The Hidden Cost of Missed Opportunities in Healthcare

 What opportunities are hospitals missing out on due to their attitudes about risk? I have worked in the hospital setting since I was 20 years old (which was ... many .... years ago). Sure, I’ve had some frustrations when it comes to the inability to get things done, but I think we’ve all been there at one time or another.  Now that I work with hospitals, rather than in them, it has become clear where the root of some of these challenges lie. Let’s look deeper at one issue I see at almost every hospital I visit.

There is a certain reluctance among Directors and VP level employees when it comes to taking risks on a new idea or solution. I see it sometimes when they're introduced to Pulsara, but I want to be clear that this isn’t about Pulsara as much as it is about the environment where leaders are stifled.

Healthcare is in serious need of strong leadership as well as a culture that places high value on innovation. As a trend in the U.S. currently, these Director/VP level leaders are in a really tight spot and it too often leads to paralysis. The pervasive mindset in healthcare is "don’t take risk!" Often people in these roles see every decision as one decision away from a mistake that could damage or even end their career. They will only move forward with a decision when they are certain of success, and honestly, how often does this happen? Even when they are faced with decisions that are low risk, are they really going to be high reward at the same time? Highly unlikely. 

This kind of organizational stink is toxic to innovation and, in my experience, it originates with leadership. The executive leadership doesn’t look at the dozens of decisions that are made everyday to do nothing. What would happen if healthcare leaders held their direct reports accountable for the opportunities they missed? What kind of impact would this have on the organization and patient care?

In the current environment, if a leader/employee passes on an incredible business changing idea, nobody will ever know. No RISK, no GAIN, but let me be clear ... there are consequences that we are ignoring. These consequences will haunt your organization, but you will never know exactly why you're falling behind other facilities. It will come across as a failure to launch or you’ll have trouble keeping up with the pace of change that our fast paced world demands. Here are a few examples of how the employees will behave in an organization like this.

• Silence - Your employees will let you, and one another, make bad decisions. They will withhold valuable information that could make or break your business out of fear of being wrong or too bold.
• Blame Game - When things go bad there isn’t a focus on why. It’s all about who will be held responsible for the blunder. People aren’t stupid … If they put off important decisions, they will never get the blame.
• Information Hoarding - Information is power, and employees will keep their cards close to their chest. My information can be used against me if things don’t work out, but it can’t if I stay quiet.
• Status Quo - Not only are you comfortable with the status quo, you encourage & reward it.

Hospitals are notorious for being behind the times. We think that we are cutting edge when we are forced to purchase an EMR. It’s mind blowing to think that the hospitals who are really leading the pack purchased an EMR that was created in 1979 and it’s now 2016. If we are trying to solve today’s problems with 30+ year old technology, where will tomorrow’s solutions come from? Pulsara’s biggest competitor is a pager … yes, a pager. A device that was created in 1960 is at the center of life and death situations.

If you are a leader in the healthcare industry, encourage your people to take risk to solve problems that are plaguing our industry. I’m not suggesting that everything should be a Hail Mary or a moonshot. There are people in your organization right now who know how to solve your problems, but perhaps are too afraid to say anything. You don’t need yet another consultant, you need to tap into the best resource that you have - your people.