Greetings!

In this issue:

1. Interview With Don Griffin, JD, FACHE
2. ACHE Affiliate Directory
3. On-Location Programs

1. An Interview With Don Griffin, JD, FACHE

Don Griffin has had an extensive, worldwide healthcare management career to date. He was the CEO of a regional medical center in the U.S. and then spent three years as an advisor to the Saudi Arabian government on how to improve the quality of its hospitals and delivery of care. He also was the CEO of a Swiss managed for-profit hospital in the United Arab Emirates and then CEO of an American-owned,for-profit hospital in Shanghai, China. Below are some questions that he graciously answered.

You have worked in a number of hospitals in different countries—what do you find to be the biggest similarities and biggest differences among them?

Hospitals are often similar when they are striving to meet a set of standards that result in accreditation. I worked in three hospitals in the U.S. that achieved accreditation from The Joint Commission and then three international hospitals that wanted to achieve JCI accreditation. All six of these hospitals emphasized quality care, infection control protocols and even similar governance with a board that bore ultimate responsibility.

Regarding differences, I find non-U.S hospitals to provide better “hospitality” to their patients. Our hospital in the UAE had as its logo, “We are not a hotel…but you will never know it.” From beginning to end, the patient experienced first-class everything…in the U.S., hospitals are unfortunately at a disadvantage due to low Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement that mandates minimal “extras.”

What was your motivation to write the several books that you have?

Quite by accident I wrote the third edition of Hospitals, What They Are and How They Work as a result of a complaint I lodged. While an associate professor, I wanted a good text for students that offered an explanation of how various parts of a hospital function, yet I found that the textbook had not been updated in 12 years! I contacted the publishers and much to my embarrassment, I found that the author was deceased. After speaking with the editor, I found myself as the author of the next edition.

In my next book, I wanted students to become familiar with care outside the hospital; thus, my book is Outside the Hospital, The Delivery of Healthcare in a Non-hospital Setting. It covers 31 topics including outpatient surgery, long-term care, hospice care, home health, to name a few. I want to produce textbooks that fill in the gaps. My next work is A Legal Guide for the Medical Practice Administrator that is aimed at the practice administrator who has not gone to law school.

What is your next career step?

My next international opportunity may take me to Ethiopia where I have an offer to advise 11 hospitals on improving their quality. I received a Yale University Fellowship, and some of the additional funding will come from the Bill Clinton Foundation.

Give an example of how the U.S. could learn from other countries' hospital systems? (or vice versa?)

I go back to how patients are managed in hospitals. Many U.S. hospitals have a nursing shortage and it’s difficult to maintain the same level of service with fewer hospital employees. This issue is a somewhat smaller concern in other parts of the world. Non-U.S. hospitals could benefit by adhering to the quality of U.S. hospitals and infrastructure if they have the resources available.

Please share some of your experiences advising the Saudi Arabian government.

On my first day in Saudi Arabia, the medical director remarked to me, “Don, you must understand our country. Many patients drive 100 kilometers (about 65 miles) to get to a road before they can drive to the hospital.” This fact makes for minimal prenatal care as most women arrive at our hospital for the first time when they deliver.

Like most countries, including the U.S., Saudi patients need education. We saw 10,000 patients monthly in the emergency department who really should have used their primary care provider.

In any country, demographics must be taken into consideration while planning healthcare delivery. In Saudi Arabia, 50 percent of the population is under the age of 18 and only 1 percent is above 60, which means that healthcare dollars are better spent on prenatal care…strokes, cancers and heart disease are not as prevalent due to the lower ages of the population.

What other countries would you like to live in and why?

I would like to spend some time in the Scandinavian countries. They are ranked by the World Health Organization as having the highest quality of healthcare in the world. I think we could all learn from them. I am also looking forward to learning in Africa.

2. ACHE Affiliate Directory

Remember, as a member of ACHE, you have access to our Affiliate Directory which contains information on all of our 30,000-plus members. If you want to earn your FACHE® but have had difficulty finding other FACHEs for references, use the affiliate directory. You don’t have to know the reference personally and you can choose an FACHE reference from any country—the person does not need to reside in the same country you do. Most FACHEs are more than happy to provide references, particularly to our international group as they understand the challenges of finding a local reference. If you have any questions, please contact ACHE’s Customer Service Center at (312) 424-9400.

3. ACHE On-Location Programs

ACHE provides on-location programs that provide organizations with high quality, customized educational programming at a venue convenient to participants. Our expert faculty are experienced educators who will provide healthcare professionals with in-depth information and proven problem-solving techniques for addressing topics such as:

• Change Management
• Executive Skills
• Leadership
• Organizational Effectiveness
• Physician Relations
• Finance/Metrics
• Strategy

ACHE can provide registration materials, seminar manuals, named badges, certificates of completion and evaluation forms depending upon the location of the seminar. Pricing varies based on program length, which can range from three hours to two days. Contact our On-Location customer service representative, Division of Education, at (312) 424-9400 for more information.

TELL-A-COLLEAGUE

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Ideas for Future Newsletters

We’d like to hear from you. If you have any suggestions for what to include in upcoming issues of this newsletter, please forward them to mjorgensen@ache.org.