Hospital leaders are feeling increasing pressure to find ways to thrive in our changing healthcare system. A C-suite that is removed from daily hospital operations is a liability in this era of process improvement and hands-on progress. 

Here are four characteristics hospital leaders need to move forward successfully:

1. Process-driven

Hospitals are very process-driven. Effective hospital leaders understand this and utilize processes to reduce waste and enhance patient safety, from cafeteria workflow to the complex treatment course of a patient undergoing open-heart surgery. In addition, quality-focused hospital leaders implement processes for continuous improvement that start on the frontline and feed back up to management.

Struggling hospitals often have difficulty devoting resources to process-driven quality improvement rather than expansion of services, additional salaries, and marketing campaigns. They have a hard time seeing the value of investing in sustainable internal quality improvement.

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