Clintcast

Human history is loaded with examples of situations where specialization, even for all the progress it often brings, has lead down a dead end when the playing field changed. While specialization is great and definitely needed in many ways, it is critical for us to also pair this specialization with flexibility so as to overcome those inevitable changes to the big picture that so often make some of those specializations obsolete (or at least minimized). Today, Clint advises that we be sure to take a look at ways in which we specialize (personal skills, organizational niche, etc) as well as to employ the needed flexibility to keep our teaming efforts effective and to prepare for eventual market/customer changes.

Regardless of the most current healthcare reform effort, a trend that has been up and coming with the government regarding the reimbursement process, thanks to extensive data/history collection, is a closer and more stringent look at payments associated with hospital readmissions. Rates of readmissions have been fairly high, not only incurring extra costs, but also additional ‘discomforts’ to our customers. Rightly so, the government sees this as a large area of opportunity for hospitals and post-acute care providers to partner so as to reduce these costs, as well as the numbers of customers requiring readmission when some (usually) simple and relatively inexpensive interventions could have prevented a second trip to the hospital. Check out these aspects to see if this is a golden opportunity for your organization as well!

Most every workplace has (at least) one - the bad apple who always seems to find what's wrong with things and offers no solutions to improve the situation. If you have been listening to Clintcast for awhile, you recognize this type as the ‘troll’ or BMG (Bellyacher/Moaner/Groaner) from other episodes. While every profession has its mistakes/problems, when they occur in healthcare, they can be more severe as sometimes life/health may be at stake. As such, it is very crucial that we be able to deal with these bad apples as quickly as possible, as one of the typical traits of this type is to poison the other apples around them, promulgating a sphere of doom in their wake. Get some help from Clint on hows/whys of dealing with these bad apples before the whole barrel goes bad!

The position of Director of Nursing is a critical function in any healthcare organization. It is no surprise that the person in this role tends to have a LOT on his/her plate as they cover many bases and must be skilled in some widely varying ways, both in the clinical and the leadership worlds. Clint covers some of these aspects today as he discusses the finer points of being a Director Of Nursing, what makes great ones and tips for being an effective team leader in your organization.

It is a given in healthcare - our customers expect quality, no different than we would in their place. How we achieve that quality has everything to do with how our organization operates. There are lots of ways we go about driving the quality of our ‘products’ in healthcare, including some aspects such as cost savings, efficiencies, labor streamlining, etc which are found in other types of businesses as well. While it may seem obvious that we would never want to deny anyone quality care, there does need to be at least internal knowledge regarding the costs that specific quality levels require to produce. Today, Clint dives into the factors we should be considering as we develop our various price/quality points of our healthcare products/services.

To err is human... it happens. That being said, we of course want to minimize the numbers/types of errors we make, especially in healthcare where someone's life could be on the line. Today, Clint discusses methods for setting up an environment where we can minimize the blame and finger-pointing and instead focus on how to fix situations arising from errors and to better still, try to prevent them happening repetitively again in the future. This additionally helps to nurture an environment in which staff voluntarily want to avail themselves of training/resources to help reduce errors and promote productivity - a win/win!

While time-travel, as depicted in Back To The Future, may still be some ways off, in a sense we all take part in some approximation of time-travel everyday. In fact, it is a very healthy exercise in our organizations to occasionally roll-back the clock to examine aspects in the past (How did we solve that problem? What can we learn from that incident that we can benefit from in the future? etc) as well as to envision how things may come to be in the future (If we had twice as many residents, what would need to change in our processes? What kinds of teams will we need to address anticipated changes in healthcare in 10 years? etc). That said, it is most important to realize that the most critical time-travel is the NOW. After all, the present only stays the present for an instant. Time is traveling under our feet every instant of the day. Therefore, what can we be doing now, given learnings from the past and visions of the future to make the most of RIGHT NOW?

It should hopefully go without saying for those in the healthcare profession... healthcare is cool! For the youth of today though, it is becoming increasingly harder (especially given the various competing job markets) to have this realized in their career planning years so as to be preparing the next wave of young talent to carry on the coolness of healthcare. How can we be doing things now to help put in place the incentives, knowledge, ‘PR’ and such to help steer the up and coming talent in the direction of healthcare tomorrow? Clint has some ideas!

For those of you who are Superman fans, you no doubt know about how Clark Kent (Superman’s public identity at the Daily Planet) was able to function within society, seemingly due to nothing more elaborate than a suit and a pair of glasses. When in this disguise, those around him had no clue as to the tremendous strength, superpowers or just all out goodwill this person truly had underneath. It can often be no different in our healthcare organizations. As staff are placed into SuperTeams, it is often a surprise to fellow workmates just what lies under the ‘glasses’ of those they have worked with, often for years, without noticing these talents and traits. Listen in as Clint reminds us to be sure to look beyond the glasses when we enlist the aid of our staff members in the cause of a great project!

In the people business, there will be times when customers/coworkers/partners/etc will voice their dissatisfaction with how they perceive a situation to be. The manner in which they voice that complaint will vary. Sometimes it may be calm and to the point. Often, it may be shrouded in emotion and include a lot of additional commentary that may or may not be related to the issue at hand. The trick to help get these situations from a ‘problem’ orientation to a ‘solution’ orientation (hopefully, there is a P=S (Don't discuss problems without proposing a solution) policy in place) is learning how to hear when there is a proposed solution that is workable embedded in the complaint. Today, Clint offers some ideas on how to deal with these complaints which will often come packaged in ways you would not prefer, but must be dealt with nonetheless.

‘Teaming makes it easier’ is a concept that applies not only to the Care Crowd individuals, but also to organizations as a whole as well. Integration and partnerships are increasingly going to be the norm in healthcare for the foreseeable future as we move into an era where cost-savings, care-consistency, reporting/metrics/etc all become more and more standardized and driven to reward organizations that work together to ultimately drive customer-satisfaction and results. Those left standing on their own with no/few ties to other areas of customer-success will increasingly find their islands become smaller and smaller. Get some tips on how to ensure your organization is ready to ride the coming wave of healthcare!

The first and foremost key to success in healthcare is the realization that it is, after all, a ‘people’ business. As such, if you are not the sort of person that has strong connections to people and strong customer-service orientation, then perhaps healthcare is not the right area for you. Along with this ‘people’ orientation, one needs to be solution-oriented, as the process of being ‘people-oriented’ (especially when constantly providing individualized care) rarely results in a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach. The ability to solve unique problems on-the-fly is critical. These two facets/orientations go hand in hand. Finally, to truly bring ultimate success/effectiveness to you and your customers in healthcare, a ‘team’ orientation is also required. While it is fine if you have the first two aspects on your own, when you can combine your drive and skills with others, the combined/synergized efforts far outpace the individual efforts on their own. Let’s all strive to pursue these three driving factors of success in healthcare!

Bad days happen to everyone at some point. Sometimes, life just throws you a pitch you never saw coming and it catches you off guard. These can't be helped. By contrast, when you are ‘anticipating’ and ‘planning’ on a bad day to come, there are different dynamics in play, many of which can be dealt with. When one ‘plans’ on the upcoming day to be ‘a bad one’, chances are more than likely their self-fulfilling prophecy will come true, not only for themselves, but others around them who fall into their sphere of doom. Clint shares some thoughts on why we must guard against these little black cloud moments.

The key to ongoing success in healthcare, now and especially in the future, is the ability to deliver customized customer-centric service. While having some organizational ‘boilerplate’ policies/structure in place for general guidance is fine as a starting point, in order to truly institute ‘culture change’, we must rise to the next level and develop the flexibility to enable the adaptation of these baseline structures into customizable products/processes that can be molded to each individual’s needs while still being tied to successful revenue generation. Check out Clint’s ideas on ways to make this happen in your organization.

Way back in Episode #6 of the Clintcast archives, you'll find a story entitled ‘The Ham Sandwich’ which discusses a CEO’s realization that his organization was becoming unable to empower individuals to solve problems at the levels closest to them, resulting in flush-ups of problems all the way to the top. In this revisit to that episode, Clint comments on his recent chat with that same CEO and the push that has been made since that incident to learn how to provide customer-centric service and to improve the organization’s abilities to be flexible and service-oriented by being able to resolve issues at the lowest levels possible through empowerment. Listen in!

In the healthcare profession, it goes without saying that our customers generally would be prefer NOT to be our (or anyone's, for that matter) customers. Some handle this better than others. There is an occasional customer that, for lack of a better term, is a nightmare. Nothing anyone says or does seems to bring satisfaction to this person. How should we deal with these unique cases? Check out Clint's suggestions for handling these folks, and better still, documenting a case study in these instances, so we and others in the future can learn from these tough lessons to better hone our customer service skills for other customers.

When you go to your routine physical at the doctor, he/she will likely gather some data about your current condition (pulse, height, weight, etc) in order to be able to both continue a baseline history of your continual health picture as well as to get the current ‘buzz’ about your short-term health snapshot. Using these tools, he/she can then better decide appropriate courses of action for any change implementation needed in your health practices (diet, exercise, medications, etc). It is similar with our team-building practices for managers. Clint offers some thoughts to consider regarding the practice of uncovering ‘the buzz’ in your organization to better help implement necessary changes in your business environment.

If you are a leader/manager, chances are you have heard the phrase ‘got a second’ before as someone pops in front of you with an issue that, in fact, will likely take more than a short second/minute/hour to resolve. What you say in return must be well considered if you are going to be effective in your role (and they in theirs) because there is a dangerous trap there, waiting to suck up your time and resources if not addressed correctly. Get some tips on how to proactively prevent this situation and to reserve these moments for items that are truly more effectiveness/customer-service oriented!

Many who have worked with Clint or have met him in the past likely know that he is a huge fan of horse racing and that it is one of his favorite hobbies outside of healthcare. In lieu of the past weekend's running of the Kentucky Derby, today Clint discusses while he felt strongly, even months ago, that the horse called Super Saver had a very high likelihood of winning this race. In a word, it is teamwork. Like teams in healthcare, when you can put together a team of talented members with clear goals and processes and the ability to be flexible, yet positive and assertive, you have a strong ability to come out a winner in practically any endeavor. Learn how to ensure your team comes up roses!

If you ever played the childhood game ‘telephone’ (also known by many other names), you likely remember how fouled a communication can become as it is passed along/misinterpreted/altered/etc. Unfortunately, real life daily communications often get just as muddled up and the resulting failures to communicate often cost organizations untold dollars and time trying to fix what a little forethought and planning might have prevented. Get some hints from Clint to ensure that you are proactively ‘planning’ each day for muddled communications and ways to head off these failures to communicate.

The best managers highly involve those at lower levels (closest to the problems) in the problem-solving process. Employees in those areas tend to understand the problem better and also tend to be more familiar with potential solutions. Therefore, they should be highly engaged in the problem-solving process. The decision-making process on the other hand, falls squarely in the lap of the manager as the final decision must be, by definition, decisive and customer driven. As such, the final choice may not always be popular, but managers need to have a firm grasp on how to go about decision-making nonetheless. Listen in for tips today on how to make the most of this key managerial skill.

Teaming makes it easier - this concept is the main thrust behind rapid-cycle teams. What about those teams that involve timelines that are much longer than 12-weeks for standard rapid-cycles? Some are required by organizational rules/bylaws/regulations/etc. Some occur at a high level. Like any team meeting, as long as these have a purpose, a priority, an agenda and an outcome, than it is okay to utilize them towards the betterment of the organization. That said, there are some things to be aware of that can drag down the effectiveness of these longer baseline teams if you are not careful. Check out Clint’s checklist of points to consider when implementing long standing committees!

There are sometimes employees that are not performing up to par. This often occurs over a range of possible values of sub-par behavior (such as rare/accidental occurrences, routine limit-testing, flagrant lack of responsibility, etc). As long as this is an employee you have not completely given up on (they are in process of de-hiring), there are some techniques you can employ/coach to have them take responsibility to bring their performance levels back into the expected range. Check out these helpful hints to keep your staff continually pushing their performance levels higher.

Making a difference is important in the healthcare profession. Our customers need and expect this of us, no different than we would if we were in their position. Today, Clint comments about a colleague, client and true difference-maker, Mike Berry, who recently passed away and discusses the long-lasting impacts and positive effects he had on those around him.

It is a defeatist phrase uttered way too often around the country... ‘oh no, another admission’, indicating that one’s busy day just got busier. Clint affirms that we need to be vigilant in recognizing that another admission is a sign of success that we need to be excited about, even if things are a bit busy at the moment. After all, that customer could have gone somewhere else and with the economy such as it is, we all want as many customers as we can handle, as opposed to laying off employees due to lack of customers. Listen in today to learn why it is critical that new admissions be celebrated, not loathed. It should be ‘oh boy!’ instead!

Nothing demonstrates confidence in your own products/services as much as your choice to patronize those very products/services when you, or a friend or family member, needs these healthcare options. Today, Clint chats about the ‘ultimate brag’ which is act of self-promoting through internal channels. Most organizations have a marketing arm of some sort, but there is real power in realizing that every employee is a marketing force for the organization (and often far more powerful/effective). Learn some tips to help on ensure your organization's utilization of this powerful concept today!

In continuing the theme of teaming makes it easier, today Clint discusses a concept that will quickly be coming to the healthcare market as the reform efforts begin to come into effect. Entities known as ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations) will soon be widespread as the government mandates the concept of teaming and partnering between healthcare providers. The intent is to reduce costs while also lowering readmission rates for customers going through various acute recovery processes, such as congestive heart failures. Organizations need to be aware of these coming changes and be proactively planning partnerships now to be ready to take advantage of these opportunities which will soon be here. Are you ready to partner?

Occasionally with staff workers there will be times when work performance is not up to what is expected. As a leader, how should one go about dealing with these occurrences. Today, Clint discusses 3 primary types of ‘bad performances’ and ways to deal with them. These include ‘accidental violators, limit-testers and outlaws’. Learn the differences and how early intervention can make a world of difference!

As Care Crowd members have learned, in the effort to ‘make things better’, it is true that teaming makes it easier. That said, when a new change arises that will require an altered direction/process/etc in an organization, possibly requiring new ways of doing things, where is a newly formed team supposed to get answers or ideas? As Mr. Dylan said, the answer is blown’ in the wind. When building a solution with a team, it is crucial to get key information injected as quickly as possible up front so the team can factor this information into scope/ideas/timelines and so forth. Springing key info at the last minute is a sure way to induce paralysis, panic and uncertainty into a team that is then expected to be creative on the spot with no/little time to fully develop a solution and chunk out its implementation plan. When trying to pluck those ideas from the breeze, be sure you take time and information into account as the wind can sometimes be fickle or unpredictable and catching those butterflies may be more difficult than anticipated.

Today, Clint chats with Rick Marshall, Executive Vice President of the Christian Care Communities while working with their organization in Kentucky. Together, they discuss the various forces that are currently at work helping to shape the organization such as legislative changes affecting healthcare, community involvement initiatives, facility updates (they just celebrated their organization’s 125th anniversary in 2009) and more. Of prime importance is the need to drive continual improvements in the pursuit of customer-service excellence while also seeking out new revenue streams to help keep the organization financially healthy and to further foster growth opportunities. Enjoy!

Our customers want to know they are getting the best healthcare possible, just as we would want if in their position. As such, it is critical that we instill in our organizations an expectation that we will deliver that healthcare to the utmost... 1st place, if you will. Even when we fall a little short of perfection, we have a self-correcting, ever-improving attitude to keep the winning expectation in place. In today’s podcast, Clint elaborates on this concept, making certain we don’t settle for 2nd place (or tieing for 2nd) in our daily work. Our customers expect the best of us, no different than we should of ourselves. It is truly easy to feel that ‘healthcare is cool’ when you dominate the field!

In the healthcare profession, as in many businesses, it is the cash flow/payment/reimbursement process that is the lifeblood that enables us to do what we do... in this case, to take care of people. In healthcare in particular, there are ample opportunities for mistakes to occur which can deprive us of money that is rightly/morally/ethically/etc ours but has resulted instead in money left on the table unclaimed. The surest way to combat this needless situation is to ensure that everyone in the organization has a vested understanding and interest in making sure we receive the money we earn. This requires a firm understanding of the payment/reimbursement process, documentation procedures/coding, specifics related to care-type/etc. More pair of eyes catching mistakes and oversights ultimate helps us to build a bigger pie so everyone can have a bigger piece!

Care Crowd Creed #3 - Teaming makes it easier... While lots has been discussed in prior episodes as to the advantages teaming in organizations, less has been covered in regards to how those teams are formed in the first place. In today’s episode, Clint elaborates on the reasons why it is often helpful to have the team leader handpick many of the positions during team-formation from their co-workers. This helps to build a group that is already cohesive (hopefully) and comprised of members who are usually closest to the problem (where the best solutions tend to come from). Checkout these helpful tips to help maximize the effectiveness of your teams by utilizing co-workers!

Clint has discussed ‘step-up’ behavior in previous podcasts - it is that ability and innate drive to take things to the next level of effort when it is called for in order to ensure success. This extra effort has the added benefit of not only ensuring this success, but it brings about added bonuses in the process. Listen in today to learn about these extra perks, as well as knowing how and when to join-in on providing step-up actions as the need arises. It is one of the greatest paybacks in the healthcare profession and helps to reinforce why you found your calling in healthcare in the first place!

Teaming makes it easier - even if that team is as small as two people. Even though the two may address implementing solutions from different vantage points or tasks, the common vision makes the pair more effective than either one can be separately. It is crucial that we all have that sort of relationship in our daily work with a partner who helps to ensure that the progress continues daily, in the fashion of the 50-50 relationship that has been discussed in other episodes. For Clint, that person is Kathy Cain, Vice President at Maun-Lemke. Today, Clint takes a moment to elaborate on her outstanding work and partnership as they work together to better the healthcare profession!

Today, Clint discusses Service Standards. These are devices that provide clear, concise deliverables or expectations that are required of all staff of an organization. They provide the high-level basis upon which more detail-level components can be built as the means for delivering on these standards. He provides some examples provided by a recent client visit such as ‘Communication’ which entails the various facets the organization utilizes to ensure communications between staff are productive, yet respectful. The intent is not to micro-define the ‘how’, but rather to define at a high-level the ‘what’ is expected for optimal organizational effectiveness. Listen in!

Making a difference - it is at the heart of why we are in the healthcare profession. We each have a critical role to play in delivering great differences for our customers. Some days, we may do things that are are home-runs. Other days, our efforts may seem fairly routine (but are nonetheless vital that they happen). It is a great occurrence when our efforts can result in a lasting impression that lingers on long after the initial event. These are living, ongoing testaments to differences that we make and serve to remind us that the consequences of our actions (positive and negative) often have very long lasting results. Consider the differences you are making today (and for the extended future!)

In any marketplace, there will be competitors for customers. Healthcare is no different. Your organization should naturally be doing its best to meet and exceed the customer needs for that marketplace. That said, while it may seem counter-intuitive to want to have good competitors, it is actually a good thing to have worthy competition fighting for your customer base. This helps to foster even better customer service, as well as to provide fertile ground for innovation and fresh thinking. Better competition brings out the best in both organizations and vastly improves the playing field for the customer!

Remember your Care Crowd Creed - Teaming Makes It Easier! One way we can utilize this aspect is by implementing the concept of Team Rounding. Making rounds doesn’t have to be an activity reserved only for management staff. Team members can take time to observe the goings-on of their environment and interact customers and fellow staff. There will be lots of opportunities for praise, as well as the occasional opportunity to spot an issue that can be corrected without need for blame or finger-pointing. These opportunities for instant remedies exemplify creating solutions closest to the problems!

In healthcare, there will always be periods when things get a great deal busier than usual. That needs to be viewed as a good thing! Our customers don’t want to be customers in the first place, but as long as they are, we would rather them be our customers rather than the competitor’s down the road, in this economy especially. That concept of being ‘slammed’ thusly needs to be viewed as an opportunity, not as an occasion of defeatist beleaguerment. Make sure we carry an attitude that is up to the challenge of delivering great customer service, especially during our busiest moments!

That forth tenet of the Care Crowd Creed - ‘I make a difference’ - is huge. Without it, the first three tenets have little effect. If no one chooses to make a difference, then healthcare has a very hard climb uphill at being ‘cool’ with great customers and helpful, successful teams. As such, the key to making a difference starts with you accepting the responsibility to do so. Listen in today as Clint discusses some of the many ways we need to do engage in our responsibilities (and even some ways not to).

Tackling tough issues when and where they need to be dealt with sometimes requires an amount of assertiveness, but is necessary to break through logjams to not fall victim to time sensitivities. It is a necessary component to leadership and can be (and should be) practiced by all levels of staff members. As Clint has discussed on previous programs, the best solutions are nearly always determined at the lowest level possible by those immediately familiar with and directly capable of implementing the solution. Get some tips today for learning techniques on tackling those tough issues in your daily work.

In many sports, it is often a game of inches, where even a very small discrepancy can spell the difference between success and failure. It is often no different in healthcare. Our accuracy in our daily tasks is often the deciding factor in determining successful outcomes for our customers, and in following, our organizations. Even slight lapses in our diligence to accurate work can have weighty, downstream consequences. Be sure that as we go about our tasks of ‘making a difference’ in healthcare, we take the necessary time and effort to ensure detailed, accurate work and the documentation of that work!

When you experience that initial moment of awe and excitement with a particular event, there is often an accompanying ‘glow’ on your face that indicates to others your inner buzz. Today, Clint discusses that moment that occurs so often with healthcare professionals. More importantly, he offers some tips and hints for keeping that glow on an ongoing basis while also fostering the glow in your customers and co-workers.

The key thing about your future is that it is YOURS. You are ultimately in charge in getting where you want to go. No one else will do it for you. That said, not everyone works in a career that is ultimately where they want to be, but that is no reason why they can’t be using those downstream skills and talents in their current work environment. In fact, when you can match these desired skills and ambitions with the direction your organization is also heading, great opportunities for advancement of both parties often arise. Get some tips from Clint on maximizing your development, for you and your workplace!

As Spring has now sprung upon us, it is a great time of year to do our ‘Spring Cleaning’. In tandem with the changes now occurring in regards to the healthcare reform, any remnants of the ‘old way’ of doing things need to be swept out the door. Now is the time to be examining our systems, attitudes, policies, procedures and so forth to ensure that we are ready to embrace the ‘new ways’ now upon us, both internally and externally. Listen in as Clint discusses some areas you want to be sure to address in your Spring Cleaning efforts.

Teams exist in varying states of effectiveness. Sometimes 1+1+1=3 (the expected work gets done, but nothing else special is happening). ‘Pretend’ teams don’t even get that far. When synergy can be reached, 1+1+1 can = 4 as more gets done beyond just the baseline with less effort. Today, Clint discusses High Performance Teams where 1+1+1=10 on a continuous basis. There are unique characteristics and outcomes from these kinds of teams. Learn more about these kinds of teams and how to foster them in your organization!

In real estate, the mantra is location, location, location. In a people business, such as healthcare, it is customer, customer, customer. In today’s episode, Clint discusses how this founding concept of putting the customer first is the basis upon which the entire entity of healthcare is built. As such, it is also the underlying basis of the Care Crowd. If we cannot choose to put the customer first, it is unlikely we can truly and effectively demonstrate that healthcare is cool, customers are great, teaming makes it easier and I make a difference on a daily basis.

Last night, the House of Representatives voted to approve/move the Healthcare Reform bill on to the Senate for final disposition. Needless to say, change is likely coming. Today, Clint discusses how we need not get caught up in the ‘drama’ of change (the dynamic nature of healthcare is rarely static long anyway). Instead, it is suggested that we take the opportunity to begin preparations for potential eventualities as these changes trickle down. How might certain changes affect us? How might they affect our partners/competitors/staff/etc (which will still affect us)? As events are finally nearing a more certain resolution, it is a great time to be considering your next potential moves regarding your products and services.

There are a wealth of positions open at many organizations today that are going unfilled because the organization is perhaps wary against hiring younger people. While there are some differences in the work styles/ethics of the younger, up-and-coming generation, that should not be used as an excuse not to hire them. In fact, we depend on their fresh perspectives and youthful energy to bring new blood and possibilities to our organizations. We only need to be open to the fact that we may need to adjust our own HR attitudes a bit in working with these younger workers, as the gains to be had in hiring them are indeed numerous. Learn about some of these aspects in today’s Clintcast!

Curb appeal really does make a difference for customers as well as the staff! It is commonly the case that our customers really don’t want to be our customers (or anyone’s for that matter). As long as they are needing care from a facility other than their home, then we need to be sure we are doing the most we can with what we have to send a message to that potential customer that as long as they can’t be at their home, we’re going to make every effort to make our facility as comforting/homelike as possible. Yes, there are usually staff such as grounds/maintenance/etc that fulfill this particular function, but we all have a part in assisting with this vital task. Is your facility sending the right message?