Tom McDougal, DSc, MSHA, MBA, FACHE, serves as Chief Executive Officer at Merit Health; Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, Department of Healthcare Administration; Member, Department of Healthcare Administration Advisory Board at Samford University.
On April 9th, Tom will give a presentation on "40 Minute PhD (Predicting Healthcare Decisions)" 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 Tom'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.)
Tom McDougal: I see more than one big challenge. First, leadership decision making. We must lead with data. It is so tempting to make decisions based on what we think we know or our past experiences. But, what does the data show? That is the real question. Second, patients are disrupting healthcare much as they disrupted banking and retail - we have to take care to where the patients want that care. Many times that is virtual but it is so hard for us to move away from our large bricks and mortar hospitals and clinics.
Q: What, if anything, should hospitals be doing now given economists' projections of a forthcoming economic downturn?
TM: Economics drives everything we do. And, we have to heed the warnings. In 2008 and 2009 the national economic downturn dramatically impacted volumes of care demanded by patients. But, that was 10 years ago and the market has changed. I am anticipating patients demanding low-cost consumer-driven and chosen digital access options - the providers that offer those access points will have the best performance during a downturn.
Q: What's one lesson you learned early in your career that has helped you lead in healthcare?
TM: My best lesson was how I viewed the power of information sharing. Early in my career, I was quick to tell someone I already knew what they were sharing with me. I guess that made me feel more important and powerful. What I learned was if others think you already know everything then the sharing of information with you slows dramatically. We need information and we need it timely. Sometimes you have to act as if you did not know something so that the person sharing the information feels valuable and they will be quick to share information with you when you need it. It never hurts to receive an important piece of information twice and I do not want my pride to affect my ability to effectively do my job.
Q: Healthcare has had calls for disruption, innovation and transformation for years now. Do you feel we are seeing that change? Why or why not?
DM: We are starting to see this change but massive changes are coming. Some predict as much as 50% of physician care will be virtual within 5 years. From my prior responses to these questions, you see my commitment to digital access points. Some say that technology is disrupting healthcare. Wrong! Patients are disrupting healthcare and as providers, we can embrace it or ignore it but ignoring it will likely cost you long term market share. The most important tool for consumers is the smart phone - we better be on it!
"What's one lesson you learned early in your career that has helped you lead in healthcare?
The greatest lessons I learned in healthcare were three things on my first day of medical school: “listen to your patients they will tell you what is wrong, don’t be over-enamored with technology, and give every patient something for their time of need”. More true today!
What do you see as the most exciting opportunity in healthcare right now?
With society’s obsession with technology, now is the time to harness cutting edge technology to facilitate the human interaction, not replace it.
Healthcare has had calls for disruption, innovation and transformation for years now. Do you feel we are seeing that change? Why or why not?
As the saying goes, “One person’s innovation is another person’s disruption”. Transformation may be the most over-used word in healthcare today. True transformation (dramatic change) will come from a grass roots movement (outside the corporate walls) and led by synthetical thinkers who by doing what is best for patients will find it is best for business."