Articles & Resources

Linda Leckman was in her car – again – driving up to Ogden, Utah, from Salt Lake City, to meet with a group of thoracic surgeons.

If healthcare has anything like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval, it is probably accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the organization that Margaret “Peggy” O’Kane founded in 1990.

The true meaning of healthcare can sometimes get lost beneath the necessary distractions of governmental agencies, provider and payor budgets, accountable care organizations and health insurance exchanges.

Computerworld Magazine covers its industry to a T – make that IT. But amid major stories on automakers (“How IT is fueling Ford’s turnaround”) and competing systems (“Clash of the Clouds”), last Nov. 22’s cover features senior vice president and chief information officer Pamela McNutt of Methodist Health System in Dallas, who weighs in on “Healthcare IT: No Quick Cure.”

If you ask Nancy Schlichting about what sparked the most professional growth in her career as she rose to become chief executive officer of Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, she is quick to point to people other than herself.

The winners in any organization think beyond their role. This is especially true in staffing and recruiting. Understanding the impact individuals will make far beyond the “must-have” qualities in the defined job description is paramount.

In his classic comic strip "Pogo," artist Walt Kelly came up with a number of classic lines, but the most famous is this one:

Organizational consultant and author Joseph Michelli has previously mined the inner workings of a coffee revolution (“The Starbucks Experience,” McGraw-Hill, 2006) and hotel king Ritz-Carlton (“The Gold Standard,” McGraw-Hill, 2008). Now, he’s trained his gaze on healthcare, and the inside view is one we’ve been privileged to witness as well.