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Future Healthcare Leaders
I am literally composing this article the day after the House passed their version of the healthcare reform bill, by an extremely close margin of 220 for and 215 against.
On the house floor, Democratic leaders appealed to members' sense of history, reminding them this was one of the most significant votes, short of war, that they were likely to take. This is an interesting analogy. The future of the American Health System is being drafted by individuals that are distanced from the average American seeking healthcare. Not to sound too critical of members of Congress, I am reminded of a quote by Sir Winston Churchill, "One lesson I have learned in life is that even fools get it right every now and then."
Instead of another article speculating on the good, the bad and the ugly, I want to spend this time talking about the optimism I have about young people studying healthcare management – the future healthcare executives. After all, they will be the ones carrying out the reform.
Various programs throughout Memphis, many of which Watkins Uiberall participates with, are creating a solid foundation for the next generation of leadership.
In the last three years in particular, there has been a rising star in our own yard, the Masters in Healthcare Administration from the University of Memphis. This program has received national recognition by the Medical Group Management Association. The MGMA has over 17,000 members, both executive and physicians. The university was one of the first healthcare programs in the nation to adopt the "Body of Knowledge", (a comprehensive list of studies and skills sets required for future leaders.)
This program is ahead of the pack in the nation however, it would not be where it is today if not for the support of local hospitals, such as Baptist Memorial Health Care and Methodist/Le Bonheur Healthcare.
In fact, this past year, the Baptist Health Care Organization awarded the first Dr. Frank S. Groner administrative fellow. Baptist also paid the student membership dues to be in the American College of Healthcare Executives. Baptist Women's Hospital has sponsored an intern every year since the inception of the program at U of M. Baptist has also hired graduates of the program.
Additionally, the Methodist Health Care System has been a tremendous supporter of the program, starting out with the Maurice Elliott Leadership Institute. Methodist has also brought on a number of interns and residents. Young administrators such as Chris Jenkins and Robert Brooks at Methodist University Hospital have worked and mentored students from this program who have, whether they stayed in the Memphis medical community or were offered positions with health systems throughout the United States.
We've come a long way with leadership and the people that can replace the old mindset are coming to fruition. So whatever the shape of reform, there is something to be optimistic about, and that's the future of administration leadership.
Bill Appling, MBA, FACMPE, is president of Watkins Uiberall Health Care Consulting. He has faculty appointments at the University of Memphis in the Fogelman College of Economics and Business, where he teaches in the Masters of Health Care Administration program. Tags:NoneRelated:
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