Health Train Express: 15 Healthcare Leaders Who have Something to Say

Saturday, November 17, 2012

15 Healthcare Leaders Who have Something to Say

2012 has seen the rapid development of mobile health applications and more public awareness of home based preventive medicine, mobile coaching and data tracking using smartphones, and table PCs.

Then in November, after a long and contentious presidential campaign health reform the PPACA became center stage, although it was replaced by the economic crisis, the Benghazi Embassy attack, and finally the General Petraeus scandal.

Public opinion remains deeply divided on how to initiate health reform. Some are exhausted by the battle which was lost by a very narrow margin in the closest Presidential campaign recorded in recent memory. Some now want to roll over and state PPACA is the ‘law of the land’, and ‘resistance is futile.

Significant professional and public reticence remains to initiate parts of PPACA, stemming from loss of local and regional controls, fiscal responsibility in a time of crushing debt and the partisan manner in which the law passed.

Those who still feel strongly will plan to stop or delay it’ implementation attacking the law on the basis of state’s rights, constitutional issues, restriction of free trade, and ethical issues during the bill’s promotion by Health and Human Services.

some of the most memorable quotes from healthcare leaders during the past year. Check out our favorite quotes and the leaders who said them:

1. "It's not hotel amenities. It's not china plates for meals. While those things are very nice, a true patient/family-centered care model is really at the core of the heart of care."
Who said it: Michele Lloyd, vice president for Children's Services at NYU Langone Medical Center,

2. "In a Muggle world--the world we live in--the provider can't go into the room of paper charts and flourish their wand and say, 'All the patients with diabetes!' and the charts fly out and hover in the air. 'All those who didn't come back to see me, over here!' Send in an owl."
Who said it: Health IT coordinator Farzad Mostashari, M.D., discussing the problems with using paper records at CHIME's Fall CIO forum last month.

3. "People might think you're crazy by giving out all those contact numbers. When I first did it, the staff thought it was a bad idea. They said, 'You'll never have time to do anything else besides answer the phone.'"
Who said it: Windsor Regional Hospital CEO and President David Musyi, a FierceHealthcare advisory board member, who has taken an unconventional approach to patient and staff communication, freely giving out his email, office number, home number and cell number to the public.”

Openness and transparency often simulate better communications with less time involvement. Many studies have shown that opening access leads to a paradoxical decrease in demand upon time, quicker resolution of challenges and increased efficiency. Organizational restructuring can lead to reduced costs and less bureaucracy.