“Being a new leader within UC Davis Health has given me an opportunity to focus on how we collaborate between the finance and critical teams,” Ms. Doll told Becker’s. “I have found the most effective way is by leading with communication, and specifically the communication of listening.”
To foster open communication and collaboration, Ms. Doll began meeting with department chairs across UC Davis Health’s School of Medicine. By listening to their perspectives on what is working and what needs improvement, she hopes to develop stronger connections and improve the organization’s financial health. For Ms. Doll, this approach reflects a broader leadership philosophy that stresses teamwork, authenticity and trust.
It’s this same philosophy that extends to her advice for women aspiring to hold healthcare finance leadership roles. “I try to surround myself with positive supporters and a really strong team,” she said. “The better your team, the better you can be a leader. You really have to rely on that whole team to get where you need to go.” A champion of female leadership, Ms. Doll encourages women to strive for what they believe in while staying true to themselves and deploying the power of authenticity and collaboration to achieve success.
Along with a focus on communication, the system is also working to manage rising pharmaceutical expenses, which have seen double-digit growth over the last few years. To combat this, Ms. Doll suggested three approaches to managing these costs: negotiating with pharmaceutical companies directly, compounding medications in-house and leveraging 340B.
To combat rising labor costs, UC Davis Health developed department-specific staffing benchmarks to ensure a more sustainable workforce.
“We had used a Vizient benchmark for labor, but we found that the Vizient benchmark didn’t always resonate with the uniqueness of some of our departments,” she said. “We partnered with McKinsey Consulting to evaluate staffing for our facility, look at some of the Vizient data, look at some other national benchmark data and help us arrive at a UC Davis Health-specific labor metric for each of our operational departments.”
Looking toward the future, Ms. Doll called it a “transformational” era for the system, which is preparing to open a new outpatient surgery center along with additional medical offices to enhance patient care. “Collaborating with other institutions and having a positive relationship with your payers is going to be key,” she said. “There’re always patients to serve, but there never seems to be enough revenue.”
