physician leaders. Good mentors push physicians out of their comfort zone and beyond what they thought they could achieve – which is necessary for authentic growth, reflection, and personal change -- in an environment of familiarity, comfort, respect, and trust. To enable these relationships, hospitals and health care systems must support mentorship programs with clear parameters, well-defined goals, and developmental objectives.

Physicians should have opportunities to shadow other physician leaders during critical activities and tasks, such as strategy formulation, budget planning, etc. Frequent performance feedback and advice from valued role models in specific areas of physician leadership knowledge and mastery are essential. So is advice on managing a difficult situation, a turnaround, or new venture. Though physicians should also proactively seek partnership and learning from external experts and leadership coaches, organizations that formally offer more structured opportunities for them likely reap more from them.

As physicians gain fundamental experiences, hospitals and systems must up the ante by introducing more complex and challenging experiences. As leaders gain experience, they’ll develop a more advanced grasp of health care business and thinking– visioning, strategy, resourcing, financing, and operationalizing a new venture – and how to negotiate resources, balance priorities, and obtain buy-in and timely support by effectively engaging key stakeholders and partners.

Our analysis identified an exceptionally useful means of achieving this important key experience: building a brand-new venture. Just pitching the idea to solicit the necessary support and access to critical resources is educational, but the actual practical experience gives physician leaders invaluable perspective. And if carefully engineered, developing a new venture can create expertise in the technological advances that are transforming health care – which the physician leaders of the future need to keenly understand to leverage well.

An experience like this requires patience (unlike some clinical outcomes that physicians are more accustomed to) and resilience in the face of significant challenges. The most beneficial projects – to the physician leader’s development – are those that come with significant challenges in unexplored areas or those that have never yet met with success. Such projects provide opportunities to learn invaluable skills: holistic business management, an understanding and appreciation of each function, knowledge of every role’s contribution to the whole, a thorough understanding of the demands of running a new entity, and the ability to rally enthusiasm and inspiration for a new venture, idea, or opportunity.

These research results on key experiences are essential for health care organizations, executives, physician leaders, and physicians who want to be leaders.

Even those physicians who are motivated and incentivized to lead, who know the challenges of health care and have the perspective needed to transform a broken health care system, do not know which experiences they need most. A well-designed physician key experiences program is, therefore, essential. And the starting point is to develop a key experience inventory:

Start by first reviewing the key experiences required for your organization to meet its strategic goals and aspirations, and the outcomes that must result from them. Metrics to measure those outcomes are compulsory.

Next, assess how the physician leaders' role is evolving at your hospital or system and imagine what will be demanded of physicians in leadership roles in the future. Technology and environmental changes are disrupting health care and will likely disrupt the role of physician leaders as well. Understand the likeliest disruptions and develop learning opportunities to meet them in advance.

Identify the experiences that have helped your best physician leaders succeed.

For aspiring physician leaders, identify experiential gaps, and bridge those gaps to accelerate leadership growth in an individual development plan.

Continuously map progress on these key experiences.

Health care is changing rapidly. And physicians who want to take on key leadership positions would do well to identify the significant leadership experiences that can accelerate their growth. There is some urgency in developing physician leaders for and in the future. One-third of all currently active physicians will be older than 65 in the next decade. We are staring down a physician leader succession crisis.

The next generation of physician leaders will face increasingly complex administrative tasks, will be orchestrating care-team development, and must engage patients and employees in a health care dynamic that is continuously evolving. They will have to adapt to constantly changing technology, manage internal and external stakeholders adeptly, and navigate an organizational structure that demands a holistic understanding of roles and functions across the broader health care ecosystem.

Bridging the gaps between roles, functions, programs, specialties, and hospitals while aligning employees towards common goals will be critical. And the focus on the quadruple aim in health care will require a highly specialized leadership mindset and development experiences – all with an eye towards the future, which likely is radically different than the present.

And there is no one better equipped to do that than a physician leader who has been developed through key experiences to lead. Now is the time to ensure they get the leadership experiences they need to succeed –when they need them, not after the fact.

James K. Stoller, Amanda Goodall and Agnes Baker (2016) Why The Best Hospitals Are Managed by Doctors. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from 

https://hbr.org/2016/12/why-the-best-hospitals-are-managed-by-doctors#:~:text=Physician%2Dleaders%20appear%20to%20be,trained%20to%20be%20team%20players.

2) Tasi, M. C., Keswani, A., & Bozic, K. J. (2017) Does physician leadership affect hospital quality, operational efficiency, and financial performance? Health Care Management Review. Retrieved from 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28700509/

3) Joe Cantlupe (2017) Expert Forum: The rise (and rise) of the health care administrator. Retrieved from 

https://www.athenahealth.com/knowledge-hub/practice-management/expert-forum-rise-and-rise-healthcare-administrator

4) Vibhas Ratanjee (2018) Experience Reigns in Leadership Development. Retrieved from

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/241730/experience-reigns-leadership-development.aspx

5) Stanford Medicine. (2018). How doctors feel about electronic health records: National physician poll by the Harris Poll. Retrieved from https://med.stanford.edu/content/dam/sm/ehr/documents/EHR-Poll-Presentation.pdf

, MD, MS (2014) A Systematic Review of Physician Leadership and Emotional Intelligence. Journal of Graduate Medical Education. Retrieved from 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3963790/

(2014) Leadership Development Programs for Physicians: A Systematic Review. 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25527339/

8) The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections From 2018 to 2033 (2020) Association of American Medical Colleges. Retrieved from 

https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2020-06/stratcomm-aamc-physician-workforce-projections-june-2020.pdf

Articles

As chief quality officer for Allegheny Health Network, Brian M. Parker, MD, is responsible for ensuring that the highest standards of patient care quality, safety, and service excellence are achieved.

Contributor: Why Key Leadership Experiences Are Vital for Developing Future Physician Leaders

This article was co-wrote by Vibhas Ratanjee and Dan Foy. Foy is a managing consultant at Gallup.

Many health care executives believe that their industry is on the precipice of a significant transformation following COVID-19. The primary drivers of this transformation will be disruptions and the consequent digital opportunities, along with a constant focus on patient access and experience.

One of the most dramatic examples of pandemic-induced disruption is the heightened use of virtual health care. The spark for this acceleration came near the onset of the pandemic as CMS loosened telehealth and HIPAA guidelines for Medicare and commercial payers quickly followed suit. Since then, there has also been runaway venture capital (VC) growth for digital health companies: Global VC funding for digital health companies in Q1 2020 came to a record $3.6 billion in 142 deals, compared to $1.7 billion in 142 deals in Q4 2019. COVID-19 precipitated the single largest funding quarter ever for Digital Health.

Gallup’s research shows a complementary shift in patient behavior, with significant upticks in telehealth usage and preferences. A 2019 Gallup survey of more than 30,000 Americans revealed that just 14% had used telemedicine in the past year, and only 17% anticipated using it in 2020. But a March 2020 survey showed that 34% of Americans now say they have used telemedicine, and nearly half (46%) say they are likely to use it in the future — almost 3 times greater than 6 months or so ago.

Provider-reported data echo this surge. For example, Cleveland Clinic was on track to log more than 60,000 telemedicine visits in March, compared to a 

average of 3,400 visits before the pandemic. Telehealth research shows that its benefits span beyond access; for example, Gallup has found that those who used Telehealth are more than 1.3 times more likely to rate the overall quality of health care they receive as “excellent” than those who have not experienced Telehealth.

Health care providers must get their telehealth strategy and value proposition right before investing precious resources on full-scale telehealth adoption. At the same time, providers must maintain an agile footing to adapt to the continued evolution of consumer demands, market competitors, and inevitable technological innovations to come. Gallup sees 4 essential strategies for striking that balance.

Strategy 1: Get the value proposition right 

The potential for telehealth has generated considerable excitement. But more needs to be done to understand whether 

 will see value in telehealth innovations. In many ways, the development of telehealth can be compared with the introduction of 5G in telecom. There are regulatory and compliance issues. But perhaps more significantly, telecom operators must navigate challenges with customer perceptions, such as questions, doubts, and concerns.

Because health care leaders will face similar challenges with telehealth, they must go beyond the hype and acquire a comprehensive perspective of patients’ needs and discover what patients’ value most in telehealth. In the future, telehealth usage will be both synchronous — remote audio and video clinician interactions &mdash; and asynchronous &mdash; a hybrid, blended approach popularized in behavioral health. Matching these approaches to the needs of different patient segments will be necessary.

Gallup’s 2019 health care study offers some clues on what health care organizations must do. Only 29% of Americans believe their health care providers integrate new technology that improves the quality of care. But there are interesting generational differences: Gen Z and Millennials are 2 times more likely than Baby Boomers to use health-related apps. However, these younger generations are as much as one-third less likely to believe their health care provider uses new technologies to improve quality of care. In other words, younger, more tech-savvy patients are likely to respond favorably to virtual care options, but only if they can meet their higher expectations for technical quality.

COVID-19 will fundamentally alter how Gen Z see medical care, and telehealth might become their primary care relationship. This creates an opportunity for health care leaders to integrate holistic wellbeing elements in virtual health care technology for younger patients. For older patients, leaders’ primary challenge might be technology aversion and delivering an easy-to-use, straightforward interface. Patient needs might also differ by condition, for example, managing chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and even behavioral health. The value proposition must address all these distinct patient needs and expectations.

Strategy 2: Promote a ‘digital-ready’ mindset and culture

Integrating telehealth will require significant investment in infrastructure and capacity. Once the threat of COVID-19 passes, hospitals will need to invest sufficient time and resources - ramping up in places and scaling back in others.  Speed will be of the essence because the return of elective surgeries might coincide with future waves of the virus. When that happens, organizations that have effectively deployed and integrated telehealth will be better prepared to defeat the virus and reduce the burden on health care workers.

But introducing telehealth effectively will require more than just logistical plans; leaders also need to shift their workplace culture and employee mindsets, especially amongst doctors and the nursing staff. Research published in the Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare showed that resistance to change was a significant barrier in telehealth initiatives that is exacerbated by the high cost of the technology and the lack of reimbursements available for care delivered through telemedicine. Physicians might consider telehealth as a threat to their existing practice or they might be unclear about reimbursements. This means hospitals will need to review existing performance management practices and incentives to ensure that doctors do not feel under-compensated for the care they deliver via telehealth.

Other doctors might feel they lack the technological savvy to operate telehealth, while others might consider the technology a poor substitute for the traditional, face-to-face physical exam they are accustomed to. Navigating such concerns requires significant change management. Leaders must aim to strengthen buy-in, create clarity, and communicate how telehealth can function effectively for physicians — and perhaps drive 

 effectiveness. One crucial strategy in this endeavor is involving doctors and nurses in the planning and deployment of telehealth: Leaders should seek their opinions, support, and validation.

Health care leaders should also take a leaf out of the EMR implementation playbook. The estimated failure rate of EHR implementation projects ranges from 20% to 70%. There are a host of issues responsible for this, including poor organizational alignment, insufficient funding for education, training, and ongoing support, especially for doctors and the lack of collaboration. There is research that indicates that EHR failure can lead to some serious consequences — including clinician burnout, low job satisfaction, and according to a Stanford Medicine survey, a decline in clinical effectiveness for 1 out of 2 clinicians.

Smart leaders will implement strategies to avoid these challenges with Telehealth. To start, leaders should capitalize on the opportunity to standardize care delivery and establish consistent practices and default protocols in Telehealth. Effective telehealth requires a ‘whole systems’ approach, with leaders soliciting strong cross-functional participation and shared governance. The CIO cannot be the 1 who owns the initiative; leaders must assemble a team or a committee that does rigorous due diligence, creates broad-based buy-in, and builds a clear operational plan for integration. This team must be cross-functional and include physicians, RNs, and other health care technologists such as lab, radiology, imaging, and others.

Strategy 3: Engage the entire health care ecosystem

Health care technology companies have introduced a spate of new technology to help with the fight against COVID-19, from AI and remote patient monitoring to wearables for health care workers. Technology is being harnessed for effective diagnosis and treatment as well as to gain a better epidemiological understanding of the disease. While these are important innovations, their long-term success will hinge on their effective integration with the patient experience.

Introducing innovations is complex when the investment decision is dependent on many stakeholders, such as providers, payers, health-tech, medical devices, pharma, etc.  These stakeholders influence how decisions are made, how priorities are defined, and where critical financial resources are directed. And though all claim to be working towards the same goal — to help patients lead better, healthier lives – there is limited collaboration.

These players need to come together to make digital health a success, whether through patient experience and journey mapping across the continuum of care or via specific projects aimed at making the technology more effective yet affordable.

An ongoing, collaborative focus on Telehealth integration will be valuable in the long term. As Telehealth evolves, it will be essential to ensure that upgrades, updates, and structural policy changes are designed and implemented collaboratively — with alignment of cross-industry stakeholders instead of in specific industry silo. A more comprehensive multi-stakeholder action plan is required, with greater involvement and collective leadership from all industry stakeholders. Our response to future outbreaks and pandemics will require 

Strategy 4: Humanize the digital experience

As health care goes from brick to click, leaders should aim to humanize the digital patient care experience. For example, leaders must align their digital footprint with their organization’s care philosophy and care priorities. A hospital’s telehealth narrative must tie directly to its core philosophy. It must also demonstrate its purpose, including how telehealth will drive greater patient care or community impact by alleviating disease burden and enhancing overall population health.

Humanizing the digital health experience will require leaders to understand the specific emotional drivers of telehealth. For instance, family members can play a more direct and regular role in the health and emotional wellbeing of patients through more significant interaction with physicians on telehealth. In a challenging economy, telehealth will have critical financial benefits too. A 2019 study showed that telehealth could save patients up to $1,500 per visit. Gallup research has consistently shown that a customer's emotional or psychological attachment to a brand, product, or company is the definitive predictor of business growth. Leaders should use insights like these to create a unique digital offering that is rooted in what truly matters to patients’ emotional wellbeing, not merely technological capabilities, and innovations.

Hospitals will also need to find specific ways of measuring and monitoring Telehealth performance. A critical indicator is likely to be the degree of adoption — including uptake and utilization. Patient experience and emotional engagement will also be important to measure and track. The 27 traditional HCAHPS questions currently do not measure Telehealth. Measures of Telehealth must be included in HCAHPS assessment.

Ultimately, Telehealth must deliver on the key outcomes of the quadruple aim — health, patient experience, cost reduction, and staff engagement – and leaders should gauge progress based on rigorous measurement and testing against that rubric.

The technological evolution of health care 

Telehealth is another step in the ongoing transformation of health care — and it is an important 1. Understandably, health care leaders are wrestling with how best to approach telehealth. Some view telehealth as simply an extension of the current care delivery model with audio and video technologies. Leaders at the other end of the spectrum see telehealth as a transformation of health care delivery and recognize how the health care ecosystem (hospitals, clinics, ambulatory settings, and home health), digital platforms, and new business models support it.

 point of this spectrum must remain singularly focused on patients’ emotional needs and what patients’ value. Providers who get this balance right will secure a competitive advantage in the emerging national market for telehealth services.

Leaders investment in state-of-the-art virtual health technology is no longer optional. But to make these investments pay off long-term, health care organizations must invest equally in talent, culture, and leadership. People — not technology – will make a difference. After all, the future of health care – and the future of the world is at stake here.

Q1 2020 Digital Health (Health care It) Funding And M&A Report, 

https://mercomcapital.com/product/q1-2020-digital-health-healthcare-it-funding-ma-report/

Telemedicine's role after the COVID-19 pandemic: 3 insights, 

Jackie Drees, Published in Becker’s Hospital Review. 

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/telehealth/telemedicine-s-role-after-the-covid-19-pandemic-3-insights.html

Evaluating barriers to adopting telemedicine worldwide: A systematic review: 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5768250/

How Doctors Feel About Electronic Health Records National Physician Poll, Report published by Stanford Medicine. 

https://med.stanford.edu/content/dam/sm/ehr/documents/EHR-Poll-Presentation.pdf

10 EHR failure statistics: why you need to get it right first time, 

https://www.ehrinpractice.com/ehr-failure-statistics.html

New Study Shows Telehealth Saves $1,500 Per Visit, 

James Baker, Chief Medical Officer, Published in Ortholive.com, 

https://www.ortholive.com/blog/new-study-shows-telehealth-saves-1500-per-visit

Vibhas Ratanjee is a senior practice expert with Gallup, based in Gallup's Irvine, California office. Vibhas is a well-known speaker and author and has contributed several articles on leadership and organizational development as well as how new technology will alter the future of work and the customer experience. His writing has featured in several global publications, including the Gallup Business Journal and the Harvard Business Review. Vibhas specializes in organizational development, culture change, and executive-level engagement strategies, including strengths-based leadership and succession management. Vibhas is also an executive coach and a leadership consultant to senior executives and CEOs. Vibhas works extensively in the health care and financial services sector.

Four Strategies Health Care Leaders Can Use to Maximize Virtual Health Care 

This article was co-wrote by Vibhas Ratanjee and Karen Drenkard. Drenkard is associate dean of Clinical Practice and Community Engagement at The George Washington University School of Nursing.

Health care workers fighting COVID-19 are physically, mentally and emotionally taxed. So staving caregiver burnout, which affects 76% of full-time employees, might seem like a tall order right now.

But leaders who prioritize caregivers’ wellbeing can improve their resilience, engagement and performance — and in turn, promote patient outcomes. For example, a recent Gallup survey of 2175 US health care workers shows that health care workers who strongly agree that their employer cares about their wellbeing are 2.3x more likely to feel “well prepared” to do their job than caregivers who can’t say the same.

Unfortunately, less than half (49%) of health care workers strongly agree their employer cares about their wellbeing. This means leaders and clinicians need a proactive burnout strategy now — even as they focus on surge efforts and the aftermath.

Though some caregivers in more affected regions are highly vulnerable to burnout, all

leaders should address employees’ needs. Younger workers might not have experienced this level of psychological distress at work, and COVID-19 can irrevocably shape their perspective and practice of medicine. A holistic wellbeing strategy can not only mitigate burnout in the near-term, but also support a thriving work culture after the crisis. 

The following strategies can help leaders fight burnout through the crisis.

Caregivers need to know their leaders have their back. But only 47% of health care workers strongly agree their employer has communicated a clear COVID-19 plan, and even fewer (36%) strongly agree that if they follow their organization’s health policies regarding COVID-19, they will be safe. 

Leaders must reiterate their commitment to workers’ safety and clarify how their strategies support that priority. Gallup analytics show that unclear communication from managers increases burnout — meaning leaders can create hope by providing consistent, clear, transparent updates.

Leaders should select specific times and situations in which updates can most effectively instill hope, such as daily huddles. For example, leaders can round on frontline workers to provide updates regarding PPE and listen

to workers’ concerns. The best leaders maintain two-way, open communication with caregivers and encourage employees to voice their needs.

Many health care workers are accustomed to demanding job requirements, but they’re not immune to emotional exhaustion. Thirty-one percent of health care workers say they experienced sadness the previous day of the crisis. And most health care workers report experiencing worry (58%) and stress (63%) the previous day.

Recognizing caregivers’ efforts can lessen their emotional burden. Leaders should celebrate successes, relay their gratitude and show compassion for caregivers’ sacrifices.

Leaders should also equip team leaders to support a community of recognition. For example, one hospital has used “hope huddles” to share uplifting internal news and stories. Leaders can foster resilience by facilitating peer support and encouraging teams to showcase triumphs. 

Further, workplace recognition motivates employees and makes them feel valued for their work. In turn, employee engagement and productivity increase. Gallup research shows that the most effective recognition is authentic, honest and individualized to how each employee wants to be recognized.

Like many Americans, health care workers are facing unusual financial uncertainty.

Clear communication about employees’ options can fight financial worries. According to Gallup Panel data, one-third (33%) of health care workers felt they lacked paid sick leave — yet the CARES Act may provide paid sick leave for many of these workers.

Leaders should relay what they know and provide opportunities for employees to voice their financial questions. Leaders should also share financial resources — such as loan forgiveness options &mdash; to provide hope for worried workers.

By acknowledging workers’ concerns and offering helpful information, leaders can demonstrate that they care and lessen burnout.

Combat loneliness and psychological distress 

Many health care workers are away from their loved ones for extended periods due to long hours or decisions to self-isolate in temporary living spaces.

So it’s no surprise that many caregivers feel lonely: 26% of health care workers report experiencing loneliness the day before. Another survey regarding caregivers in Wuhan showed that many caregivers fighting COVID-19 reported symptoms of depression, anxiety and insomnia — in fact, 72% reported psychological distress.

Tackling loneliness and distress matters because these factors inhibit caregivers’ wellbeing and contribute to burnout.

To start, leaders can provide relevant resources and opportunities that support caregivers’ wellbeing, including confidential counseling. Even simple, free gestures, such as information about self-care and meditation can fight psychological distress and communicate that leaders’ value employees.

Further, leaders should ensure COVID-19 shift management practices consider employees’ needs and allow employees to sleep, eat and unwind. On an ongoing basis, leaders should hold managers accountable for their important role in supporting caregivers’ wellbeing.

The time to consider caregiver burnout isn’t post-crisis — it’s today. When leaders prioritize employees’ 

, they don’t just care for caregivers — they promote clinical excellence, patient outcomes, community wellbeing and population health.

Vibhas Ratanjee

Articles

Contributor: Why Key Leadership Experiences Are Vital for Developing Future Physician Leaders

Four Strategies Health Care Leaders Can Use to Maximize Virtual Health Care

Combatting Health Care Burnout Will Require an Extreme Focus on Wellbeing