Physician leaders from the University of Pennsylvania and the chief innovation officer of Penn Medicine in Philadelphia shared five lessons learned during the organization's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Harvard Business Review.
1. "We were scrappy." The hospital used makeshift approaches to establish a COVID-19 testing site in 24 hours that was flexible to changing demands.
2. "Our small squad … was empowered." Penn Medicine transformed its teams into squads, which consisted of three members leading just under 10 clinical staff. The setup allowed plans to be implemented and adapted quickly.
3. "Early physicians' praise won over their more skeptical colleagues." In implementing a new telemedicine strategy, the leaders found that going the extra mile for early adopters ultimately increased adoption across the health system.
4. "We are going to get through this together." Troubleshooting virtual care visits meant leaders and app developers had to embed themselves into the front-line experience to best understand physician and patient frustrations.
5. "We also owed our speed to our preparedness." The pandemic accelerated change that Penn Medicine had been preparing for for years, like expanded technology capacities and human-centered design.
Read the full article here.