Becker's Hospital Review

20 POPULATION HEALTH 20 CEO / STRATEGY Amazon is pumping out CEOs — A look at the 'business gospel of Jeff Bezos' By Emily Rappleye A mazon has unseated General Electric as the unofficial feeder program for America's top corporate leaders, e Wall Street Journal's Dana Mattioli declared in a November 2019 column. ere is a "diaspora of Amazon alumni spreading the business gospel of Jeff Bezos," Ms. Mattioli wrote. Among others, the CEOs of Groupon, Tableau, Delta Dental and Vimeo, and the co-founder of Hulu all got their starts at Amazon, according to the report. Many of these leaders model their leadership philosophy off Ama- zon's, like executives who grew up at GE did in years past. In 2002, Amazon formally created 14 leadership prin- ciples to hire and review employees and make business decisions. Former employees say these principles are re- peated ad nauseam at Amazon, according to the report. Here are the 14 leadership principles of Amazon: 1. Customer obsession over competitor obsession. 2. Ownership, as in own your work and the results. 3. Invent and simplify, and encourage this ethos in your teams. 4. Leaders are right, a lot — but they seek to discon- firm their instincts. 5. Learn and be curious always. 6. Hire and develop the best, continually raising the bar. 7. Insist on the highest standards; don't do patch fixes. 8. ink big and "communicate a bold direction." 9. Bias for action; many mistakes are reversible. 10. Frugality fosters innovation. 11. Earn trust though self-awareness and respect of others. 12. Dive deep and stay connected to the front line and simplest tasks. 13. Have backbone; disagree and commit even when it's uncomfortable, but when a decision is made, dedi- cate yourself to it. 14. Deliver results and don't settle. n Optum's 'city by city' healthcare strategy: 4 things to know By Morgan Haefner O ptum is taking a "city by city" approach when rolling out its healthcare initiatives, according to new UnitedHealth Group president Sir Andrew Witty. Sir Witty made the comments during a Dec. 4 talk at the 2019 Forbes Healthcare Summit, as reported by Forbes contributor Bruce Japsen. Four things to know about the strategy: 1. Optum, the health services arm of UnitedHealth, aims to link hun- dreds of acquired clinics, surgery centers and urgent care facilities with- in certain markets. 2. Increasingly, Sir Witty said the centers will be "wired together" to create a more seamless experience for patients. Optum started this initiative in 10 markets, including Denver, Seattle, Southern California, Las Vegas, Dallas, New York and New Jersey. 3. Sir Witty said providing Optum's owned and affiliated provid- ers with necessary data and insights will improve patient outcomes, according to Forbes. 4. Providers have been keeping a close eye on Optum as the compa- ny continues to add physicians and facilities to its portfolio. In the past year alone, Optum has added 10,000 physicians to its roster, growing its network to 46,000 physicians. n Why Anthem doesn't want to own physician practices By Ayla Ellison A s major health insurance companies are getting into the busi- ness of owning primary care practices, Anthem is pursuing a different strategy, according to Business Insider. UnitedHealth, the top health insurer in the U.S. and Anthem's biggest rival, is pushing further into providing medical care. In 2019, Optum, the health services arm of UnitedHealth, added 10,000 physicians, growing its network to 46,000 physicians. Anthem is taking a different path than its rival. The company is working closely with health systems and physicians, but doesn't want to own phy- sician practices, President and CEO Gail Boudreaux said at the Forbes Healthcare Summit on Dec. 4, 2019, according to Business Insider. "We've been pretty clear that we don't think we need to own primary care," she said. "Quite frankly, I don't believe that by changing owner- ship we'll be more effective at managing primary care." Instead of owning provider organizations, Ms. Boudreaux said An- them is focused on being a good partner for hospitals, health systems and physician practices. She highlighted several partnerships Anthem has entered into with Cleveland Clinic and other healthcare providers that focus on keeping members healthier. "I don't think we have to do it all," she said, according to Business Insider. "We want to keep practices independent. That's our goal." n

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