4 pieces of advice for healthcare executives from outgoing Virtua Health System CEO Rich Miller

Longtime Virtua Health System CEO Rich Miller departed after more than two decades, and he offered some parting advice for healthcare leaders. 

Rich-Miller-Virtua-Health-System
Rich Miller

Miller's final day with South Jersey's largest nonprofit healthcare system was Monday, and in an interview with the Philadelphia Business Journal, he said there are four pieces of advice he would offer to future health system executives: 

  1. Show care to employees. To have a staff that properly cares for people, lead by example, Miller said.
  2. Pay attention to the business model. Create a model to follow and stick to it. Miller said he's "seen health systems get in trouble around the country because they go outside their expertise."
  3. Ensure services and products are at the top of the marketplace. "You have to stay strong in the local community," Miller said. "Give the consumer what the consumer wants in healthcare, which is great service, access and great products, and products that are affordable." 
  4. Keep an eye on alternative business models. Virtua accomplished this through ambulatory care, and its services there now bolster the main hospitals. 

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Recently, under Miller's watch, Virtua Health System began to transform one of its campuses into a behavioral health-focused location to better reach high-needs patients. It will particularly target drug and alcohol users at that facility and will also invest in primary care in the region it services, which includes Camden, New Jersey. 

Residents in the three counties Virtua serves identified behavioral health as a key concern, which led to the changes. 

Miller was replaced at the system's helm by Dennis W. Pullin.