Leadership Strategies for Breakthrough Change in Health Care

Abstract

There has never been a more urgent need for health care leadership than now. Environmental forces outside of the industry, such as calls for constraining costs and the public display of quality data are propelling rapid change. Realignments and restructuring within the system are also producing lots of activity and change. Patient expectations regarding their care have never been higher. The life and work of professionals (doctors, nurses, and other clinicians) is often hurried, rushed and complicated by bureaucracy, bearing little resemblance to their dreams during the professional education years. Regardless of the national systems of care, we are seeing a very common set of needs arising in health systems world-wide. In fact, we are struck by the common problems and potential solutions across systems that look very different on the surface. This paper will address the need in our systems today and propose a leadership framework for creating a successful health care organization for the future.