STEP ONE:  Assessing the need

Our clients hiring challenges:

A robust assessment of our clients’ needs provides the initial framework for ensuring the candidate will make a good match. We consider our clients pain points and the specific hard and soft skills to remediate them:

• Outside of the job descriptions, what do you need this person to accomplish?
• Specific experience and qualifications/certifications
• What other important qualities must they possess?

What our client offers to attract the top talent (intangibles):

In order to attract the best talent, our employers need to identify and communicate the intangible appeal of working with them.  The client must know what they can offer and what they can gain for a mutually beneficial engagement.

• Strong leadership/leadership structure
• Ability to have an impact and recognition
• Professional growth
• Exposure to new technology and resources
• Degree of, and approach to innovation
• Diverse tolerances for onsite versus remote presence

STEP TWO: Finding the “best of the best, not the best of the unemployed candidates”

We are committed to understanding our candidates’ full capabilities, including their intangible skills, toward making a lasting and positive impact to client projects. Throughout the process, we consider:

• Our pre-existing network, for contacts we are certain possess a skill set aligning with our clients’ goals
• Net-new recruitment, for vetting consultants outside of our network but whose skill sets may be compatible with our clients’ goals
• Lessons learned from hands-on strategy and optimization, for consultants, thought leaders and subject matter experts who know how to apply their experiences
• Our candidates’ vision for the opportunity, their capabilities and accomplishments, their commitment and follow through, and ability to work in the respective client’s setting
• Full understanding of what they are seeking tangibly and intangibly for their next career opportunity
• The outcome of our in-depth conversations and supervisory references
• The challenges in travel, relocation, and compensation for all candidates

STEP THREE: Cost reduction

By utilizing our pool of both consultants and FTEs, our clients can reduce consulting fees and increase knowledge retention at project conclusion.

• $3 Million, the amount we saved one client by recruiting and hiring 15 FTEs, replacing the need for 15 additional consultants over an 18-month implementation; 14 of the 15 were still employed with health system two years later
• Millions more can be saved long term throughout the optimization and support phase – the knowledge learned from the implementation stays internally — significantly reducing the need for consultants after Go-Live for optimization and support
• To view the case study outlining $3 million in cost savings, click here

STEP FOUR:  Maintaining the client relationship

Clients rely on our talent pool for additional support, project extensions, and future engagements.

• 95%, the percentage of clients who have extended with us, requested additional support over the past three years
• “The team at RoundTable has become a true extension of our health system.  By consistently sharing top-notch FTEs and consultant resources, we are reaping the benefits of their network of highly qualified talent. Our partnership has evolved over the years, and we rely solely on their team of experts to share their strategic guidance with resource selection, saving our health system millions of dollars.  As we continue to expand our utilization of Epic and interrelated technology platforms, we are working with RoundTable for new projects, extensions and additional support.  We are confident in their team and look forward to working together to offer the best experience for our patients and providers, while maximizing our ROI on our technology investment.” – IT Director, mid-Atlantic health system

Gain more knowledge about the RoundTable’s recruiting approach, our team and services by clicking here or visit our recent blog, Learn From Our Leaders: 8Qs with Lauren Rosenthal, Director of Recruitment and Delivery.

The post The Right Candidate Yields Client Success appeared first on RoundTable Strategic Solutions.

TALENT. RoundTable’s interim leaders (industry top talent) have lived inside the four walls of a healthcare system for the majority of their careers, leading successful and high performing teams and functions (both Hospital & Ambulatory), and now leverage their strong background and experience to assist organizations in filling Interim Revenue Cycle Leadership roles while also improving performance, centralizing / standardizing key functions, developing programs and identifying hidden undervalued talent from within the organization.

VOI. Our talented team of interim leaders continuously deliver intangible value for our clients.  They understand the importance of gaining trust and developing credibility with employees in the early phases of their interim engagements through good communication and by working with the front-lines up to the highest level of Managers and Directors to truly understand individual goals, challenges and road blocks as it relates to doing their job effectively.  Throughout this organic process, our team is able to identify and evaluate potential internal leaders whom they can mentor and train over time to help drive a performance-driven culture and potentially replace them as a FT leader.

ROI. Identifying lost revenue opportunities and driving the execution of realizing those dollars is key.  Our team enters each engagement with a focus to improve financial performance while understanding that implementing the operational and cultural performance improvement initiatives is a critical driver to realize financial success.  Over the last year, our team has not only identified internal talent and improved the operational efficiency of key functions, we have also produced real ROI dollars for our customers.  For a large academic medical center in the Northeast, we developed a Revenue Integrity program that identified and realized over $1 Million of otherwise lost revenue.  At another engagement in the Midwest, our team was able to improve the Clean Claim Rate by 30%, resulting in a $2 Million financial improvement — all in just two weeks. These examples are just a small sample of the valuable, but significant work efforts that our Interim Leaders continuously deliver for our customers.

We have the upmost confidence in our Interim Leaders and truly believe that we have the industry’s best talent.  Most of our team consists of industry leaders who, over the last decade, have worked together inside healthcare systems and/or in a consulting capacity.  These long-standing working relationships and deep understanding of strengths and style has enabled us to place the right leaders at the right organization at the right time.  At the end of the day, we want to do what’s right for our clients while providing a unique perspective and creative approaches in helping to solve performance and talent management challenges.

 About the author: Art Lopez is a Senior Executive at RoundTable Strategic Solutions overseeing growth, marketing and client engagements in the Eastern U.S. Region.  Art has spent a large portion of his career focused on leading the early stages of operational and commercial development, go-to-market strategy and overall growth for young and innovative companies at the forefront of the healthcare industry. His 12+ years of healthcare and leadership experience and working closely with the key segments of the market has allowed him to bring his clients a unique and holistic perspective as well as creative approaches in accomplishing organizational goals.

 RoundTable is a boutique Healthcare Management and IT consulting firm that consists of progressive industry veterans. With offices in Baltimore, Charlotte & Boston, RoundTable specializes in assisting health systems nationwide with their overall growth strategy and execution – patient acquisition and retention, revenue cycle performance improvement – both operational and financial, talent management, and Interim leadership. 

 For more info on our team, services, approach and experience, please click here.

The post Revenue Cycle: Addressing the Talent Gap While Improving Performance appeared first on RoundTable Strategic Solutions.

When to Hire and What to Look for in Your Next Interim Healthcare Executive?

When Full Plates Become Overflowing Platters – In the C-suite, we often feel that we are running out of time – health care is changing so rapidly.  Financial and reimbursement uncertainties, for example related to the Accountable Care Act, coupled with daunting budget challenges often pressure senior leaders to cut needed executive roles and skimp on leadership development training of promising administrative and physician managers, which could fill the senior leadership gap. The result is a chronically overwhelmed leadership team with an endless cascading list of “To Do’s” that are never fully resolved and stalled performance improvement initiatives that are never quite completed.  Managers including senior leaders no longer have “full plates” they have been handed huge “platters” that quickly overflow. Time to hire an Interim Healthcare Executive!

What to Look for in Your Next Interim Healthcare Executive – Implementing an Interim Healthcare Executive Leadership strategy during a time of leadership transition in a healthcare organization can strengthen the efforts of senior leadership and/or its board of trustees during a highly volatile time in health care.  Senior leaders should look for an Interim Healthcare Executive who thrives in the fast-paced constantly changing health care environment and, as such, is uniquely qualified to hit the ground running.  The ideal Interim Healthcare Executive will come to the interim leadership assignment with key attributes that add value right away to the organization during its transition. The best Interim Healthcare Executives have demonstrated in their careers that they are adaptable, flexible and reliable change agents – necessary attributes of a great partner and for the healthcare organization that needs to keep moving forward and maintain, or even accelerate, its momentum.

Need assistance in your search for an Interim Healthcare Executive?  Hopkins Tirrell & Associates and partner RoundTable Strategic Solutions can provide recommendations on your next steps.  Reach out to our teams at kyle@roundtablehit.com.

About the guest author:

Amanda Hopkins Tirrell, MBA FACHE is a senior health care executive with over 30 years of experience in academic medical centers, physician practice management, investor-owned healthcare systems and consulting. An energetic change agent with a reliable track record in transformation, clinical strategic planning, operations management and turnarounds, Ms. Hopkins Tirrell is a knowledgeable advisor and mediator skilled in developing collaborative alliances and partnerships with physicians, community organizations and other key constituencies. Ms. Hopkins Tirrell is President and Founder of Hopkins Tirrell & Associates, LLC a healthcare management consulting practice focused on providing strategic, operational and interim executive leadership solutions for healthcare systems, academic medical centers and medical group practices. She holds an MBA in health care management from the Wharton School and is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Website:  www.linked.in.com/in/ahopkinstirrell

The post Accelerating Change with Interim Healthcare Executive Leadership – Part 2 appeared first on RoundTable Strategic Solutions.

What Roles Do Interim Healthcare Executive Leaders Play?

Interim Healthcare Executive Leaders are highly experienced, adaptable and reliable professionals.  They are enthusiastic and intrepid change agents who can quickly assess operational performance gaps, existing management strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities for improved physician alignment and integration. They provide senior leadership and/or the board of trustees the time they need to focus on other pressing issues during a prolonged leadership transition.

More than An Extra Pair of Hands – An Interim Healthcare Executive is more than just an extra pair of hands during a transition. The Interim Healthcare Executive comes with a fresh perspective, can objectively assess the situation and, with this fresh pair of eyes, can assist senior leadership to reprioritize and recalibrate its efforts. Where politics and long-standing, and sometimes, dysfunctional relationships are the reality and burden of the incumbent or outgoing senior leader, the Interim Healthcare Executive can step in free of these constraints and act as a “Doer” to accelerate change, implement needed actions, and plough the road for a longer-term successor.

Catalyst vs. Placeholder – In today’s fast-changing environment, healthcare organizations and physician group practices cannot afford to stand still. The external regulatory, reimbursement and technology environment is driving exponential change in our industry. Indeed, maintaining or defending the “status quo” is a recipe for extinction. To that end, the Interim Healthcare Executive is best utilized as a catalyst for change in an organization that may be at risk of losing momentum or getting stuck. Many of us have worked in healthcare organizations where the cultural inertia, political barriers, and fear of change have been daunting detractors for critically needed evolution. Organizations that cannot respond to these changes, or better yet, proactively tackle these challenges will be left behind.

Business Partners for Physician Leaders – With the advent of more physician leaders in senior administrative roles in health systems and large medical group practices, the utility of a “dyad” non-physician partner is evident. Many new physician leaders are talented clinicians and have credible clinical leadership skills however they cannot “do it all.” When transitioning to a physician leadership model, the Interim Healthcare Executive can serve as a supportive business partner and can be utilized effectively to boost the physician leader’s efforts. This partnership can ensure success during a leadership transition, as well as assess the need for a longer-term executive administrative partner. The Interim Healthcare Executive has valuable depth of knowledge in strategic, operational and financial areas of the enterprise and can be a valuable partner to the new physician leader.

Integrator and Team Booster – The Interim Healthcare Executive in addition to bringing a fresh perspective from the outside can help the senior leadership team “see the forest for the trees.” As an outside consultant, the Interim Executive can more objectively assess talent of the existing managers. Often with turnaround skills and experience, the Interim Executive is not shy about accelerating personnel changes that may have stalled. With this fresh perspective and without the political baggage, the interim executive can assist to realign individuals to areas where their talents are best suited and release the logjams that may have developed over the years. The result is talent rises to the proper place, adding value for the long term and creating better partners for colleagues and physicians which keeps the organization moving forward.

Need assistance in your search for an Interim Healthcare Executive?  Hopkins Tirrell & Associates and partner RoundTable Strategic Solutions can provide recommendations on your next steps.  Reach out to our teams at kyle@roundtablehit.com.

*Check back next month for the second blog in this series: Accelerating Change with Interim Healthcare Executive Leadership – When and What to Look For

About the guest author:
Amanda Hopkins Tirrell, MBA FACHE is a senior health care executive with over 30 years of experience in academic medical centers, physician practice management, investor-owned healthcare systems and consulting. An energetic change agent with a reliable track record in transformation, clinical strategic planning, operations management and turnarounds, Ms. Hopkins Tirrell is a knowledgeable advisor and mediator skilled in developing collaborative alliances and partnerships with physicians, community organizations and other key constituencies. Ms. Hopkins Tirrell is President and Founder of Hopkins Tirrell & Associates, LLC a healthcare management consulting practice focused on providing strategic, operational and interim executive leadership solutions for healthcare systems, academic medical centers and medical group practices. She holds an MBA in health care management from the Wharton School and is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. Website: www.linked.in.com/in/ahopkinstirrell

The post Accelerating Change with Interim Healthcare Executive Leadership – Part 1 appeared first on RoundTable Strategic Solutions.