Healthcare management professionals face workforce shortages, cost pressures, and topline revenue declines. They must also address nurse and physician burnout and innovate their care and operating models.
Whether in healthcare or other professional industries, these leaders drive sustainable change for their organizations.
Strategic Planning
Healthcare managers have a unique role to play in shaping future healthcare systems. They must thoroughly understand the industry’s trends and direction to develop strategic solutions for their institution. However, many healthcare professionals need to become more familiar with strategic planning methods and find integrating this practice into everyday functions challenging.
For example, healthcare leaders at a hospital realized their organization needed to expand its gastric services in an underserved area. They thoroughly analyzed market data to evaluate existing competition, referral trends, and demographic growth. They then determined a comprehensive plan to address the gap.
Healthcare managers like Chris Manfuso also use strategic planning to improve team communication and foster collaboration. They create opportunities for subordinates to develop new skills and step into different roles, allowing them to grow and contribute to their employer’s long-term capabilities. This can motivate employees to work harder and meet institutional goals.
Leadership Development
As healthcare evolves into an industry with increasing consumerism and rising costs, leaders need to be equipped with more diverse skill sets than before. This means those with leadership aspirations should begin developing these skill sets immediately.
Traditionally, many healthcare management positions require a bachelor’s or master’s degree in an area such as health administration or healthcare information technology. However, aspiring healthcare management executives may consider taking courses outside of their degrees to learn about the unique leadership issues in this industry.
Healthcare managers must be able to communicate the vision of their facility to their teams, which requires strong leadership skills. They must also create opportunities for subordinates to step into leadership roles and acquire new skills. For example, a healthcare administrator might identify a need for their clinic to become more inclusive for transgender patients. A great healthcare manager would support the employee in pursuing this objective and then delegate project management duties to the individual so they could gain experience and grow their career.
Organizational Change Management
Organizations that rely on organizational change management tools experience higher success rates when implementing new processes and systems. This helps to ensure that the changes you implement meet their intended goals and are supported by resistance and clarity.
Change management tools are especially helpful in facilitating healthcare transformation initiatives. Healthcare is undergoing unprecedented industry change, with rising costs and labor shortages driving a need for transformational initiatives to improve patient outcomes and drive operational efficiency.
Implementing new initiatives like AI technologies can be challenging, but leveraging the correct change management principles positions healthcare institutions to weather challenges and capitalize on opportunities as they emerge. By fostering innovation, enabling staff to be more adaptable, and building a resilient workforce, you can position your healthcare institution for the industry’s future. It all starts with embracing and practicing the following change management principles. It is also essential to have a transparent change management process and the necessary resources to support your team throughout the transition process.
Organizational Development
The best healthcare management executives understand that organizational development is a continuous journey to improve an organization’s effectiveness and adaptability. This includes the organization’s culture, leadership, communication patterns, and team performance.
It also enables an organization to adapt to changing environments and respond to customers’ needs. For example, when a hospital offers new services such as virtual care, the leaders must continuously monitor customer insights to ensure that the service meets consumer demand.
Consumerism in any industry spurs innovation, which is valid for healthcare. If hospital systems don’t offer patients a distinctly different, consumer-focused experience, consumers will seek alternatives like telehealth, free-standing emergency setups, and retail clinics.
Leaders navigating M and A must relentlessly focus on engaging and developing their top talent. In addition, maximizing the value of the new healthcare ecosystem requires agile collaboration among diverse healthcare industry players. This will need leaders to embrace a holistic patient well-being perspective, going beyond physical health to include financial, emotional, and societal wellness.
