"The Ronan Report" provides insight about the activities at the Western Maryland Health System in Cumberland, Maryland, and about the changes taking place in healthcare today from a CEO's perspective.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Patients Come Second

I just started reading a new book that was sent to me at no charge, which actually happens with some frequency and I like it.  The book is entitled "Patients Come Second" by Paul Spiegelman and Britt Berrett.  The book is about leading change by changing the way one leads.  The title is controversial especially in this day and age with patients being at the center as well as the focus of everything that we do.  The controversy is detailed and explained in the beginning of the book.  The authors reveal that there is a very direct correlation between patient satisfaction and employee engagement.  It describes how closely linked both are and that description is pretty accurate.  Happy employees make for happy doctors resulting in happy patients.  One area of significance early in the book is the importance of our mission, our vision and our core values.  All too often organizations have a mission (why we are here); a vision (where we aspire to go) and values (the rules we live by), but they don't stress them enough as keys to success.  Recently, I asked our executive team to re-introduce our mission, our vision and our core values organization wide.  I want our mission, our vision and our values to be personalized for each employee so they can better understand their role in putting the patient first.  As I proceed with this book, I will share any other pertinent aspects, but so far, so good.

1 comment:

  1. I completely agree. I feel that in order to get the best out of people, they need to be engaged, They need to feel like they are part of something bigger, and integral part of the bigger machine. In a nutshell, "Happy cows make better cheese"
    -Pete,RN

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