Can’t We All Just Get Along

It seems that everywhere we look lately, an unwillingness to compromise is bringing progress to a halt. I think that’s because so many folks view an individual or organization’s willingness to seek common ground as a sign of weakness or failure. I would argue, however, that the decision to seek compromise is actually the hallmark of strong leadership.

Think about it. Whether you are negotiating with a team member or competitor, your decision to come to the table and work things out signifies that you are willing to put personal feelings aside and do what is best for your organization and your customers. Compromise offers additional benefits as well, including building trust, gaining greater insight into employees or competitors, the opportunity to lead by example and obtaining a deeper understanding of the challenges you face.

And so, I encourage you to look at compromising as an opportunity instead of a threat. Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind while you are working to find common ground:

• Listen not to answer, but to really hear: openly listen to the other side and you will learn something invaluable
• Know your limits and those of others: come to the table knowing what you are willing to agree to and where you will draw your line in the sand
• Think of new solutions: maybe it is not either or; perhaps the answer lies in a new opportunity or solution
• Understand the consequences: make sure you have a handle on the repercussions of walking away without reaching a deal 
• Keep it positive and professional: regardless of the outcome, at the end of the day your reputation and how others view you matters 

The bottom line is that compromising has its advantages and is critical to leadership success. And who knows, you might just gain more than you give.

An amendment that would hurt hospital care

This month, the future of health care in Florida will be in the hands of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission when it decides whether to place the fate of the Certificate of Need program on the November ballot.

While most Floridians have never heard of CON, this regulation has a tremendous impact on the health and well-being of all of the state’s residents. In simple terms, the CON program is a regulatory process designed to limit health care costs and promote planning for new health care services and facilities.

Some elected officials would like to see CON repealed, arguing that deregulating health care would reduce costs and improve quality. I, along with a large majority of my colleagues, disagree. While deregulation may lower costs in a free market, it’s important to remember that hospitals don’t operate in a free market. We don’t set the cost of our services, and we treat everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

We believe that deregulating health care is not good for our community and state. It could trigger a chain reaction that would cause three problems for residents: an increase in health care costs, a decline in the quality of care and a decrease in access to care.

I am the first to admit that CON is a complex issue. It can certainly be hard to understand in a snappy sound bite, and even harder to imagine how it could affect you and your family. So, let’s consider it from the patient’s perspective and examine what things could look like in Florida if CON is repealed:

Scenario 1

Stephanie comes to the hospital to have an outpatient knee replacement procedure performed after the repeal of CON. While CON was in place, her insurer had a set rate it paid for the procedure. But without CON, an influx of new providers could pour into the community and force significant consolidation — meaning health systems could add a number of hospitals across a geographic area, allowing them to negotiate higher reimbursement rates from insurance companies. This higher insurance cost could be passed along to Stephanie through premiums and deductibles. At the end of the day, she could actually pay more for her procedure in a post-CON world. This is the increase in cost of care.

Scenario 2

Mike schedules his brain surgery at his local hospital, an institution he knows and trusts. However, if CON goes away, the number of these surgeries that the hospital performs may drop dramatically. Imagine going from more than 2,000 brain surgeries each year to half as many because new rival hospitals in town do the same procedures. If cases decrease, the hospital’s medical team won’t work together as often. The number of procedures a medical team conducts correlates to quality and outcomes. An increase in volume equates to a higher quality; it’s the old adage practice makes perfect. Lower volume potentially means lower quality. This is the decline in quality of care.

Scenario 3

Patty is having a baby, but she might not be able to go to her local hospital to deliver because the hospital could be forced to discontinue its obstetrics program. With CON in place, many hospitals cross-subsidize obstetrics programs with more profitable programs. But if CON is repealed, the decrease in patient volume and revenue from those services could force the hospital to eliminate several services that make little or no money, including those needed by Patty. This is the decrease in access to care.

As you can see, the repeal of CON has the potential to negatively impact Floridians in a variety of ways. The bottom line is that everyone in our community deserves access to the best, most affordable health care and CON helps to ensure that.

In the Space

When it comes to social media, I strongly believe it can be used as an effective tool for communication. My active engagement on LinkedIn and the way I use my blog as a vehicle to disseminate thoughts on various topics is a clear example of that.

As a result, I read with great interest a recent interview with four health care influencers in Becker’s Hospital Review on the power of social media. It specifically discussed how they leverage technology to communicate more effectively.

As I read the interviews with Dr. Josh Luke, Chris Van Gorder, Dave Chase and Don Larsen - all four of whom are incredibly active in the health care social media space - I was struck by the collective similarities in their insights as well as how they mirrored my own. My takeaway was that engagement with social media offers the following benefits:

• Promotes transparency: gives readers insight into how ‘the sausage is made’.

• Enables connection with colleagues regardless of geography: you can form an ongoing relationship with thought leaders from across the country.

• Allows sharing of best practices and serves as a platform to test drive ideas: here you can engage your network on initiatives you are considering prior to implementation. Learnings that come from this can save you from failures down the road.

• Provides up-to-date insight on trends in the field: for many of us, Twitter followers and LinkedIn connections are like ‘having a personalized research staff’.

• Offers up a vessel to disseminate health care information much more efficiently: for policy issues, there is nothing more powerful than being able to share information and your stance on an issue via social media.

Like my colleagues, I realize that the first foray into engaging with social media for professional communication can be a bit daunting, but once adopted, there is no denying that it’s a professional tool that can offer tremendous benefits.