the association for medical imaging management

Executive Leadership andMentoring Program (ELM)A ‘hands-on’ practical learning program that incorporates twelve months of personal mentoring to assist radiology leaders in applying new skills and business acumen to solving their ‘real world’ issues and challenges.

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Funding for ELM is supported through a generous grant from GE Healthcare.

The objective of the AHRA Executive Leadership and Mentoring (ELM) program is to enable participants to grow in their management roles and support their professional development as effective and successful leaders.

Here’s what your medical imaging colleagues are saying about their ELM program experience:

“ELM will get you on the right path to acquiring the skills necessary to lead your organization and yourself in the next realm of imaging, with all of its challenges. This is an affordable investment in growing oneself and one’s skill set as we face an ever changing healthcare environment.”

“The skills and business understanding we gained from the ELM program was outstanding and something I will keep forever. They don’t teach this in Rad school.”

“I would think the program would be good for anyone who is in an advanced position, and wants to continue to grow. The ELM program inspired me to reflect back on what I am doing and how to refocus on what needs to be done to change the culture of how our organization looks at patient care.”

“We found this to be a very intense, insightful beginning and an investment in ourselves to improve our skills and be able to speak the language of the executive leadership of our organizations.”

“The group session work outs were a great way to learn to develop team work & to think critically. I will most certainly be applying what I learned in my everyday activities.”

“This program has enhanced my critical thinking skills and prepared me to take my team to the next level.”

The ELM Program Experience

ELM Program Overview

The AHRA Executive Leadership and Mentoring (ELM) program will be completed during a one year period, beginning at the AHRA Annual Meeting and Exposition and ending at the next year’s Annual Meeting.

The third annual ELM program will begin at the 2013 AHRA Annual Meeting with an introductory session where participants will join with the members from the 2012 program as they present their achievements from a year of ELM project work. This Inaugural session will be followed by five four hour sessions, one for each module. These sessions will combine learning presentations, discussion topics and workshopswith hands-on working in small break-out groups of five people.

Following the launch, participants will engage with program faculty for monthly mentoring sessions. Each participant will be able to use the mentoring sessions in one of three ways:

Option One: Select a major project that will extend throughout the full year ELM program and work with program faculty exclusively on that project. The nature of the monthly mentoring activity will be determined based upon the project.

Option Two: Select a practical problem or situation for each module and define and work on a related project with the support of the ELM faculty. The five projects will be completed in 4-8 weeks each during the year with a monthly one-on-one webinar or telephone call update to ensure success. The topics chosen will be real issues that the delegate is wrestling with to ensure that the ELM program generates real return on investment to the delegate’s practice.

Option Three: Utilize the mentoring aspect of the ELM program as needed throughout the 12 month period. The only requirements are:

• The issues addressed are real problems or projects • There is a tangible goal identified as the desired outcome • The outcome can be achieved within the year time period

Participants will wrap up their ELM program by attending a closing session at the 2014 AHRA Annual Meeting, where they will present their project achievements in a combined meeting with the 2014 ELM class participants. During this session, each participant will present their project outcomes and lessons learned.

Strategic Management Starts with tools and concepts for identifying, formulating and implementing corporate strategy, establishing a sense of ‘mission’ and articulating a ‘vision’ for the enterprise. Includes bringing together internal capabilities, external conditions and the acquisition and deployment of assets for the purpose of improving the performance of the organization. Explores topics such as physician integration, joint ventures, out-sourcing and acquisitions. Examines aspects of quality management, quality circles and risk management. Will involve developing strategic plans and creating management presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint plus effective presentation skills.

Finance, Management Accounting and Corporate Finance Refresher on the basic concepts of financial accounting. Understand financial reporting and the development, interpretation and analysis of financial statements for external users, such as investors, creditors, rating agencies and credit insurers. Examine the hospital’s management accounting system and the use of management reports in decision making. This will include the concept of variance analysis based upon comparisons between current period figures, same period last year and same period in the budget – utilizing both individual month and cumulative year-to-date data. The use of management accounts and dashboards in planning, control, strategic reviews and performance evaluation. Understand basic corporate financing, including aspects relevant to tax-exempt finance for 501(c)3 not-for-profit hospitals as well as aspects relevant to bonds, equity, asset finance. Topics include stock and bond valuation, capital budgeting, cost of capital, return on investment and investment decision support analysis.

Organizational Skills, with Lean Six-Sigma Operations Management Starting with a revisit to operational management processes and metrics, and then building upon that revisit by looking initially at understanding operating process mapping and re-engineering processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Looking at the benefits of a ‘follow the patient’ exercise and how lean six sigma concepts can be beneficial within diagnostic imaging. Extrapolating into enterprise-wide ‘end-to-end’ thinking with topics including operations strategy, quality control, and supply chain management with the goal of driving radiology to be the low cost, high quality imaging provider of choice. Learning to design and use benchmarking tools, surveys and comparative score cards as management tools.

Mandatory Modules

Leadership Skills and Staff Development Principles of leadership; application in various business scenarios, giving delegates the opportunity to develop their ability to lead others in groups and organizations, including dynamics of small groups, and working in teams. Apply critical thinking, problem solving, and communication strategies to actual management situations and case studies. Problem solving using tools such as cost-benefit analysis to make decisions based upon revenue potential and ‘bottom-line’ impact. Delegation including ‘accountability’ and ‘responsibility’ plus ensuring that employees have enough information to make decisions, and the incentive & empowerment to do so.

Understand how to utilize the cycle of job descriptions, performance goals and objectives and annual performance appraisals to create a culture of staff development and performance improvement. Develop coaching and leadership skills that will facilitate development of supervisors and senior staff leading to culture change and engendering a patient-centric culture of teamwork that builds patient loyalty through an enriched patient experience.

Marketing Management Basic marketing principles and concepts - marketing is the business function that manages customer value. Successful organizations integrate the objectives and resources of the organization with the needs and opportunities in the served marketplace to create multiple pillar services value propositions and thus create value for the hospital. Beyond basics to include branding, brand management and ‘go-to-market’ strategy through into market messaging and communications.

Develop an understanding of ‘brand equity’ and ‘brand loyalty’. Explore the drivers of ‘brand loyalty’ and the impact of social media as well as advertising and ‘word of mouth’.

Explore the ‘patient experience’ and its impact. Understand how to drive marketing gains through multiple channels including referrer centric and patient centric programs.

Mandatory Modules

Healthcare Policy, Regulation and Government Programs The Government directs healthcare policy and regulation, playing three key roles in the healthcare system. It directly manages care for 27 percent of the population through Medicare, Medicaid and the Veteran’s Affairs programs, establishes rates of payment directly and indirectly for all providers, and regulates the industry through administrative and legislative procedures. Explore here how the government impacts hospital activity through policies, regulations and reform efforts at the state and federal level.

Human Resources – Policies, Procedures and Employment Law Full review of the existing policies and procedures within the enterprise coupled with an overview of employment laws applicable to the location.

Healthcare Information Technology An introduction to the present and developing role of information technology in healthcare, focusing on critical issues in IT management and ‘futures’ from a strategic level, including technology procurement, needs assessment, project management, economic justification, user support and technology, and business risk management. Includes the evolving electronic health record and connectivity.

Payors and Contracting Understanding the complexities of payor contracts, contract negotiation and managing multiple payor types and contracts, together with such aspects as invoicing, claim pre-authorization and billings plus denials minimization and management. Contrast in-house operations vs. out source partners.

The ‘Business’ Drivers of Change in Healthcare Understand the role of national and multi-national businesses in driving technology developments and other changes that will impact the near and long term future of the provision of healthcare. The discovery, development, and commercialization of new technologies drives innovation in the health care industry. Life sciences, defined as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, devices, and diagnostics are a critical component of the healthcare system. Consider the impact of such aspects as personalized medicine, home-based care systems, gene-based propensity demographics and other ‘futures’ upon key pillar services.

Optional Modules

David J Waldron

David is Chief Executive Officer at Traction Business Development - a boutique healthcare consultancy dedicated to the business of radiology and specializing in improving the financial results achieved by hospital based and free-standing imaging center operators.

He brings more than 20 years history in medical technology including executive level experience with Picker International (diagnostic imaging), GE Healthcare (cardiology) and Beckman Coulter (hematology). In addition, David has a wealth of experience gained from leadership roles in healthcare financing with LaSalle Bank, Continental Bank and DVI Financial Services.

He has completed numerous successful healthcare business turnaround projects in USA, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific.

Having earned a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from the University of Leicester in the UK, David qualified as an Associate of the British Chartered Institute of Bankers and also holds the Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance awarded by the Association of Certified Accountants in London. A graduate of the Insead Business School, Paris, France, he is Six Sigma green belt trained and a member of the Turnaround Management Association.

David is a frequent conference presenter and has published articles on topics related to healthcare technology and financing including several published by the Healthcare Financial Management Association, Radiology Management and also by Radiology Today.

ELM Program Facilitator

Ethics Requirements Throughout the Enterprise Ethics considerations including corporate responsibility, transparency, morality, outcomes reporting and sustainability will be included from each of the following perspectives:

• Overall strategy, including community and physician relations • Accounting and finance; lenders and investors • Payor relations including benefit management intermediaries • Human resources - hiring, assessment, promotion, termination • Operations, organizational re-structuring, outsource partners • Marketing, communications and pillar services value propositions • Leadership and ‘walking the walk’

Optional Modules