An excessive focus on financial issues in healthcare above all else has damaged the industry at its very heart, according to the July 17 edition of The Keckley Report.
While such a focus may be understandable, especially given the effects of the pandemic, the excessive concentration on margin, liquidity and solvency has been damaging the healthcare industry for years, the report said.
"It's not ironic that trust and confidence in the U.S. system has eroded to an all-time low," according to the report. "It's no surprise that large hospital systems are now thought of as big businesses alongside other suspect institutions like Congress and media."
AI and workforce platforms can help, but the push for a different focus, especially on frustrated health workers paid hourly, must come from people heading and working on the boards of health systems.
"But platform solutions and AI-enabled workforce re-engineering will not be effective until boards and senior management teams undergo heart transplants," the report said.
Executive compensation should be directly linked to the culture and well-being of systems and their workers, including CEOs being widely available to all employees, the report argues. In most cases, that is not the reality.
"Hourly workers are the beating heart of the healthcare industry: they don't have star power, they don't have a voice, and they don't feel they're seen or heard," the report said. "As the system transitions to AI-powered workforce solutions in bigger organizations, the heartbeat is irregular. It needs attention."