Healthcare Reform; A Moving Target?
The fundamental changes required by healthcare reform are going to be implemented regardless of the fate of the Act itself. If provider organizations are to thrive in this new world, accountability, innovation and personal commitment to quality care for consumers and patients must be fomented everywhere in our organizations. Creating a culture with these attributes is the challenge facing healthcare administrators everywhere.
When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed it became apparent that this legislation would require most healthcare organizations to make radical changes to their service array and in many cases, their business model. Few provider organizations however have made the sort of initial steps required to prepare for the massive change that is coming. Recently this lack of bold action seems justified in the face of threats to the Act’s implementation.
However, if one looks past the law itself, it can be seen that there are several trends, driven by the necessity of reducing cost and improving quality that call for major changes; regardless of whether the proposed Medicaid expansion occurs:
1. A demand to provide measurable, high-performing, prevention, early intervention, recovery and wellness oriented services and supports
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2. The necessity to provide behavioral health services on par with primary care, driven by mental health parity regulations.
3. The Person Centered Medical Home calls for a thorough coordination and integration of all specialty care services with primary care
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4. The introduction of lower cost models of care ranging from peer operated services to physician assistants.
5. Payers will pay, not just for services, but for patient outcomes, requiring a shift from compliance to process to accountability for results.
Because human nature resists change, healthcare administrators must grow their ability to inspire change. We must become masters of change; not merely able to accept change but to initiate it. It requires that the leaders of our organizations develop the ability to unify staff, management and boards into cohesive teams that are committed to this reality. These challenges would be considerable for any service sector to overcome. Healthcare carries an added cultural burden: A long history of services structured to support compliance mandates, typically from external funding and accreditation agencies has left us with organizational cultures driven by compliance. This compliance culture is a tremendous barrier to the creativity and unification this game change requires. The changes outlined above require a cultural transformation from the compliance model to one driven by individual commitment; from which entrepreneurial creativity, personal accountability, and innovation flows.
PMP has a methodical, systematic program that unfolds over several months to support the development of an organizational culture that can support the innovation necessary for reform, and unify the team. We guarantee it.
