Several characteristics of academic health centers have the potential to create high levels of internal conflict and misalignment that can pose significant leadership challenges. In September 2000, the positions of Ohio State University (OSU) senior vice president for health sciences, dean of the medical school, and the newly created position of chief executive officer of the OSU Medical Center...

THE ABILITY OF LARGE HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS to respond to the rapidly changing landscape in which they operate is in many ways dependent upon the leadership knowledge and capabilities of those heading up the transformation. Although the central direction and core vision for health system transformation is typically concentrated in a relatively tight circle of a few individuals, it is the broader a...

BACKGROUND At many hospitals and long-term care organizations (such as nursing homes), executive board members have a responsibility to manage patient safety. Executive WalkRounds offer an opportunity for boards to build a trusting relationship with professionals and seem useful as a leadership tool to pick up on soft signals, which are indirect signals or early warnings that something is wrong...

As a senior healthcare executive and fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), I am often asked by junior colleagues how I became a leader. Since many women administrators still encounter difficulty in breaking through the glass ceiling to the executive suite, gender equity and personal values are frequently central to my narrative. Although more recently characterized as ...

The Usable Smart Environment project (USE) aims at designing easy-to-use, highly functional next-generation conference rooms. Our first design prototype focuses on creating a "no wizards" room for an American executive; that is, a room the executive could walk into and use by himself, without help from a technologist. A key idea in the USE framework is that customization is one of the best ways...