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Rural Transformational Leadership Series

This 2021 series has concluded.

  Series Topics

The North Dakota Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program and the Center for Rural Health present the Rural Transformational Leadership Series. Three virtual, 90 minute interactive sessions will teach case studies and tie in resources from this nationally-released toolkit and playbook called Re-Imaging Leadership: A Pathway for Rural Health to Thrive in a COVID-19 World. After laying out each case, participants will engage in small group discussions about ways to address issues, followed by discussion, debate, and lessons learned in the larger group. Case content includes physician/healthcare worker burnout, crisis communication, and value based care in the shadow of a pandemic.

Sessions will be conducted by Benjamin Anderson, Vice President of Rural Health and Hospitals for the Colorado Hospital Association, and Erin Sullivan, PhD, Associate Professor at Suffolk University, and part-time faculty at Harvard Medical School.

This series is a partnership effort between the Center for Rural Health and the Utah Department of Health Office of Primary Care and Rural Health.

CRH
Utah Department of Health Office of Primary Care & Rural Health

Rural Hospital Leadership Conundrum: The Burnout of a Good Doctor

CPSI Play webinar recording

Rural hospitals face an ever-evolving set of challenges, one of which is the burnout of dedicated physicians on the front-lines of care delivery. If you are struggling with how to address the root causes of burnout in your health system, then this session is for you! Through an interactive discussion of a Harvard Business School-style case study, we will explore the individual and structural issues that contribute to burnout in a rural setting. At the end of this session, you will have specific tools and strategies that you can use in your hospital next week.

Key Learning Points

  • Understand the definitions and prevalence of burnout and moral injury in the context of healthcare delivery amidst COVID-19.
  • Understand the structural as well as individual contributors to burnout and moral injury among healthcare workers.
  • Learn coping mechanisms for mitigating the individual impact of burnout and moral injury among healthcare workers.
  • Learn tools to transform the systems that perpetuate burnout and moral injury among healthcare workers.

Fullerton Hospital: A Communications Crisis in a Rural Community

The stability of rural healthcare delivery systems may be determined by hospital and clinic administrative and governance leaders' effectiveness with communicating significant events and strategic decisions to other stakeholders. What guardrails are in place to ensure the right messages are communicated to the right audiences at the right times? In this session, we will introduce the true story of a hospital board scenario that went terribly wrong as an opportunity for participants to learn and benefit from common communication challenges in hopes that it will mitigate the chance of something similar happening to you. At the end of this session, you will have a foundational understanding of the importance of a crisis communications strategy as part of a broader emergency preparedness plan.

Key Learning Points

  • Understanding what can and should be communicated outside of executive leadership and board meetings.
  • Equipping rural hospital board members, administrative leaders, and clinicians with the tools to manage crisis communications and public relations. What message should be communicated to whom and when?
  • Key steps for building out a crisis communications strategy for rural hospitals, clinics, and communities.

Value-based Care in the Shadow of a Pandemic

As healthcare payments have shifted from volume to value for over a decade, some transformational rural health leaders have been driving efforts to provide value-based care. The arrival of COVID-19 presented formidable challenges to sustaining and continuing those efforts, which are now – more than ever – necessary in rural communities. Delivering value-based care will require new processes, policies, and priorities within healthcare delivery systems, local public health departments, and the broader health community. This case introduces the true story of Aspen Valley Hospital and the Rocky Mountain Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and their continued journey toward value amidst the formidable challenges of COVID-19. If you are seeking to better understand healthcare finance and interventions that improve health outcomes in your hospital and community, then this interactive session is for you. At the end of this session, you will have a foundational understanding of healthcare finance and some tools to guide your organization toward its future vitality.

Key Learning Points

  • Understanding the basic components of value-based care in a rural context.
  • Understanding key points for rural hospitals to engage with ACOs or other value-based payment models.
  • Understanding best practices for ensuring financial vitality of rural healthcare delivery systems following COVID-19.