At the Becker's Hospital Review CEO Strategy Roundtable in Chicago on Nov. 5, Daniel Morissette, CFO of Stanford (Calif.) Hospital and Clinics, Michael Allen, CFO of Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wis., Donald Longpre, CFO of North Ottawa Community Health System in Grand Haven, Mich., David DiLoreto, MD, president and CEO of Presence Health Partners in Chicago and Timothy H. Baker, president of Principle Valuation, shared their insights on what constitutes a successful leader in healthcare systems today in a panel discussion, moderated by Scott Becker, JD, CPA, publisher of Becker's Healthcare.
According to Dr. DiLoreto, having a strong ability to lead and develop culture is one of the most important aspects of being a successful health system leader. "It takes vision, values, a common purpose and the ability to bring in other folks to create a strong network. From a cultural standpoint, it's difficult to knit these all together, but people do," he said.
Mr. Morissette and Mr. Allen also emphasized the importance of high-quality leadership.
"First of all, you have to show an interest in leadership," Mr. Morissette said. "It's more than just doing what the job description says. Second, you have to show an aptitude for it. We have so much going on that in order to get it all done, we need to have skilled people."
As health systems evolve, the ability for leaders to "wear multiple hats," or take on responsibilities in addition to those outlined in their job descriptions, is not only preferable for a great leader, it's necessary.
Sometimes it is the smarter move to have one CFO be responsible for multiple regions, instead of implementing this role at every facility with under-qualified candidates, according to Mr. Allen. "CFOs need to be double-hatting," Mr. Allen said. "We want a high-caliber leader over CFOs from each market without healthcare experience, for example. I want the stronger leader but I also want those markets to take responsibility."
Consolidation of departments and the collaboration of health system leaders are key factors of health system evolution, Mr. Longpre explained. "I'm part financial officer, part treasurer, part controller," he said. When he first joined North Ottawa Community Health System nine years ago, all of the various business operations of the health system were viewed as separate entities with different managers, he explained. Now, management and the financial structure have been consolidated, which facilitates more communication and collaboration.
For Mr. Baker, managing all of the different nuances of the financial side of a health system is a critical leadership quality. "A CFO needs to take care of the surprises and risks. There are many billing questions now, especially regarding the change from fee-for-service, 30-day readmissions penalties and educating patients on what they owe," he said. According to Mr. Baker, making sure providers and patients have a clear understanding from a billing standpoint is essential.