Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1169964
38 POPULATION HEALTH 38 CEO/STRATEGY Care New England CEO accuses Lifespan of retaliation after merger talks collapse By Ayla Ellison T he relationship between the CEOs of Care New England Health System and Lifespan has become increasingly tense since the Providence, R.I.-based orga- nizations ended merger talks in July, accord- ing to e Boston Globe. Care New England announced July 16 that it would withdraw from merger talks with Lifespan and Brown University. In a July 25 letter obtained by e Boston Globe, Care New England President and CEO James Fanale, MD, accused Lifespan of retaliating aer merger discussions collapsed by ending a partnership with Integra Community Care Network, an ACO run by Care New England. "Last Monday, we were informed that this program was terminated abruptly and our case manager would no longer be allowed to assist our patients at Rhode Island Hospi- tal," Dr. Fanale wrote, according to e Bos- ton Globe. "e reason given was that your current consulting group mandated the case managers leave. e timing of this decision seems coincident with and in retaliation to Care New England's recent decision to exit merger discussions." Lifespan President and CEO Timothy J. Babineau, MD, called the accusation "of- fensive" and "absurd" in a letter sent to Dr. Fanale. He cited "significant operational and financial challenges this fiscal year" as the reason Lifespan decided a new case manager wasn't necessary, according to The Boston Globe. Care New England has faced financial challenges in recent years, but the health system ended the third quarter of fiscal year 2019 with operating income of $7.4 million on revenue of $290.6 million. That's compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2018, when the health system re- corded income of $800,000 on revenue of $278.8 million. n Trump donates salary to HHS for 3rd time By Emily Rappleye P resident Donald Trump do- nated his salary for the sec- ond quarter — $100,000 — to the Office of the Surgeon General in his third salary donation to HHS, according to USA Today. The money will be used for an un- specified "upcoming public health advisory," according to the report. The White House named the opi- oid epidemic and teen e-cigarette use as key initiatives of the Surgeon General's Office in a statement. President Trump committed to do- nate his salary as president to different agencies each quarter. His previous HHS donations came from his salary in the third quarters of 2017 and 2018. They helped fund the fight against the opioid epidemic and research into alcoholism, respectively. He also do- nated his first-quarter salary of 2018 to the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the report. n Humble leaders viewed as less competent, study finds By Emily Rappleye R esearch from the University of Notre Dame (Ind.) suggests hu- mility may be detrimental for top executives, according to the Notre Dame News. The research, published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, finds employees rated "humble" leaders as less competent, in- dependent and influential, even when they saw those leaders as warm and sensitive. Humble behaviors might include owning up to mistakes or giving subordinates credit for team success. "Our work demonstrates that, on average, leaders who show humility can ex- pect to receive, at best, no benefit," Cindy Muir (Zapata), PhD, lead author of the study, told Notre Dame News. "Perhaps more surprisingly, when leaders demon- strate humility in times of success, the results are even worse, since during times of failure it is the failure itself that harms perceptions of leader effectiveness." n Extroverted CEOs can be bad for business By Emily Rappleye E xtroversion is traditionally seen as a positive leadership trait; how- ever, new research links more extroverted CEOs to lower company financial performance. The study, published by SSRN and featured by Alina Dizik in The Wall Street Journal, scored CEOs on extroversion based on the language they used in the unscripted portion of quarterly earnings calls. The researchers analyzed scripts from 76,815 calls over nine years from S&P 1,500 companies. This extroversion score was compared to the company's cost of equity capital, which is a common benchmark for financial health. The researchers found the most extroverted CEOs were associated with lower valuation than the companies with the least extroverted CEOs. Extroversion was associated with taking risk, which drives up the cost of equity capital. "Our findings suggest that in CEO hiring decisions, boards should weigh the benefits of CEO 'charisma' against the potential costs," the authors concluded n