Insights from Studer Group Experts - Archive
Overcoming Resistance to Change
By Quint Studer
April 26, 2012
We live and work in an ever-changing, fast-paced environment – both externally and internally. In order to make and sustain the improvements necessary to provide the best possible patient care, we often need to adopt new technologies, tools and processes that require us, and our staff, to change the way we do things. Read more...
If It Really Is a "Soft Skill," Then Why Is It So Hard?
By Quint Studer
April 11, 2012
The words we use matter because they determine our actions. Only when an organization's leaders understand that what they call soft skills are actually hard skills will they approach them with the needed focus. And only then will they get the results it takes to thrive in today's challenging environment. Read more...
ED-Hospitalist Care: The High-Impact Handover...and How to Do It Right
By Dan Smith, MD
April 4, 2012
Handovers are critical in healthcare. The smoothness and efficiency with which one care provider or department transitions a patient to the next care provider or department can make or break the entire patient experience. Read more...
The Knowing-Doing Gap in Healthcare
By Craig Deao, MHA
March 28, 2012
We at Studer Group find that the gap between knowing what we need to do and actually doing it is almost always a foundational issue. Read more...
How Effective Is Your Senior Leader Rounding?
By Quint Studer
March 7, 2012
Senior leader rounding is one of the most powerful tactics we see in our work with organizations across the country. It re-engages and reassures staff members. It helps people "connect the dots" on why we make the decisions we make. It lets us reward and recognize departments and individuals who are getting it right. It helps us with physician integration. Read more...
The Power of Our Words
By Regina Shupe RN, MSN, CEN
February 15, 2012
What we say and the words we choose, has a tremendous impact on our patients. The right words can calm, comfort and reassure. The wrong words can produce anxiety and create confusion in a situation that is likely already stressful. Read more...
Being Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable
By Rich Bluni, RN
February 8, 2012
It's not fun being uncomfortable. Sometimes it's, well...uncomfortable. But what you cannot deny is that, in life, there is no progress, success, or achievement without some level of discomfort. Read more...
The Single Most Powerful Tactic for Creating Physician Engagement (and Three Ways to Make It Work Even Better)
By Julie Kennedy RN, BSN
February 1, 2012
Rounding for outcomes has become the gold standard for engaging our healthcare workforce and creating a "feedback conduit" for those who provide patient care. Read more...
How much is "a lot"?
By Quint Studer
December 15, 2011
The words "a lot" are often used to describe a perceived need or demand. When you hear them it's time to dig deeper. Without proper diagnosis the words can lead to unnecessary expense and unwarranted actions. Read more...
Are you holding leaders accountable for only 1/8 of the HCAHPS pie?
By Penelope Elebash
October 5, 2011
The words "a lot" are often used to describe a perceived need or demand. When you hear them it's time to dig deeper. Without proper diagnosis the words can lead to unnecessary expense and unwarranted actions. Read more...
Benchmarking 2.0: Taking It to the Next Level
By Quint Studer
September 23, 2011
It's true that value-based purchasing is creating more urgency around improving quality results. But what really drives people is the realization that by adopting and hardwiring a particular best practice they're not just moving numbers up. They're saving lives. Read more...
Minimize Last Minute Requests
By Quint Studer
September 14, 2011
Handling excessive last-minute requests essentially comes down to planning. Sure, on occasion, a situation will pop up where a last-minute task has to be completed, but by and large, last-minute problems can be avoided when the right amount of planning is done on the front end. Read more...
The Art and Science of Managing Up
by: Dan Smith, MD
August 31, 2011
At Studer Group®, we coach organizations to use "manage up" in a different way. To us, it's a statement by one member of the team that puts another member at an advantage in the eyes of the patient. So who "wins" here? In contrast to the "strictly business" use of the term in which the manager gets the win (and it might just trickle down to the employee), our "manage up" is designed so that everyone involved benefits. Read more...
CMS's Performance Period Has Begun. Are You Ready?
by:
Bekki Kennedy
July 13, 2011
July 1st was a critical milestone for hospitals. It's when the government's value-based purchasing performance period began. How much you improve in HCAHPS and Core Measures between that date and March 30th—only nine short months from right now—will directly impact your reimbursement for fiscal year 2013. Read more...
Enhancing Communication Skills for Physicians: Beyond the Fundamentals of AIDET to Build an Even More Effective Patient Care Experience
by:
Wolfram Schynoll, MD, FACEP
June 22, 2011
In the present-day medical era, patient perception of care has evolved to being dependent on the ability of the provider to match excellent clinical care quality with equally excellent communication quality. Read more...
Ten Questions to Make Excellence Stick
by: Bob Murphy, RN, Esq., FACHE
June 15, 2011
Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to make a new behavior or process stick? Whether we are changing our own behavior or that of dozens of employees, hardwiring a new behavior is very difficult. What if there was a diagnostic tool or assessment that could help you diagnose why a process has not been hardwired? Would you use it? Read more...
The Best Four Minutes Spent in Healthcare
by: Don Dean
June 8, 2011
These days the "performance" bar is really high for healthcare organizations. Health reform is placing heavy demands on us, in terms of both quality and patient perception of care, and those demands are linked to reimbursement. Read more...
Maximize Outcomes in a Transparent World
by: Quint Studer
June 1, 2011
Innovation is great. Imitation is even better—and faster. I urge industry leaders at all levels to join their peers at What's Right in Health Care and maximize your ability to achieve and sustain clinical, service, and operational excellence. Read more...
The Two Levels of Why
by Bob Murphy, RN, Esq., FACHE
May 25, 2011
The skill I wish I could teach to everyone is to connect to both the why (evidence-based) and my why (values-based). It is hard for me to argue with both evidence and my own values. Read more...
Reconnecting to the Stories
by: Kurt Larson, BA, MS
May 18, 2011
You've heard it many times: "Don't worry about the small stuff…and it is ALL small stuff." There is wisdom in those words, and we should take them to heart. Read more...
Stopping the Stress Cascade (Advice for Overwhelmed Leaders)
by: Quint Studer
May 11, 2011
Keeping people positive, focused, and productive is one of the most important responsibilities of leadership. When we achieve that, we equip our organizations to succeed in even the toughest environment. Read more...
Spinach in your Teeth Messages: The Art of Giving (and Receiving) Honest Feedback
by: Beth Keane, BA, MA
May 4, 2011
Most of us hear the word "feedback" and immediately translate it to "criticism." Few of us have an easy time either giving it or receiving it. We know in our heads that we need feedback; our hearts don't want to hear it. Read more...
Laboratory Professionals Get Results
by: Tonia Breckenridge
April 27, 2011
As we celebrate our profession and the contribution we make to patient care, let's focus on what we can do to make our workplace a great place to be. I'd like to suggest a few tips you can get started on this week—or at least get started thinking about! Read more...
In Praise of Followers
by: Quint Studer
April 20, 2011
The truth is, it doesn't really matter who comes up with an idea to make patient care better. It matters only that we do what we know leads to better patient care. After all, that's why we're all here. Read more...
Your Best Nurses Week Ever
by: Rich Bluni, RN
April 13, 2011
Sometimes, I find, it is good to think outside the box. But, it is even better to throw the box away and really try something different. After all, if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten! Read on for a few ways you can make this your best Nurses Week ever. Read more...
Narrating Care: Why the Words You Say Maximize the Impact of the Care You Provide
by: Quint Studer
April 6, 2011
Often after I do a speaking presentation, people will come up to me to ask questions and share steps they are taking to improve performance. Some of the saddest moments are when it’s evident that someone is working very hard to serve patients and it appears many of the right steps are being taken—but the objective results are not there. Read more...
The Art of Physician Courtship: Five Things Healthcare Leaders Can Do to Lay the Groundwork for Physician Integration
by: Quint Studer
April 4, 2011
It seems we in the healthcare industry constantly hear about the upcoming “marriage” between hospitals and physicians. And while it’s not yet clear exactly what form this partnership is going to take—ACOs, physician employment, or something else entirely—the people in suits and the people in white coats are about to get a whole lot closer. Read more...
What Physicians and Others Can Do to Celebrate National Doctors Day
by: Barbara Loeb, MD, MBA, CPE
March 30, 2011
Physicians do great work every day. I know and work with many extraordinary healers, and I see their dedication and diligence firsthand. And yet, so many of us (yes, I am a physician, too!) are so busy caring for our patients and our own families that we have little time to reflect on our own accomplishments. Fortunately, we have Doctors Day—today, March 30—as an opportunity to take a breather and consider what we do well…and what we might do better. Read more...
Three Ways Your ED Can Survive and Thrive in the Future
by: Stephanie Bakerr, RN, MBA, CEN
March 23, 2011
Last year, U.S. emergency departments served more than 119 million patients. Certainly, the tide will continue to rise in 2011. And with pay-for-performance on the horizon, the performance of your ED—the front door to the hospital—will be critical to your organization’s ability to survive and thrive throughout the rest of 2011 and beyond. Read more...
Effective Meetings: Two Powerful Communication Tips to Try Right Now
by: Quint Studer
March 16, 2011
What separates high performing individuals and groups from lower performing ones? Often there’s a simple answer: communication. Read more...
MORE Skills for a New Economy: A Message to All Employees
by: Quint Studer
March 2, 2011
In Part One, we discussed the need for employees to take ownership of their roles and the organization’s mission for all to gain sustainable excellence in the challenging times ahead. We explored ways employees at all levels can show their value across the organization and own their own development. Read more...
Skills for a New Economy: A Message to All Employees
by: Quint Studer
February 23, 2011
We are living and working in tough times. The healthcare industry is changing, budgets are shrinking, and a national emphasis on quality means our outcomes need to keep getting better and better. Read more...
Six Days of Suggestions to Keep the LOVE in February
by: Liz Jazwiec, RN
February 14, 2011
I love February! Want to know why? Well, first off, it means we’ve made it through January—and thank goodness, because January is always a tough month with the end of the holidays, putting away the decorations, paying the bills, ugghh…And then of course there is the January weather! Wow, this year has been awful with the record cold temperatures and terrible winter storms. I landed in Atlanta one day and saw big piles of snow on the runways…What’s up with that? So when February 1 rolled around, I said good riddance to January; now we are in the home stretch of winter. Read more...
How Much Evidence Is Enough?
by: Quint Studer
February 11, 2011
If it doesn’t directly impact clinical care, is it still worth doing? That’s the question I was recently asked while speaking to a physician group. Read more...
