As a healthcare leader, you’re often inundated with responsibilities to keep your organization afloat. Daily operations and financial responsibilities probably consume much of your time. It’s important, however, to consider more than the obvious duties at your facility. Strengthening the subtle ties that link your staff can create a significant impact. Fostering a culture of trust and respect between providers and non-clinicians strengthens relationships and positively influences patient interactions.
Healthcare encompasses more than just the skills of each physician. At its core, your facility is taking care of other people; this philosophy starts from the top of your organization and trickles down. Fostering a positive culture among your staff is integral to improving patient care. In today’s post, we address three key characteristics needed to create a positive culture.
Social Capital
Stephen Swensen, former Medical Director for Leadership and Organization Development at Mayo Clinic, defines social capital as the interconnectedness between colleagues. Social capital is especially important as your organization invites locum tenens professionals to help ease staffing gaps. With new staff, it’s important to have a culture that places a high value on developing relationships and working together. In his talk, “Health Care’s Most Important KPI: Social Capital,” Swenson describes its increasing value for companies. “Social capital makes colleagues safer, it makes them better learners, and it makes them highly productive,” he explains. “It’s an admirable trait that as leaders we need to pursue if we want the highest value care for our patients, families, and the communities that we serve.” Nurturing a deep level of trust among colleagues and departments encourages collaboration and eventually helps your organization outperform others.
Camaraderie
Your medical team should be just that: a team. As a healthcare leader, it’s important to promote camaraderie within your facility, striving to create connections between providers. In a hospital, individual strengths should be combined, not used to put down another specialty. Egos must be left at the door, or they could interfere with patient care. Swensen says, “When you have teams, and departments, and organizations that have high levels of camaraderie, you get some amazing dividends with employee engagement, productivity, commitment to the organization, accountability, and better patient outcomes.” Camaraderie drives social capital, performance, and the ability for a medical team to deliver exceptional care to every patient within your organization.
Communication
How do you blend these values together? Communication. “During my clinical days, it didn’t matter how great my plan was, but if I wasn’t communicating it to everyone, then we weren’t going to be a team,” says Laura Forese, MD, Chief Operating Officer for New York-Presbyterian. As a healthcare leader, it’s important for you to make sure all staff members understand their individual roles and emphasize that each role matters. This helps connect physicians, NPs, and APPs. No matter the discipline, this helps each provider feel valued and, in turn, creates a positive culture. If leadership uses an open and honest approach, proactive communication trickles into the team dynamic, positively impacting patient care.
Discover how Optimum Permanent Placement Services can assist your staffing needs by calling 603.288.1332 to speak with an experienced business development executive today.
