Becker's Annual Healthcare Conference Interview Highlights from Cleveland Clinic CEO
By Barbara Carey, President, TCI
Tomislav Mihaljevic, MD is Croatian by nationality and a cardiac surgeon and the CEO of the ever expanding Cleveland Clinic system. Currently, the system is comprised of 22 hospitals, 20 in the US and one in London and one in Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi hospital is focused on Cancer Care. They see global opportunities in healthcare.
He said that their brand promise is "Best Place for Care and Best Place to Work." Dr. Mihaljevic said that they have a salary model for their physicians, and they believe in working as a team. They also do 15 minute huddles daily and they discuss what is important today in "quality, safety and issues." The executive team has their own huddle for 15 minutes daily at 11 am. Part of every huddle is saying the first names of patients who have died under their care. They have a moment of silence for them. He says that he knows what is happening every day with these huddles.
He further stated that the goal is to have the same experience and quality across the system and to start each day with a coordinated "plan of care." As stated by others at the conference, "rounding" by the leadership to operational units is important.
BIG GOAL
The Cleveland Clinic is promising to develop ONE MILLION SUSTAINABLE JOBS FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS in concert with the I- 10 Coalition, a group of large employers. One of their actions is to remove unnecessary degree requirements and hire based on skills. Dr. Mihaljevic said that the single most important determinant of health is A JOB!
OTHER INITIATIVES
Training local vendors to be our vendors. This fits into their job creation goal but is more expansive in that this initiative would help many small businesses in the communities where Cleveland Clinic has a facility.
Removing lead contamination and making water safe, especially for children. In the City of Cleveland, 1000 children get poisoned by lead each year. This exposure limits their futures because lead poisoning causes irreversible brain damage. The Cleveland Clinic wants to give a voice to children, and they are pledging $55 million to the $110 million price tag to end this problem. Lead poisoning is still a widespread issue not just in Cleveland but in many areas and this issue is ignored by the media.
Reducing infant mortality. The US rate is five times greater than Finland. 25 infants out of 1000 die in the first year of life. The leading cause is premature birth. This issue requires better prenatal care, healthy pregnancies and better care after birth.
Working on "food insecurity." Dr. Mihaljevic does not like this term. He said let’s talk plainly and we are talking about HUNGER.
One in ten Americans are hungry
One in four children in Northeast Ohio don’t know when they will be fed.
Eliminating Hunger should be a Number 1 national priority. We are making a commitment to the communities that we serve to help. Helping to prevent degenerative brain disease. The Clinic is conducting a longitudinal study of 20,000 individuals to find preventative measures and a cure.
Advancement of vaccines by research and education. Currently they are working on a vaccine for breast cancer. Note: Merck and Moderna are partnering in vaccines for cancer research . There is a lot of excitement in this area. Current articles in the Wall Street Journal detail these efforts and others. Amgen is active in this area as well.
Partnership with IBM. We have formed a partnership with IBM for computational based research to help us with our big goals.
DEVELOPING A PLATFORM OF SHARED REALITY
We won’t go back to the pre-covid environment. Technology is now part of our care and organizational lives. We are also working on an integration of providers that includes: technology, infrastructure, education and research and public health.
Personal Note: I think that this interview was the most valuable of all of the one on one interviews at the conference. Dr. Mihaljevic has a future vision that is anchored in putting forth funding, using partnerships and the Clinic’s extensive reach to improve the lives of people in many communities. However, he is also paying attention to the needs of “now.” These ideas are worthy of many healthcare systems when they ask the strategic question, "How can we help our communities to be healthier and have a better quality of life? What can we do with our resources and workforce?"
TCI offers marketing consulting and marketing, public relations and community engagement programs. We have over 20 years of experience helping hospitals to increase their revenue.
We Help Our Clients Understand Their Environment and to Find Solutions.
Call Us 1-888-922-2824 or Email barbara@tciconsults.com
