Health Care Strategist

I recently heard from an executive colleague who, thanks to a merger, found herself looking for her next opportunity. Her story, probably depressingly familiar to many of you, was all about the big black hole of rudeness and non-responsiveness that so often sums up employers' attitudes toward candidates. This colleague, thinking she'd see the healthcare world from a new vantage point, pursued opportunities with consultants, IT vendors, architects and other suppliers who, far from appreciating her solid resume, were like the 3 Stooges of clueless. So back to a senior health system role she went, WHERE SHE NOW INITIATES AND MANAGES RFPs FOR SOME OF THE VERY SAME COMPANIES who wouldn't talk to her as a candidate, but profess their LOVE for her now that she's got money to spend on their services. Not gonna happen. Any guesses who's off the RFP list? I smiled when I heard her story, imagining the BusDev people working hard to grow the revenue pipeline, all the

"We decided in 2005 that no hospital executive could apply to work in this (ambulatory) company. We wanted entrepreneurs who were more open to a different way of providing healthcare services. That has been very, very successful." -- Dan Wolterman , president and CEO of Houston-based Memorial Hermann Healthcare System , Texas' largest not-for-profit health system, from an interview in Modern Healthcare .

... Customer Service. From the New York Times: Seattle's Iora Primary Care is a new model of primary care, seeking national scale and venture capital funding.  Though the ambition may be outsize, the concepts are not new. Daily team huddles. Health coaches. Taking satisfaction surveys seriously and mining results for actionable insights. Employer and payer partnerships. Pay-for-performance not volumes. Loose-tight operations (wellness options are "loose" - i.e. varying from site to site, while EHR alignment is "tight" and non-negotiable.) According to the article: "...small change(s) can make a big difference in a patient’s health — what good is the perfect drug if the patient can’t swallow it? — but the extra-mile work it took to get there can be a challenge for the typical primary care practice in the United States. Harried by busy schedules and paid on a piecework model, many doctors rush from visit to visit, avoid phone calls and em