Newsletter

September 30, 2019

Integration and Engagement Strategies, Scalability and Sustainability, Leadership Performance and Leading for Change

New Orleans Cluster, Oct. 21–24

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Program Spotlight

Leading Change With Agility and Resilience

Develop the agility and resilience needed to succeed in today’s changing healthcare environment while earning 12 ACHE Face-to-Face Education credits when you attend “Agility & Resilience in Healthcare Leadership: Key Behaviors for Leading Change.” Offered at the Las Vegas Cluster, Oct. 14–17, you’ll identify key leadership attributes that promote agility and resilience for yourself, your teams and your organization, and assess and rate personal and team behaviors for effectiveness.

Led by ACHE faculty and author Amer A. Kaissi, PhD, you will leave this engaging seminar with strategies to overcome ineffective behaviors that can hinder success, and a short-term action plan to increase self-awareness, flexibility and balance.

If the Las Vegas Cluster isn’t in the cards for you, this seminar also will be available in 2020 at the Scottsdale, Ariz., Cluster, Feb. 10–11; at the Fellows Seminar 2020 (for ACHE Fellows only) on Hilton Head Island, S.C.; and through ACHE’s Choice program.

Problem Solving in a Complex Environment

By addressing economic instability in the community, a nurse executive with CHRISTUS Spohn Health System illustrated how diversity and inclusion support a healing ministry. In the September/October 2019 issue of the Journal of Healthcare Management, Ernie W. Sadau, FACHE, and Tiffany Capeles of CHRISTUS Health, share the novel approach of their colleague, Estela Chapa, FACHE, to ED overuse as a model of responsive, relevant care.

In another column, innovation experts Simon Mawer and Barry Katz discuss how design-thinking strategies deliver human-scale, sustainable solutions and minimize the risk of failure.

Original research in this issue includes an article that explores how hospitals report charity care to the Internal Revenue Service and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and another on how advanced practice providers who work in environments that are more complex achieve higher levels of professional satisfaction.

The Journal of Healthcare Management is available online to all ACHE members at ache.org/Journals.

Strategic Planning in a Time of Transformation

Strategic planning is more important than ever before in a healthcare environment undergoing rapid and profound change in areas such as technology, care delivery and population health. This fall, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to bolster your strategic planning abilities at the following professional development events.

At the New Orleans Cluster, Oct. 21–24, you’ll acquire the ability to make solid decisions and optimize strategic changes when faced with uncertainty during “Leading Strategic Change.” Or, discover the best practices of leading a strategic planning process during “Strategic Planning: From Formulation to Action,” available at the San Diego Cluster, Nov. 4–7, and the Orlando, Fla., Cluster, Dec. 9–12. Each seminar is worth 12 ACHE Face-to-Face Education credits.

Can’t make it to a cluster event? Earn ACHE Qualified Education credits from your home or office with “Strategic Planning That Works: Integrating Strategy With Performance,” Oct 9–Nov. 20. During this engaging and interactive online seminar, expert faculty will reveal a practical system for strategic planning aligned with annual tactical planning and operating and capital budgets.

ACHE also offers a variety of books on this topic such as Transformative Planning: How Your Healthcare Organization Can Strategize for an Uncertain Future, which shares the essential frameworks, tools and processes for developing and implementing long-term strategic plans that embrace uncertainty.

In Strategic Healthcare Management, Second Edition, you can explore in-depth how to develop and implement strategy to achieve mission and advantage, while Healthcare Strategic Planning, Fourth Edition, provides core insights into the practice and theory of strategic planning, and shows how those insights can be applied to healthcare organizations.

Finally, Futurescan 2019–2024: Healthcare Trends and Implications is an essential tool for strategic planning with articles on eight key issues regarding the transformation of healthcare.


Blog: Mastering the Art of Difficult Conversation

“Holding a tough conversation is not a task for the timid. There is an art to doing it well … seek to complete, not compete,” advises ACHE faculty Lynne S. Cunningham, FACHE, a coach with the Studer Group, in a recent blog post.

Cunningham, who has written a book on the topic of how to hold difficult conversations, emphasizes that establishing trust is key to achieving a successful outcome. Furthermore, the key to establishing trust is communication—communication that will inevitably include the occasional tough conversation.

To execute such conversations well, Cunningham advises focusing on a positive outcome for all parties instead of proving your point. To do this, she suggests easing into the topic at hand by beginning with something positive or neutral. During the discussion, parties should use “Yes, and …” phrases instead of “Yes, but …” to avoid diminishing compliments. She also encourages speaking respectfully, especially when two parties disagree.

When difficult conversations are conducted this way, the participants are more likely to engage, listen and take action, resulting in a positive and compelling experience for all involved.

Cunningham explores this issue and more in the seminar, “Compelling Communication: Creating Engagement, Understanding and Results,” which is available through ACHE’s Choice program. Visit ache.org/Choice to learn more.

Marching Toward Your Future With the FACHE® Credential

For healthcare leaders, the FACHE credential signals an individual’s high level of competency, commitment to service and formal recognition as an esteemed leader. ACHE members who wish to take the next step in their healthcare management careers by becoming a Fellow of ACHE should apply at ache.org/FACHE. Applicants who successfully meet all requirements by Dec. 31, 2019, including passing the Board of Governors Exam, will be eligible to participate in the Convocation Ceremony at the 2020 Congress on Healthcare Leadership.