Jill Geisler: 8 ways to lead a team, not a silo
Have you ever worked in an organization where departments or divisions don’t get along well? You might assume it’s caused by old grudges or personality conflicts. But take a closer look. It’s often a leadership issue — and specifically when leaders may have allowed or even encouraged their staff to work as a silo instead…
HFMA member Michael Bumann shares experience as Burning Man medic
Thanks to unprecedented heavy rain, thousands who attended the 2023 Burning Man event Aug. 27-Sept. 4 in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert found themselves literally stuck in the mud. For HFMA member Michael Bumann, it was a transformative experience. Bumann, of Olympic Valley, California, is the founder and CEO of RedDot, a company that specializes in…
David Johnson: Right-sizing physician training? The case for surgical mechanics
American healthcare reputedly confronts a monumental physician shortage. A highly publicized 2021 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) forecasts that shortage to be as high as 180,000 physicians by 2034.a That’s out of a total population of roughly one million physicians. A breathless commentary on the AAMC report by the American Medical Association…
Andrew Donahue: 4 reasons results of the 2024 election won’t matter for healthcare
There is a strange and underappreciated truth at the top of the American political system: Our president is remarkably powerless. Except in the realms of foreign policy, executive agency action and judicial branch appointments, the president’s policy agenda is rarely guided by intention. Rather, it is defined by limitation. Savvy presidents learn quickly that their…
How to design a national strategy to end the healthcare workforce crisis
Signs that the United States is in the midst of a healthcare workforce crisis are everywhere: A mounting national problem While exacerbated by the pandemic, the crunch has built for decades. The biggest driver is demographics: By 2029, one in four Americans will be 65 or older, translating into declining labor force participation, including in…
Susan Dentzer: Is consolidation in healthcare the work of modern-day robber barons — or the result of overdue reengineering?
The most successful industrialists of America’s Gilded Age were often skewered by contemporary critics as being robber barons. A new generation of naysayers wants to recycle the old rhetoric, this time targeting organizations focused on healthcare: The critics’ clear message: Big money is helping healthcare get bigger, and it’s a bad deal all around. Many…
Dennis Dahlen: It’s time to stop dragging our feet on generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a tool that a recent study found is “nearly as good as recent med school graduates” at making clinical decisions, and it’s having a breakout year across industries, a McKinsey analysis shows.1 Yet few healthcare leaders have a strategy for solutions like ChatGPT — and it’s past time to develop…
Phoenix Children’s selects Michelle Bruhn as new CFO
Phoenix Children’s — Arizona’s only freestanding children’s hospital — recently hired Michelle Bruhn, CPA, as executive vice president and CFO. In the new position, Bruhn will oversee finance, treasury, revenue cycle and managed care contracting as well as be directly responsible for fiscal policy, performance goals and planning. Bruhn most recently served as executive vice…
Is consolidation in healthcare the work of modern-day robber barons — or the result of overdue reengineering?
he most successful industrialists of America’s Gilded Age were often skewered by contemporary critics as being robber barons. A new generation of naysayers wants to recycle the old rhetoric, this time targeting organizations focused on healthcare: The critics’ clear message: Big money is helping healthcare get bigger, and it’s a bad deal all around. Many…
HCA CFO, William Rutherford, says healthcare finance leaders should have a patient focus
To be able to consistently perform at the highest levels, health system CFOs must have a strong commitment to clear and specific guiding principles. So says William Rutherford, CPA, CFO and executive vice president of Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare, the largest healthcare system (by gross and net revenues) in the United States. And for Rutherford,…