Michele Meyer serves as Chief Executive Officer at Washington County Memorial Hospital.
On May 26th, Michele will serve on the panel "Improving Patient Satisfaction and Service Quality Through Healthcare IT" 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 Michele's session, 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.)
Michele Meyer: From a Critical Access Hospital perspective in rural America, the lack of providers, payer mix, and payments less than Medicare cost is a HUGE challenge for the future of hospitals. The burden of healthcare in rural America is not only healthcare. The challenge becomes when the hospital is one of the largest employers in its county and it affects the communities and businesses in which it resides. Three Critical Access Hospitals have closed in the state of Missouri and in every closing, it affected the commerce in the community and the employees of those facilities who then had to out-migrate as well as the out-migration of patients.
Q: What’s one lesson you learned early in your career that has helped you lead in healthcare?
MM: Not sure if there is one lesson, but, the following are some of the meaningful ones that resonate:
1.) Be as flexible as you can because change is constant.
2.) In doing so, be positive with the change and embrace it.
3.) Do whatever it takes as a leader to be the servant leader.
4.) Self-Motivation
Q: Where do you go for inspiration and fresh ideas?
MM: For fresh ideas, first, I get them from my co-workers by rounding and asking questions. “What can we do differently?” and typically the exciting new ideas are from colleagues who are out of healthcare. Besides colleagues, I do literature searches for best practices, networking, and reading.
For inspiration, I try to read books that connect meaning, such as “ The 5 people you meet in Heaven” and “Chika” by Mitch Albom. In reading these books you find out that you never know the impact you can make or the touch on a life. This is especially important in healthcare.
Q: How can hospitals reconcile the need to maintain inpatient volumes with the mission to keep people healthier and out of the hospital?
MM: From a Critical Access Hospital perspective, we have partnered with Rural Physician Group to offer in-house hospital coverage 24/7. In doing this strategy, we are retaining higher acuity patients that would be typically transferred out of a Critical Access Hospital. In addition, there is a focus on outpatient services that we have expanded to keep:
- Updated Radiology equipment- new MRI, CT and Ultrasound
- Wound Care
- Certified Sleep Lab
- Enhanced Physical Therapy
- Variety of guest specialists including: Gastro, Neuro, Rheumatology, Orthopedics, Cardiology, Urology, Nephrology, Pulmonology, Occupational and Speech Therapy, and Pain Management Services.