In the News

Julie Forster, columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, interviewed Mary Christensen and Damian Martin, Vice-President and co-founder, and crafted a feature article which was featured in the Pioneer Press on Sunday, June 14, 2009.  The article was entitled Executive-level help, STAT and Ms. Forster focused on the history of the organization as well as two current projects as viewed by the health care executives assigned by Experienced Resources.  To read the article in its entirety, click here or visit our web-site at www.flexgener.com.

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Leadership Perspectives on Health Care, 2009
Survey Results

As part of its work in support of health care organizations, Experienced Resources conducts and reports on the Leadership Perspectives on Health Care annually.  In 2009 the responses reflect nearly a 4-fold increase over the prior year.  This pool of participants allowed us to personally interview more than 20 leaders and discuss in detail their priorities and the actions they are taking to meet their current goals and objectives.

Our survey participants serve in C-level positions within large health care systems and as administrators of independent medical practices of all sizes and specialties.  In addition the group includes HR professionals, IT and finance executives, physicians, health plan executives and Board of Directors members.  In spite of valiant efforts to stay abreast of the constant changes in our environment, these leaders report limited opportunities to formally report their current priorities and to learn from the tactics and strategies utilized by their peers.   The goal of this survey is two-fold:  to gather data from top health care leaders relative to their current priorities and to offer them real-life information on experiments and solutions in place within other health care organizations. 

When asked to define the event that most influenced their perspective as they completed this survey in January and February, 2009 that event is the 778 point drop in the stock market on Monday, September 29, 2008.  The change in economic conditions as a result is evident throughout the responses of our 81 health care leaders. 

The compelling story this year is clearly around growth and survival, in a political climate described at best as unknown.  Phrases such as “revenue streams” abound in our conversations; in some cases relative to cutting back services that cannot pay their own way and other looking for new services to augment currently robust service lines.  It is clear that “business as usual” is not an option for our leaders and their organizations.

In both the survey results and the follow-up interviews, we heard a few phrases over and over again…uninsured patients, high deductibles, bad debt, government budget cuts, growing accounts receivable, rising write-offs, declining cash flow, reducing expenses, access to financing. 

The top 10 priorities for 2009 were defined as, reported here relative to the number of respondents that chose the priority as their #1 focus:

It seems apparent that the optimism of 2007 and early 2008 is far behind us and many organizations are engaging in tactics and strategies they have aptly avoided in the past.  Employee lay-offs, roll-backs in management compensation and an increasing emphasis on financial processes and procedures are seen as potential threats to clinical quality and patient satisfaction.  These are truly challenging times and “LEAN and mean” is the reality of today’s health care environment. 

On the brighter side, there is a call for the highest level of competency in our leaders and they are responding with creativity and courage.  Leaders are engaging in decision making that exceeds the complexity of that they have faced in the past.  Many have an optimistic attitude and welcome the challenges ahead.  Clarity, nimbleness, taking risks, becoming more political involved and sustaining hope were cited as secrets to continued success.

To view in-depth results and analysis of this year’s results, visit our web-site at www.flexgener.com. 

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Book Review
Suggested Reading

Leadership on Demand, How Smart CEO’s Tap Interim Management to Drive Revenue
Charles Besondy and Paul Travis
Edited by Theresa Heath

Have you been unsure how an interim executive could enhance your leadership team?  Have you read all about the changing work force and yet are unclear how to maximize on this changing environmental factor? 

Besondy, in a chapter entitled Knowing When it’s Time for an Alternative Solution, cites the following situations where interim leadership can be cost-effective and successful:

1.  A significant revenue or marketing event is in jeopardy
2.  Totally new strategies or programs must be implemented to tested
3.  A gap exists in a key position
4.  A specific skill set is needed, but not permanently
5.  Additional bandwidth needed, but not permanently
6.  Objectivity in a leadership position would be beneficial, especially during strategic planning
7.  Hands-on coaching and training is required to elevate skill and process knowledge of existing staff

The book makes a number of compelling arguments for the wisdom of utilizing “just-in-time” leadership in each of the above circumstances and in both small/early stage and large/established organizations.  While many of their practical applications are relative to marketing and sales executives, the concepts apply to any leadership role.

Chapter 3, Bridging Gaps during the Search for a Permanent Hire, authored by Paul Travis, does an exemplary job of speaking to the ROI of adding interim staff during a transition in your leadership team.  He views the decision of whether or not to add interim executives as a bet to be made – on how long the permanent search will take, how long it will take the new hire to come up to full working capacity and the intangible costs associated with the transition itself.

In contrast, and just as importantly, Travis addresses When Not to Use an On-Demand Leader later in the book.  Some organizational cultures simply will not accommodate this model and others may have a strong preference for the more traditional consulting model over the interim “on-the-job” executive. 

Some of the most interesting aspects of this book are those that address how to choose the right person (along with what you should expect to pay) and what to do with them once they report for work in your organization.  Included are Tips for Scoping the Engagement, particularly useful for those using this model for the first time.  They address the imperative of a clear and documented understanding the outcomes expected as well as the time line for progress throughout the project. 

The book ends with their Top 10 Takeaways which provides a nice synopsis of the earlier chapters. Their web-site at http://leadership-on-demand.com/ includes biographies of the authors as well as additional information on the book.

Leadership on Demand, How Smart CEO’s Tap Interim Management to Drive Revenue
By Charles Besondy and Paul Travis
Edited by Theresa Heath
Published by LOD Publishing, LLC
2008

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Experienced Resources in the Community

Mary Christensen, President and co-founder, attended the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Women’s Health Leadership Trust, held May 28, 2009 at Midland Hills Country Club in Roseville. 

On May 29, 2009, Damian Martin, Vice-President and co-founder, attended Transform 2010 – Preparing Minnesota for the age wave, part of the Boomers Mean Business (BMB) forums.  These forums explored important policy options and leading edge efforts to help MN prepare for the coming age wave.

Mary Christensen addressed the Lee Hecht Harrison LHH Corporate Recruiters Forum on June 17, 2009, speaking on the topic “Recruiting the Experienced Worker”.  The audience included HR leaders from varying industries.

On June 24, 2009, Mary Christensen, participated in a panel presentation at Right Management addressing their group of executives in transition.  The topic was “Traversing Careers”.

Mary Christensen, President, attended the Minnesota Hospital Association’s summer trustee conference Charting a New Course for Trustee Governance held July 10-12, 2009 at Arrowwood Resort.  Workshops included “Ensuring Leadership Continuity” and “Hospital-Physician Alignment”.

On July 21, 2009, Mary Christensen spoke on “Leadership Perspectives on Health Care, 2009” to the DEED Workforce Development group which serves health care industry professionals in career transition.

Mary Christensen, President, and Edith Swiatek, Health Care Executive and Vice President of Talent Development attended the summer conference of the Minnesota Medical Group Management Association in Rochester July 29 – 31.  This year’s theme was Learn from the Past…Embrace the Future.

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From our Project Portfolio:

Recent Experienced Resources project include:

PROJECT:  Interim Chief Financial Officer
CLIENT:  Rural health care provider with acute care hospital and multiple site clinics.
RESULTS:

• Successfully performed role of CFO in a time of change and leadership transition
• Significantly improved budgeting process though identification of improvement opportunities
• Moved forward with process improvement activities in the business office
• Reduced Accounts Receivable
• Completed annual audit and budget in timely manner
• Improved relationship between business office and employees

CLIENT COMMENTS:

• “Exactly the person we needed; provided a steady, guiding hand. He saved us a year of headaches.”

PROJECT:  Electronic Health Records Project Management
CLIENT:  Rural health care provider with acute care hospital and multiple site clinics
RESULTS:

• Successful implementation of EHR including 2009 and 2010 budget
• Directed implementation of prioritized projects
• Improved communication of IT projects throughout staff, improving inter-department relationships
• Improved communication, customer service and leadership skills of IT manager through successful coaching and mentoring

CLIENT COMMENTS:

• “Actually delivered results, improved integrity of the department.  Experienced Resources provided key people at the key time. They became part of our team.”

PROJECT:  Health Plan Contracting Renewal Strategy
CLIENT:  Urban acute care hospital
RESULTS:

• Successfully Completed Negotiation with health plans
• Able to leverage skills that were not internal to organization and effectively complete difficult task
• Developed valuable market information for informed decision making
• Exceeded cost savings goal

CLIENT COMMENTS:

• “Very pleased with the success of this project; received good advice on market information.  The Experienced Resources professional was able to advance things quickly.”

Click here to view our Project Portfolio