As healthcare providers reshape their infrastructure to a post-Affordable Care Act (ACA) world, they must think about how to hire the most effective executives, according to Hospitals & Health Networks.
With an aging population, many baby boomer executives retire, according to the article, and hospitals must prioritize new skills and qualities among the people who replace them. These must-have characteristics include:
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Interdepartmental collaboration: Under the ACA, healthcare professionals from the top down must think about the big picture and how every part of the care process affects patient outcomes. This means effective leaders must emphasize collaboration and communication among departmental leaders. Furthermore, the article says, executives must also sell the ACA's changes to veterans resistant to change, leading a shift in both policy and culture. Segregation according to specialty is a major obstacle to communication among healthcare leaders, according to a leadership talk by Dympna Cunnane of London Business School, FierceHealthcare previously reported.
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Diverse experiences: Since new leaders must shepherd hospitals through various system-wide shifts, it's important that they have a broad range of experiences and understanding of hospital processes, according to the article. "While tenure and experience in growing an organization are far from disadvantages, hiring committees also should look for the ability to adapt," it states.
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A data-centric approach: One of the most drastic changes under the ACA is a shift from volume-based to value-based care, meaning patient data will be more important than ever. Effective executives must understand how such information is collected and measured, according to the article. This means there can be no data silos, and data must be central to business decisions.
The face of hospital leadership is already changing. A 2013 Black Book Rankings poll projected a full two-thirds of hospital CEOs hired this year would come from non-healthcare sectors, FierceHealthcare previously reported.
To learn more:
- read the article