Thursday, February 16, 2012

What Keeps CEOs Up At Night?

"What keeps a CEO up at night?" That was the question Jonathan Evans, Chief Executive Officer of Safe Harbor Behavioral Health posed—and answered—this morning in his opening keynote address, What Does It Take To Be A CEO In The Current Health Care Market? all members, at the 2012 OPEN MINDS Best Management Practices institute in Florida.

So in the midst of our current health care market, what is it that really keeps the CEOs of service provider organization up at night? According to Mr. Evans:

• The continual accounts receivables battle

• The changing environment in HR and employment law

• The unfunded regulatory requirement of the month

• My Compliance Officer

• The Psychiatrists

In his keynote, Mr. Evans discussed all of these concerns – and the best antidotes to the problems. So how can you, as a CEO, find a way to deal with these types of issues in your organization?

Mr. Evans had several great recommendations that I think can benefit any executive in working in the health care market today:

1. Have a passion for your mission – and a strategy for how your organization can adapt and evolve to meet the challenges of the current market without straying from that mission.

2. Find the humor in your environment. Undoubtedly, serving consumers can be stressful, and it is always beneficial to you and your staff to find the humor where you can.

3. Always hire the right people. Inadequate staff lead to poor outcomes, so be sure that you are paying rigorous attention to the attitude of your staff and how well people fit with your organization's culture and performance requirements.

4. Avoid anecdotal decision making. The ability to make decisions based on the availability of real-time data through your EHR system is invaluable to a CEO in a changing market.

5. Just say no to reimbursement rates that are inadequate. Provider organizations are often reluctant to say no to providing services; but if you accept unsustainable rates, you won't be able stay in business and continue providing services to the consumers that need you.

So what is it that keeps you up at night? And what advice do you have for your fellow executives in the market? Tell us your thoughts at openminds@openminds.com. And if you couldn't join us this year, check out the Best Management Practices Institute website for updates on the institute – and be sure to mark your calendars for next year's institute in Clearwater Beach, Florida on February 14-15, 2013.

Sincerely,
Sarah C. Threnhauser
Executive Vice President, OPEN MINDS

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For another free resource, see: Managers Need to 'Make The Mission The Boss' all members 

This is free for the next sixty days to all registered OPEN MINDS Circle members.

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