http://healthcarecollaboration.com Practical information for physicians, nurses, hospital administrators, and board members who want to work more interdependently by Kenneth H. Cohn, M.D., MBA, FACS Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:24:16 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Maggie Mahar's recent post, Surgeons and Other Physicians: A Cultural Divide, has prompted me to do something that I have never done before, defend my profession in writing. The stories about abuse of medical students and nurses make it seem like the profession attracts only one type of personality, the tyrant. I wrote in ... http://healthcarecollaboration.com/collaborative-defense/ Every so often, I hear or see something that reminds me that I do not always do what I advise clients to do.  So today, I confess that even though I remind clients to write thank-you notes to colleagues who help them achieve their goals, I have not done so for months.  Nor ... http://healthcarecollaboration.com/collaborative-confession/ I recommend to you Michael Rindler's recent book, Strategic Cost Reduction: Leading Your Hospital to Success. He shows how hospitals can achieve a 5% or greater annual cost reduction without compromising quality, safety, or service. I particularly enjoyed case presentations that showcased the strategies in clinical practice: A community  hospital demonstrated that ... http://healthcarecollaboration.com/collaborative-reduction/ In my last post, Collaborative Independence, I referred to physician champions without defining what I meant.  Physician champions are oustanding clinicians who have earned the respect of their peers by caring for patients in a consistent and reliable fashion, delivering great clinical outcomes.  They are the people we turn to when ... http://healthcarecollaboration.com/collaborative-champions/ Happy Independence Day and sincere gratitude to all who are serving in the armed forces to keep us independent, as well as to their loved ones.  My son, who is studying to become a naval aviator, is on a summer cruise off Cyprus, and it gives our family a different perspective on ... http://healthcarecollaboration.com/collaborative-independence/ I was moved watching Tim Russert's memorial service yesterday.  We both grew up in Buffalo and rooted for the Bills, regardless of outcome.  We never met, but we share common values, including: the importance of family a sense of spiritual connectedness optimism a focus on communication and relationships as a central source of meaning ... http://healthcarecollaboration.com/collaborative-attitude-remembering-tim-russert/ "We're not stupid- we just need to be trained," a general surgery section chief confided to me a few years ago.  He had been promoted to section chief based on his clinical competence and then realized that he needed to communicate, negotiate, and resolve conflicts in ways that he had ... http://healthcarecollaboration.com/collaborative-co-mentoring/  Anybody who has worked with physicians has heard the comment, "Organizing doctors is like herding cats; you just get scratched." When I finished business school a decade ago, a physician asked me, "What is the difference between business school and medical school?" I replied, "There was a lot more memorization in medical school ... http://healthcarecollaboration.com/collaborative-competition/ I admit feeling clueless as I travel on average 100,000 miles per year, listening to physicians tell stories about the ongoing tensions of providing care in a dynamic marketplace.  The word "hospitalist," referring to physicians who specialize in inpatient care, was not coined until 1996 (Wachter and Goldman, New England Journal ... http://healthcarecollaboration.com/collaborative-instability-hospitalists-and-the-community/ A friend and colleague who is an orthopedic surgeon surprised me with a 2-page response to my article on surgeon frustration. I wrote that physicians' mastering process skills not taught in medical school or residency, like communication, win-win negotiation, and conflict resolution are key ways that they can improve their ... http://healthcarecollaboration.com/collaborative-musing-the-passing-of-the-guard/