CEO gets patients' view of complicated healthcare system

by Lynn McVey For this month's blog post, I planned to continue my theme of expensive variations in healthcare management, particularly the variation in executive salaries between for-profit and nonprofit facilities. Conservative estimates demonstrate the median for-profit CEO salary is around $300,000, while the median nonprofit CEO salary ranges around $600,000. Setting the national standard at the for-profit median could mean a $1.5 billion drop in healthcare spending. I now join the ranks of those writers who recently called this variation the "800-pound gorilla." However, a personal journey I took throughout our healthcare system this week interrupted my blogging plan--when my 92-year-old father entered three hospitals via three ambulances in three days for life-saving interventions. Because I worked in all three hospitals and my smartphone contains a priceless list of healthcare contacts, I navigated the system for him. When the cardiologist said he couldn't get table time until the next morning because the staff was leaving I talked to that hospital's CEO, who made it happen. My smartphone also contained numbers for ambulance drivers, nurse managers, clergy and hospice; all of whom I texted for help in navigating my Dad's life-saving interventions. I slept (not really) in a chair next to his bed for six nights in the intensive care unit. Besides the crick in my neck, I also got an insider's view into what a well-oiled healthcare machine could look like. Yes, I...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Source Type: blogs