On Wednesday April 11th, Dennis Shelby, will give a presentation at Becker’s Hospital Review 9th 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 April 11-14, 2018 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Dennis’s session, click here.
Question: What did you notice about your healthcare experience the last time you were at the receiving end as a patient?
Dennis Shelby: I recently had an EGD performed on me at the hospital where I am the CEO. Every staff member was friendly and engaging. The Patient Financial Services staff was professional, friendly, and helpful as they registered me. Everyone asked if I was comfortable and in need of a warm blanket. The room I was in was extremely clean. The surgical nursing staff, nurse anesthetists, and physician asked all of the right questions to ensure I could have the procedure performed (i.e., no eating, drinking, allergies, etc.) The physician provided me with his findings/impressions, which were reassuring, but sent off a specimen just to be sure.
I received a thank-you card in the mail signed by the surgical team wishing me well and thanking me for using Wilson Medical Center. Some may wonder if I received extra special care because I am the CEO. The truth is, the staff treats all of our patients as if they were the CEO or a VIP. I am proud to lead such a fine organization that delivers friendly, family-oriented, quality services.
Q: Please share a new consumer-centric capability your organization has built or tapped into within the past 18 months.
DS: We have developed a strong outpatient telemedicine service for specialty care that people would normally have to travel two to three hours to receive. These are specialists who do not provide specialty clinics in person in rural areas like dermatology, endocrinology, neurology, diabetic education and rheumatology, to name a few. The patients greatly appreciate these services. Many of these patients are elderly or in pain and a trip to an urban medical provider is inconvenient, expensive and painful due to the long distance. Transportation is also a major barrier in our community so these services being provided locally are greatly appreciated.
Q: How do you see the barrier between competitors and collaborators changing?
DS: My hospital is a rural Critical Access Hospital (CAH) and there is another CAH less than 12 miles away. Historically, we have been very competitive and the word collaboration was not in our vocabulary. We, the CEOs of the two facilities, meet monthly to see how we can help each other. Our facility actually purchases services from the other hospital. Physician and medical provider recruitment is difficult. Our two facilities and communities have joined together to recruit providers to our region. This effort involves physicians/medical providers, Board of Trustee members, community leaders, staff from both hospitals, educators, business and industry leaders and the faith community. We have created a Mission and Vision Statement related to the recruitment and retention of medical providers in our area.
This collaboration would not have happened five years ago.
