It’s a question of value for whom or for what?

17 Oct 2012

Muir Gray & Jean Fagan at Ko Awatea Conference Auckland

I came away from, APAC Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare, a joint initiative of IHI and KO Awatea, feeling that there is a quiet “revolution” happening, led by individuals and clusters of seasoned health leaders with the political smarts to “read the tea leaves”, rise above negative press and stay focused on their mission – delivering patient centered value.

When it comes to value in healthcare, it is possible to have your cake and eat it. In fact, it’s an imperative. With the right focus, leaders can deliver on the mandate of value for money for their system / organisation, as well as value in meeting patient need.

These are my 10 thoughts on how to make sure you get the focus right:

  1. “Read the tea leaves”, be smart and work with them, push back will only distract you
  2. Intelligent metrics, just like businesses have to do in order to survive. Planning that has monitoring, evaluation and reporting embedded in the implementation will deliver sustainable and successful outcomes
  3. Listen to communities – both consumer and service provider. And then apply professional knowledge, discerning judgment and clear leadership
  4. Every single member of your workforce is capable of innovation. Make it a hallmark of your culture and ask at least one question about innovation at interview when hiring new staff
  5. Communicate, communicate, communicate, but make sure that you do more than talk. Results matter.
  6. Greater collegiality, support and innovation amongst groups of senior and executive leaders tasked with complexity and inevitable workforce changes, is increasingly necessary in building resilience.
  7. Time poor and tight financial constraints don’t translate to stop engaging in building knowledge and be confined to your desk. How can you possibly know what’s working elsewhere, be aware of and be ready for the next challenge if you are confined to your organisation and geographical patch?
  8. Some of the people I talked to have started to engage seriously in working collaboratively across jurisdictions
  9. Create systems to drive strategy and build high performance, but don’t create a bureaucratic noose
  10. Organisational values underpin culture and are a powerful way to ensure that you deliver value. Values are not just a list of statements on your website./li>