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Each week, the Healthcare Plus Podcast will bring together leaders from across the healthcare industry to share the latest insights, offer solutions to some of healthcare’s greatest challenges, and provide replenishment and well-being tools. Hosted by Quint Studer and Dan Collard, co-founders of Healthcare Plus Solutions Group, you’ll leave each episode with practical tools, techniques, and best-practices to reinforce the great work you’re already doing and address your organization’s unique pain points.

Previously known as The Busy Leader’s Podcast, this weekly series has evolved from a tool to learn from leaders as we navigated the pandemic to now focus in on the changemakers moving healthcare forward. To listen to the latest episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, subscribe to the show, or find past episodes of The Busy Leader’s Podcast, click below.

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84_The Latest Research on Nursing, Staffing, and the Human Element of Healthcare

Hosted by Dan Collard with guests Quint Studer and Katie Boston-Leary

On this special episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, host Dan Collard sits down with Quint Studer, co-founder of Healthcare Plus Solutions Group, and Katie Boston-Leary, Director of Nursing Programs, American Nurses Association to analyze key findings of the latest Models of Care Insight Study and what they mean for the healthcare industry.

The Models of Care Insight Study Part II, conducted by Joslin Insight, collected 1,450+ responses from direct care nurses, nursing leadership, and healthcare executives in the acute care and ambulatory settings. The goal of the second study was to gain a better grasp of how nurses can operate at the top of their licensure while cultivating leadership qualities to enhance their contributions to their organizations.

Key findings include:

  • Retired nurses are willing to help fill the knowledge and complexity gap but most don’t want full time work and aren’t interested in direct patient care.
  • Nurses rate their weakest leadership traits as change management, positivity, and delegation.
  • 63% of respondents say their organization’s CNA workforce is understaffed or very understaffed.
  • 47% of respondents say CNAs are not treated with the same respect as their RN peers.

Quint and Katie stress that there is not one solution to all of these challenges but that there are steps leaders can take to narrow the scope, reduce caregiver workloads, and improve care delivery.

About Katie Boston-Leary

Katie Boston-Leary is the Director of Nursing Programs at the American Nurses Association overseeing the Nursing Practice and Work Environment Division and Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation. She is also the Co-Lead for Project Firstline, a multi-million-dollar grant collaborative with the CDC for training on Infection Prevention and Control. Katie is also the co-chair for the DEI committee for the Healthcare Leaders Network Delaware Valley, an ACHE affiliate. She helped redesign the Nurse Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland with an embedded coaching program. Katie is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and the School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. She is a board member on St. Johns University Health Programs and an editorial advisory board member with Web/MD Medscape and ACHE. Katie serves as staff on the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing and is also part of the National Academy of Science and Medicine’s National Plan to Address Clinician Well-Being supported by the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy. Katie also leads as an ANA representative with 4 partner organizations to organize a National Nurse Staffing Think Tank and Task Force, which published short term actionable recommendations to address the nurse staffing crisis.

Resources:

–       Podcast: How to Kill Your Own Company

–       Models of Care Insight Study Report and Data

–       Rewiring Excellence: Hardwired to Rewired by Quint Studer and Dan Collard

–       ANCC Magnet Presentation by Quint Studer and Katie Boston-Leary

–       American Nurses Association

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83_Scott Becker’s Story: The Past, Present, and Future of Becker’s Healthcare

Hosted by Quint Studer with special guest Scott Becker

On this week’s episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, Quint Studer is joined by special guest Scott Becker. Scott is a partner in the healthcare department at McGuireWoods and founder and publisher of Becker’s Hospital Review and Becker’s Healthcare. In their conversation, Scott shares what drove him to found Becker’s more than 30 years ago and discusses areas of both concern and optimism for the healthcare industry in 2023 and beyond.

Quint and Scott discuss:

  • How Becker’s Healthcare evolved from a thought leadership platform to a trusted media source for hospitals, health systems, and leaders across healthcare
  • Why access is the greatest challenge facing healthcare today
  • How healthcare organizations can improve caregiver retention through training, development, and a strong focus on culture
  • And what the future of Becker’s looks like

Listen to the full episode for actionable insights on how organizations and leaders can meet the challenges of the healthcare industry today.

About Scott Becker

Scott Becker is a partner in the healthcare department at McGuireWoods.  He previously served on the Board of Partners of the firm and chaired the healthcare department for nearly 13 years.

Scott is the founder and publisher of Becker’s Hospital Review and Becker’s Healthcare. He represents hospitals and health systems, healthcare companies, surgery center chains, large practices and private equity funds.

Scott is a Harvard law graduate and certified public accountant. A full professional profile can be found here.

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82_Creating a Culture of Caring: Addressing Nurse Hostility and Caregiver Burnout

Hosted by Quint Studer with special guest Kathleen Bartholomew, RN, MN

On this week’s episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, Quint Studer is joined by special guest Kathleen Bartholomew, RN, MN. Kathleen has been an international keynote speaker and culture expert for over 20 years educating hospital boards, physicians and nurses on leadership, culture, teamwork, and patient safety. In their conversation, Kathleen and Quint discuss issues facing healthcare leaders and caregivers today and offer culture-focused solutions that can drive industry-wide change.

Kathleen shares actionable insights on:

  • How to move past hostility and bring nurses together to work towards a common goal
  • Why structure dictates outcomes and where healthcare needs restructuring
  • And how to impact issues of access, cost, and fragmentation in healthcare

“It is my dream that nurses can walk into a culture where they are supported and nurtured and cared for.” – Kathleen Bartholomew

About Kathleen Bartholomew, RN, MN

Kathleen has been an international keynote speaker and culture expert for over 20 years educating hospital boards, physicians and nurses on leadership, culture, teamwork, and patient safety. She uses the power of story and her strong background in sociology to illuminate and transform the health care culture.  Kathleen has published numerous articles and authored “Speak Your Truth: Proven Strategies for Effective Nurse-Physician Communication”, “Ending Nurse-to-Nurse Hostility”, and coauthored “Charting the Course”; and “The Dauntless Nurse: Communication Confidence Builder”.  Her TEDx talk challenges our covert belief that some people are more important than others. With a call to integrity, and a passion for healing, Kathleen is a visionary thought leader, Op Ed writer and blogger for My American Nurse.

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81_Bridging Generational Gaps in the Workforce: How Organizations Can Capture (and Retain) Millennial Talent

Hosted by Dan Collard with special guest Amelie Karam

On this week’s episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, host Dan Collard is joined by special guest Amelie Karam, a nationally renowned speaker and consultant focused on bridging generational gaps in the workforce. For the last nine years, Amelie has worked with organizations across a number of industries to teach them about the millennial perspective, debunk stereotypes of millennials, and help bridge generational gaps to support long-term growth and success.

Amelia shares her learnings and key takeaways on:

  • What leaders and organizations can do to help younger generations feel a greater sense of belonging
  • How organizations can stand out to millennial applicants during the recruiting process
  • Why passion is a driving force for employee engagement and retention
  • How employees of all ages can be better teammates in a multi-generational workforce

“I’ve spoken to many different industries and it always comes down to the same thing – it’s so important for us to get to know people for more than just their age and more than just their position at your organization.”

About Amelie Karam

After studying at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Richmond University in London, and finishing her degree in Performance and Film Studies from Loyola University in New Orleans, Amelie Karam recognized that people in her Gen Y age group, known as “Millennials,” view the world differently than do previous generations. The great divide between Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y piqued Amelie’s interest.

Amelie is passionate about bridging generational gaps. She speaks and consults both nationally and internationally about how organizations can better work together to attract and retain the Millennial generation to ultimately bridge generational gaps.

Through her Millennial perspective and rich research, along with her background in theatre, film, health, and wellness, Amelie brings an entertaining and informative voice to this important and highly sought-after topic of bridging generational gaps.

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80_Reimagining the People Pillar: The Evolution of the Human Capital Ecosystem™

Hosted by Quint Studer and Dan Collard

On this special episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, your hosts Quint Studer and Dan Collard come together to discuss The Human Capital Ecosystem™, a platform and diagnostic tool created and deployed by Healthcare Plus Solutions Group to help healthcare organizations identify areas for improvement and implement personalized solutions.  

Quint and Dan discuss how the workplace has shifted as a result of the pandemic and how the “People Pillar” looks different today. Based on their learnings from the past two years, Quint and Dan designed The Human Capital Ecosystem™ to evaluate six key, interrelated components of organizations and assess the efficacy of current programs and processes.   

The six components addressed in the ecosystem are: 

  1. Selection and Onboarding 
  2. Supervisor Relationships 
  3. Coworker Relationships 
  4. Skill Building & Career Development 
  5. Resources & Support 
  6. Operational Efficiency 

The Human Capital Ecosystem™ assessment enables organizations to identify top priority areas for further coaching and investment. This gives leaders the focus and clarity needed to narrow their scope of work, focus on the most impactful elements, and yield improved results.  

Listen to the full episode to learn more about The Human Capital Ecosystem™ and discover how Healthcare Plus Solutions Group is helping organizations to address gaps and achieve and sustain high performance.  

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79_From Vietnamese Refugee to Healthcare Executive: Fawn Lopez’s American Success Story

Hosted by Dan Collard with special guest Fawn Lopez

On this episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, host Dan Collard is joined by special guest Fawn Lopez, Publisher Emeritus of Modern Healthcare Magazine. Fawn shares her background – from Vietnamese refugee to healthcare executive – and discusses the challenges she faced as a young woman entering a male-dominated industry.

As the publisher at Modern Healthcare, Fawn has worked to help advance women and people of color into the C-Suite and into board rooms. An extension of that work is Modern Healthcare’s Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference, which Fawn will host for the final time this August following her recent retirement. Since 2006, Modern Healthcare has also published the Top 25 Minority Executives list (now called Diversity Leaders in Healthcare). These two initiatives predated the widespread emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion that we see in healthcare today. Fawn shares she truly believes these programs have made a tangible impact, not only on the organization but also on the careers of remarkable women.

In this special interview, Fawn shares:

  • How being a Vietnamese refugee impacted her life
  • Why gratitude is one of her guiding principles
  • The impact that entering a male-dominated industry had on her early career in healthcare
  • How she has used her position at Modern Healthcare to become a guiding voice for women and people of color in leadership

As I conclude this chapter of my career at Modern healthcare, my wish is for the future leaders to continue to encourage healthcare leaders and organizations to push for faster, more sustained efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion. We need to amplify the call for increased representation of women and minorities and address both conscious and unconscious biases diligently.” – Fawn Lopez

About:
Fawn Lopez is Publisher Emeritus of Modern Healthcare. Prior to her retirement on January 1, 2023, Fawn was publisher of the industry’s leading source of healthcare business and policy news, research, and information for healthcare executives since 2005.

Fawn dedicated her entire professional career to the publishing industry. Prior to joining Modern Healthcare, she held the position of National Sales Director for Crain’s Chicago Business. Before joining Crain’s Chicago Business, Fawn served as Advertising Director at the Kansas City Business Journal in Kansas City, Missouri.

Currently, Fawn actively serves as a board member of two privately held company, SourceOne Global Partners and GeoCann, where her expertise and insights contribute to their strategic direction and decision-making processes. In addition, she holds a position on the Dean’s advisory board for DePaul University-College of Communication. Fawn’s dedication to professional networks is evident through her memberships in Women of Impact: Leaders in Health and Healthcare, and The Health Alliance. She is also a fellow of The Institute of Medicine of Chicago.

Fawn has a passion for fostering and driving diversity, equity, and inclusion, not only in her organization, but also throughout the healthcare industry. Moreover, she embraces her role as a champion and an advocate for advancing health equity for all.

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78_Rethinking Healthcare Economics: The Power of Advanced Practice Providers with Matthew Bates

Hosted by Quint Studer with special guest Matthew Bates

On this week’s episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, host Quint Studer is joined by special guest Matthew Bates. Matthew Bates is a Managing Director with Kaufman Hall and leads their physician enterprise service line. His expertise includes envisioning and executing transformations in healthcare around the physician enterprise, ambulatory healthcare delivery, healthcare economics and data & analytics.

Quint and Matthew discuss the financial pressures facing healthcare industry leaders today and discuss strategic solutions to create alignment and improve margins. To be successful in the current environment, Matthew Bates says leaders must focus on three key things:

  1. Evolving physician alignment, relationships, and engagement
  2. Adjusting care delivery models to maximize the impact of advanced practice providers
  3. Rethinking the front door to the health system and how to engage patients outside of the emergency department

Listen to the full episode for further insights on how Matthew and his team at Kaufman Hall are guiding healthcare leaders to success today.

About Matthew Bates

Matthew Bates is a Managing Director with Kaufman Hall and leads their physician enterprise service line. Matthew has 30+ years of healthcare experience working with physicians and C-suite leaders in the US and beyond. His expertise includes envisioning and executing transformations in healthcare around the physician enterprise, ambulatory healthcare delivery, healthcare economics and data & analytics.

Matthew is a frequent author and speaker on the topics of the US healthcare economy, the future of healthcare and the evolving physician enterprise. He is the lead author of Kaufman Hall’s Physician Flash Report and numerous other thought leadership pieces. He is also the co-author of the book, Leading Medical Group Transformation.

Prior to joining Kaufman Hall, Mr. Bates was a Managing Director at Deloitte in their Strategy and Operations practice and launched their Healthcare AI & Data Strategy offerings. Before that, he was a Managing Director at Huron Consulting and a Senior Leader with Studer Group.

Mr. Bates holds a Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of Denver and a Bachelor’s in Health Care Management from the Metropolitan State University of Denver. He also serves on the curriculum committee for the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME).

Matthew is married to his primary care provider with whom he is raising twins in Montana. His son is into freestyle skiing and his daughter is a rodeo barrel racer. And when Matthew finds a quiet moment to slip away, you will find him standing in a cold mountain stream fly fishing.

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77_Build a Brain, Build a Life, Build a Community with Carlton Ulmer

Hosted by Quint Studer with special guest Carlton Ulmer

On this episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, host Quint Studer is joined by special guest Carlton Ulmer. Carlton is a former healthcare leader, hospital CEO, and President with more than 26 years of experience in the industry. In January 2023, Carlton and Quint co-founded Build a Brain, Build a Life, Build a Community – a company that helps educate parents and caregivers about the crucial role they play in helping to develop a child’s brain and the importance of talk and interaction to fuel healthy brain development in the first three years of a child’s life.

In healthcare, we have a tendency to overcomplicate programs. Carlton shares that one of the things he loves about working in early brain development is the simplicity of it. 85% of a baby’s brain is being built in the first three years and words are the food it needs to develop. We have the opportunity in hospitals to provide educational resources to new mothers and fathers who happen to be the first teachers of their newborn and explain the role they play in brain development.

Tune in today to learn about the role you play in building brains and how you can offer resources within your own organization or community.

About Carlton Ulmer

Carlton has been a healthcare leader for more than 26 years across five states with a track record of creating a positive culture and a commitment to excellence always.

In 2022, Carlton founded N-Evolve, a firm who connects people, companies and ideas to transform outcomes through innovation, mentoring and best practices.

Carlton is VP of Healthcare at CogAbility, where they build Ai-powered digital employees (also known as CogBots) to empower leading government, education, and healthcare organizations – and the people they serve. CogBots automate low-value and error-prone tasks to free up staff to focus on what matters mosts: serving human life.

And most recently in January of 2023, Carlton co-founded with Quint Studer – Build a Brain, Build a Life, Build a Community — a company that helps educate parents and caregivers about the crucial role they play in helping to develop their child’s brain and the importance of talk and interaction to fuel healthy brain development in the first three years of a child’s life.

Contact Information:
Stephanie@BuildABrainNow.com
Stephanie cell: 706-936-1579

Carlton@BuildABrainNow.com
Carlton cell: 850-387-3846

Info@BuildABrainNow.com

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76_The Role of Data in Changing Healthcare Staffing Models with April Hansen

Hosted by Quint Studer with special guest April Hansen

On this episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, Quint Studer is joined by special guest April Hansen. April Hansen, MSN, RN is a nurse by background and currently serves as the Group President of Workforce Solutions with Aya Healthcare. No matter the role, April says her primary love and passion sits with improving the human experience and improving healthcare.

April shares that there is an exciting hunger and interest today in rethinking how healthcare is delivered and how leaders are guiding those changes through data insights. One innovative model she’s seeing health systems take great interest in is virtual nursing. Leaders are re-evaluating processes and determining the division of labor that can be handled virtually versus what is required to be done hands-on. With this data, organizations will be able to then perfect and optimize workflows and back them with technology to make a great impact on the patient and caregiver experience.

Quint and April discuss:

  • How healthcare leaders should leverage data as they consider innovative care delivery models
  • Ways to reduce nurse workloads and improve caregiver satisfaction
  • How Aya Healthcare is filling talent gaps to help health systems maintain service line operations and meet the needs of their community

About April Hansen

As Aya Healthcare’s Group President of Workforce Solutions, April Hansen, MSN, RN, is responsible for strategic business development, workforce solutions program operations, recruitment augmentation and clinical services support. Hansen has led her team through exponential growth with new client expansion and several organizational acquisitions, increasing the distribution channels for Aya’s 45000+ clinicians. A strong proponent of lifelong learning, April created the Aya Scholars Program, the industry’s first clinical ladder and professional recognition model for travel nurses, to ensure their continued career growth.

Passionate for improving the clinician experience and solving workforce challenges, Hansen spearheaded an industry-first qualitative market research project examining the lived experiences of core staff, veteran travel nurses and new travel nurses during the pandemic and understanding how that lived experience influences nurses’ career choices. The research, “Mind the Gap: Repairing the US Healthcare Workforce” and its findings have been featured by Healthcare Dive, Axios and SIA and have been presented at numerous hospital and healthcare associations, including Wisconsin Organization of Nurse Leaders where Hansen served as the keynote speaker.

April is a nurse and an entrepreneur. She successfully co-founded a clinical management technology to ease the administrative burden of healthcare student clinical placements in 2012 and achieved a successful exit when the technology was acquired in 2016. In addition, she co-founded a mobile application for nursing engagement and achieved support through a nationally ranked start-up accelerator in partnership with Microsoft in 2017.

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75_Why Culture Wins with Blaine Douglas

Hosted by Quint Studer with special guest Blaine Douglas

On this episode of The Healthcare Plus Podcast, host Quint Studer is joined by Blaine Douglas, Managing Principal of Vizient overseeing indirect spend (or purchasing services). Blaine manages a team of 220 people who work to help Vizient’s provider members put processes in place and drive value. Quint and Blaine discuss how Vizient has driven its impressive workplace culture and created positive employee engagement results across the organization.

Vizient provides services that impact quality across the healthcare industry, but employees don’t necessarily see the direct impact they have on patient outcomes. Blaine believes that the key to improved engagement is tying the work his team members do to the company’s mission of improving patient care and serving member hospitals.

Listen to the full episode to learn more about:

  • How to leverage employee engagement survey results
  • Why having a “family atmosphere” is crucial to employee attraction, retention, and engagement
  • How a hiring process can ensure bringing in talent that will flourish in your workplace culture

About Blaine Douglas

Blaine Douglas brings over 30 years of experience in the health care industry. His areas of expertise and professional skills include health care operations with a focus on operational efficiencies and expense control. Blaine leads the nonclinical consulting practice, including purchased services, supply chain, construction and facilities, and capital and equipment planning consulting service areas. Since joining Vizient, he has led many multimillion-dollar improvement projects totaling over $250 million in savings, including a $30 million financial improvement in 12 months at a large Southeastern academic medical center—surpassing a three-year savings guarantee in the first 13 months, exceeding the $12.5 million target by over 200% and improving a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award-winning health system’s supply chain savings by more than $16 million.

Prior to joining Vizient, Blaine spent 18 years in health system operations as a COO of a health system and CEO of a Level I trauma center. As CEO, Blaine led a dramatic hospital financial turnaround while also improving patient, employee and physician satisfaction, as well as overall hospital quality.

Blaine has a bachelor’s degree in fire safety engineering technology from Oklahoma State University, a master’s degree in health care administration from Oklahoma State University, and a Doctor of Health Administration degree from Central Michigan University.

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