Leadership structure changes are paying off

Editor's Note

This year several major healthcare systems reported changes to their respective leadership structures to improve efficiency, connectivity and patient care, such as creating new roles, eliminating others, and establishing new markets or regions with dedicated leadership teams. And these changes are proving beneficial, according to a December 16 news story in Becker’s Hospital Review.

Within one system the regional president role was eliminated and replaced with two roles instead to create a position for president of the acute care hospital division and a president of specialty hospitals and clinical services. The change is helping to enhance integrated patient care, streamline operations, and drive innovation, per the news article.

Another major healthcare organization restructured its leadership operating model to establish acute and ambulatory operating units, while also formalizing a regional structure. Their goals noted in the article included improving agility for system expansion to achieve targeted goals such as tailoring strategies to the unique needs of each community.

In the process, the system has been able to innovate at scale and focus digital health and artificial intelligence efforts where they have the most impact in supporting team members, improving quality, and expanding access.

A separate health system highlighted in the story shifted to a market-based operating model this year in which four market regions for its 12 hospitals were created, with each market having its own president.

One benefit to this shift noted by a healthcare executive from the system: dialogue among business units has increased significantly.