Providers and Patients Unsettled with Health Care Changes

At virtual summit, industry leaders collaborate on ‘era of disruption’

Published: Monday, March 5, 2012 - 17:16

Industry experts at Guidon Performance Solutions’ Second Annual Virtual Healthcare Summit agreed that health care organizations’ ability to survive their increasingly demanding and changing environment will require a new agility and adaptability. Consensus from the speakers signaled that most health care systems are unprepared to cope with the ongoing change.

Speakers described the pressures on cost and care as the most challenging management issues since the Industrial Revolution. Attended online by more than 300 participants, the summit featured health-care thought leaders from across the country who shared insights and best practices from diverse sectors within health care.

“There is a higher urgency to find creative ways to streamline the delivery of care and services,” says Ron Wince, Guidon’s president and CEO and summit host. “Wince suggested that most health care organizations are not prepared to cope with the pace of change, and depend on legacy practices that no longer work.

Mark Kestner, M.D., managing director of Synovation Health Collaborative, called for increasing physician engagement to improve patient outcomes and the urgency of improving communications within and between health care organizations. He stressed the importance of wholesale diffusion of innovation to all players in the health care community to reduce costs and improve the quality of care.

Jeffrey Thompson, M.D., CEO of Gundersen Lutheran Health System, outlined the quality of life advantages when the medical community and family members actively seek patients’ input and conduct advanced care planning that integrates the voice of the patient into the care process.

Other speakers included Vincent Frakes, federal policy director at the Center for Health Transformation; Lisa Paulsen, co-creator of Stand Up To Cancer; Doug McKinley, Psy.D., founder and president of McKinley Leadership; Mitchell Ackerman, health care services market development lead at Océ Business Solutions; and Kesava Nagar-Anthal, Ph.D., director of marketing and performance solutions at bioMérieux.

Guidon, a management consulting firm specializing in business performance improvement, launched the virtual summit format last year to provide an easily accessible national forum to exchange best practices from thought leaders in the health care industry. This year’s summit consisted of eight separate webinars presented by senior industry thought leaders. The program featured case studies and forward-thinking solutions on how other organizations are currently achieving performance excellence in health care in a highly disruptive environment.

The summit will be archived through the end of May. To access the summit, watch the archived presentations, or get copies of white papers and case studies provided during the event, click here.

About The Author

Guidon Performance Solutions LLC

Guidon Performance Solutions LLC a management consulting firm specializing in business performance improvement and growth, pioneered the combined application of lean and Six Sigma in the service sector. Guidon serves clients in financial services, health care, government, retail, technology, and other service organizations. Guidon provides strategic direction and hands-on implementation to guide cultural and organizational transformation. Guidon’s approach, aligned with client leadership, generates measurable results including revenue growth, cost reduction, productivity improvement, increased customer satisfaction, and innovation.