Adam Myers, MD, FACHE, CHCQM, CPHRM, serves as Chief of Population Health at Cleveland Clinic.
On May 24th, Dr. Myers will give a presentation on "Health Disparities: How Did We Get Here and How Can We Create Equity?" as well serve on the panel "What Population Healthcare Models are Working for Large Systems? Why Do They Work? What’s the Cost/Benefit Analysis in Population Health?" and finally will serve on the panel "Population Health Practices and Models" at Becker's Hospital Review 11th Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place on May 24-26, 2021 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Dr. Myers' sessions, click here.
Question: What, from your perspective, is the biggest challenge about the future of work for hospitals, and what can they do about it? (i.e. automation, desire for more flexibility, clinician shortages, etc.)
Adam Myers: Patient safety and the reduction of medical errors remain critical opportunities and challenges in health care. While we have made some progress since “To Err is Human”, we still have a long way to go. For example, Ignaz Semmelweis first concluded in 1847 that hand hygiene contributed to deadly hospital-acquired infections. Hospitals still struggle to reliably perform even this simple intervention 173 years later. The degree to which we improve the reliability of our care delivery will also impact many broader challenges with cost, access, reputation, and burnout. Outcomes will improve and less harm will be done. This will produce a reduction of wasted expenditures/effort treating adverse outcomes, lower the moral hazard for caregivers associated with poor outcomes, foster societal trust, and empower efforts to improve access to care. Resources currently directed at recovery from errors could be redirected towards better access to care. We can and must do better.
Q: How can hospitals reconcile the need to maintain inpatient volumes with the mission to keep people healthier and out of the hospital?
AM: Our mission in health care is not simply to fill our beds and treat disease in an episodic manner. Ideally, our efforts will move upstream and partner with others to impact and mitigate all determinants of health (social and traditional). The long-term consequence of doing so will ultimately promote health and decrease the per capita need for many of the interventions currently necessitating hospital care.
There will always be demand for hospital-level care. Additionally, work to assure better access to health care for all will counter some of the downward volume pressure resulting from moving upstream toward prevention.
In spite of these trends and responses, experts predict a decline in need for hospital beds. Forward-thinking hospitals and health systems do well to diversify efforts and find new sustainable ways to deliver ambulatory care.
Q: What's one lesson you learned early in your career that has helped you lead in healthcare?
AM: Teamwork is the critical element. Building functional teams powered by trust and resourced to fulfill a clearly defined purpose can produce far more good than any individual effort.