Becker's ASC Review

32 HEALTHCARE NEWS 32 More physicians adding MBA to leadership formula By Kelly Gooch K eith Gray, MD, has practiced surgical oncology at University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for 15 years, during which time he has held roles including executive vice president and chief medical officer, chief of the division of surgical oncology, chief of staff and medical director of multiple service lines. Most recently, on July 1 he became president of UTMC, and will become president and CEO, effective April 1. He told Becker's these roles have shaped his journey to the top post. "I was the second member of my division, and I was doing complex cases and found the opportunity throughout my early career to solve problems that existed, whether that was nursing education or building service lines that made our services more accessible to the community," Dr. Gray said. "And in that problem-solving journey, it led to more leadership responsibility." His first enterprisewide leadership role came in 2012, when he was elected chief of staff. He said he realized he was selected based on his clinical acumen and relationship with the medical staff rather than on administrative preparation. "I realized quickly that I was ill prepared to understand the business of medicine," Dr. Gray said. "And I understood pretty quickly that I didn't want any leaders that came aer me in similar roles to feel the way that I felt." is led him to complete an MBA in 2014. He also co-founded and is a graduate of UTMC's Physician Leadership Academy, which emphasizes blending medical and business acumen. Dr. Gray is one example of a growing trend of physicians with MBAs running hospital systems. Overall, about one-third of physician executives have an MBA or equivalent, according to executive search firm Korn Ferry. Fieen percent of CEOs at the 40 largest U.S.-based health systems were practicing physicians before their appointment to administrative roles. Charlie Falcone, MD, is the global leader of the academic sector overseeing the academic medicine, academic health and higher education practices across Korn Ferry business lines. He also served as director of the Korn Ferry Physician Leadership Institute. Dr. Falcone, who has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., reported a "profound" evolution of the physician leader over the last two decades. "I got my MBA in 2000, and there were two other physicians in my class at the time," Dr. Falcone said. "Fast-forward to 2023 and if you go into any MBA class, you're going to see far more in the way of representation of physicians getting their MBA." Additionally, physicians are pursuing a master of health administration or a mof public health. circumvented traditional marketing and advertising campaigns to promote the pharmacy, saving budget to keep drug prices low and instead relying on press and customers' word of mouth (or Twitter feeds). He tends to operate with high efficiency, low ornamentation. e uniform that he wears most days of the week is a t-shirt, jeans or workout pants with sneakers. He'll don a blazer and button-down for Shark Tank, ditching the tie. Local lifestyle magazine Texas Monthly reported that he is oen seen around Dallas ordering a hot dog at 7-11, an omelet at IHOP, or a salad at an inexpensive Italian restaurant, balancing it out with Zumba classes at Life Time Fitness. And in healthcare, he is quick to say "no" to any decisions or offers that — while exciting — could detract from his singular goal. "e one industry where people say every minute of every day, 'we need lower prices' — this is it," he said last year. "We'll just have that very singular mission. You're not going to see us add bells and whistles. You're not going to see us get into telemedicine or telehealth. None of that. Just one singular mission: e lowest cost price for drugs — period end of story." n The state that's rebounding from the nurse shortage By Mariah Taylor F lorida hospitals have seen a rebound in nurses returning to the field, with a 9 percent fall in vacancy rate in the last year, the Tampa Bay Times reported Aug. 15. A Florida Hospital Association survey of more than 200 hospitals found turnover rate for nurses dropped from 32 percent in 2022 to 20 percent, and hospitals reported many nurses returning to their old jobs. The rebound was credited to a few factors: • The end of the public health emergency • Fall of contract nursing rates • Increased pay, signing and retention bonuses for nurses taking permanent positions • Increased training for new nurses and education programs • More funds toward student loan reimbursements, scholarships and nursing programs • Expanding partnership between nursing schools and hospitals • Better working conditions including using technology to reduce administrative burden Despite the turnaround, there is still a shortage of long- term nurses for the older population, according to the report. n

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