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Crisis Readiness and Resilience: Bridging Worlds During and After a Pandemic

By The SHSMD Team posted 06-30-2020 02:32 PM

  
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Resiliency. Flexibility. Data literacy. Open collaboration. During the COVID-19 upheaval, these are among the qualities that hospitals and health systems look for in their strategists and will continue to seek as the field of health care evolves into the new normal.

Bridging Worlds: The Future Role of the Health Care Strategist is SHSMD’s framework for preparing health care strategists for an environment of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). While it was developed long before the COVID-19 pandemic, its five implications for health care strategists could have been written specifically for navigating COVID-19.

The Five Implications
  • Be Nimble to Exceed the Rate of Change.
  • Design Consumer Experiences. Tell Powerful Stories.
  • Integrate and Co-create.
  • Erase Boundaries of Business.
  • Generate Data-Driven Insights.

Be Nimble to Exceed the Rate of Change

One consistent theme has emerged from how hospitals and health systems responded to COVID-19. They describe making changes and adaptations faster than they ever thought possible. Decisions that might have ordinarily taken months or weeks were made in days or hours. Organizations that had been dipping a cautious toe into the waters of telehealth dove into the deep end, transitioning as much of their care as possible. Hospitals and health systems found ways to adapt physical space, equipment and workflow to save lives and flatten the curve.

For more on the skills and attributes needed to be nimble to exceed the rate of change, read the full Bridging Worlds report or visit the Skill Builder. 

Design Consumer Experiences. Tell Powerful Stories

Though the story isn’t over yet, the COVID-19 pandemic features all the hallmarks of an epic story. Heroes from different backgrounds, some with special abilities, come together to face a tremendous threat. The heroes face different obstacles and find unexpected help on the path as they learn more about the enemy and about their own capabilities. 

Hospitals and health systems can use the hundreds of stories they are part of each day to better understand the consumer journey and apply what they learned. They can also share these stories with their communities, funders, government officials and staff to educate and inspire. 

The AHA is collecting stories about how hospitals responded to the crisis as is SHSMD. Organizations like the Story Center are also collecting stories to create a history of COVID-19. 

Hospitals and health systems are also looking at new approaches to the consumer experience and finding new ways to provide contact between patients and their loved ones when visitors are restricted.

For more on the skills and attributes needed to design consumer experiences and tell powerful stories, read the full Bridging Worlds report or visit the Skill Builder. 

Integrate and Co-create

A crisis such as a pandemic turns collaboration from a best practice to a necessity and changes the pace from deliberative to rapid. The AHA created a guide to build collaborations in an hour or less and provided examples. The Department of Justice and the FTC announced that for joint efforts among competing hospitals to fight COVID-19 they would fast-track review of partnerships that might otherwise fall under anti-trust regulations. Hospital staff found new ways to collaborate internally to address the new challenges that COVID-19 presents. Hospitals, health systems, the AHA and other organizations co-created the Dynamic Ventilator Reserve and the 100 Million Mask Challenge.

Meanwhile, the benefits of co-creation are increasingly apparent. The search for effective treatment and a vaccine is arguably the largest scientific collaborative effort in human history. Scientists and researchers from nearly every medical discipline and organizations of all kinds, governmental and non-governmental, are sharing data and insights with unprecedented openness. 
 
Successful integration and co-creation call for diversity, especially for complex problems, though managing diverse teams can be more complicated than managing a homogenous team.  

For more on the skills and attributes needed to integrate and co-create, read the full Bridging Worlds report or visit the Skill Builder.

Erase Boundaries of Business

Hospitals and health systems facing a potential shortage of beds or ICU units found ways to turn pre-existing spaces into care locations. Cafeterias, auditoriums and even parking lots were quickly re-purposed. The same fluidity and transformation erased non-physical boundaries and silos. Many hospitals and health systems reported new levels of cross-functional collaboration in both clinical and administrative functions. Many created command centers across functions to ensure an informed and coordinated response. Hospitals like Northwell found that breaking silos led to better teamwork and results.

With the new emphasis on telehealth, the boundaries between care in the hospital and care at home are dissolving, if slowly. Many legislators and payers are reconsidering permanently lifting the restrictions on telehealth reimbursement that were temporarily eased during the earlier phase of the pandemic and many patients are embracing the convenience of telehealth, even those who were dubious about it before. 

For more on the skills and attributes needed to erase boundaries of business, read the full Bridging Worlds report or visit the Skill Builder. 

Generate Data-Driven Insights

The pandemic demonstrated the vital importance of data and data models as well as the ability to make data-driven decisions. Many hospitals and health systems created data dashboards that they shared with the public. Some, like the Johns Hopkins dashboard, mapped global and national trends while others focused on their local communities. Kettering Health Network already had a reporting and analytics command center that they adapted to responding to COVID-19. Hospitals in Florida collaborated to share data and analytics.

While the most prominent use of data during the COVID-19 pandemic is tracking and forecasting infections, hospitals and health systems are also gathering data about changes in consumer behavior and beliefs, such as growing interest in business social responsibility. This data will show how the patient journey is changing and how hospitals can affirm consumer trust. “Our consumer insights team conducted frequent research to gain insights into consumers attitudes and behaviors related to COVID-19,” said Lisa Schiller, chief communications and marketing officer at UNC Health. “More recently, insights into consumers’ fears and behaviors helped to inform strategies and communication for their safe return for care.”

For more on the skills and attributes needed to generate data-driven insights, read the full Bridging Worlds report or visit the Skill Builder. 

SHSMD ADVANCE and SHSMD ADVANCE for Teams

SHSMD ADVANCE is a self-assessment tool for health care strategists at any phase of their career. Strategists assess the importance of each of the skills and attributes to their current position or desired role and asses their performance. The result is a confidential report that shows their strengths and areas that need development and links to resources for developing skills further. The self-assessment and report are free to SHSMD members and $99 for non-members.

SHSMD ADVANCE for Teams uses the same self-assessment but combines the data for each individual to create a confidential team report. This is particularly useful for planning team professional development. SHSMD is offering special team pricing through September 30, 2020.
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