With 2,500 sites of care — including 141 hospitals and 30 senior living facilities that sprawl across 23 states and Washington, D.C. — St. Louis-based Ascension may not seem well-suited to make sudden business changes. But Ascension President and CEO Anthony Tersigni, EdD, aims to make the nation's largest nonprofit health system into one of America's most agile hospital networks.
Here, Dr. Tersigni discusses the system's recent national rebrand, how he instills a spirit of risk-taking and innovation and the issues he is focusing on over the next five years, despite uncertainty on Capitol Hill.
Question: What prompted the decision to rebrand Ascension's healthcare facilities? What effect has the rebranding had within the organization and outside in the communities it serves since being implemented in 2016?
Dr. Anthony Tersigni: In 1999 we decided not to brand Ascension because the brand equity was in the local entities. But since then, we believe we've made enough inroads in safety, quality and high-reliability that we felt Ascension has developed a reputation of its own. How do we combine the national reputation with the local reputation? Since co-branding the Ascension name with the names of our hospitals in our communities in advertising and on the web, the results have been outstanding. It's about making it easier for the people we serve to navigate our system within a particular community because they now understand we're all connected. We're going to roll this out throughout the country, but we're doing it in a sequential way because it's very costly. But we believe now is the time to position ourselves as the national system that we are.
Q: What are your primary goals for the organization for the next five years?
AT: We want to continue to grow our primary care, expand access and continue to move toward value-based care. We want to be able to take on risk in a way where we can move into first-dollar coverage so we can move the patient through the continuum of care. We promise healthcare that works, that is safe and that leaves no one behind — for life. For us to do that, we need to be able to put patients in the right setting for the right care at the right time. If we can take on risk and walk with our patients and their families through our clinically integrated systems of care, we believe we can keep them well.
When it comes to population health management, the mindset is we need to change the way we look at our current business. We are moving from fee-for-service, where we get paid for doing things, to fee-for-value, or how to keep people well. We've been so successful as a hospital company under fee-for-service, and now we have to change the mindset and culture of all of these stakeholders. We have to go in a different direction. It's like changing a flat tire on a car while it's moving. No one has figured out yet how to do it, but you're going to have to figure it out.
Another priority is mental and behavioral health. That's very important to us. It's a core part of our mission, and we want to be partners with whoever else sees that as a key component.
Q: What are the most important management practices when leading such a vast system with thousands of employees?
AT: In the 18 years since we created Ascension, we've been trying to have a culture that's transparent, candid and nonpunitive. That's a dramatic departure from the healthcare industry of old. I like to think I surround myself with really bright individuals and subject matter experts, and I try to empower everyone to do what's in the best interest of those we serve. That's what this is really all about. I like to think I hire people who are brighter than I am and give them the resources to do their jobs. Then I get out of the way.
That's one of the principles we try to instill in our Leadership Academy — a program where we take high-potential employees for two to three years and help them develop. They focus on spiritual health to better understand their inner self. The second thing is leadership development. Everyone comes to us with certain gifts. We want them to hone those gifts and develop other skills. And the other piece, which people don't talk about often, is personal health and vitality management. We expect our executives to work eight, 10 or 12 hours per day at optimal performance level. That's virtually impossible unless you understand the physiology of your body.
Q: How would people describe you personally as a boss?
AT: My job is to allow leaders across the country to do what they are capable of doing. I like to think I am the supporting cast to what they do, and therefore I want to give them as much leeway and support as possible, and I want them to take risks. I am a risk-taker. As long as you don't hurt people, that's how we learn — through making mistakes. So take that risk.
Q: How do you plan for the future amid the current uncertainty surrounding healthcare policy?
AT: We need to be the highest-quality, lowest-cost, best-outcome provider in every market that we're in. Then regardless of what happens in Washington D.C., we are going to be there for our patients and they're going to want to seek us out.
We are working to do our part to reduce costs and cut waste in healthcare. But at the other end of what we do are human beings whose lives can either be helped or ruined by our actions or inactions. We are constantly advocating as a voice for the voiceless because many of those folks don't get a chance to have this kind of conversation. I feel compelled to represent them because we are at ground zero in terms of healthcare. We see the pain and suffering that's happening in society. They are in our clinics; they're in our emergency rooms; they're in our hospitals; they're in our nursing homes.
I spent a couple weeks on Capitol Hill meeting with every senator I could meet and say, "Look, we want to be a resource. If you have a policy idea, let us know what that is and we will tell you the practical implications of that policy on the people we serve."
We will continue to advocate for the poor and vulnerable. Last year we provided $1.8 billion of community care, community benefit and charity care. Given where this is going, I believe that number is going to go up next year. Because we are a faith-based, Catholic organization, we are going to continue to serve those people. If it ends up being over $2 billion, we're going to figure out a way to serve them. We have to do so until we find a national solution here.
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