Expert’s Corner: Healthcare Q&A with Mal Griffin
April 17th, 2015
Expert’s Corner with Mal Griffin: #HealthSummit15
In anticipation of the 15th Annual Healthcare Summit, Reboot is excited to present “Expert’s Corner”, a series of blog posts featuring outstanding healthcare leaders and professionals who will be speaking at the summit in June. Read on for a glimpse of what the Healthcare Summit is all about…
We had the opportunity to ask Mal Griffin a few questions about his views and opinions on healthcare leading up to the summit:
Q: In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle facing healthcare leaders/decision makers today?
A: Capacity for change. Our frontline staff and managers are exhausted with the multitude of changes we place upon them. I think all of us in healthcare are accepting that change is necessary and inevitable but we have done a poor job in setting priorities and sticking with them. It has been said the most difficult thing to do in healthcare is to stop doing something. When an initiative fails to deliver the expected outcomes, we need to be more disciplined about stopping it. Too often, we keep doing it and then add another.
Q: What are your current goals/objectives for shaping the future of healthcare?
A: 1. Increase information interoperability (the exchange and meaningful use of information between care givers) across the contexts of care;
2. Increase the number of e-enabled patient services (healthcare is far behind other industries); and
3. Improve decision making by providing information to physicians, clinicians and administrators, when and where it is needed.
Q: What do you predict will be the biggest transformation in healthcare over the next five years?
A: I think healthcare “transformation” has been one of the most over/inappropriately used words during the past five years. Healthcare leaders, industry thinkers and the vendor community have latched on to it and seem to apply it to every initiative. Merriam Webster defines the word as “a complete or major change in someone’s or something’s appearance, form, etc.”, yet in healthcare we have used it to describe the implementation of operational efficiencies, new procurement methods or technology service offerings – these used to be called good management. That being said, when healthcare is transformed, I predict it will come from outside of the industry and it will fundamentally change how healthcare services are delivered and will greatly improve health outcomes. I sincerely hope for all of our benefit, it will be in the next five years.
Q: What are you most looking forward to at #HealthSummit15 in Kelowna, BC?
A: I am very interested in hearing more about the benefits of consumer/patient influence on the delivery of healthcare and the increasing patient adoption of consumer grade medical devices. I believe an increase in proactive involvement of patients will greatly benefit healthcare delivery and outcomes.
This post is part of Reboot Communications’ “Expert’s Corner” series. The 15th Annual Healthcare Summit is happening on June 22-23, 2015, in Kelowna, BC. Find out how you can get involved here.
Expert’s Corner with Mal Griffin: #HealthSummit15
In anticipation of the 15th Annual Healthcare Summit, Reboot is excited to present “Expert’s Corner”, a series of blog posts featuring outstanding healthcare leaders and professionals who will be speaking at the summit in June. Read on for a glimpse of what the Healthcare Summit is all about…
We had the opportunity to ask Mal Griffin a few questions about his views and opinions on healthcare leading up to the summit:
Q: In your opinion, what is the biggest obstacle facing healthcare leaders/decision makers today?
A: Capacity for change. Our frontline staff and managers are exhausted with the multitude of changes we place upon them. I think all of us in healthcare are accepting that change is necessary and inevitable but we have done a poor job in setting priorities and sticking with them. It has been said the most difficult thing to do in healthcare is to stop doing something. When an initiative fails to deliver the expected outcomes, we need to be more disciplined about stopping it. Too often, we keep doing it and then add another.
Q: What are your current goals/objectives for shaping the future of healthcare?
A: 1. Increase information interoperability (the exchange and meaningful use of information between care givers) across the contexts of care;
2. Increase the number of e-enabled patient services (healthcare is far behind other industries); and
3. Improve decision making by providing information to physicians, clinicians and administrators, when and where it is needed.
Q: What do you predict will be the biggest transformation in healthcare over the next five years?
A: I think healthcare “transformation” has been one of the most over/inappropriately used words during the past five years. Healthcare leaders, industry thinkers and the vendor community have latched on to it and seem to apply it to every initiative. Merriam Webster defines the word as “a complete or major change in someone’s or something’s appearance, form, etc.”, yet in healthcare we have used it to describe the implementation of operational efficiencies, new procurement methods or technology service offerings – these used to be called good management. That being said, when healthcare is transformed, I predict it will come from outside of the industry and it will fundamentally change how healthcare services are delivered and will greatly improve health outcomes. I sincerely hope for all of our benefit, it will be in the next five years.
Q: What are you most looking forward to at #HealthSummit15 in Kelowna, BC?
A: I am very interested in hearing more about the benefits of consumer/patient influence on the delivery of healthcare and the increasing patient adoption of consumer grade medical devices. I believe an increase in proactive involvement of patients will greatly benefit healthcare delivery and outcomes.
This post is part of Reboot Communications’ “Expert’s Corner” series. The 15th Annual Healthcare Summit is happening on June 22-23, 2015, in Kelowna, BC. Find out how you can get involved here.
