Healthcare leaders today are working in a dynamic, complex environment with more challenges and demands than ever before. Working in silos is no longer an option for successful organizations, meaning new partnerships must evolve across the continuum of care all the way to the C-Suite level.
Issues including stronger competition, technology advancements and the shift from volume to value-based care, are leading healthcare executives to become better networked, more team-centric and a great deal more flexible. To achieve success in today’s healthcare environment and to be agile enough to address cross-disciplinary challenges, a hospital’s top leaders must act as one with the best interests of the organization and the patients at the forefront.
Forward thinking senior leaders have recognized that they must step out of the traditional function of their roles and work as a team to achieve strategic goals. Some vital areas where successful organizations are building new partnerships among C-Suite leaders include:
- Innovation
- Patient Experience
- Growth
- Quality
Innovation
In order to keep up with the rapid pace of change, it is critical for healthcare organizations to innovate. In the past, new services or processes would begin with the CEO or COO and move down the chain. Today, innovation often begins as a front-line movement and works its way up after a new need or opportunity is identified. Additionally, Chief Clinical Officers, Informatics Executives, and Chiefs of Data Analytics are frequently brought in to optimize and align new strategies.
Patient Experience
The patient is in the driver’s seat like never before, requiring more information and easier access. As healthcare teams come together to meet the needs of the evolving patient populations, it is now clear that the patient experience is not wholly owned by the clinical team. Each aspect of the patient’s engagement with the healthcare organization is important – everything from admissions, to treatment, to billing and follow-up. This has created partnerships between the Chief of Ancillary Services, the Chief Clinical Officer, the Chief Finance Officer and billing executives, and has led to the development of new executive positions dedicated to collaborating across departments to build a successful patient experience from start to finish.
Growth
To gain a competitive edge in healthcare today, on-going growth initiatives are crucial. However, success in this market is now defined by earning your market share, marking the shift from price-extractive growth to value-based growth and getting bigger by being better. In order to gain market share through superior performance, C-Suite leaders are working together to improve their care offerings and care delivery at every level. From the Chief Human Resources Officer to the Chief Operating Officer to the Chief Clinical Officer to data management, executives are identifying new success factors, new target strategies and even adding new C-Suite leaders to drive their growth missions.
Quality
It has become evident that a culture focused on quality is a culture that relies on data. Improving quality is not a clinically-owned initiative any longer; rather, it is a shared responsibility between departments, now led by the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Information Officer, the Chief Nursing Officer and frontline staff. These partnerships have helped put an onus on quality improvement initiatives as a ‘must-have’ for any successful organization.
As C-Suite partnerships and structures continue to evolve to meet the needs of the industry, new roles are emerging. In the last five years, the industry has seen rapid growth for Chief Innovation Officers, Chief Information Security Officers, Chief Learning Officers and Chief Nursing Informatics Officers. These new leaders must also integrate with the tried-and-true C-Suite leadership positions to successful move an organization forward.
To learn more about how to recruit top-tier leaders for your organization and to discuss strategies for building the C-Suite team that will move your organization forward, contact the Cejka Search team.
