Allison Roditi, FACHE, MPH, MPhil, serves as Chief Administrator, Sports Medicine Institute at Hospital for Special Surgery.
Allison will serve on the panel "Key Strategies for Orthopedics, Cardiovascular and Sports Medicine Services Lines" at Becker's Hospital Review 12th Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place in Chicago from April 25-28, 2022.
To learn more about the conference and Allison's session, click here.
Q: What are your top priorities for 2022?
Allison Roditi: My top priorities for 2022 are recruitment and patient access. We are working closely with our Regional Markets team in order to improve patient access, especially in our suburban markets. Patients will travel for surgery, but for initial evaluations, PT and follow up visits, they want to stay close to home. They also want access outside of 9-5, and we are working on several strategies to provide that for them. After the last two years of people not seeking care, we are building back up our urgent care offering in Manhattan as well as in our regional locations, so patients can access care when they need it most, especially as sports have resumed for both children and adults. In order to meet that need we are recruiting additional physicians as well as Advanced Practitioners to enhance access.
Q: What will the lasting legacy of COVID-19 be on the healthcare system?
AR: I think that there are several “legacies” that COVIE-19 will have on our healthcare system. One is in our workforce. The rules have changed, and we as employers must adapt to a new type of workforce. The days of people willing to commute for hours to come into a city to work are over. We are going to have to get creative with shifts for our clinical teams, and figure out how to make hybrid work environments functional for both our employees and our institutions. People are resigning in droves, and it is essential that we retain our employees so that we can continue to provide high quality patient care.
All organizations are having to reevaluate employee incentives, benefit packages and place an increased focus on employee wellness, which is probably long overdue. We have known for a long time that employee satisfaction is directly linked to patient satisfaction, and what motivates ad keeps our employees happy has changed post pandemic. WE need to listen to our employees, make sure that they feel heard, supported and engaged in what is happening in all of our organizations.
Finally, most organizations are having to redefine their culture. Healthcare was a 24/7 in person industry, with very few remote workers. Work took place at the physical plant, and that is what shaped many of our institution’s cultures. All of us need to think about how we can maintain the essence of our unique organizational cultures, while adapting to the fact that our employees are now spread out geographically, and are not interacting in person nearly as much as before. The organizations that can adapt and maintain a strong culture and strong employee engagement will fare better than those that don’t adapt.
Q: What advice do you have for emerging healthcare leaders today?
AR: I think there are several key pieces of advice for emerging healthcare leaders:
1. Know your skill set and be able to talk about it, but also know what skills you want to acquire. That will help you find projects and roles that will allow you to showcase your talent while you develop tools that you don’t currently have (or maybe are not quite as comfortable with yet).
2. Have a goal. You can’t move forward in your career unless you know where you are going. The path will definitely not be straight, and it will be full of twists and turns. But having a goal will always be a guide for moving you forward on that path. Its also if that goal changes, as long as you have something to aim for.
3. Always network because you never know where your next opportunity may come from. Personally, all of my roles after my first one have come through a personal connection in my network. And its great to have a variety of people in your network who you can reach out to when you want advice on a project, job or volunteer opportunity. Having a diverse network allows you to get exposure to a variety of viewpoints and experience which can be really helpful in both your professional and personal life.