There’s a lot of discussion about the long-term future of healthcare. But so much of our work is in and for the moment – next week, next month, next 90 days. Industry leaders are asking, “What do we have to do today?” To bridge the gap between what the industry practically needs today so it can fulfil its mission for the future, we convened four Jarrard Inc. partners who’ve been in the weeds to talk about what’s really going on in this new healthcare epoch. The idea was to sort through what we’ve seen and to consider what it looks like to make healthcare better today. Sharing their intel were: David Jarrard, CEO Molly Cate, Chief Innovation Officer Kim Fox, Regional Practice Leader Lauren McConville, National and Academic Health System Practice Leader In an ironic twist for a publication focused on helping healthcare leaders drive change, our team was adamant that creating a sense of stability is imperative today for hospitals and health systems. 

High Stakes

Art of Change: What do we know now? Stability v. Change

Academic medical centers have a reputation for innovation in education and research, but aren't necessarily considered to be the most nimble of organizations in terms of operations. Dr. Arick Forrest has shown that doesn't have to be the case. Forrest is the Vice Dean of Clinical Affairs and President of OSU Physicians at the Ohio State University. Here, he joins Jarrard Inc. CEO David Jarrard to talk about how OSU was able to move quickly and be a nimble organization during COVID-19, and then how that experience is informing the health system's operations going forward.

17 workgroups, one nimble AMC

A few weeks ago, Nancy Gibbs wrote a column in the Washington Post titled, Forget swabs. We all need to take a character test.. It caught the attention of our CEO, David Jarrard - so much so that more than two weeks later we were still discussing it. Here, we talk about the clarifying nature of crises and the way we're entering a time of testing for healthcare organizations...and the individuals leading them.

J|INSIGHTS - Disaster movies and character tests

Healthcare providers of all types are under pressure - financial and, in some cases, social and political - to restart elective procedures and get back to "normal" operations after COVID-19. But there are risks to that process if it's not handled well. In this conversation, Lauren McConville, partner at Jarrard Inc., and Sandra DiVarco, partner at McDermott Will & Emery, overlay some of the legal/regulatory and communications considerations hospitals and health systems need to mitigate risk and move quickly but responsibly.

Restarting responsibly: A conversation with Sandra DiVarco, McDermott Will & Emery

You could argue that AVIA exists for a moment like this. COVID-19 brought about a sea change in healthcare. After years of slow adoption, tools like telehealth saw exponential growth in days. The way health systems thought about delivering care changed out of necessity. It has been incredibly difficult on many levels, yet it has also opened up a massive opportunity for healthcare to shift into a new way of fulfilling its mission. This is where AVIA comes in. AVIA serves as a transformation partner for healthcare providers. They focus on driving capabilities that use digital tools to scale and advance care in new ways. And so, when it came time to understand what's going on with the digitization of healthcare in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, AVIA was the obvious place to go. Here, Jarrard Inc. partner Molly Cate speaks with AVIA president Linda Finkel and executive vice president Cynthia Perazzo about telehealth, healthcare delivery, digital tools and more.

"The change has been staggering": Digital transformation during COVID-19

Cision just released their 2020 state of the media report. Between that, and the fact that there's always something to talk about when it comes to the media - especially in these days of COVID-19 - we decided to do exactly that. Tim Stewart - and a small bird outside Tim's home office - joined Jarrard Inc. editorial manager David Shifrin to look at trends in journalism and the relationship between reporters and healthcare providers. Tim is a vice president in Jarrard's National and Academic Health System Practice. He's got a good eye for what's going on in the media and he's well known around here for asking tough questions and considering root causes. In short, Tim is not one to take things at face value. Which is exactly what you want in a podcast...

Local media on the ropes: What does it mean for healthcare?

What does online reputation management look like as the initial, acute phase of the coronavirus crisis recedes? Reed Smith is the VP of digital strategy at Jarrard Inc., and he's looking closely at the online reviews and feedback providers are receiving today. There are questions about safety, messages about PPE, things that providers did not see before COVID-19. And, while some of that feedback is coming from the general public, a lot of it is coming from employees. Hospitals need to watch carefully to understand what people are saying about them - internally and externally - supporting their employees and ensuring they're not squandering the goodwill garnered during the pandemic.

"Is this a good place to work?" Online reputation management and answering the right questions

Jarrard Inc. just completed a survey in partnership with Public Opinion Strategies, surveying, American adults across the country to get a sense of their perception of the healthcare industry and how they will interact with it going forward. One of the major findings is that people are scared to go back to hospitals. That's not particularly surprising. But what is surprising is that healthcare providers and their families don't feel much safer than the general public. That's concerning for multiple reasons, and David Jarrard and David Shifrin get into those results to discuss.

Fallout from COVID-19: Addressing fear among the community and fear among providers

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a massive financial crunch on healthcare providers across the board. Many rural and community facilities, struggling before coronavirus, are now on the edge. The decline in ED volume, the cancellation of electives, and the rise of telehealth have changed both models of care and the finances of rural providers. It'll be a tough road ahead, but there are some ways for these organizations to adjust their operations and also seek out new partnerships to help ensure they can continue offering care in their communities. In this conversation with Pete Lawson, we explore some of those challenges and opportunities. Lawson has more than 35 years of experience in both healthcare operations and mergers & acquisitions. He's spent time with both investor owned and not-for-profit health system, and has served as a hospital CEO and multi-facility corporate leader. Now, as a consultant and strategist, he brings his background on both the buy side and sell side to guide client hospitals through the transaction process.

Rural hospitals: Defining "value" and developing partnerships in the new era of healthcare

Difficult as it is, now is an important moment for healthcare leaders to begin examining what the future - of the industry and their organization - could look like. Dr. David Pate, recently retired CEO of St. Luke's Health System and of counsel at Jarrard Inc., and David Jarrard, go in depth on several topics that will help leaders prepare. It's an important conversation, as it provides vision about where healthcare providers could be headed along with some very practical advice.

Recasting the future: An in-depth look towards the next era of healthcare

Healthcare providers have been faced with difficult decisions regarding staffing throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Many hospitals, health systems and health services companies have pursued furloughs, layoffs and pay cuts in order to help ensure the viability of the organization going forward. When making these changes, ensuring the appropriate legal approach has been taken is necessary to minimize risk and liability. At the same time, clear communications is critical, both to mitigate risk and to be as compassionate and transparent with the affected individuals as possible. Here, Jesse Neil, partner at Waller, and Molly Cate, partner and chief innovation officer at Jarrard Inc., discuss some of these considerations and areas where law and communications overlap in dealing with FTE management and healthcare staffing issues.

Managing FTEs: Perspectives from communications and law

Dr. Tony Briningstool is an emergency room physician and the Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at American Physician Partners.A huge area of focus for Dr. Briningstool is on what we call caring for the caregiver – how to support clinical staff and build teams to reduce the incredible problem of burnout and moral injury among physicians. Those issues, of course, are of even greater concern during COVID-19. And so Dr. Briningstool spoke with Jarrard Inc. chief innovation officer and founding partner Molly Cate about how he and the APP team approach positive, proactive leadership and what COVID-19 could mean for the future of healthcare as it relates to clinicians.

Caring for the caregiver- Principals of leadership and change

Questions and concerns about how stimulus funds are being distributed – and spent – are growing, changing with each new announcement from the government. How do hospitals keep up with a situation that seemingly evolves by the hour, especially when the situation isn’t just the medical realities of an evolving viral pandemic but also the response to it? We recently talked to Martie Ross, Office Managing Principal in the Kansas City office of PYA to break down some of the opportunities and nuances in the various stimulus funds coming online – and the situation evolved even in the 24 hours following our conversation after HHS began distributing some of the funds. Ross and her PYA colleagues have dissected some of the requirements around those funds here, but even now ambiguity remains. With all the confusion, frustration and scrutiny, what are some general considerations for providers to ensure that they stem the bleeding now and take advantage of opportunities to position themselves for the future.

Making plans when ambiguity reigns

We've seen a shift in the COVID-19 pandemic over the past few days. As social distancing and other efforts appear to be flattening the curve, hospitals are beginning to look towards what comes next. It's no longer just about dealing with the day-to-day operations of pandemic response but also about how to stabilize the organization, bring services back on line and develop an appropriate financial plan for the future. Our CEO David Jarrard has been thinking a lot about these issues in the context of how leadership - both the hospital board and the executive team - should respond to the shift and the questions they need to be asking.

The next questions: Stabilization and recovery

Offer help and take good notes. That’s the abbreviated recommendation by Carol Carden for hospitals and health systems looking to take advantage of new Stark Law waivers during COVID-19. As managing principal of valuation services at PYA, Carden has been closely watching what HHS activity means for physician compensation.

Today and tomorrow: Maximizing the benefits of Stark Law waivers, with Carol Carden of PYA

We answer the questions healthcare leaders are asking. High Stakes offers concise takes on the issues affecting healthcare providers today: strategic positioning, issue navigation, change management. mergers and acquisitions, marketing, digital transformation, patient experience, executive leadership and healthcare governance, and much more. At Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, we understand the stakes are high for healthcare executives. Every day, you are making bold decisions in a noisy, evolving industry. High Stakes puts you in the room with us and our more than 150 cumulative years of healthcare strategic communications experience so that you can not just survive but lead the transformation of our industry.

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High Stakes

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