← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Loading summary
Transcript15 lines
- [00:02]
A
This is where healthcare leadership comes together. Becker's 16th annual meeting brings more than 3,500 hospital and health system executives and nearly 800 speakers to Chicago, April 13th through the 16th. This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former President George W. Bush. For the agenda and event details, visit Beckershospitalreview.com and click on the Events tab in the upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you in Chicago.
- [00:32]
B
This is Laura Dardo with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by Dr. Pratibha Varki, who is the president of Mayo Clinic Health System and Professor of Medicine, as well as professor of Preventative Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of medicine and science. Dr. Varki, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.
- [00:49]
C
Laura, thank you for inviting me to be part of this podcast.
- [00:53]
B
Oh, absolutely. Now, it's always a pleasure to hear from you and I really appreciate your time and attention today because we've got a lot to talk about. I know Mayo Clinic Health System is doing some amazing things, and so from your perspective, I wanted to dig a little bit deeper into some of the different things you're doing around culture and workforce and transformation, and so I guess we'll jump right in. First, many hospitals are undergoing turnarounds, and executives are focused on culture as an essential part of those efforts. What does cultural transformation mean in a health system right now, and why is it so essential?
- [01:27]
C
Laura my firm belief is that people, not processes or technology, are the real engine and magic behind healthcare transformation and turnaround. As you know, for many hospitals and communities around the country, health care has been under extraordinary strain and in fact has been for a prolonged time since the COVID pandemic. Workforce shortages, financial pressure, the digital divide in rural communities, and rising patient complexity often means that technical and process fixes alone won't work in the long run, especially when people are already exhausted or disengaged as leaders make tough decisions about cost access and practice portfolio optimization. Or perhaps it is during exciting times of digital and AI bold transformation, it is critical that we think through the culture, which is if the culture isn't strong and integrated into the work environment, these decisions around transformation can create fear and fragmentation instead of momentum. Our primary value in North Star at Mayo Clinic continues to be that the best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered. I firmly believe that in times of transformation and turnaround, clarity of purpose matters more than ever. When teams are aligned around patients, I think difficult Decisions become easier to communicate because they are principal decisions aligned to patient care and sustainability. I truly believe that culture is a strategic accelerator and a key sustainability quotient in both bold transformation and turnarounds.
- [03:09]
B
That's amazing to hear. I definitely feel that critical in importance and urgency around this culture right now. Especially, as you said, with so much technology coming into the work place, so much, you know, changes that are happening on a daily basis, being able to have that strong culture to move around and have that culture of trust too makes a big difference. Now, when a health system is facing operational or financial pressures, as many of them are right now, what are some of the early indicators that culture needs attention, not just some of the processes or metrics that you might want to put in place?
- [03:43]
C
That's a great question. I'll begin with one of my greatest joys as a leader, which is in observing teams celebrate each other, spend time together, problem solving, challenge assumptions, and bring creativity to work. I'd say. In contrast, when people engage less with each other, spend more time in silos, or are increasingly engaged in anecdotes, often intermixed with anxiety, cynicism and blame, there is likely a culture issue at hand. Another symptom of culture breakdown is silence. When staff or leaders stop speaking up or stop raising concerns, or stop challenging ideas, or stop creating ideas or offering creative ideas that could signal disengagement as well. You can also see symptoms of culture issues in attrition rates, burnout, and in staff and leaders becoming overly focused on deliverables while losing touch with the overall institutional strategy and mission. I'll say that what I find very optimistic, on the other hand, is that urgency and empathy can coexist, that transparency builds momentum, that inspired leaders and behaviors can scale culture fast, and that the primary reason most of us are in healthcare is altruistic, aspirational and people oriented. Absolutely.
- [05:05]
B
I think that's such a great reminder of why folks get into healthcare, and especially leaders is such a challenging job, no matter what the outside forces are that are making it challenging, or just even delivering patient care on a daily basis really takes a special person in order to do that. And so being focused on what that means to the healthcare providers, especially those on the front line, is critical. I know you often emphasize the people side of change management too. What are some of the practical steps that leaders can take to support their teams, rebuild trust, and strengthen engagement during periods of major transition? I know so many health system leaders talk to me about that on a daily basis of how much their health system is going through and you know what they need their teams to do. But it's not easy. So what are some of the steps that you would recommend, especially when you think about change management?
- [05:57]
C
You know, at the end of the day, all change management and transformation is led by the people. And so paying attention to the technical aspects of change without paying attention to the people side of change, including that of belonging and well being, usually does not create sustainable transformation in the long run. One of the One of my favorite quotes from W.J. mayo is that no one is big enough to be independent of others. As leaders, of course, we really can't do it alone. Supporting and providing tools and investing in our frontline supervisors, our site directors, chairs and staff and their own growth in their leadership development and well being then become very critical to sustain transformation with bold transformation. Of course, leaders often have to move fast, but they also have to stay connected. And three principles that have guided us during times of tremendous change include communicating early and often. And that includes when all the answers aren't necessarily clear. A clear strategy, for example, is a great way to begin sharing vision transparently with the staff. The second is to be visible. Leadership presence matters most when decisions are hard. Rounding town halls direct conversations often built credibility, and I've personally found that small group listening sessions are particularly helpful to get unfiltered bi directional conversation going in, both listening to frontline feedback, which can be humbling and insightful to the leader as well as for the leader to transplant, translate and explain strategy to the frontline. And finally, I'll say that reinforcing the shared purpose cannot be emphasized adequately in a turnaround or transformation situation. Reminding teams of the why, the why the work matters for patients, for communities, and for each other keeps people grounded when change feels disruptive and constant. I think it's also critical to realize that transformation is a marathon and not a sprint. Keeping that long term frame for culture transformation and giving the grace of time and patience to both the leaders as well as the staff is critical.
- [08:16]
B
That makes a lot of sense and I love those three steps. Communicating early and often, especially with a clear strategy, and that can be a great way to share vision during a time of transition. Being visible during those rounds, those town halls, those direct conversations, and really having the type of transparency that makes a difference for your teams and then finally reinforcing the purpose. You could never do that enough. It seems like in continuing to repeat that early and often keeps people focused on the main mission and goal, even though some of the tactics or tools that they have might be changing. I'm curious, can you share an example from Mayo Clinic Health System where you intentionally focused on culture and made a measurable difference in performance, patient experience or team well being?
- [09:03]
C
Yeah, I'll begin with Mayo Clinic and one of our biggest strengths we have at Mayo Clinic is our integrated practice and organizational model that has been in place for over 150 years. As you know, our physicians across the clinic work in multi specialty teams for the benefit of our patients and our practice, education and research shields are aligned under one mission and strategy under our CEO Dr. Jeanrico Ferrugia. This integrated model also creates incredible speed in achieving enterprise wide transformation versus in systems where the operating model might be more department or specialty centric. In Mayo Clinic Health System, the community branch of Mayo Clinic, we were created about 30 years ago as a network of 16 hospitals and 50 plus multi specialty clinics. About five years ago we created an intentional cultural change to transform Mayo Clinic Health System to an integrated health system with a shared leadership structure and most importantly under a common strategy and quality framework. And this deliberate cultural transformation that still continues in its journey has completely transformed the way we operate and think across Mayo Clinic Health System and has created sustainable impact on quality, safety, digital and AI innovation as well as financial performance at scale. Our staff attrition and recruitment rates are also significantly better year over year and it has been really inspiring to see how our teams have come together to share resources and expertise as well as make tough decisions and drive transformation to become a category of one community health system for the benefit of our patients.
- [10:43]
B
I love that. I think it's so helpful to understand how you've been able to move and shift from a smaller kind of segment of Mayo Clinic into a larger, more integrated health system and really taking advantage of a lot of the different opportunities that the broader organization enterprise has. I'm wondering before we wrap up here, for organizations especially that feel stuck or overwhelmed, what is an actionable piece of advice you would offer to begin transforming a culture in a meaningful, sustainable way?
- [11:15]
C
Laura, My advice is to start small and to be intentional. Perhaps start by considering your key priorities as an institution and commit to a strategic focus on one or two priorities consistently. When people hear leaders share strategy, consistently follow through transparently and are provided resources and tools for achieving the same trust and momentum builds and when momentum builds, real transformation becomes possible and is subsequently then led by the people themselves, which is when transformation becomes meaningful, fun and sustainable for the institution. In times of exciting, bold digital and AI transformation in healthcare and in stressful times, with several institutions around the country needing financial turnaround. Let us remember that people are the secret sauce that hope, compassion, perseverance and discipline creates resilience where excellence, innovation, people, communities and patients thrive.
- [12:22]
B
That's such a great note to end with. Dr. Varki, thank you so much for connecting with us today for the podcast. I think it's so inspirational to hear about your journey at Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Health System and certainly great advice that you've laid out here in terms of cultural transformation and especially thinking about everything that will be ahead of us in the next year. So many organizations will need to undergo a lot of this, this transformation. So I appreciate your time today and I know we'll continue along this conversation at the annual meeting in April. I know we've had the opportunity to hear from you a few different times over the years and it's always such a special and impactful 40 minutes that we have with you. And so Dr. Varki, I'm looking forward to seeing you again in April in being able to just learn more from you every single time that we connect.
- [13:10]
C
Thank you. Laura, thank you again for inviting me to be part of this conversation.