Three Strategies for Healthcare Leadership

There are several emerging trends in healthcare that will create some challengers for healthcare leadership in the future. The three biggest trends that will require healthcare leaders to develop strategies for positioning their organizations for sustainability are:

1. Ongoing shift from fee-for-service system to value-based care
2. Increasing consumer satisfaction and retention due to consolidation and competition in the industry
3. Consumers demanding more from healthcare – high quality care with convenience and easy access

All the trends revolve around consumers and their demands for quicker access to care, easier communication with their providers, higher quality outcomes, and transparency. The growth of retail clinics means patients have a new level of convenience, and healthcare leaders in traditional settings will need to develop new strategies to be responsive to patient demand if they want to retain their patients and grow their clientele.

Consumers are becoming demanding of all industries and products they interact with, and that is now developing in healthcare. They want to be treated by their healthcare providers as valued individuals with a personalized experience. Healthcare leaders will have to learn to put consumers first in their business and develop a comprehensive strategy for engaging and serving them. This is going to mean healthcare leaders will need to develop new skills.

Future healthcare leaders will need to be innovative, customer-oriented, value-based, and collaborative. The previous model of doing business in the healthcare industry is antiquated and broken. Change within the industry is being driven by rapid technological advancements, a population that is aging, an extreme increase in healthcare costs, and a shortage of healthcare providers.

Higher deductible healthcare plans are becoming the norm for many businesses, leaving employees demanding improved services that deliver more value for them. Healthcare leaders will now have to become more technologically savvy and understand data and how to apply it while still having the clinical expertise needed to design systems that drive value for their customers. Collaboration will be needed to cut costs while providing more services. Healthcare leaders will need to engage their teams to ensure a commitment to providing high quality care is demonstrated by the actions of every employee.

Healthcare leaders will have to use that technological savvy to ensure their organization is effectively utilizing all the artificial intelligence and natural language processing that has become the new norm in healthcare. Increasing their organization’s online presence and developing personalized communication with patients will need to part of their strategy. They will need to establish clear goals and ensure every member of the team understands the goals and the processes to achieve them.

Some of the new skills that will be required of healthcare leaders are more typical within other industries. To maintain sustainability, healthcare leaders will need to become nimbler with their strategies. Partnerships will need to be developed between doctors, hospitals, patients, and vendors where everyone’s interests and incentives are aligned toward delivering higher quality care for lower cost. They will need to be bold to push for giant steps in progress toward improving service, quality, and cost at a relentless speed.

Genesis Medical Management is committed to keeping you informed of the current trends and the strategies needed to ensure your organization is positioned for sustainable growth.