Pressured to increase volume and revenue, C-suite leaders often give in to approving initiatives that may receive backlash down the road or may not be in the best interest of the organization, according to an editorial by Larry Scanlan, FHFMA, CPA, president, Insight Health Partners LLC, St. Petersburg, Fla., published in Health Financial Management Magazine. For instance, a CEO may agree to using a specialty physician group, when later criticisms arise about referrals.
Scanlan warns that leaders of hospitals, health systems, nursing homes, nurse management, and consulting firms sometimes need to say no to peers, bosses, physicians, trustees, shareholders, and employees and carefully examine the decisions they are about to make.
"Not every challenge, issue, or question requires consideration of a 'no,' but leaders and aspiring leaders cannot be afraid to say 'no' in carrying out their fiduciary responsibility to protect the assets, mission, and well-being of their organization," he said in the article. "As leaders, we also carry a community obligation if we believe in the relevance of our organization's mission."
Scanlan suggests considering saying no to temporary strategic, operational, and financial interventions that don't solve underlying issues, as well as vetoing high-price IT vendors simply because federal stimulus money is available but if it's not needed.
In addition, consider saying no to chief financial officers and managers to unreasonable deadlines, as well as unreasonable financial projections and action plans, he says.
And perhaps most important, say no to falling in line with what's trendy in healthcare, and say no to projects that compromise time and talent from the organization's core priorities, according to Scanlan.
For more:
- check out the HFM Magazine article