OC Reilly Blog: Give Us A Map

By Vicki L. White, Executive Director, Business Operations, OC Reilly Inc.

(Sept. 7, 2015)–It’s a big world out there. Easy to get lost in. Having a plan, a map, a set course to follow, sure does help.

Effective communication – particularly when dealing with large organizations like health care systems, and during times of upheaval and confusion like the current state of health care in the U.S. – provides just the sort of verbal “map” that all stakeholders are seeking.

Daniel R. Verdon, VP of Publications at Healthcare Financial Management, states in the May 2015 issue of the magazine, “Consider the trends: the proliferation of narrow networks, the birth of a new level of consumerism, the broad use of care coordinators by providers and payers, the advancement of tele-health, the shortage of primary care physicians, the growth of retail medicine, the ongoing quest for interoperability of electronic health records – and the list goes on…Such trends are why soft-leadership skills will take on even greater importance. Yet these skills are sometimes the hardest to employ consistently during a period of great change.

“Leaders with a clear vision, agility, courage and passion, and an ability to inspire, communicate, and drive results will be needed during health care’s transition,” Verdon continues. “Every healthcare leader must possess these skills to achieve lasting change.”

Think of it this way – a leader needs followers, but those followers need to know where that leader intends to take them. Otherwise, why would they follow? Give us a map.

At OC Reilly, we like to work as partners with our health care system clients. Maintaining a tradition of providing clear, prompt, reliable information remains a top priority. As we counsel and guide clients to the most cost-effective, high-quality supply chain choices, communication is key.

As Verdon writes, the same holds true for health care leaders today. Clearly communicating who you are, what you provide, and why it’s better has always been a mainstay of organizations competing in the marketplace.

As health care systems find themselves functioning more and more as competitors for patient revenues, they need to step up their game when it comes to communications. They need to give us a map, if they want us to follow them to their doorstep.