On April 7th, Kim will serve on the panel “Is There Any Other Option but to Employ Physicians? What Do You Do to Control Physician Group Losses? What Works and What Doesn’t?” 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 April 6-9, 2020 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Kim’s session, click here.
Question: How can hospitals reconcile the need to maintain inpatient volumes with the mission to keep people healthier and out of the hospital?
Kim Russel: One reality is that many urban hospitals are seeing increasing demand for inpatient services (Hello, Baby Boomers!). However, the mission of health care organizations should always include a focus on helping people in our communities become healthier and avoid the need for hospitalization. Even with the inpatient service demand increases that some health systems are experiencing, all health systems need to broaden service offerings outside of the traditional hospital-centric model. Often this expansion in services will occur via unique partnerships and joint ventures.
Q: Where do you go for inspiration and fresh ideas?
KR: Throughout my career, I have strived to remain up to date on happenings in the public and private sector business economy – there is always much to learn and there are many opportunities to discover new ideas. Another source of fresh insight comes from serving on a variety of boards and learning about the strategies and leadership approaches of other organizations. And for inspiration…nothing beats visiting face to face with patients as a reminder of our mission and central purpose.
Q: What do you see as the most exciting opportunity in healthcare right now?
KR: The most exciting opportunity in health care today is consumerism – specifically, reimagining health care services so they are consumer-responsive, innovative and patient friendly. Consumerism also encourages patients to be front and center with their own health care decision making – a very positive trend.
