Read our monthly newsletter highlighting stories that will help you connect back to purpose; resources that can help achieve your personal and organizational goals; and stories of success from the field. We hope you find this useful.

How Leading Organizations Are Keeping their Focus on Quality through the Current Economic Crisis

Two CEOs recently shared with over 1,200 healthcare leaders at What's Right in Health Care how their award-winning organizations have managed to keep quality a focal point in challenging economic times. While many healthcare entities are coping with financial hardship through staff reductions, Rulon Stacey (President/CEO of Poudre Valley Health System, a 2008 recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award) told of his organization's focus on appropriate staffing, to provide higher quality, safer care; it also resulted in minimal clinician turnover. Dan Wolterman (President/CEO of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, recipient of the 2009 National Quality Healthcare Award) shared how his organization developed a set of "red rules" patterned after the nuclear energy industry.

Access a complimentary audio download of the entire session. (please allow 2 minutes for download to complete)
Preview a video of the session and to learn how to access the entire session on video.

Early Careerist Study Results – Essential Skills Needed for Healthcare Leaders

Do today's graduating MHA students have the skills that senior leaders are looking for? Earlier this year, Studer Group partnered with The George Washington University on an online survey of nearly 4,000 healthcare leaders. The results were startling!

The study revealed a large gap between the most important competencies and the skills possessed by new MHA graduates. Graduates were rated as very competent in the basics like effective communication, but very less skilled in what leaders believe are most important, such as holding individuals accountable. As a result of this study we have updated the content of our Foundations of Healthcare Leadership Institute, October 27-28, in Baltimore to help close this gap between the critical skills that healthcare leaders need but rarely learn through formal training.

Read the full results of our study.
Learn more about the Foundations of Healthcare Leadership institute.

Disruptive Behavior and its Impact on Patient Care

Disruptive behaviors by healthcare professionals can threaten the safety of patients as well as contribute to a hostile healthcare work environment. When unprofessional conduct is tolerated by an organization, the patient becomes predisposed to medical errors, preventable adverse outcomes, increased cost of care, and dissatisfaction with the healthcare experience. The caretaker's performance is impaired with negative emotions such as anger, frustration, burnout and depression.

In partnership with Vanderbilt University, Studer Group launched a study to determine just how pervasive disruptive behaviors are. Some key findings include:

Out of this three week survey which 1,500 healthcare providers responded to, came the creation of a comprehensive infrastructure of steps to address unprofessional conduct.

Access a PowerPoint presentation that highlights key results in the study.
Preview a video of the session and to learn how to access the entire session on video.
Learn more about Studer Group coaching resources that address disruptive behavior among healthcare professionals.

3 Basic Guidelines for Creating An Effective Organizational Vision that Secures Physician Engagement
(from the recently released Engaging Physicians; A Manual to Physician Partnership by Stephen C. Beeson, M.D.)

Physicians are a critical but often absent stakeholder when it comes to creating an organization's vision. Here are some basic guidelines for creating an effective organizational vision that secures buy-in from physicians:

Invite and include physician leadership, practicing physicians, and staff to participate in the creation of the organizational vision. When physicians and staff are asked to help create organizational direction and strategy side by side with administrative leadership, this inclusive gesture helps to develop a shared purpose and unified direction. Physician conduct and attitude has everything to do with an executive's team's ability to execute a vision. In order for physicians to engage this effort they must hear, support and have input into the future aspirations of the system where they practice.

Communicate the vision to physicians. Create buy-in upfront by communicating effectively and repeatedly to the medical staff regarding the organization's upcoming plans. To ensure medical staff support of organizational strategies, leaders must be crystal clear as to what is happening, how it will happen, why it is happening and what the role of physicians will be.

Embrace a repetitive, multi-channel approach to physician communication. To ensure physicians hear it, communicate through every channel like a leader message drum beat. Organizational vision and strategies should not be whispered in the C-Suite, but boldly projected so every team member knows the playbook.

Learn more about Engaging Physicians: A Manual to Physician Partnership by Stephen C. Beeson, M.D., author of best selling Practicing Excellence.

Organizational Excellence Benchmarking Opportunity

We are excited to announce a special opportunity for you to visit and learn from one of the highest performing organizations in the nation! A designated Studer Group Learning Lab, Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, Wisconsin will be the site of a benchmarking program on September 3, 2009 and December 3, 2009. Attendees will learn from senior leaders and frontline employees how to execute Sacred Heart's proven principles and techniques in their own healthcare organization. Please note: There is no charge for attendance, but donations are accepted.

Read more about Sacred Heart's remarkable successes and this benchmarking opportunity.

Eat THAT Cookie! Make Workplace Positivity Pay Off . . . for Individuals, Teams and Organizations by Liz Jazwiec, RN

In her darkly humorous, ever-so-slightly sarcastic style - after all she was an ER nurse – Liz builds a case for the powerful benefits of a positive workplace. (Hint: better patient service, improved efficiencies and lower employee turnover all make the list.) Funny, inspiring and relatable, Eat THAT Cookie! is packed with realistic, down-to-earth tactics leaders can use right now to infuse positivity into their culture. This is a must read for all.

Just a few of the tactics leaders will learn:

Read a complimentary excerpt from Liz's soon to be released book Eat THAT Cookie!
Download a complimentary audio presentation of Liz Jazwiec's recent keynote address at What's Right in Health Care. (please allow 2 minutes for download to complete)
View a brief video of that session and learn how to access video of the entire session.

What We Permit, We Promote

Hospital leaders recently heard Studer Group coach Bob Murphy speak on the issue of negative behaviors in the healthcare environment. Saying, "What we permit, we promote," Murphy talked about the various reasons leaders tolerate such conduct and why their rationales are invalid. He also discussed tactics for dealing with the bad behaviors, such as setting clear expectations, coaching, documentation, and enforcing penalties.

Learn more about Bob Murphy, RN, Esq., FACHE & Studer Group International Speaker
Access a complimentary audio download of the entire session. (please allow 2 minutes for download to complete)
Preview a video of the session and to learn how to access the entire session on video.

Congratulations to Advocate Hope Children's Hospital for being selected as the August Fire Starter of the Month!

Advocate Hope Children's Hospital, located on the campus of Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois, is the largest children's hospital serving Chicago's south and southwest suburbs. It includes 69 pediatric beds and a 44-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); 37 of those NICU beds are designated as Level III – the highest care designation awarded by the state of Illinois. The hospital's focus on providing quality, compassionate health care to its patients and their families and its concern for serving surrounding communities are reflected in high patient and associate satisfaction. In the fall of 2008, associate satisfaction jumped to the 96th percentile; it has remained at that level following administration of another satisfaction survey in the spring of 2009.

Learn more about Advocate Hope Children's Hospital.

STORIES OF PURPOSE, WORTHWHILE WORK AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Read this inspiring story of the extra care and professionalism that Candace Gooden, EMT-I, soon to be RN at Upson Regional Medical Center (URMC) in Thomaston, Georgia, recently showed a terminally ill patient, and the impact that letter had on her CEO, the URMC Hospital Board and her co-workers.

Read the full story.

The Outside Story
How well do your managers really understand the external business environment?
Quint Studer – July 2009
My Midwest inflight magazine

No Greater Calling
Chuck's Notes, IDN Summit and Expo website – July 2009
Chuck Lauer, former Publisher of Modern Healthcare

Dianne A.M. Aroh, RN, wins 2009 HCPro, Inc. Nursing Image Award
Hackensack University Medical Center (Hackensack, NJ)

Physician Partnership: The Art of Engaging Physicians in an Age of Healthcare Performance
Engaging Physicians, by Stephen C. Beeson, MD – Book Review
Health-E Inspiration – Aug. 2009

Recession Rx for Business: Eleven Ways to Infuse Your Company with the Leadership Skills to Thrive in Tough Times
EXCHANGE magazine – July 2009

Inspired Nurse by Rich Bluni, RN – Book Review
ADVANCE for Nurses – July 2009

When Hospital Infections Go Down, Pay Raises and Bonuses Go Up at UMC
HFMA – July 2009

Studer Group Named One of Florida's Best Mid-Sized Companies to Work for
Florida Trend magazine – Aug. 2009

Upcoming Institutes and Conferences

Taking You and Your Organization to the Next Level with Quint Studer
Sep. 23-24, 2009 – Atlanta, GA
Oct. 21-22, 2009 – St. Louis, MO
Nov. 18-19, 2009 – Denver, CO
Dec. 9-10, 2009 – Tampa, FL

Practicing Excellence: The Physician Institute
Sep. 9-10, 2009 – Baltimore, MD

Nuts & Bolts of Service & Operational Excellence in the Emergency Department
Oct. 14-15, 2009 – Phoenix, AZ

Foundations of Healthcare Leadership
Oct. 27-28, 2009 – Baltimore, MD

Upcoming Webinars*

FREE STREAMING VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE:

Inspired Nurse by Rich Bluni, RN

Work-Life Blend and Healthcare by Jackie Gaines, MS, BSN

LAUNCHING SOON:

Using Your Employee Engagement Survey to Drive Work – Life Blend and Organizational Performance
Judy Kees, Studer Group Coach
Available starting Sep. 9, 2009

Creating a Culture of Execution of Safe Care
Rich Bluni, RN, Studer Group National Speaker and Author, Inspired Nurse
Available starting Sep. 23, 2009

*All webinars are available on-demand 24/7 for one year beginning on their start date.

CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF AVAILABLE STUDER GROUP WEBINARS

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