How establishing Engagement is essential for sustainable healthcare in the US.

1. Engagement Is
Essential for
Sustainable Healthcare
Charles D. Stokes, FACHE
executive in residence, University of Alabama Birmingham

2. Title:-
“Journal of Healthcare Management ”
Author:
Charles D. Stokes
Publisher:
Deborah J. Bowen, FACHE, CAE
Copyright:
© 2022 Foundation of the American
College of Healthcare Executives. All
rights reserved.
About Article

3. Introduction:-
● The past two years in healthcare will be remembered as a time of
workforce burnout, moral injury, and disengagement, as well as
professional heroics; caregivers were applauded and serenaded in
the streets as heroes.
● But as we have failed to conquer the beast, fatigue has created
unbearable mental stress for caregivers practicing outside of their
skill sets and comfort zones.

4. Introduction:-
● The pandemic remains far from over, and there are consequences if
we do not aggressively pursue solutions now to engage our
healthcare workers. We must retain them and promote healthcare as
a profession to others for the future.

5. How can we retain them?
Comprehensive steps by “Rod Brace”( PhD, a founding partner of
Relia Healthcare Advisors)
● Hire for organizational cultural fit.
● Reward efforts and results.
● Make employee physical and mental health a priority.
● Help employees create meaningful connections.
● Create an environment that promotes psychological safety.
● Protect breaks and lunchtimes.
● Encourage work–life balance.

6. THE KEYS TO A HEALTHY PROFESSION
● Reducing the Cost of Care
● Advancing Consumer-Centric Care
● Focusing on Patient Safety and Reducing Harm Events
● Redesigning Clinical Care and the Workforce
● Engaging the Workforce, Achieving Resilience

7. Reducing the Cost of
Care
The United States has been dealing with the high cost
of healthcare for decades…
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the
situation
Organizations are spending huge dollars in overtime,
Incentive Pay, and Traveling Nurse Agency Pay -
compounded by the Professional Staffing Shortage
that existed prior to COVID-19.
Solution:
Reducing the number of leadership positions,
Implementing Multidisciplinary Teams, “Right care”
in the “Right environment” by the “Right
professionals”.

8. Over the past 15 years, as a result of the
increased costs of emergency room visits and
inpatient surgical procedures, urgent care
centers and Ambulatory Surgery centers have
proliferated.
More consumers are getting comfortable
seeing a physician or nurse practitioner
virtually for minor medical issues.
Telemedicine, In-home care, Technology
Artificial intelligence & Machine learning
Reorienting workforce skills around new
Technologies may help motivate more young
people to choose Healthcare as a career.
Advancing Consumer-
Centric Care

9. Incidents of Medical Error as the 4th-leading
cause of Death in the United States (only
recently surpassed by COVID-19; Ramirez et al.,
2020)
Solutions:-
High-Reliability Vigilance for the prevention
and elimination of harm events.
Engaged Employee and Physician workforce—
working together in Multidisciplinary Teams.
The highest quality of care can be the most
Efficient and Least Expensive.
Focusing on Patient
Safety and Reducing
Harm Events

10. We need transformational change based on care
provided by people who Embrace Technology,
Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning
and can create new Treatment Algorithms to
care for patients more safely and efficiently.
Ideally in the near future, the Team will be in
charge.
We must change the care model and workforce
skill sets by Expanding and Enhancing the skills
of the Licensed professionals & Skilled
Technician. Example(1)
Expansion of skill sets will be necessary to
meet current and future demand.
Redesigning Clinical Care
and the Workforce

11. The most immediate issue facing healthcare is
Workforce Resilience.
The Loss in Productivity and Innovation
potential with a disengaged workforce is
unmeasurable.
Engagement is essential for High Reliability
and Reducing Patient Harm.
Members of the healthcare workforce deal with
Life-and-Death situations every day and must
be fully Involved in their work.
The pandemic has exacerbated the preexisting
workplace issues of Burnout and Mental-
Stress.
Engaging the Workforce,
Achieving Resilience

12. DEI(Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion)
senior leadership must embrace this
platform to establish a meaningful
dialogue with the entire workforce,
DEI as a tool to bring professionals,
medical staff, support staff from
different ages, ethnic backgrounds,
genders, and LGBTQ communities
together in affinity groups to
reimagine how the organization needs
to change & going forward.
Solution
(1)

13. Empathy
People more frequently leave their jobs
because of Dissatisfaction with their
supervisors than with their organizations.
Senior leaders must enhance their skills as
Empathetic Listeners to demonstrate
genuine concern for issues of the
workforce.
Establishing a Supportive and
Psychologically Safe work Environment.
Solution
(2)

14. Reduce The Workload
Organizations must add Technical Support
Personnel to reduce the workload of licensed
individuals.
Local high schools and community and
technical colleges can prepare students for
these technical roles so that on the day they
graduate, they are employable at a living wage.
These programs, developed in cooperation with
healthcare organizations, can Break the
Poverty Cycle in many families.
Solution
(3)

15. Expand Capabilities
It is doubtful that our current care model
and associated expenditures are financially
sustainable.
Senior executives must lobby the academic
institutions that train professionals to
expand their students’ capabilities.
We must rethink what licensed
professionals and technical-level workers
can safely do in tomorrow’s environment.
Solution
(4)

16. Conclusion:-
Workforce challenges are going to be with us in healthcare for many
years to come, and they will not get easier to address.
Giving new emphasis to a management team’s high-impact skill set
that includes Authenticity, Empathetic listening, Exemplary
communication, Understanding, and Embracing DEI is essential in
moving forward in a post-pandemic environment.

17. References
Brace, R. (2021, November 3). Retaining your best staff. Relia Healthcare
Advisors Newsletter.
https://www.reliahealthcare.com/newsletter/2021/10/19/retaining-your-
best-staff Ramirez, G., Amin, K., & Cox, C. (2020).
The pandemic’s effect on the widening gap in mortality rate between the
U.S. and peer countries.
Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/ brief/the-pandemics-effect-on-the-
widening-gap-in-mortality-rate-between-the-u-s-and-peer-countries.

18. Mehul N. Bhavsar
HLTH(5000)
Thank you