December 2020, Volume XXXIV, Number 9
Corporate Culture in Health Care
Accountabilities of Governing Boards
For many community hospitals and health systems employed physicians now drive the lion’s share of clinical care, and by extension the economics and financial performance of the organization. For some, physician services organizations actually define the brand and the strategic differentiation of the organization.
December 2020, Volume XXXIV, Number 9
interview
Creating a WellCare Ecosystem
Craig Samitt, MD, MBA
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota
Corporate Culture in Health Care: Accountabilities of Governing Boards
For many community hospitals and health systems employed physicians now drive the lion’s share of clinical care, and by extension the economics and financial performance of the organization. For some, physician services organizations actually define the brand and the strategic differentiation of the organization.
cover story two
Administrative Overload: Breaking down what’s breaking down
By Todd Archbold, LSW, MBA
Our nation boasts one of the most innovative and sophisticated health systems in the world. The administrative infrastructure required to support this system has led to a bloat in costs, with diminishing returns. We have the most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet without commensurate outcomes. The U.S. life expectancy at birth ranks 34th among other developed nations.
Health Information Technology
Digital Therapeutics: An emerging field
By Megan Coder, PharmD, MBA, and Christina Nyquist
As COVID-19 continues to impact health systems, lessons learned to date can assist in determining how to navigate ongoing challenges, and could lead to improvements in addressing ever-increasing levels of chronic disease, mental health, and opioid abuse. To build a stronger and more holistic health ecosystem, it is critical that technologies such as telehealth and remote monitoring become foundational components—along with the emerging field of digital therapeutics.
Senior care
The Age Friendly Network: Making communities livable for seniors
By Will Phillips
All of us are aging and the population of the United States is aging rapidly. By 2035, the number of adults older than 65 will be greater than the number of school-age children. In Minnesota, we hit that milestone this year. That’s why since 2012, staff and volunteers have been working throughout the nation to engage and mobilize communities, share expertise, and deliver technical assistance to the towns, cities, counties and states by creating the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities (the Network). This work is part of a broader effort to make communities more livable, as well as AARP’s ongoing work to support older adults to live their best lives at every age.
Surgery
Turning the Table: Advancements in nerve repair saved surgical career
By Patrick H. Smock, MD
Patients undergo surgical procedures to repair peripheral nerve injuries every day. Most of the time I am the one in scrubs performing the procedure to restore a patient’s ability to move, feel or to even eliminate pain as the result of a nerve injury. Recently, after suffering a minor yet career-impacting injury, I found myself on the other side of the operating table.
Behavioral Health
Physician Moral Distress: A reckoning with unmet needs
By Timothy J. Usset, MDiv, MPH, Mike Koopmeiners, MD and Joshua T. Morris, PhD, BCC
Systemic change in health care delivery to improve clinician well being, and thereby patient outcomes, has long been overdue. The need for it now has become even more acute. Physicians were experiencing well-documented rates of burnout, as high as 60%, before the pandemic began. New workplace realities have multiplied the complexities of this problem.
Behavioral Health
An Epidemic Within a Pandemic: System-Level Changes for Physician Wellbeing
By Michelle D. Sherman, PhD LP ABPP, Adam Sattler, PhD LP, Barbara Carver PsyD, LP, Rosean Bishop, PhD LP, Jennifer Nelson Albee, MSW, LICSW
n recognition of research showing over 50% of United States physicians report significant symptoms of burnout, in 2017 the National Academy of Medicine created the Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience. This program aimed to increase attention to the epidemic of clinician burnout and to advance research-based solutions to provide support.
CONTACT INFO
PO Box 6674, Minneapolis, MN 55406
(612) 728-8600
comments@mppub.com
© Minnesota Physician Publishing · All Rights Reserved. 2019