Start Day

Today was my first day as an intern for the Nebraska Medical Center. It's good to finally be here and start meeting the people I will be working with for the rest of the summer. This morning I met with Jason Lebsack and Terrie Johansen, both involved with quality initiatives at NMC. They mentioned the development of the mortality committee, a new program where they review 100% of deaths to see what they can learn from what happened. What they've found is that 50% of documents show inadequate documentation of the situation and don't accurately reflect what happened. In addition, they've been able to find evidence to support the development of a palliative care program to help create a comfortable experience for patients when they pass away. It's obvious that NMC is interested in improving quality, which is one reason why I am so excited to be here for the summer.

In addition I was able to meet with Glenn to discuss plans for the summer. We talked (well, he mostly did the talking) about the healthcare situation (volume is down b/c people are holding off on elective procedures, we make most of our profits on out-of-town referrals to our main service lines, these profits subsidize other parts of the hospital such as primary care and OB/GYN) and about his style as CEO (his job is to #1: Define and develop a vision, and #2: Get people to go there). He had a number of one-liners that I thought were notable:
- Don't mess with my people. I don't like it when people pass the blame onto others who are not responsible for a particular mistake.
- This is not a democracy, this is business. When things go bad they fire the CEO, and I don't want to go home to my wife without a paycheck. Nobody in this business is more important than my family.
- We are a communication entity. Be clear and concise with numbers. Use the "gee" word. Don't do something that's not sincere. Sincerity is a hard thing to argue against (ex. lowering voice in classrooms). "Come see me if you have any problems."
- Look at others' management styles and adapt them to your own. Monitor them and find out what is right for you.

I enjoyed talking with him and have a feeling this is going to be a great internship.