Edmund Sabanegh, MD, MBA, serves as an Executive Consultant of Healthcare Strategy and Past President at Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospital
Dr. Sabanegh will participate in the keynote panel "Leadership Advice - Key Thoughts on Leadership" 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 virtually from May 10-27th.
To learn more about the conference and Dr. Sabanegh's session, click here.
Question: Share one change brought on by the coronavirus pandemic that you’d like to see stick, especially in healthcare?
Edmund Sabanegh: The “make it happen” mentality. This concept that teams with a clear purpose can execute change rapidly and effectively. While we have long had a sense of urgency and teamwork at the bedside as acute interventions are administered to improve a patient’s outcome, this has not routinely been the case on the administrative side of healthcare. Yet during this pandemic response, our health systems moved nimbly to adjust care delivery, embrace digital transformation, and collaborate with partners. These have all been areas of significant emphasis over the past 5 pre-pandemic years but despite many efforts, we had experienced an incomplete transformation at best.
All challenges can drive much-needed change. As we chart our path for the future, we need to remember our leaders at their best as they navigated uncertainty with innovation, empathy, and courage. As Charles Darwin so eloquently stated, “it is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” Let us capture this spirit and move forward. After all, we have plenty of future opportunities to tackle.
Q: What is one essential trait leaders need to lead effectively in healthcare today?
ES: There is no greater need for integrity in leaders than now. The tectonic plates of healthcare are moving at speeds that we have not previously seen. Forces such as embedded artificial intelligence, payer changes, and growing consumerism on top of the changes introduced by the pandemic produce a complex and unpredictable environment for healthcare leaders. This can create a figurative fog as leaders seek to balance competing and confusing forces while maintaining single-minded emphasis on the most important area- our patients.
So how do we combat this and maintain our “North Star” focus? First and foremost, we must demonstrate a consistent and unwavering commitment to our values and our teams. As a leader, our investment and nourishment of our team defines us and will ultimately determine our effectiveness. The litmus test in all decisions must be- will this action improve the care of our patients? I still passionately remember one of the core values of the US Air Force from my early career which is “integrity first.” Despite the “noise and fog” we face today, this steadfast commitment will allow us to be successful for those we serve- our patients, their families, and our communities.
Q: What would you like to see as the defining theme of 2021 for your industry?
ES: I would like to see an accelerated effort toward meeting people’s needs in their own homes. While healthcare systems are heavily invested in brick and mortar assets, the drive should be toward a “virtual health- home health first” philosophy. One of the pandemic’s lasting effects should be the acceleration of out-of-facility care, leveraging the current engagement by both healthcare professionals and patients alike. After all, who among us desires to receive care outside of our home, if the quality of care and outcomes are comparable to in-facility care.
Hospital at home programs, virtual health platforms, and remote monitoring systems provide the blueprint to allow expansion throughout the country. What we envisioned to be impossible to do at home 10 years ago has become a routine reality. When I first trained as a urologist, prostate cancer surgery required 6-8 days in the hospital, often with an initial period in the intensive care unit. With advances in surgical technique, perioperative care, and home health support, we can now discharge many patients within 6 hours of surgery. Their surgical outcomes are better than ever before, the cost of care has declined and importantly, their experience with the procedure is the best ever.
To do this, we must relentlessly ask the question- what will it take to provide this person’s care outside of health facilities? Let us aggressively design and plan for a future where hospitals are reserved for the highest acuity care, and our homes have a growing role for treatment as well as healing.