The accountable healthcare leader: Can a supply chain mindset lead the way to value-based healthcare?

Healthcare is undergoing unprecedented change as it transitions to a system that rewards the value, rather than the volume, of care delivered. The rules are changing, with new payment methodologies that levy stiff financial penalties on healthcare providers that fail to deliver quality care, along with incentives to improve efficiencies, care coordination and patient satisfaction. As the system changes, so, too, must the strategies and skill sets of those charged with leading their organisations through this disruptive conversion. The newly released final rule on Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model provides insight into the changing nature of healthcare reform under bundled payment programmes and can be used to assess the kinds of leadership strategies and skills that will be needed to succeed in a value-based healthcare market. Hospital leaders will be measured on their ability to improve collaboration and coordination across internal functions and with outside partners whose financial and clinical performance will have a real impact on hospital reimbursement. This level of coordination will require investments in underlying technology and care coordination to link financial expenditures and process improvements with outcomes data. To achieve these fundamental objectives, healthcare executives can learn from essential traits of leaders in iconic firms outside of healthcare, from Tesla to Netflix, the application of design thinking and open innovation, and a supply chain mindset that organises care around the demand – the patient – in contrast to a more traditional supply-driven system that is focused primarily on hospitals and physicians.