CEO flexibility around managing operational change is a problem
Barriers to problem solving have been holding back health care managers from changing operations.
Long held beliefs are barriers that have frequently eliminated management teams search for innovative solutions to problems. This entrenched management thinking derails Teams’ from needed changes and reduces their operational flexibility.
Rather than than thinking through a long term strategic plan, CEO’s often use traditional excuses, as to why corrective actions and changes have not been made. More often than not these excuses are irrational.
Excuses include magical thinking such as; we just don’t have the money, our staff are unwilling to make the changes needed, our community leaders won’t support us and “we don’t see any new ideas”.
Barriers to thinking about an organizations flexibility haven’t changed in a very long time. Barriers have largely been exaggerated and overblown.
Additional problems are manager’s mindsets. Traditionally inflexible managers have turned to many reasons why they cannot adequately provide services to their consumers. Barriers to cutting costs and services is always the standard solution given most complex problems in health care.
Leaders in private industry have proposed that non-profit managers learn to become entrepreneurs in finding answers to complex problems. This is especially true in the area of health care where competition is increasing.
Rapid consumer shifts in buying patterns and increasing buyer knowledge via the internet has caused buyers to become smarter consumers based on the quality of care. Changing information technology and the sharing of data has resulted increasing and improving relationships between organizations at all levels.
Changes in Health Care are requiring institutions to embrace new strategic ways of thinking in order to achieve maximum operational flexibility.
