11 Soft Skills Healthcare Executives Need: What you didn't learn in school

• Published in: Managed Healthcare Executive 2019-04, Vol.29 (4), p.27-29
• Main Author: Hamm, Nicholas
• Format: Magazinearticle
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accountability; Accountable care organizations; Collaboration; Communication; Employees; Executives; Health economics; Hospital administration; Leadership; Problem solving; Responsibilities; Skills; Soft skills; Teams; Teamwork; Time management; Trends; Value-based care
• ISSN: 1533-9300; 2150-7120

From poring over readmission rate data to dissecting the latest healthcare trends to a thorough knowledge of running day-to-day operations, health executives need to maintain a mountain of information to lead well. Skills can be learned over time with enough practice. 1 Problem solving "Solving today's complex healthcare challenges requires not only analytical skill, but also plenty of creativity and adaptability," says Jennifer Carney, vice president of finance and analytics at Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization (BIDCO), a value-based physician and hospital network and acountable care organization (ACO) in Westwood, Massachusetts. 2 Inclusivity "Listening is just a first step; leaders need to let their teams know that their input made a real difference; decisions were made or actions were taken that had a real impact on the business," says Stewart Schaffer, managing partner and co-founder of CSuite Solutions, a national healthcare advisory firm. "When I joined BIDCO in 2013, one of my first responsibilities was to establish a performance analytics and medical economics team that could analyze data and deduce data-driven insights about total medical expense and cost of care. Because I was simultaneously managing a myriad of other new responsibilities, getting this initiative off the ground required disciplined time management.