Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Dr. Prathibha Varkey, President of Mayo Clinic Health System

Transcript

Dr. Prathibha Varkey, President of Mayo Clinic Health System · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  This is where health care leadership comes together.
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  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings more than 3,500
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  hospital and health system executives and nearly 800
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  speakers to Chicago April.
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  This year's event includes keynote conversations with Dallas
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  Cowboys legend Troy Aikman and former president George
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  w Bush. For the agenda and event details,
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  visit beckershospitalreview.com
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  and click on the events tab in the
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  upper right. We're looking forward to hosting you
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  in Chicago.
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  This is Laura Dirda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by doctor
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  Pratibha Varki, who is the president of Mayo
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  Clinic Health System and professor of medicine as
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  well as professor of preventative medicine at Mayo
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  Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Doctor Varki,
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  it's a pleasure to have you on the
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  podcast today.
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  Laura, thank you for inviting me to be
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  part of this podcast.
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  Oh, absolutely. Now it's always a pleasure to
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  hear from you, and I really appreciate your
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  time and,
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  attention today because we've got a lot to
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  talk about. I know Mayo Clinic Health System
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  is doing some amazing things. And so from
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  your perspective, I wanted to dig a little
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  bit deeper into some of the different things
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  you're doing around culture and workforce
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  and transformation. And so
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  I guess we'll jump right in.
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  First, many hospitals are undergoing turnarounds,
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  and executives are focused on culture as an
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  essential part of those efforts.
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  What does cultural transformation mean in a health
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  system right now, and why is it so
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  essential?
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  Laura, my firm belief is that people,
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  not processes or technology,
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  are the real engine and magic
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  behind health care transformation and turnaround.
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  As you know, for many hospitals and communities
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  around the country, health care has been under
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  extraordinary
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  strain,
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  and in fact, has been for a prolonged
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  time since the COVID pandemic.
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  Workforce shortages,
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  financial pressure,
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  the digital divide in rural communities, and rising
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  patient complexity
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  often means that technical and process fixes
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  alone won't work in the long run, especially
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  when people are already exhausted
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  or disengaged.
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  As leaders make tough decisions about cost, access,
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  and practice portfolio optimization,
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  or perhaps it is during exciting times of
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  digital
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  and AI bold transformation,
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  it is critical that,
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  we think through
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  the culture, which is if the culture isn't
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  strong and integrated into the work environment,
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  these decisions
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  around transformation
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  can create fear and fragmentation
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  instead of momentum. Our
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  primary value in North Star at Mayo Clinic
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  continues to be that the best interest of
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  the patient
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  is the only interest to be considered.
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  So I firmly believe that in times of
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  transformation and turnaround,
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  clarity of purpose matters more than ever.
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  When teams are aligned around patients, I think
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  difficult decisions become easier to communicate
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  because they are principled decisions aligned to patient
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  care and sustainability.
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  So I truly believe that culture is a
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  strategic accelerator
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  and a key sustainability
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  quotient in both bold transformation
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  and turnarounds.
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  That's amazing to hear. And, you know, I
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  definitely feel,
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  that critical in importance and urgency around this
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  culture right now, especially as you said, with
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  so much technology coming into the workplace, so
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  much,
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  you know, changes that are happening on a
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  daily basis. Being able to have that strong
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  culture to move around and have that culture
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  of trust too makes a big difference.
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  Now when health system is facing operational or
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  financial pressures as many of them are right
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  now, what are some of the early indicators
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  that culture needs attention, not just some of
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  the processes or metrics that you might wanna
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  put in place?
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  That's a great question.
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  I'll begin with, one of my greatest joys
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  as a leader, which is in observing teams
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  celebrate each other,
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  spend time together problem solving, challenge assumptions, and
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  bring creativity to work.
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  I'd say in contrast, when people engage less
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  with each other, spend more time in silos,
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  or are increasingly engaged in anecdotes often intermixed
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  with anxiety,
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  cynicism, and blame, there is likely a culture
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  issue at hand.
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  Another symptom of culture breakdown is silence.
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  When staff or leaders stop speaking up or
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  stop raising concerns
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  or stop challenging ideas or stop creating,
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  ideas or offering creative ideas
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  that could signal disengagement as well.
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  You can also see symptoms of culture issues
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  and attrition rates, burnout, and then staff and
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  leaders becoming overly focused on deliverables
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  while losing touch with the overall institutional strategy
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  and mission.
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  I'll say that what I find very optimistic,
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  on the other hand, is that urgency and
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  empathy can coexist,
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  that transparency
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  builds momentum,
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  that inspired leaders and behaviors
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  can scale culture fast,
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  and that the primary reason most of us
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  are in health care is altruistic,
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  aspirational,
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  and people oriented.
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  Absolutely. I think that's such a great reminder
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  of why folks get into health care and
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  especially leaders. It's such a challenging job no
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  matter what the outside forces are that are
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  making, you know, making it challenging or just
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  even delivering patient care on a daily basis,
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  really takes a special person in order to
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  do that. And so being focused on what
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  that means to the health care providers, especially
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  those on the front line is critical. I
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  know you often emphasize the people side of
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  change management too. What are some of the
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  practical steps that leaders can take to support
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  their teams, rebuild trust, and strengthen engagement during
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  periods of major transition? I know so many
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  health system leaders talk to me about that
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  on a daily basis of how much their
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  health system is going through and, you know,
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  what they need their teams to do, but
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  it it's not easy. So what are some
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  of the steps that you would recommend,
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  especially when you think about change management?
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  No. At the end of the day, all
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  change management and transformation
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  is led by the people.
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  And so paying attention to the technical aspects
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  of change without paying attention to the people
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  side of change,
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  including that of belonging and well-being, usually
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  does not create sustainable transformation in the long
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  run.
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  One of the one of my favorite quotes
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  from WJ Mayo is that no one is
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  big enough to be independent
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  of others.
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  As leaders, of course, we really can't do
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  it alone.
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  Supporting and providing tools and investing in our
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  frontline supervisors,
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  our site directors,
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  chairs, and staff, and their own growth,
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  in their leadership development and well-being then become
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  very critical to sustain
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  transformation.
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  With bold transformation, of course, leaders often have
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  to move fast, but they also have to
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  stay connected.
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  And three principles that have guided us during
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  times of tremendous change
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  include communicating early and often,
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  and that includes
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  when all the answers aren't necessarily
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  clear.
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  A clear strategy, for example, is a great
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  way to begin sharing vision transparently with the
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  staff.
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  The second is to be visible. Leadership presence
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  matters most
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  when positions are hard.
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  Rounding
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  town halls,
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  direct conversations often build credibility. And I've personally
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  found that small group listening sessions are particularly
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  helpful to get unfiltered
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  bidirectional conversation going. In both listening to frontline
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  feedback, which can be humbling and insightful to
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  the leader,
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  as well as for the leader to translate,
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  translate and explain strategy to the frontline.
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  And finally, I'll say that reinforcing
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  the shared purpose
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  cannot be emphasized adequately.
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  In a turnaround or transformation situation,
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  reminding teams of the why.
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  The why the work matters for patients, for
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  communities, and for each other keeps people grounded
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  when change feels disruptive
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  and constant.
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  I think it's also critical to realize that
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  transformation is a marathon and not a sprint.
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  So keeping that long term frame
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  for culture transformation and giving the grace of
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  time and patience to both the leaders as
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  well as the staff is critical.
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  That makes a lot of sense. And I
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  I love those three steps communicating early and
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  often, especially with a clear strategy,
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  and and that can be a great way
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  to share vision during a time of transition,
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  being visible during those rounds, those town halls,
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  those direct conversations,
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  and really having the type of transparency that
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  makes a difference,
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  for your teams, and then finally, reinforcing the
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  purpose.
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  You know, you could never do that enough,
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  it seems like, and continuing to repeat that
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  early and often,
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  keeps people focused, on the main mission and
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  goal even though some of the tactics or
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  or,
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  tools that they have might be changing.
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  I'm curious. Can you share an example from
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  Mayo Clinic Health System where you intentionally
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  focused on culture and made a measurable difference
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  in performance, patient experience, or team well-being?
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  Yeah. I'll begin with, Mayo Clinic. And one
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  of our biggest strengths we have at Mayo
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  Clinic is our integrated practice and organizational
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  model that has been in place for over
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  one hundred and fifty years.
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  As you know, our physicians across the clinic
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  work in multi specialty teams for the benefit
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  of our patients,
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  and, our practice education
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  and research shields are aligned under one mission
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  and strategy under our CEO, Doctor Gianrico Ferrugia.
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  This integrated model also creates incredible speed in
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  achieving enterprise wide transformation
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  versus in systems where the operating model might
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  be more department or specialty centric.
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  In Mayo Clinic Health System, the community branch
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  of Mayo Clinic, we were created about thirty
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  years ago as a network of 16 hospitals
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  and 50 plus multi specialty clinics.
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  About five years ago, we created an intentional
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  cultural change to transform Mayo Clinic health system
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  to an integrated health system with a shared
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  leadership structure, and most importantly, under a common
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  strategy and quality framework.
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  And this deliberate cultural transformation that still continues
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  in its journey
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  has completely transformed the way we operate and
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  think across Mayo Clinic health system and has
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  created sustainable impact on quality, safety, digital and
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  AI innovation,
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  as well as financial performance at scale. Our,
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  staff attrition and recruitment rates are also significantly
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  better year over year. And it has been
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  really inspiring to see our how our teams
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  have come together to share resources and expertise,
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  as well as make tough decisions and drive
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  transformation
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  to become a category of one community health
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  system for the benefit of our patients.
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  I love that. I think it's so helpful
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  to understand
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  how you've been able to move and shift
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  from a a smaller
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  kind of segment of Mayo Clinic into a
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  larger, more integrated health system and really taking
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  advantage of a lot of the different opportunities
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  that the the broader organization enterprise has. I'm
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  wondering before we wrap up up here, for
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  organizations especially that feel stuck or overwhelmed,
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  what is an actual piece of advice you
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  would offer to begin transforming a culture in
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  a meaningful, sustainable way?
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  Laura, my advice is to start small and
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  to be intentional.
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  Perhaps,
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  start by considering your key priorities as an
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  institution
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  and commit to a strategic focus on one
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  or two priorities
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  consistently.
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  When people hear leaders share strategy consistently,
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  follow through transparently,
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  and are provided resources and tools for achieving
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  the same,
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  trust and momentum builds.
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  And when momentum builds, real transformation becomes possible
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  and is subsequently then led by the people
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  themselves,
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  which is when transformation becomes meaningful, fun, and
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  sustainable for the institution.
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  In, times of exciting, bold, digital and AI
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  transformation in health care
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  and in stressful times with several institutions around
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  the country needing financial turnaround,
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  let us remember that people are the secret
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  sauce,
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  that hope, compassion,
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  perseverance, and discipline
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  creates resilience
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  where excellence,
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  innovation,
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  people, communities,
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  and patients thrive.
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  That's such a great note to end with.
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  Doctor Barkey, thank you so much for connecting
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  with us today for the podcast. I think
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  it's so inspirational to hear about your journey
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  at Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic health system
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  and certainly,
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  great, advice that you've laid out here in
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  terms of cultural transformation and especially thinking about
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  everything that will be ahead of us in
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  the next year. So many organizations will need
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  to undergo a lot of this, this transformation.
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  So I appreciate your time today, and I
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  know we'll continue along this conversation at, the
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  annual meeting in April. I know we've had
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  the opportunity to hear from you a few
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  different times over the years, and it's always
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  such a a special and impactful forty minutes
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  that we have with you. And so, doctor
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  Varki, I'm looking forward to seeing you again
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  in April and being able to just learn
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  more from you every single time that we
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  connect.
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  Thank you, Laura. Thank you again for inviting
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  me to be part of this conversation.