Ascension, for one, is reworking its linear reporting structure, said Trevor Walker, vice president of human resources organizational development and learning. Its testing out a model where interdisciplinary teams report to one leader, rather than their respective department heads.

To boost recruitment, Froedtert Health is reworking its tuition reimbursement program, said Holly Reilly, vice president of human resources operations. For growing needs like IT, four-year degrees arent necessary. But certifications dont fit into Froedterts tuition reimbursement program, she said.

Providence St. Joseph Health is investing in revenue streams related to organizations that build low-income housing, provide food and help meet other basic needs.

Ideally, those ventures can bolster its clinical care as well as rekindle its mission, said Darci Hall, chief learning officer at the Renton, Wash.-based system. Healthy communities start with a safe place to live and food to eat, she said.

But a more proactive, outcomes-oriented healthcare delivery system brings new data and responsibilities. Employers have to toe the delicate line between developing existing employees and hiring additional help.

Healthcare organizations are always looking for the next piece of technology that can facilitate this transition. But sometimes it can hurt more than help, said Heather Brace, senior vice president and chief people officer at Intermountain Healthcare.

Sometimes technology can be really distracting more than it can be helpful, she said. So we are finding ways to be better about discerning and learning which technologies are best to bring into our organization so they are not duplicative or creating more work.

Brigham Health has hired administrative support, community resource specialists, data-mining experts and additional help on the clinical side to facilitate more proactive care. It has also identified current workers who live in the community, know the cultural landscape and can help link individuals with local resources, said Dr. Jessica Dudley, chief medical officer at Brigham and Womens Physician Organization and vice president of care redesign at Brigham Health.

This new care paradigm requires, at times, ceding control. Providers also must get more comfortable in building teams outside of their respective organizations, said Dr. Adam Myers, chief of population health at Cleveland Clinic and director of Cleveland Clinic Community Care.

We are not afraid to work hard in medicine, but we want our work to be meaningful, we want the tools and resources to accomplish the tasks that are asked of us, and we want to have appropriate accountability. Those are the three things that lead to professional improvement, he said. We have meaningful work in healthcare, but the problem is we dilute that down with many nonmeaningful tasks. To the extent we can offload some of those to teams, the better.

At St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, about 20% of patients will not overcome their cancer diagnoses. This creates a daunting challenge to keep clinicians and employees spirits up, said Dr. James Downing, St. Judes CEO.

Memphis, Tenn.-based St. Jude improved its employee recognition as well as its mentorship program. The organization asked its employees what brings them joy in their work. Staff wrote their answers on blocks of wood that were used to a build a sculpture featured on campus.

It is a place where 1 in 5 patients will die from their disease, but it is a place of hope, a place of joy, Downing said.

Read more:

Healthcare executives look to bring the joy back to medicine - ModernHealthcare.com