May 19, 2023

Partnering with our physicians for health care’s future

Every role is important in health care, and every member of the team is vital. It takes all of us to make health care successful, but when you think about our true core competency at CoxHealth, it comes down to one thing: physician expertise.

As we implement change, we have dedicated time to getting feedback from our teams, and that includes our physicians. I recently spent time on a listening tour with Dr. Tim Jones, president of our medical group. We set out to talk with our doctors about where health care is going and how CoxHealth must adapt to keep pace. We heard a lot of positive feedback, and, more importantly, we gained the benefit of their perspective.

To be a successful organization, we need a highly engaged medical staff. Ultimately, we have to create the best environment for physicians to practice.

We are working to do just that with the redesign of our operating model, which organizes our efforts around service lines and the care our physicians provide within them. Just like all of us at work, physicians want autonomy, they want to identify with our organization, they want to have influence, and they want to feel like their contributions are valued.

As we met with our doctors, some key themes emerged:

Identity and culture: Over and over, physicians told us that they come to CoxHealth for a chance to engage with an elite group of peers. We know that talent attracts more talent, and that is definitely true for physicians. Our care teams live up to the vision of being the best, and that is a big part of what keeps doctors here.

We will continue building out our care teams and finding ways to support our doctors, so they can focus on relationships with our patients.

Trust: To recruit and retain the best, we have to continue building a culture that sees doctors as true partners in everything we do. Trust comes with transparency between CoxHealth and our physicians and making sure physicians have a seat at the tables where our most important decisions are made.

When doctors are at the leadership table, they bring a perspective an administrator simply doesn’t have. They have the viewpoints of both a clinician and an executive. I know we will make better decisions as an organization when we partner with our doctors in those decisions.

I am proud to see that we continue to break down the silos that may divide our physicians and care teams. By removing lines between our clinics and our hospitals, and between primary care and specialties, we are helping everyone see one another as partners. We operate in an ecosystem together, with our patients at the center.

Those changes set us up for success as we prepare for the future. Health care as an industry is at an inflection point, and we must evolve. We know that the approaches that got us here will not get us to where we need to go.

As we enter our next phase, I know we are on the right track in investing in our physicians and making CoxHealth the best place to practice medicine. There are big things to come on the horizon, and I couldn’t be prouder of the way we are partnering with our teams in the pursuit of excellence.

Going the extra mile – all the way to Dollywood – for a patient

Dreams can come true, and our CoxHealth at Home team proved that this week as they helped a patient meet her idol: Dolly Parton.

Jackie Carroll is a CoxHealth at Home hospice patient facing the early stages of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. She loves Dolly Parton, and her caregivers decided to try to help her meet her idol.

They posted on Facebook about Jackie and her fandom, and, soon enough, they made the connections with Dolly’s camp. Last Saturday, Jackie, her caregivers, and music therapist Emily McKinney made the trip to Dollywood for a meet and greet.

You can see photos from the visit and the full story on Facebook. I am so proud of our teams who go above and beyond to serve our patients on such a personal level. As Emily summed it up: “It was a team effort as everyone worked together to make this beautiful moment happen.”

Choosing your own career adventure at CoxHealth

I am a firm believer in “growing your own” when it comes to developing our workforce. On Thursday, our recruitment teams held a career development event, for the public and our own employees.

The event had a “Choose your own adventure” theme, reflecting the variety of paths and options in health care. Anyone could stop by and have the chance to speak with representatives from Cox College, Missouri State University, Ozarks Technical Community College and CoxHealth departments.

Our CoxHealth department leaders got to discuss entry-level positions, paid training programs, apprenticeships and careers in nursing and allied health. CoxHealth’s Center for Professional Development was also in attendance to educate about career pathways and educational incentives.

Our teams are growing and the paths are bright – if you know of new graduates (or old graduates!) who want to be part of our success, send them our way!

A special ‘Thank You’

This week has been full of heartwarming stories! Recently, CoxHealth patients received special notes that were part of a school project led by local high school students.

Nixa High School senior Tyler Wolfe is part of our team as a Food Services assistant, and his father, Richard, is a supervisor at the Cox South cafeteria. Tyler and his fellow students, Jake Deterding, Bryson Koerber, and Alex Rapp, wanted to create a project that would touch people’s lives, and they all had a heart for patients.

By the time they were finished, they had delivered nearly 200 handwritten cards to patients in our long-term care units.

“We’ve all had family members that spent time in the hospital and seen how it can impact someone,” says Jake. “It was heartwarming to be able to provide some support to patients that may not receive it from friends or family and have a small impact on their time at CoxHealth.”

The seniors got together with our Volunteer Services leadership to deliver the cards to our long-term patients at Meyer Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital.

It is amazing to see high school students give support to those who need it most. I am thankful for the community we live in!

Voice of the patient

Adapted from inpatient feedback at Cox Monett: “I was treated with kindness and felt welcome at the hospital. Thank your crew!”

Thank you for all you do,

Max

Direct Line from Max Buetow for 5/19/2023