Michael Anderson, MD, serves as the senior vice president and chief medical officer at Seattle-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.
Dr. Anderson will serve on the "Emergency Excellence: Is Your ED Ready for the Next Crisis?" panel at Becker's 10th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference on Nov. 7-10 in Chicago.
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Becker's Healthcare aims to foster peer-to-peer conversation between healthcare's brightest leaders and thinkers. In that vein, responses to our Speaker Series are published straight from interviewees. Here is what our speakers had to say.
Question: What is the smartest thing you've done in the last year to set your system up for success?
Dr. Michael Anderson: At Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, we adopted the "Care AI system" for employee COVID-19 screening and attestation which allowed our health system to move over to an automated screening process that not only met Washington state requirements but was more efficient and cost-effective for our workforce. By relying on Artificial Intelligence (AI), the process is not dependent on the presence of a live screener, therefore reducing personnel costs and increasing the rate and compliance of employee screening for COVID-19.
Q: What are you most excited about right now and what makes you nervous?
MA: The most exciting thing right now is to see hospitalizations due strictly to the SARS-CoV-2 virus decline locally here in Washington and across the nation. What makes me nervous is the fact that new Omicron variants seem to be appearing rapidly, quickly becoming the predominant form causing COVID-19 illness. The fact that subsequent variants have not been as virulent as the original Omicron variant is not reassuring.
Q: How are you thinking about growth and investments for the next year or two?
MA: Staffing shortages have been one of our health system's most significant challenges in recent years. Following the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic, staffing shortages were observed in every industry. Therefore it is not surprising that they are occurring again in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of our current staffing challenges, our primary investment must be to train healthcare personnel at all levels to build back our workforce.
Q: What will healthcare executives need to be effective leaders for the next five years?
MA: Healthcare leaders need to instill hope that the threat of the SARS-CoV-2 virus will diminish over time, allowing the healthcare industry to recover. To deliver on that, healthcare leaders must promote innovation within the industry that will reduce the burden on those still providing care despite the current labor market. The adoption of AI and new technology will be critical to help alleviate the stress on the workforce.
Q: How are you building resilient and diverse teams?
MA: At Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, we are leaning into the Virginia Mason Production System (VMPS) to help us build resilient and diverse teams. VMPS is a lean management methodology based on the principles of the Toyota Production System (TPS) and was built on the foundational belief that by eliminating waste, we will improve quality and safety and reduce costs for patients.