Meeting Summary of Spring Meeting May 9, 2006

Transparency in Health Care: What's Happening In Massachusetts And, Does It Work?

List of presenters:

• Barbra Rabson
  Executive Director Massachusetts Health Quality Partners
• Amy Lischko
  Director of Health Care Policy, Commissioner, Division of Health Care Finance and Policy Executive Office of Health and Human Services
• Chiara Trabucchi
  Principal, Industrial Economics, Incorporated (IEc)
• Kate Phelps
  Human Resources Manager, Industrial Economics, Incorporated (IEc)

The audience received an overview of the on-line resources that are available to consumers as health care reform evolves and low premium, high deductible health plans become more common in the workplace. Increasingly, consumers will seek out resources to inform their more central decision-making role in health care spending. Information is available on primary care quality on the basis of patients' experiences and based on measures of clinical care at www.mhqp.org. The state offers health care cost and quality information on its web site www.mass.gov/healthcareqc that includes selected medical care and procedures in hospitals and volume by physician and hospital for certain surgical procedures.

The employer group representatives conveyed the difficult balance struck by a company that seeks to retain a highly skilled workforce while it faces the reality of rising health insurance premiums. The representatives shared some of the lessons learned as their employees gain experience with a low premium, high deductible health plan. The role of the health insurance broker was raised and how the business community's brokers may offer an opportunity to promote on-line resources for consumers. Overall, a positive exchange of information occurred between the panelists and the audience.

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Meeting Summary of Fall 2004 Program

The Women in Health Care Management's fall, 2004 meeting focused on the skills women need to advance to senior management positions, and the roadblocks women often face that get in the way of success. Our three panelists were:

• Peggy Stevens, Vice President of Operations, Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership
• Deb Hicks, Vice President of Human Resources, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
• Margaret Butteriss, Consultant

  Key suggestions the panelists offered included the following:

• Know yourself and the value you bring to your organization. Assess yourself honestly and get feedback from managers and peers.
• Make sure that your position plays to your strengths, that it is the right fit for you.
• Assess your motivation for being in your job. Are you in your position for the right reasons, working with a positive perspective to help meet corporate goals? Always be true to yourself.
• Challenge yourself to be as good as you can be. Set high standards for yourself and your staff and earn the respect of others. Volunteer for extra tasks and be a team player.
• Don't become indispensable but, rather, share information so that you are always training others to fill your position as you look forward to your next opportunity. Develop your staff.
• Learn the corporate culture of your organization quickly. Find a mentor and learn what is valued and deemed successful within your organization.
• Know when it is time to move on. Continually assess whether your job fits your values, whether you are continuing to learn and grow, and whether you see a long-term future in your current position. Advice derived directly from our panelists' own experiences included:
• Speak honestly when presenting your opinion. Your next boss may be in the room and looking for that level of honesty from his senior management team.
• You never know who is observing your impact on the company. Praise you receive from unlikely sources may have a profound impact on your reputation.
• Leadership is situational, not everyone is successful in every situation. Find the situation that works for you.
• Don't burn bridges; the health care field is small. Finally, the following common mistakes were identified as getting in the way of success:
• Focusing too narrowly on one's current job and not looking forward.
• Being too much of a perfectionist, such that one's ability to make decisions and take action in a timely manner is hampered.
• Failing to become known in the broader organization.
• Failing to understand the corporate culture.
• Failing to get help in understanding the culture, your strengths, what the criteria for success are within the organization.
• Not knowing when it is time to move on.

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Meeting Summary of Program held 10/22/03

Public Policy Update: Health Care Challenges in the Massachusetts Economy

Presenters:

Kathleen Atkinson, Assistant Commissioner for Policy and Planning Massachusetts Department of Public Health

John McDonough, Executive Director Health Care for All

The presenters walked us through the many challenges faced by their respective organizations. Ms. Atkinson gave the audience an overview of the reorganization of Health and Human Services and the rationale behind the changes. Key priorities of the reorganization are to simplify access to services for clients, to coordinate services, to promote community-based care and to ensure continuous improvement of service delivery to clients. The reorganization will consolidate multiple agencies under four different groups - Children, Youth and Families; Disabilities and Community Services; Health; and Elder Affairs - based on their common functions.

Mr. McDonough made the audience aware of the true magnitude of Medicaid expense to the state. Clearly, Medicaid is not the "budget buster" that it is often portrayed as. While Medicaid represents 28% of the state budget, it uses only 13% of state dollars. The balance consists of federal dollars since Medicaid is a state and federal matching program. In addition, the federal government supplied supplemental state relief to the states' Medicaid programs this year. Mr. McDonough encouraged us to support similar relief legislation in Congress for the upcoming year. He posed the question, "What are the goals of the Massachusetts health care system?" Is there a system-wide commitment to improvement as illustrated by the example of the "Pittsburgh Regional Health Care Initiative?" He recommended a web search on the initiative to learn how a successful model of system-wide collaboration can work. Lastly, he urged us to become active advocates for system change.

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Women in Health Care Management - Spring Meeting June 10, 2003

TOPIC: The Brand Concept: Managing Our Careers in a Challenging Economy

At our Spring Meeting,  we were joined by an experienced career consultant, Mr. Bill Varnell.  Mr. Varnell has worked for over thirty years in industry and was CEO of a health maintenance organization, a national healthcare organization, and a medical liability systems and healthcare quality improvement company.

As a CEO, Mr. Varnell recognized that his personal and professional successes were a direct result of the success of the staff he assembled and coached.  This experience, and the pleasure he derived from it, led him to career consulting.  

A key portion of the evening's program and some explanation of talking points follows:

• Managing Your Career
  1. Packaging Yourself - Branding Who You Are and What You Do
     This concept has to do with having a concise explanation of what you do when asked.  The explanation should demonstrate the value you bring to the organization.
  2. Defining Your Product and Your Personal Career Brand
     This concept is achieved through the process of exploring three questions:  Why you work, What you are good at, and What you enjoy.  The intersection of these three areas allows you to define your brand.
  3. The Art and Skill of Personal Career Brand Management
  4. Promoting Your Personal Career Brand
  5. The Role of "VITO" (Very Important Top Officer)
     The very important top officer in  your organization cares about 1) revenue from new customers, 2) increasing revenue from existing customers, and 3) improving margins to increase profits.  Can you articulate your value to the organization in the context of these three areas?  
  6. Career Progressions - Career Anchors or Why Do I work?
     Mr. Varnell recommends the workbook entitled Career Anchors by Edgar Schein as a tool to explore what motivates you to work.
  7. Executive Presence - Communication and What Do I Say?
     

Networking is an art and a skill.  Mr Varnell recommends networking with people outside of your organization every 2 weeks .  Approach the meeting as you would a business meeting; have an agenda and state your expectations.

  William Varnell, Career Consulting
Phone: (617) 290-6355
Fax: (1617) 474-4606
Email: bill.varnell@verizon.net