Organizational and Strategic Success via Front-Line Managers: How Two Systems Achieved Sustainable Change and Positive Margins (82H)

To achieve long-term sustainability, organizations must look beyond traditional revenue sources and top-down cost-cutting measures, many of which senior leaders are finding inadequate to meet today's financial and operational challenges. Research into high-performing organizations by ACHE faculty shows that engaging front-line managers in strategic and operational direction and improvement generates results far beyond what is typically achievable by C-suite actions alone. In this session, faculty will share the experiences of a large safety-net hospital and a small independent community hospital that have driven sustainable change and profitability through these best practice approaches. CEO Steve Purves of Valleywise Health realized that traditional approaches to revenue improvement and cost reduction would not be sufficient to address an unsustainable financial condition, and launched a Burst rapid improvement process. Through coaching and a 100-day workout process that transformed middle managers into adaptive change agents, Valleywise reversed course and was stabilized through over $124 million in documented changes.

Alan Kent also implemented the process as CEO in a rural hospital environment, creating a culture change that led to an over $17 million improvement. In this session, faculty will identify characteristics of high-performing organizations in contrast with lower performers from recent research of health system CEOs; demonstrate how to replicate Valleywise's and Meadows' experiences in implementing a rapid cycle accountability structure that will immediately improve profitability; and show C-suite executives how to create their own leader development program to drive change from the front-line middle management level. Participants will learn the elements of creating a culture of adaptive change for front-line leaders that focuses on speed to action and overcoming resistance and receive templates for use in their respective organizations.