Healthcare Executive - November/December 2013 - 77

characteristics, which Swedish calls
the seven Cs:
•	 Consumerism
•	 Culture
•	 Consolidation
•	 Consistency
•	 Collaboration
•	 Coordination
•	 Cost
Swedish says the ability of healthcare
executives to navigate these seven Cs
drives an organization’s ability to adapt.
Swedish used the hockey analogy of
“skating where the puck is going to be”;
the “masterful stroke” of leadership is
reaching out to a new space or trying a
different way that others may have
shied away from, for whatever reason.
“The bet we have to make as leaders to
transform our organizations begins
with transforming ourselves as leaders,” he says. “So, are we willing to be
brave and bold in order to transform
who we are as leaders and then properly administer the necessities around
some strategic and tactical initiatives?”
Six Leadership Imperatives
Jeffcoat’s presentation focused on the
“how,” or how she’s taken the leadership characteristics Swedish laid out
and used them to execute plans within
her organization. Jeffcoat, president/
CEO of Saint Alphonsus Health
System, which serves 700,000 people
in Idaho and Oregon, says it’s important for her to discuss leadership
beyond the abstract and provide concrete leadership solutions that have
proven to be successful through the
test of time.
“I feel that we have to be very clear
about our strategic direction and how

we will differentiate ourselves and
then put structure and rigor around
how we go about this work,” she says.
“We lead in extraordinary times of
change. It requires extraordinary
leadership from all of us, and our
communities are depending on this
leadership.”

“I think those crucial conversations
with the board, associates and the
leadership team to really get clear
about what are we trying to be, how
are we trying to brand ourselves,
what is truly different about us, is
critical to success from a consumerism point of view,” Jeffcoat says.

Jeffcoat presented Six Leadership
Imperatives for healthcare executives:

2. Alignment of Talent and Team
Jeffcoat says the next step is to determine how do you, as a healthcare
leader, need to work differently with
your colleagues to deliver a future of
highest quality care and value-based
reimbursement.

1. Clarity of Vision, Strategic
Direction and Brand
Jeffcoat says this imperative involves
a “deep dive” with the organization’s
executive team, board and physicians
to achieve clarity for the organization’s vision, and is determined not
through a one-time meeting, but
rather an ongoing conversation about
the strategic vision of the organization. Ultimately, once clarity is
achieved, Jeffcoat says, that will lead
to refining the brand of the organization—or, what really separates an
organization from its competitors.
Shortly after becoming president/
CEO of Saint Alphonsus Regional
Medical Center, Boise, Idaho, in June
2009, her organization acquired three
hospitals to the west—in nampa,
Idaho; Ontario, Ore.; and Baker City,
Ore.—to create Saint Alphonsus
Health System. Jeffcoat explains she
and her team had to create a unified
brand from four different hospitals,
names and cultures, plus 51 different
physician practice sites, each with its
own existing branding. Saint
Alphonsus Health System’s unified
branding led to a 42 percent increase
in advertising recall and a 15 percent
increase in preference, according to
consumer research by the national
Research Corporation.

After assessing leadership strengths,
healthcare leaders must align their
teams and talents by having conversations about the “secret sauce” that
each individual brings to the table
and determining if their skillsets are
being used appropriately. Jeffcoat
says that in a three-year period,
Saint Alphonsus has had significant
changes in leadership: she has
brought people in from outside the
organization, brought up talent from
inside the organization, realigned
positions and clearly identified the
skillsets related to value-based reimbursement, population health management and health reform that the
organization needs for success.
3. Innovation and Collaboration
Innovation requires healthcare executives to think about the problems in
the organization and how they might
be solved creatively. “This is not an
easy task,” Jeffcoat says. “We are creatures of habit, and we want to solve
problems the same way.”
She adds that a culture of innovation
is top-down, and executive leaders
Healthcare Executive
nOv/DEC 2013

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Healthcare Executive - November/December 2013

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