Healthcare Executive - November/December 2013 - 76

CEO Focus

A New Spirit of Service
Two “masters” describe the leadership
competencies and imperatives for the health
reform era.
Marisa J. Paulson

For healthcare executives, leadership
is a habit—something they do each
and every day, truly a part of their
very being. Leadership is often so
intrinsic that it can be easily
shielded from examination and
transformation. However, in these
complex times in the healthcare
management field, leadership is
something that must be scrutinized
as much as cost reductions.
Joseph R. Swedish, FACHE, CEO
of health insurer WellPoint, headquartered in Indianapolis, and former president/CEO of Trinity Health, and
Sally E. Jeffcoat, FACHE, president/
CEO of Boise, Idaho-based Saint
Alphonsus Health System (a member
organization of Trinity Health),
showed healthcare executives how to
do just that at the Masters Series session “Executive Leadership,” held
during ACHE’s 2013 Congress on
Healthcare Leadership.
Swedish kicked off the session by
providing his take on the future of
healthcare management and
explaining what he sees as the seven
core competencies of effective executive leadership. Jeffcoat then covered the “how”—the infrastructure
and methodology needed to fulfill
the vision of the leadership of an
organization.

Healthcare Executive
nOv/DEC 2013

It’s All About Leadership
The current health reform environment calls for a whole new spirit of
service, Swedish says. In this
remarkable time in the industry,
healthcare executives must offer an
accelerated value proposition to the
people and communities they serve.
Swedish says throughout his career,
he’s had to lead many mergers,
acquisitions and turnarounds. Most
recently, Swedish oversaw the merger
of Trinity Health and Catholic
Health East, which created the second largest nonprofit health system
in the U.S. Every M&A or turnaround experience had one key to
success: effective leadership.
“One of the statements that I
always make to boards is regardless
of the ups and downs of an organization, the reality is that it is all
about leadership,” he says.
“Successful organizations transform
themselves day in and day out
based on the strength of leadership
and the key decisions they’re capable of making based on the mission,
vision and values of that
organization.”
Swedish began as CEO of WellPoint,
the second largest health insurer in
the nation, on March 25, shortly after
his Masters Series session. Swedish

says switching from the provider to
the payor side is one of the latest bets
he’s made, and the transformative
times in the field call for bigger, riskier bets than ever before.
“We’re making new bets every day,
and we’re going to end up as
aggressive players in the exchange
environment, where we’re having to
reposition our brand and the way
we interact with healthcare delivery
systems,” Swedish says.
The shift from a volume to value
system, or “more for less,” is a reality, and there’s no debate that it’s a
tall order for healthcare leaders,
Swedish says. He notes other industries that have undergone significant
change in past years—such as banking, consumer aviation and telecommunications—did a better job of
keeping pace with the change than
healthcare is now. It’s up to healthcare executives to meet that challenge by understanding their market
and strategically moving their organization forward.
“‘Don’t get left behind’—that’s an
incredible call to action,” Swedish says.
The Seven Cs
Swedish calls moving from fee-forservice to value-based payment
“crossing the chasm” and notes it
requires just one leap and the following winning leadership
This column is made possible in part
by Cardinal Health.

Healthcare Executive - November/December 2013

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