Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1034012
75 75 CEO / STRATEGY 'Mayo magic': How Mayo Clinic built its reputation as a leading hospital By Alyssa Rege J effrey Bolton, vice president of admin- istration and chief administrative offi- cer at the Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic, discussed the "Mayo magic" that has helped raised the institution's profile as one of the nation's top hospitals during an appear- ance at the 22nd annual Wharton Leadership Conference in Philadelphia in June, Knowl- edge@Wharton reported. Mr. Bolton sat down with J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and dean of UPenn's Perelman School of Medicine, to discuss how "in the middle of a relatively small town of about 125,000 peo- ple in Minnesota, you've got the No. 1-rated healthcare system probably in the world." Mr. Bolton pointed to several of the health system's founding tenets as part of the "Mayo magic" that has made the system one of the most well-known healthcare institutions in the world and ranked as the No. 1 best hospital in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for its 2018-19 Best Hospitals Honor Roll. Here are three characteristics Mr. Bolton cited as contributors to the system's "Mayo magic": 1. Patients come first. While many orga- nizations cite patients as the most integral component of their institutions, Mayo Clinic is structured to support patients and foster teamwork among providers and staff, not as a hierarchy. Mr. Bolton recited an o-re- peated anecdote from the system's founding days nearly a century ago, during which its co-founder, William Mayo, MD, was asked by a patient who the head physician of the operation was. Dr. Mayo reportedly told the patient, "No, my brother's the head doctor. I'm the belly doctor." e system's philosophy has always been that "the wisdom of peers is greater than any in- dividual," according to Mr. Bolton. He said if a physician is ever unsure about a patient's treatment, they "pick up the phone and call a colleague — either within [their] specialty or another specialty — and seek out insight," the report stated. 2. Mayo Clinic is a physician-led organi- zation. Mr. Bolton said the system uses a "leadership dyad" model in which a physi- cian leader is paired with an administrative partner. In his case, Mr. Bolton is paired with Mayo Clinic President and CEO John Nose- worthy, MD. He also stressed that physicians' salaries are consistent across departments and that all specialists, sub-specialists and physician-scientists receive a salary aer five years on staff. "ere's no real incentive for driving volume within your practice," when department phy- sicians are all paid equally, Mr. Bolton said. "You're really, again, focused on what the needs of the patient are," rather than vol- ume-based incentives. 3. "No mission, no need for money." Health- care, like various other industries, is peo- ple-centric, Mr. Bolton said, and that implies an inherent push-pull dynamic between maintaining financial stability and the quality of care provided. While Mayo provides a sig- nificant amount of charity care and subsidizes a large proportion of Medicaid and Medicare business, the system must also maintain a certain amount of commercial business to generate funds despite its nonprofit status. "Every hospital system that has some Cath- olic roots has heard the phrase, 'no money, no mission,'" said Mr. Bolton, referring to the system's founding Catholic influence. "A lot of people forget, though, the other side of that: 'No mission, no need for money.'" n ProMedica lays off 100 employees to cut costs By Alyssa Rege T oledo, Ohio-based ProMedica laid off about 100 employees this week, the majority of whom held po- sitions in "leadership roles and corporate functions," according to The Blade. ProMedica Chief Human Resources Officer Karen Strauss confirmed the layoffs to Becker's Hospital Review in a pre- pared statement Aug. 24, and said an additional 60 vacant "nondirect patient care positions" will not be filled. "ProMedica has worked diligently to improve efficien- cies and reduce costs across the organization, and we have made great progress. Unfortunately, like so many other health systems, it has not been enough given the current healthcare environment. And, while we recently partnered with HCR ManorCare and expect the partner- ship to bring opportunities for growth and synergy, we still must address pre-merger ProMedica financial issues now. As a result, and after a rigorous and thoughtful re- view, we have made the tough decision to reduce our workforce to address and respond to these external fac- tors," she said. Ms. Strauss told Becker's the system's human resources de- partment is working with affected employees and will noti- fy them of opportunities to return to ProMedica if a future position meets their needs. A ProMedica spokesperson told The Blade many of the jobs were located at the health system's corporate head- quarters, which opened in August 2017. The individual specified none of the eliminated positions were from Tole- do-based HCR ManorCare, which ProMedica and Welltow- er, a real estate investment trust, acquired in July. In a letter to employees obtained by ABC 13, ProMedica President and CEO Randy Oostra said the 13-hospital sys- tem's decision to reduce workforce stemmed from industry challenges such as declining reimbursements and opera- tional costs. n