Guest Commentators: Stefanie Christmas, Director and DEI Service Lead, and Shannon Connolly, DEI Service Lead, Vynamic @Vynamic
As healthcare organizations develop and implement their strategies to address public health challenges, why should flexibility be top-of-mind?
For the last three years, healthcare organizations have been grappling with the intersection of multiple complex challenges: operating during a global pandemic, addressing a severe talent shortage, and meeting the needs of a diverse patient population. While solving these will require unique solutions, there is one key element that should be prioritized as organizations strategize across all three: flexibility.
The three-year journey we’ve been on as a nation and a world pointedly spotlighted the importance of being able to pivot. We’ve all had to navigate a new normal, but healthcare organizations have had to do so with increased urgency. Delivering care is never more important than during a healthcare crisis, and yet our traditional model was upended. Doctors and nurses pressed forward, working around the clock in a face-to-face capacity, but the business operations behind healthcare providers faced pressing decisions about how to maintain systems, processes, and supply chains that previously relied on consistent in-person interactions. The heightened urgency meant changes that could have taken months or years were made overnight. The issue of an already short supply of talent was exacerbated as the burden on the system grew. Suddenly, systemic inequities and issues of access were cast into sharp relief as healthcare organizations struggled to reach the populations who needed them most.
We don’t know when or if another pandemic will force our hand, causing us to upend the way we work and deliver care, but we do know that flexibility is required for healthcare organizations to be successful. Operationally, we need to be able to pivot quickly if we are going to deliver on the promise of care when unpredictable challenges arise. We need to be prepared with flexible approaches to our workforce – from the structure of shifts to the types of benefits and pay that will meet the needs of a diverse and empowered talent pool. It is incumbent upon us to rethink approaches that have for too long exacerbated the disparities among the patient population. It is critical that we adapt how we reach patients by improving access and being inclusive in the way we develop medicines and technologies. A sound strategy to grow and deliver quality patient care remains paramount, but nimble leadership and approaches are essential. As we seek to improve public health, flexibility will be a key competency required for healthcare organizations.
Upcoming Event
Improving Social Determinants of Health: An Inclusive Neighborhood Growth Issue Forum
Thursday, February 23, 2023 | 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Alumni Hall
Business, civic, and organizational leaders from across the city and region are invited to join us in person for a necessary conversation with regional experts about building a more collaborative approach to enhancing the health of our communities. Realize the connection between social determinants of health and economic prosperity in our city while learning about the financial, talent, and brand competitiveness benefits businesses can gain by prioritizing and engaging in improving population health.
