Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1353232
24 POPULATION HEALTH 24 CEO / STRATEGY Former Haven CEO Dr. Atul Gawande on what went wrong for the healthcare venture By Ayla Ellison H aven, the healthcare partnership formed by Amazon, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathway, disbanded less than three years aer forming. Atul Gawande, MD, Haven's former CEO, explained why the venture wasn't set up to succeed in a discussion Feb. 26 with Robert Wachter, MD, chair of the University of California San Francisco's department of medicine. Dr. Gawande, who was named CEO of Haven in July 2018, but stepped down from the role in May 2020 to focus on public policy around COVID-19, said Haven accomplished a lot in two and half years, including designing a coverage model with no co-insurance and no deductibles. But America's healthcare and health insurance system is flawed, and that was highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic when workers lost their jobs and benefits, Dr. Gawande said, according to MedPage Today. "We have an employer-based system. A job-based system is a broken system in a world where people are moving every couple of years to different roles and many, many, kinds of jobs," he said, according to MedPage. "e vulnerability we have of tying your healthcare to your job, that remains still a big hill to climb, and the government has to solve it. is is a public core issue that we still have not faced up to," Dr. Gawande said. Haven formed with an aim to lower healthcare costs for the three companies' workers. However, it became clear that assuming responsibility for the benefits management at the companies, which had distinct organizational cultures, would be a daunting task for several reasons, in- cluding because workers were in different cities, according to Dr. Gawande. "It definitely did not become what we thought it would be," he said. n Performance reviews 'more important than ever': 4 tips on addressing performance gaps By Hannah Mitchell S ome managers may have put performance reviews to the side amid the pandemic, but Tom Gimbel, CEO of recruiting firm LaSalle Network, said they are more important than ever in a March 1 column published in The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Gimbel said that in working remotely, many employees lose peer feedback. "They don't hear or see what others are doing, or the praise and recognition their peers are getting, so they can't gauge how they measure up," he said. Mr. Gimbel gave four tips on addressing performance gaps with employees: 1. Build a relationship with employees. Managers should put effort into getting to know their employees, he said. If the only time a manager reaches out to staff is when it is bad news, team members will be terrified to answer those calls. 2. Consider how the current environment may have affected performance. There may be a learning curve to talking to colleagues through email or using new technologies. Before discussing mistakes, Mr. Gimbel sug- gests asking the employee if they understood the project or have unanswered questions. 3. Use video calls for tough conversations. First, ask how the employee is doing. This could uncover unknown issues. Secondly, look straight into the camera to appear like you are looking into their eyes. If you notice body language changes during the conversation, bring it up to ask them how they are feeling about the conversation. 4. Follow up with the employee. Send an email or have a follow-up call to gauge how the employee felt about the conversation and to make sure they under- stood where they fell short and how to move forward. Ad- dress it if the employee makes a negative change in their behavior. n