A change of Culture for Healthcare

Today the management of culture within healthcare is becoming more and more important. It is now viewed as a necessary part of the health system reform. In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service (NHS) reforms are based on the premise that any major cultural transformation of an organization must be secured alongside structural and procedural change, this in turn will deliver improvements in both quality and performance.

Culture change can be seen as a lever for performance improvements. The industry is well aware of the limitations of a mangeralist perspective. A new Committee of healthcare specialists believe that culture change within the industry must be targeted in one of two ways. Their first objective is to ‘do what you do better’. The Next Generation Healthcare Committee will meet at the NGH Summit in Miami.

“Many commercial organizations maintain a competitive edge by pursuing a policy of cultural continuity’, they capitalize on the lessons, working practices and traditions that have worked for their company in the past, for this to work they focus on the growth or reproduction and repetition”

The second option is to look towards qualitative growth, this is a more appropriate option in a situation where the existing culture has become stale and a complete overhaul is required. This is also the position that the US healthcare system has found itself in.

“Second order change is often invoked in response to a growing crisis or deficiency in the existing culture, which cannot be addressed adequately by a change in culture but rather demands a fundamental change of culture. If politicians and management gurus are to be believed, health systems in many countries stand perennially on the threshold of such fundamental change.”

After seeing high profile reports in the US which have documented gross medical errors, policy thinking is embracing the notion of culture change as a key element of health system redesign. Jeff Rose – VP Clinical Excellence, Informatics, Ascension Health wishes to address the committee on the principles published as A Leadership Framework for Culture Change in Health Care. He believes it is key to outline the core elements, or ‘5 C's' of culture change needed to move the US towards the adoption of new tools and processes in healthcare that enhance care quality and provider adoption in the interest of high reliability environments. It gives a simple and readily recalled set of principles by which the traditions and resistance of many healthcare organizations can be both led and managed by caregivers and executives so that expenditures on technology, information and evidence availability, collaborative processes and principles of high reliability human factors can speed our mutual journey to highest quality lowest cost medical practices in our rapidly changing world of technology, incentives and regulations.

Jeff Rose will be joined by representatives from Cleveland Clinic - Martin Harris, Chairman of IT Division and CIO, Catholic Health East - Mike McCoy, CMIO, MedStar Health - Gerard Burns, CMIO, Sentara Healthcare - David Levin, CMIO and VP Medical Informatics and Ascension Health - Jeffrey Rose, VP Clinical Excellence, Informatics.

Appeals for culture change in health systems have been a long time coming it is now key to draw upon a belief that culture is related to organizational performance. Are organizational cultures capable of being shaped by external manipulation? If so, what strategies are available to managers wishing to encourage an appropriate organizational culture?

Senates Unemployment Benefits Fail US

Over the last week there have been countless stories covering the filibustering on the unemployment extension legislation. The Senate's fourth attempt this month to pass an extension of federal unemployment benefits failed a cloture vote. The standalone bill would have extended benefits for six months. But how do HR departments deal with the concerns over the influx of applications for roles and employee concerns?

As the economy begins to improve, thanks to government pay outs, companies are once again beginning to re-grow staffing levels. The demand for highly skilled staff is at an all time high and recruiters can at last pick and choose from record breaking numbers of applicants. Companies, such as those who are set to make up the NG HR US committee, are now focusing on doing more with less, attracting and retaining talent. Those leading companies who rode the wave of the economic crash also want to achieve a positive work life balance to ensure both sustainability and growth in order to remain competitive.

“It was a commitment that we made, because keeping people focused on creative work and keeping people focused on innovation, inherently requires them to take risks. In an environment where people are fearful they will not take risks, and we just cannot afford to let the creativity or innovation that drives this entire company in any way be affected by the uncertainty and fear that the outside world has created over the last 18 months.” Dan Satterthwaite – Head of HR for DreamWorks
Executives such as Capital One’s Brian Gruber, VP HR Technology, Coca-Cola Enterprises - Pam Kimmet, SVP HR, McDonald's - Rich Floersch, EVP HR, Virgin America - Frances Fiorillo, SVP People, Hilton Worldwide - Matthew Schuyler, Chief HR Officer will be speaking out at the NG HR US summit (hosted by GDS International) on the challenges they are faced with in the US; they state that the key to formulating a successful organization is aligning both HR and organizational strategy while minimizing costs.

“The most important asset a company has is its manpower, and as the economy begins to bounce back, the war for talent will be more prevalent than ever. In order to remain competitive, forward thinking companies must stay ahead of the game and implement strategies and solutions that address these pressing challenges.”

Capital One representative also argued that there will be an increased rise in the use of software-as-service products within HR. This will take more than 20 percent of market share by the end of 2010, with challenging implications for well-known ERP suppliers such as Oracle and SAP. Cheaper, more flexible systems that are easier to set up and use can only be good news for HR professionals and help them to automate processes and focus on more strategic goals.

The last 18 months have been full of trials and tribulations for most CHRO’s (Chief Human Resource Officers). They were at the front and center of their companies’ crucial cost cutting initiatives, in part leading to the debates over the recent refusal of the unemployment extension legislation it will now be down to them to capitalize on the business opportunities from the improved economic environment.

Fuel for thought: Total e&p and Aspect Energy CEOs head to Englewood, Colorado

Brian Rovelli, President and CEO of Total e&p Research and Technology USA, LLC, and Stephen Lipari, President and CEO AASLAP/EVP Aspect Energy have both confirmed attendance at the Next Generation Oil and Gas Summit in June.

The summit, which will begin on June 3rd at The Inverness Hotel in Colorado, has been organised for Oil and Gas visionaries to combat the economic crisis and unite in this unreliable climate.

The question has been asked by many. Was the oil and gas industry to blame for the economic downfall? Accused of limiting supply to increase demand and therefore making prices rise, has lead to small businesses failing, subsequently contributing to the crumble in the financial world.

But with its multi-billion pound infrastructure can the Oil and Gas sector lead the economic turnaround?

Mr. Rovelli and Mr. Lipari are two of the most influential men in the sector. Their audience and peers will consist of many other industry leaders, whose decisions and business models in the coming years will shape the way the United States faces the energy crisis, the Obama administration’s regulations and decisions, and the relationship with oil-rich countries abroad.

Amongst this group are BG Group Head of Well Engineering John de Lange, Bill Barett Corporation Onshore Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Executive Wilfred Roux, Bonanza Creek Energy EVP of Engineering and Planning Gary Grove, and Ellora Energy’s Vice President of Exploration Valerie Walker. These industry veterans and many others will spend three days discussing the major issues that will shape the most vital of topics. If targets are achieved, with a large investment and unity amongst the sector, new innovation could pave the way to an economic upturn.

Candidate for US Senate wows elite Oil & Gas delegates at the NG O&G Summit

Commissioner Elizabeth Jones, a recognised leader in the field of energy supply, and recently announced candidate for the US Senate, wowed an audience of top Oil & Gas executives at the Next Generation Oil & Gas Summit last week in Colorado.

The Commissioner¹s policies are well-known throughout the industry, and she impressively oversees the Texas¹s energy supply, which is key to America¹s economical stability.
Last week¹s meeting was focused around Jones¹s political hurdles with the Obama Administration and the issues she faces in developing America¹s energy security by advancing domestic energy resources as an alternative to Obama¹s wish to outsource supplies from other countries. Her focus appears to be on the need to support the industry and the state during the unstable economic climate, and in turn create more jobs for US citizens.

As a fourth generation family member in energy supply, her passion and drive were a mere catalyst at the summit for Oil & Gas visionaries including John de Lange, Head of Well Engineering at BG Group; John t¹Hart, VP of Exploration at Talisman Energy; Juan Uribe, Manager Global Operations Upstream at Repsol; and Jay Still, EVP Domestic Operations at Pioneer Natural Resources. This esteemed group discussed new ways to deliver energy across America with technology leaders from CSC, Dupont, Landmark, Deep Down and MDA Geospatial.

Influential thinkers like Commissioner Elizabeth Jones are now stepping up to the challenge, and willing to take on the responsibility of America¹s energy supply by discussing political and economical ideas with other thought leaders. Platforms like the Colorado summit need to become available to the industry¹s figureheads for discussions to occur more frequently.

It is not very often that leaders of this calibre in the Oil & Gas industry can gather in one place. It is even more rare that a state can be held up as an example for the rest of America as Jones has done with Texas.
The question is ¬ will the US utilise these innovative ideas effectively in order to create a self-sufficient domestic energy supply, or will one of the richest economies in the world ultimately have to depend on smaller, less developed regions in order to survive?