THE DEADLY SINS OF COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS - PART 3. INABILITY TO EMBRACE PROVEN MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

The Deadly Sins of Community Health Centers - Part 3. Inability to Embrace Proven Management Techniques.

Continuing our postings on the Deadly Sins of Community Health Centers (CHCs); yesterday we discussed Part 2 – Tendency to Chase the Latest Trend.

Today, we’ll look at the third sin: The Inability to Embrace Proven Management Techniques.

3. The Inability to Embrace Proven Management Techniques

Certain management practices, as outlined by Peter Drucker, have been universally accepted as effective in all other organizations:
Purpose: To gain needed knowledge:
1. Asking: What needs to be done?
2. Asking: What is right and effective for the organization?

Purpose: To convert that knowledge into effective action:
3. Developing action plans.
4. Taking responsibility for decisions.
5. Taking responsibility for communicating.
6. Focusing on opportunities rather than problems.

Purpose: To ensure organization-wide responsibility and accountability:
7. Running productive meetings.
8. Thinking and saying “we” rather than “I”.

Yet many community health centers still argue over whether to use them because they do not "fit" their “uniqueness”. They run on a personality-driven, top-down style. We disagree with this approach.

The practice of medicine is unique; the business of the practice of medicine is not. Effective management techniques work for community health centers as well as for any other organization.

Next post: Continuing the Deadly Sins of Community Health Centers - Part 4: Meaningless Networks …