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Posts Tagged ‘ACHE’

Dr. Lowell Catlett’s speech at Leon I Gintzig commemorative lecture

Posted in Aging population, Finance, tagged , , , , on April 2, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

I tweeted last week that I would give you a summary of the speech given at the Leon I Gintzig commemorative lecture on Wednesday, March 23, as a part of ACHE’s Congress.  He is honestly one of the most entertaining speakers I have ever heard.  But, lots of people can be entertaining with no substance.  However, he brought am amazing grasp of the facts to his lecture.

In short, Dr. Catlett suggested that while the national debt has increased, we remain only 37th world wide in the amount of debt we have as compared to our todal Gross Domestic Product.  That, he argued, suggested that people will have more disposable income in the future, and that healthcare organizations which created options for people with disposable income will be strategically advantaged over those who don’t.  It was a very interesting concept.  I think Modern Healthcare’s summary was very good.

You might want to check out Dr. Catlett and some of this theories.

Rulon

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Search and Rescue

Posted in Corporate accountability, tagged , , , , on March 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

As I mentioned, last week when I was in Chicago I was fortunate enough to become chairman of The American College of Healthcare Executives. When I took that position, I took the reins from Chris Van Gorder FACHE, the CEO of Scripps Health in San Diego. Chris is a good friend and great example of quality leadership. Chis led ACHE to its best year ever…making the next year even more intimidating for me.

But…that is not the story here. So, when I went home this weekend I crashed…went to church…did some e-mails…generally tried to stay out of trouble. What did Chris do? He went on-call for the San Diego Search and Rescue where is a paramedic. Can you even believe that? So, Sunday afternoon someone goes missing. If you look close at the clip, you’ll see Chris RESCUING (having already searched! :) ) Mr Zeller.  Here are some other pictures of the event.

Chris Van Gorder and the San Diego Search and Rescue

Chris Van Gorder and the San Diego Search and Rescue

In my speech last week I spoke of how healthcare executives can make a difference in being patient care providers.  Holy smoke Chris….this is pretty literal!  Seems like no matter what I do I just can’t keep up with that man! :)

Congrats Chris…great job.

Rulon

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Thoughts about ACHE week

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 27, 2011 | 1 Comment »

So, one week post becoming ACHE chairman I have some thoughts about the entire process. 

First, there were lots of summaries of the event in many news outlets, but I’ll refer you to two which caught my eye.  The first is from HHN Daily.  I think the post was fair and represented valid questions from the day and the week.  The second is from The Furst Group and mentioned that I’m into social media.  Nice of them…but I have tutors! :)   They also mentioned the speech given by Ben Carson…and I have to agree.  He was fabulous and I encourage you to check out his web site.

Second, I received hundreds of comments about the idea that healthcare executives can have such a positive impact on saving lives and improving healthcare.  I am more convinced than ever that healthcare executives in ACHE are, at their core, focused on quality and improving patient care.

Finally, thanks to the Chicago Hilton.  They and their staff are unbelievably friendly.

Thanks for a great week.

Rulon

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Charlie Evans Visits Colorado

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on February 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Charlie Evans, FACHE, the Immediate-Past Chairmain of The American College of Healthcare Executives, spoke to the Colorado Association of Healthcare Executives on Thursday night.  It was a great experience to be there (special thanks to Mimi Roberson, the CEO of Presbyterian/St. Lukes Medical Center in Denver for hosting the event…great job!).  At the meeting Charlie told us that this was his last official presentation to an ACHE Chapter as an ACHE Chair Officer…we were all excited to have him be with us at that end!

Charlie Evans and Rulon Stacey

 Charlie offered his insights into effect leadership.  As I have come to learn from him over the past several years, his insights are always valuable, and he lives his life by example.  I thought that his most intriguing suggestion to leaders was to learn that leaders can maximize their effectiveness by seizing the authority of their position (he said it better than me! :)   Essentially, don’t wait to be told to do everything.  Rather, understand your position and do what you need to do in order to be effective.  As you take control of your position, you will become more effective.  That was just a small part of what he offered…so, if you should have been at the meeting and missed it….your bad! :)

Charlie also talked about his recent efforts in establishing the International Health Services Group.  During his presentation he talked about the passion he has for his profession and his partnership to create better healthcare around the world.  He talked to us about the difference it makes to have trained and professional healthcare executives and encouraged us to never take what we do for granted.  His organization has been effective in several different countries in improving access to healthcare and the service to the local populations.  Again, it was so impressive to see his ability to make his vision a reality. In conclusion, Charlie showed this video which we all believed was a fitting conclusion to his comments.

Charlie is truly a remarkable leader and ACHE, IHS and all of us in Colorado are lucky to have him.

Rulon

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ACHE president Tom Dolan visits PVHS

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on January 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

In March I am going to have what will certainly be one of the greatest honors of my professional career when I’m installed as the chairman of the board of governors of the American College of Healthcare Executives.  Being allowed to serve in this great organization has been a thrill, and this is certainly the pinnacle.

In preparation for this event, the president and CEO of ACHE, Tom Dolan, Ph.D., FACHE, took the time out of his schedule to come to northern Colorado and talk to the staff and the Poudre Valley Health System board of directors about the upcoming year.  Tom has been, I believe, the most capable leader in the history of ACHE, and has established ACHE as the premier professional organization for healthcare executives in the world.  PVHS owes Tom a debt for taking the time out of his busy schedule to come and visit us, and we all can thank him for all he has done to establish our profession.

The video below includes some thoughts given by Tom during his visit to Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland.  Thanks again, Tom!

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Stranger uses Facebook to return my lost iPad

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on November 18, 2010 | 7 Comments »

So, I have to tell you what happened the other day.  I was attending the meeting of the Board of Governors of The American College of Healthcare Executives (there are wonderful things happening with ACHE…by the way! I hope if you are a healthcare executive that you are actively involved in ACHE…but I digress). So, on the way home I was using my iPad on the airplane, and because I’m generally a dope, I left it in the seat pocket in front of me. I had been sending my daughter Catherine a note on Facebook, and quickly turned it off like a good airplane passenger…then left it in the seat pocket.

Later that night I started getting phone calls and e-mails from a million friends. Apparently someone had found my iPad and couldn’t find any identification and so they turned on the iPad and it opened to my Facebook account. So, he posted on my wall that he had found my iPad and gave everyone his phone number for me to call. Hence…a million people called me!  The next morning I was able to track down the good Samaritan and he sent me my iPad the next day via FedEx. Can you even believe this?  He found it and sent it back to me. I was so impressed. When I was talking to him he told me that he would have given it to the airlines, but knew that would create more problems than not, so he just took it home and sent it to me himself.

So…who is the hero of this story?  It is Hector Morales, a program manager with Electricore, Inc. in Valencia, Calif.  I don’t know Hector…but I need to be more like him for sure.  Thanks to Hector for making what could have been a miserable experience instead be just a little embarrassing.  I also don’t know much about Electricore, Inc., but I know that they have really, really honest people working for them. So, I highly recommend the company and would use them instantly if the opportunity presents itself.

Thank you again Hector!

Rulon

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Take Me Home, Country Roads

Posted in Employee engagement, employee turnover, Healthcare reform, tagged , , , , on October 1, 2010 | 2 Comments »

I had the great opportunity to meet yesterday with the ACHE in West Virginia at The Greenbriar Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.  Very hard to get to…but worth the effort.  I only wish I could have spent more than 12 hours there! :)

The Greenbriar Resort, West Virginia

Special thanks to Mike King, the ACHE Regent for West Virginia and CEO of Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital.  Mike put on a fabulous event.  It is always interesting for me to see that the issues which we face in Colorado are very similar to the issues being faced across the country.  Seems no different in West Virginia:

- Integrate services to increase value to the consumer

- Mandate quality healthcare

- Keep costs in check because there is no chance that anyone in Washington is trying to figure out how to pay more for healthcare services! :) :)

In my presentation I also mentioned the absolute necessity of first meeting the needs of employees in order to effectively make all this happen.  I honestly don’t think we can be successful if we don’t do that. 

Thanks, West Virginia, for a very nice event!

Rulon

PS, also nice to see Jamie Orlikoff at the meeting.  I think that Jamie is one of the brightest healthcare governance minds our industry has ever produced.  Nice to see Jamie.

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In Ohio with the American College of Healthcare Executives

Posted in Healthcare reform, Patient safety, Patient satisfaction, Physician integration, tagged , , , , , , on June 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

I had a great opportunity to speak this morning to the American College of Healthcare Executives affiliates at the Ohio Hospital Association’s annual meeting.  Thanks to the ACHE Regents in Ohio, Kevin Miller and Tim Ols, for putting on a great meeting and mostly for giving away all their Regent Awards! That is a big deal…thank you for your collaboration and effort. 

ACHE breakfast

The topic of discussion on Monday morning (full slideshow of presentation is below) centered on what we needed to do in order to prepare for the challenges of healthcare reform.  In each of the next few years different aspects of the healthcare reform legislation will take effect, until, basically, everything has hit by 2014.  That is when healthcare executives will have had to make sure that they have prepared their organization for the future.  While I’m not sure what all will be in the system in 2014, I am sure that whatever the system is, it will require complete clinical transparency. I argued at the meeting that the future system will fully require: 

1) Full integration. 

2) Cost reduction. 

3) Transparency. 

In the future, I am certain that everything we do will be open to the public and we might as well start now to make sure that our outcomes and data are publicly available (one reason for my blog!). I argued this morning that those who are ready for these changes will survive what will certainly be a financial drought, while those who are not ready will be left to either go out of business or be absorbed by larger organizations.  No doubt it will be a challenging time, but my final point was that ACHE will prepare healthcare executives for these changes better than anywhere else.  A person with FACHE behind their name will, by definition, be in a better place to make these types of calls and better prepare for the future. 

Congratulations to Kevin and Tim for their efforts on putting the breakfast on this morning.  Great job.  Thanks for letting me participate. 

Rulon

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Army strong

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Friday I had the great honor of attending the Change of Command Ceremony for the United States Army Medical Department Center and School at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, where my good friend and past chairman of  The American College of Healthcare Executives, Major General David David Rubenstein, was receiving the command of the school.  Attending the ceremony was a distinct honor not only as a healthcare executive, but also as a U.S. citizen.  I can’t tell you how proud I was to be associated with all those people if only by the fact that they represent me in harm’s way.  Those soldiers are led well and they are dedicated and honorable…to the person.  

United States Army Medical Department Center and School Change of Command

LTG Eric B. Schoomaker (Army Surgeon General - Center) passing command from MG Russell J. Czerw (Right) to MG David A. Rubenstein (Left)

 I don’t know MG Czerw, but it is clear that he has distinguished himself throughout his career.  I do know MG Rubenstein but was still impressed with the summary LTG Schoomaker gave of his career as he gave him the command of the school.  I have always felt that MG Rubenstein was one of the most thoughtful, visionary and dedicated healthcare leaders I have ever known, but on Friday it was also clear to me that he is also a great Army flag officer.  Congratulations to both MG Czerw and MG Rubenstein (and to Pat and the rest of the family!).  Thank you all from an entire nation! 

MG David A. Rubenstein, FACHE

Change of Command

I must admit that while I was thrilled with the change of command and honored to be a part of it, I was thrilled also to see all the cool toys.  Catch this! 

Newest in Army heavily protected ambulances

(MRAP) Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Heavy Armored Ground Ambulance!!! Very Awesome! :)

The is the newest in Army armored ambulances.  It can hold several wounded soldiers and withstand heavy fire and mines.  Plus, the tires work even if they are flat.  Go figure…why can’t we do that in our cars! :)  

Even from this old Air Force veteran…the trip made me proud to be an American.  Go Army medicine!

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Lynn Brewer, Enron, and the importance of integrity

Posted in Corporate accountability, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

As the chairman-elect of The American College of Healthcare Executives, I get an opportunity to mix with the speakers who present to the organization.

This week I had the chance to sit and talk to Lynn Brewer, the woman The Economist calls the real whistleblower for the entire Enron scandal.

Lynn Brewer and Rulon Stacey

Rulon Stacey and Lynn Brewer at the American College of Healthcare Executives meeting in Chicago, March 2010.

Lynn talked about some interesting dynamics in the country which will generally focus around December 21, 2010. That is when a great deal of corporate debt in the country comes due, and executives will be under a great deal of pressure leading up to that point.

She said that this was similar to the situation in which she found herself in Enron. After working there for just six months she found some information which could have been interpreted as bank fraud. When she addressed this issue she was told to ignore the data and not speak of it again.

Compounding her issue was the fact that she had stock options making her thousands and thousands of dollars a day. It’s this kind of pressure and incentive that lead good people in organizations to do the wrong thing. Fortunately, she did the right thing and now is the CEO of The Integrity Institute, helping others deal with such issues.

In a typical company, about 2 to 6 percent of employees will come forward with concerns about what is going on, Lynn said. In a company where the number is less than that, people are generally being told to not report and the organization runs the risk of violating law and frustrating employees. Where the rate is higher than that, employees may be wiling to talk, but there would appear to be more causing concerns than there otherwise should be.

Rulon

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