Podcast Summary: Rewiring Excellence and Solving Healthcare’s Staffing Crisis with Dan Collard

Podcast: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Host: Scott Becker
Guest: Dan Collard (Co-founder, Healthcare Plus Solutions Group)
Date: February 23, 2026

Episode Overview

In this candid and insightful episode, Scott Becker sits down with Dan Collard, renowned co-founder of Healthcare Plus Solutions Group and co-author (with Quint Studer) of Rewiring Excellence. They discuss the evolving concept of "rewiring" in healthcare leadership, the acute staffing retention crisis, and tangible solutions leaders can adopt right away. Collard shares practical strategies, tools, and memorable examples from the frontline—culminating in details about the upcoming Rewiring Excellence Conference.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Shift from “Hardwiring” to “Rewiring” in Healthcare

• Background of Healthcare Plus Solutions Group

  • Formed to provide a more diagnostic, evidence-based, and flexible approach to healthcare improvement.
  • “We sort of walk in the path of the physician, you know, diagnose before prescribe.” (B, 00:35)

• Origin and Philosophy of "Rewiring"

  • A response to the post-pandemic realities and a departure from rigid “hardwiring” practices.
  • “Very few organizations today deploy the same processes that they would have 20 years ago… The premise around rewiring today is that if whatever you're doing is working, you know, stick with it. But if you're not getting the results… maybe this rewired approach, you know, sort of right time, right place.” (B, 01:28)

• Goal of Rewiring:

  • Focus on practical, incremental tweaks rather than overwhelming wholesale change.
  • “We wanted to… take the rocks out of the backpack for folks… we’re not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” (B, 01:28)

The Evolution of Rewiring Excellence and Real-world Impact

• From Field to Publication

  • Book content and “second edition” shaped by ongoing field learnings and frontline feedback.
  • “This living, breathing body of work… isn’t our content. It's what we've learned from the folks in the trenches.” (B, 03:33)

• Recognition and Validation

  • Second edition received the prestigious James Hamilton Annual Book Award from the American College of Healthcare Executives.
  • “We got some really neat news earlier this year… Rewiring Second Edition is the recipient of the James Hamilton Annual Book Award by Ache.” (B, 03:33)

Staffing Crisis: Practical Solutions for Retention

• Workforce Challenge: “Staffing, staffing, and staffing”

  • High employee turnover within the first 90 days is a widespread and critical issue.
  • “We get so good at talent selection because we're not so good at talent retention.” (B, 05:52)

• Actionable Retention Tools

  • Emotional Onboarding: Engaging new hires emotionally before and during early days.
  • Personal Retention Tool Plan:
    • Initiating a personalized conversation on day one, focusing on what motivates and retains each individual.
    • “If I have that conversation with you on day one… when I’m rounding on you, I already know the answers to the test—I know what brought you here and I know what’ll keep you here.” (B, 06:58)

• Tangible Outcomes

  • Example of Abby Spence, CEO of a Tennessee skilled nursing facility:
    • Applied two simple tools; reduced sub-90-day turnover by 37% in a few months.
    • “Abby put those into play in July and by December... she had actually reduced her less than 90 day turnover through 37%. And of course we all know that's real money and its real impact on clinical outcomes as well.” (B, 07:44)

Critical Window for Engagement

• New Research Insight

  • “As an employer you’ve got 44 days… people were making up their mind as to whether or not this was a good decision… in 44 days.” (B, 09:48)
  • Emphasizes urgency of focused onboarding and engagement early in employment.

• Sustainability and Broader Impact

  • Retention interventions not only reduce costs but also lower stress, improve team continuity, and increase leadership satisfaction.
  • “Her job has gotten so much better because she's experiencing less churn… if you can do it in a post acute facility, you can just about do it anywhere.” (B, 10:49)

Why “Rewiring” Resonates with Leaders

• Doability and Acceptance

  • Leaders are overloaded; solutions must be simple and easily implemented for real traction.
  • “Anything new that we bring needs to be doable. And doable is a word that we've sort of also landed on. Because if it's not doable, folks just keep looking for the next shiny new object.” (B, 12:11)

• Incremental Change over Large-scale Overhauls

  • “If we can bring them things that are iterative… the acceptance rate and then quite frankly the success rate follows.” (B, 12:11)

• Analogy to User Experience in Technology

  • Small, user-friendly changes lead to high adoption and big impacts, just like in technology.
  • “If the user experience is easy, people are much more likely to use the technology and really optimize it. It's very similar… Not huge changes that are exhausting and daunting, but small changes that could have a big impact.” (A, 13:10)

The Rewiring Excellence Conference

• Purpose and Format

  • Created as an affordable, compact (1.5-day) in-person event focused on practical, implementable rewiring strategies.
  • “We didn’t want to let money get in the way. So we decided… to create a conference that would, number one, be affordable. Number two, it's not just Dan and Quint on the stage, it's our entire team bringing our body of work.” (B, 14:02)

• Conference Content

  • Includes specialized breakout sessions (e.g. emergency department rewiring with Regina Shoup).
  • “Each segment of the conference has a little bit of that rewiring.” (B, 14:02)

• Dates and Details

  • April 28–29, 2026, conveniently located at the Atlanta airport’s Gateway Marriott.
  • “It's just a day and a half… We're having it in Atlanta at… the Atlanta Gateway Marriott.” (B, 16:56)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We sort of walk in the path of the physician, you know, diagnose before prescribe.” (Dan Collard, 00:35)
• “Maybe some fine tuning or tweaking of the processes… just been met with such wonderful reception for folks because it really does make the day easier.” (Dan Collard, 01:28)
• “We get so good at talent selection because we're not so good at talent retention.” (Dan Collard, 05:52)
• “If you can do it in a post acute facility, you can just about do it anywhere.” (Dan Collard, 10:49)
• “Anything new that we bring needs to be doable.” (Dan Collard, 12:11)
• “It's very similar to what you're talking about. If AIP can come to work and make a couple minor changes… Small changes that could have a big impact that you could leverage significantly.” (Scott Becker, 13:10)
• “We decided to not create a conference that would be a massive revenue stream, but create a conference that would, number one, be affordable.” (Dan Collard, 14:02)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:35 – Background and approach of Healthcare Plus Solutions Group (“diagnose before prescribe”)
• 01:28 – The concept and essence of “Rewiring” versus “Hardwiring”
• 03:33 – Origins of the second edition of Rewiring Excellence and the philosophy of field-first content
• 05:52 – Staffing crisis: Importance of retention and practical tools for improving it
• 06:58 – Abby Spence case study and introduction of the Personal Retention Tool Plan
• 09:48 – Evidence for 44-day engagement window and its implications
• 12:11 – What makes the rewiring approach so compelling and accessible for leaders
• 14:02 – Details and philosophy of the upcoming Rewiring Excellence Conference
• 16:56 – Conference logistics and accessibility

Conclusion

This episode delivers actionable, field-tested wisdom for healthcare leaders facing workforce retention challenges. Dan Collard emphasizes that "rewiring" doesn't mean scrap-and-replace; it's about adjusting what's in place, based on diagnostic understanding and real frontline feedback. The success stories, research highlights, and the upcoming affordable conference offer listeners ideas they can immediately act on—and reinforce the power of iterative, doable change in an industry under pressure.