To be successful in changing behavior or processes in the operating room, OR leaders will need to gain the support and buy-in of hospital executives. The following three responses discuss strategies for garnering this support.
Q: How can OR leaders gain the support and buy-in of hospital executives for new initiatives?
Pamela Booker, MSN, RN, CNOR, Division Chief Nursing Officer, Continental Division, LifePoint Hospitals, Brentwood, Tenn.: Strong OR leadership is crucial from both the hospital and physician side. New initiatives are critical to remaining competitive in the surgical market. The ability to create a sound business plan with surgeon input and support is a vital attribute for an OR leader to possess. Understanding the business aspect of the OR is essential to accomplishing this plan. Advancing education and networking is crucial to helping the OR leadership team remain competent and abreast of the leading surgical market demands. In this world, technology progresses at breakneck speed and good OR leaders will be running to keep up with the pace. Good communication and providing the evidence to substantiate their initiatives will create trust and support from their hospital/physician leadership.
Clark Lagemann, Vice President, Health Options Worldwide: When strategy marketing emerges, you can foresee its accompanying challenges: executive buy-in, prioritization and resource allocation. OR leaders' initiatives will only succeed with established plans and strategies that are aligned. Interdepartmental meetings should be implemented to obtain the buy-in of all parties who will be impacted by those changes.
Joe Smith, Vice President of Perioperative Strategy, Optum: Most initiatives designed to improve efficiency in the OR can be measured before and after key initiatives are implemented, provided the right tools are in place. This assumes that baseline measurements, and ideally industry standard measurements, are available. Fortunately, in most cases this data can be readily collected, and business cases can be developed that clearly show the expected financial and/or quality outcomes improvement. The OR cannot forget that it contributes disproportionately to the hospital's overall performance in these areas, and that fact alone should help gain executive support for any well planned, perioperative-related initiative.
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Q: How can OR leaders gain the support and buy-in of hospital executives for new initiatives?
Pamela Booker, MSN, RN, CNOR, Division Chief Nursing Officer, Continental Division, LifePoint Hospitals, Brentwood, Tenn.: Strong OR leadership is crucial from both the hospital and physician side. New initiatives are critical to remaining competitive in the surgical market. The ability to create a sound business plan with surgeon input and support is a vital attribute for an OR leader to possess. Understanding the business aspect of the OR is essential to accomplishing this plan. Advancing education and networking is crucial to helping the OR leadership team remain competent and abreast of the leading surgical market demands. In this world, technology progresses at breakneck speed and good OR leaders will be running to keep up with the pace. Good communication and providing the evidence to substantiate their initiatives will create trust and support from their hospital/physician leadership.
Clark Lagemann, Vice President, Health Options Worldwide: When strategy marketing emerges, you can foresee its accompanying challenges: executive buy-in, prioritization and resource allocation. OR leaders' initiatives will only succeed with established plans and strategies that are aligned. Interdepartmental meetings should be implemented to obtain the buy-in of all parties who will be impacted by those changes.
Joe Smith, Vice President of Perioperative Strategy, Optum: Most initiatives designed to improve efficiency in the OR can be measured before and after key initiatives are implemented, provided the right tools are in place. This assumes that baseline measurements, and ideally industry standard measurements, are available. Fortunately, in most cases this data can be readily collected, and business cases can be developed that clearly show the expected financial and/or quality outcomes improvement. The OR cannot forget that it contributes disproportionately to the hospital's overall performance in these areas, and that fact alone should help gain executive support for any well planned, perioperative-related initiative.
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