Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

The secret sauce of great health care organizations

Robert Allan Bear, MD
Policy
September 9, 2012
76 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

Greg Smith, formerly of Goldman Sachs, has described a positive organizational culture as being the “secret sauce of greatness.” What is the nature of this secret sauce? A simple, popular definition is that “organizational culture is the way we do things here.”

The relationship between organizational culture and organizational success is unassailable. In our commercial dealings, has not each of us easily recognized when a business culture is truly customer-focused, and when it is not? And as potential customers, are not the choices we make – choices that will ultimately result in business success or failure – significantly influenced by what we have observed?

The same applies to healthcare institutions. Yet in this time of health industry turmoil, as tremendous energy is expended on hot trends, new mandates and crisis management, is sufficient attention being paid to the less dramatic task of ensuring the existence of a strong, positive organizational culture? There are examples of resounding success, but they are far from universal. Honestly, how much ongoing thought do most of us give to the health of the organizational culture of the clinic or hospital or health care system in which we work, and the manner in which this influences all attitudes and activities?

Each health care institution’s culture is destined to be unique, and will be manifest by various signs and symptoms – positive or otherwise – expressed in ways too numerous to mention; however, one characteristic will be evident in every health care  organization with an optimized culture: engaged, satisfied physicians and staff, observably proud of their institution and  eager to serve.

What paths ensure the development of a preferred organizational culture within a health care institution? The role of leadership cannot be over-emphasized. After all, an organization’s culture – its lifeblood – is squeezed from the deeds of its leaders, drop by precious drop, and then trickles down, infusing all other attitudes and actions. It can be oxygenated, pure, energizing. It can be diluted and weak. It can be toxic.

Not all health institution leaders fully understand this – the power they wield in fashioning their organization’s culture, nor fully appreciate that it is their deeds, not their words, which ‘trickle down’ and influence, for better or for worse. Not some of their deeds; every deed.

But it is not just the deeds of leaders that shape organizational culture. The daily actions of every health care provider also play a major role. Here, it is often the smallest and most quiet deeds, silently observed, that make the biggest difference – the helping hand, the encouraging word, the patient ear, the extra effort, the simple touch. Indeed, such acts of caring and compassion have a magnifying effect that can be transformative, reinforcing as they do to physicians, staff and patients that the latter do indeed come first.

The power of organizational culture is immense. A positive organizational culture is indeed the “secret sauce of greatness.” That each of our acts contributes to it should be remembered by all who labor in the health care field.

Robert Allan Bear is a retired nephrologist, health care consultant and author of the medical novel Sorrow’s Reward.

Prev

Can digital medicine have a placebo effect?

September 9, 2012 Kevin 2
…
Next

When our health system works, it's unbeatable

September 9, 2012 Kevin 6
…

Tagged as: Hospital-Based Medicine, Primary Care, Public Health & Policy

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Can digital medicine have a placebo effect?
Next Post >
When our health system works, it's unbeatable

More by Robert Allan Bear, MD

  • To aspiring physician-writers: It’s time to write that book!

    Robert Allan Bear, MD
  • Involuntary discharge from dialysis: A health care practice like no other

    Robert Allan Bear, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Is patient-centered care an outmoded concept?

    Robert Allan Bear, MD

More in Policy

  • Healing the damaged nurse-physician dynamic

    Angel J. Mena, MD and Ali Morin, MSN, RN
  • Deaths of despair: an urgent call for a collective response to the crisis in U.S. life expectancy

    Mohammed Umer Waris, MD
  • Breaking down the barriers to effective bar-code medication administration

    Amy Dang Craft
  • The locums industry has a beef problem

    Aaron Morgenstein, MD
  • Canada’s health workers are sounding the alarm. We must act, now.

    Ivy Lynn Bourgeault, PhD
  • Race categorizations are worsening health inequities for the South West Asian North African (SWANA) communities

    Guleer Shahab, MPH
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Healing the damaged nurse-physician dynamic

      Angel J. Mena, MD and Ali Morin, MSN, RN | Policy
    • The struggle to fill emergency medicine residency spots: Exploring the factors behind the unfilled match

      Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH | Physician
    • From physician to patient: one doctor’s journey to finding purpose after a devastating injury

      Stephanie Pearson, MD | Physician
    • Breaking the cycle of misery in medicine: a practical guide

      Paul R. Ehrmann, DO | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • The hidden dangers of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act

      Meghan Sheehan, MD | Policy
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools

      Helen Kim, MD | Policy
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • Why are doctors sued and politicians aren’t?

      Kellie Lease Stecher, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • It’s time for C-suite to contract directly with physicians for part-time work

      Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Corinne Sundar Rao, MD | Physician
    • The psychoanalytic hammer: lessons in listening and patient-centered care

      Greg Smith, MD | Conditions
    • From rural communities to underserved populations: How telemedicine is bridging health care gaps

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Physician
    • 5 essential tips to help men prevent prostate cancer

      Kevin Jones, MD | Conditions
    • Unlock the power of physician compensation data in contract negotiations [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • From pennies to attending salaries: Why physicians should teach their kids financial literacy

      Michele Cho-Dorado, MD | Finance

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 1 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • Biomarkers of Response With Enfortumab Vedotin in Advanced Urothelial Cancer
  • At-Home Topical Therapy for Molluscum Contagiosum Gets High Marks
  • Senators Press Moderna's CEO to Drop COVID Vaccine Price
  • Senators Press HHS Chief on Alzheimer's Drugs, Opioids at Budget Hearing
  • Despite Abortion Restrictions, Ob/Gyn Remains Competitive Residency

Meeting Coverage

  • At-Home Topical Therapy for Molluscum Contagiosum Gets High Marks
  • Outlook for Itchy Prurigo Nodularis Continues to Improve With IL-31 Antagonist
  • AAAAI President Shares Highlights From the 2023 Meeting
  • Second-Line Sacituzumab Govitecan Promising in Platinum-Ineligible UC
  • Trial of Novel TYK2 Inhibitor Hits Its Endpoint in Plaque Psoriasis
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Healing the damaged nurse-physician dynamic

      Angel J. Mena, MD and Ali Morin, MSN, RN | Policy
    • The struggle to fill emergency medicine residency spots: Exploring the factors behind the unfilled match

      Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH | Physician
    • From physician to patient: one doctor’s journey to finding purpose after a devastating injury

      Stephanie Pearson, MD | Physician
    • Breaking the cycle of misery in medicine: a practical guide

      Paul R. Ehrmann, DO | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • The hidden dangers of the Nebraska Heartbeat Act

      Meghan Sheehan, MD | Policy
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools

      Helen Kim, MD | Policy
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • Why are doctors sued and politicians aren’t?

      Kellie Lease Stecher, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • It’s time for C-suite to contract directly with physicians for part-time work

      Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Corinne Sundar Rao, MD | Physician
    • The psychoanalytic hammer: lessons in listening and patient-centered care

      Greg Smith, MD | Conditions
    • From rural communities to underserved populations: How telemedicine is bridging health care gaps

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Physician
    • 5 essential tips to help men prevent prostate cancer

      Kevin Jones, MD | Conditions
    • Unlock the power of physician compensation data in contract negotiations [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • From pennies to attending salaries: Why physicians should teach their kids financial literacy

      Michele Cho-Dorado, MD | Finance

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today iMedicalApps
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

The secret sauce of great health care organizations
1 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...