The above links will take you to the Center for the Health Professions site.
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| From the Director Archive | ||||||
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To read the From the Director Archive from 2001, click here. | ||||||
| September
2008 |
This month, Ed O'Neil outlines three essential leadership challenges - understanding how institutions must change, working with other institutions to demonstrate how these changes can work, and pushing policymakers to move forward once the case has been made. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| August
2008 |
Our health care system is the most expensive in the world, but many are excluded and our health outcomes are not the best. This month, Ed O'Neil identifies three factors we must address to slow the growth of a sector that is already 15.5% of our GDP. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| July
2008 |
Our health care system is engaged in a process of reinvention that requires current interest groups to find common ground and build upon it. This month, Ed O'Neil discusses the skills leaders need to guide these groups in finding common ground and working together for a better system of care. To read
this essay, click here. | |||||
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| June
2008 |
Our system of health care needs fundamental reform. How can hospitals meet this challenge without destructively impacting the ongoing delivery of health care services? This month, Ed O'Neil identifies the critical characteristics of successful innovations that can improve hospitals incrementally, without harming patient care in the interim. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| May
2008 |
Hospitals play such a crucial role in the US health care system that changing them is often seen as a complex and daunting undertaking. This month Ed O'Neil identifies the three most fundamental challenges hospitals face today to respond to the changing health care environment. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| April
2008 |
Many changes to the US health care system are imminent, and providers from hospitals to health care professions will need to adapt. This month Ed O'Neil identifies five forces that are driving changes in health care and discusses their implications for providers and consumers. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| March
2008 |
In spite of the current campaign pledges, universal access to the current system is not an answer - a new paradigm is needed. This month Ed O'Neil outlines a leadership agenda for the nursing profession. In subsequent months, leadership agendas for other professions will be discussed. To read this essay,
click here. | |||||
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| February
2008 | Despite
the addition of 1.6 million jobs in the healthcare workforce, the US will face
a shortage of health care workers across many professions. This month Ed O'Neil
outlines three ideas for addressing this problem without stealing health care
professionals away from their home countries who need them. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| January
2008 | This
month Ed O'Neil discusses the impact of poorly drawn lines between public and
private actions on the US health care system and asserts that a new framework
that allows public and private worlds to work together is needed to promote efficient
provision of care. To read this essay,
click here. | |||||
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| December
2007 | This
month Ed O'Neil challenges health care providers to leave old paradigms behind
so we are free to create solutions to the problems that plague the US health care
system. How do we create a new paradigm for our health care system?
To read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| November
2007 | Health
care reform often focuses on expanding coverage while ignoring the real problem
- the system as it stands is wasteful, inefficient and costly. This month, Ed
O'Neil outlines four interrelated problem areas that need reform: acute care for
chronic disease, underinvestment in primary care, misaligned funding and lack
of public engagement. To read this
essay, click here. | |||||
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| October
2007 | Conflict
is common and inevitable in the highly interdependent and diverse world of health
care. Health care leaders need to create environments in which conflict can be
used creatively to produce the best possible outcomes. This month, Ed O'Neil outlines
four steps of managing conflict and announces a half-day course on the topic.
To read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| September
2007 | The
current US health care system is no longer sustainable for consumers, providers
or payers - the locked up system is cracking. This month Ed O'Neil discusses the
changes necessary to transform health care into a viable system that meets the
needs of these groups. To read this
essay, click here. | |||||
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| August
2007 | California
is home to over 600 community clinics that provide an essential set of services
to populations that are often most at risk. This month Ed O'Neil examines how
the structure, financing and care delivery model of community clinics differ from
those of the broader health system. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| This
month, Ed O'Neil reminds us that 60% of the cost of care is attributable to the
health care workforce and he outlines four reasons not to forget this fact.
To read this essay, click here. | ||||||
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| June
2007 | The
innovation of ATMs in the banking industry led to a smaller, more efficient and
better skilled workforce in commercial banking. This month Ed O'Neil considers
how this innovation in banking could translate into reduced costs and improved
quality in health care. To read this
essay, click here. | |||||
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| May
2007 | Over
the past five years the US health care system created 1.7 million new jobs. This
workforce opportunity, however, will not continue indefinitely. This month Ed
O’Neil discusses the need for three sectors of health care – management,
labor and education – to work together now to change the opportunities in
the future. To read this essay, click
here. | |||||
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| April
2007 | Without
integrated leadership, well managed aspects of the U.S. health care system cannot
produce high quality, efficient and consumer-responsive care that is sustainable
in the overall economy. This month Ed O’Neil suggests how to better integrate
our system through the creation of a Health Commons. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| March
2007 | Last
month Ed O'Neil outlined how the U.S. health care system could perform more effectively
and efficiently at lower costs by addressing the capacity of the system, the burden
of chronic disease, new practice models and institutional alignment. This month
Ed provides specific recommendations for reform within these four areas.
To read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| February
2007 | Last
month Governor Schwarzenegger and President Bush both released proposals for US
health care reform, but failed to address the root cause of the dysfunctional
system: cost of care. This month Ed O'Neil explores how the US health care system
could perform more effectively and efficiently at lower costs. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| January
2007 | The
professions of nursing, pharmacy and medicine acknowledge a deep commitment to
serving their patients, but often fail their patients and each other in the way
they work as teams. This month Ed O’Neil describes the challenges faced by
these professions and offers a model to encourage effective interdisciplinary
teamwork. To read this essay, click
here. | |||||
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| December
2006 | While
the U.S. faces shortages in many of the health professions, will creating more
professionals produce the outcomes we desire? This month Ed O'Neil asks four questions
that examine how we might get more value from the professionals we have instead
of continuing to feed a dysfunctional health care system. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| November
2006 | Ed
O'Neil has challenged the recent graduates of the California HealthCare Foundation’s
(CHCF) Leadership Program and their fellow alumni to develop a change agenda to
reform health care in California. To start the process, this month Ed outlines
the top nine issues that need to be addressed. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| October
2006 | While
diversity is an essential element of today's complex health care system, alignment
of diverse perspectives is necessary to function interdependently. This month
Ed O'Neil suggests that without alignment, diverse interests will continue to
sub-optimize the system's performance and leave the American public with the bill.
To read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| September.
2006 | Building
on last month's article which outlined areas in which new policy and practice
could help promote innovation in health care, this month Ed O'Neil examines
one more equally important barrier to innovation: individual clinicians’
reluctance to change. To read this essay,
click here. | |||||
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| August.
2006 | While
many agree that the US health care system is in need of comprehensive reform,
changes are typically implemented slowly and unsystematically. This month
Ed O’Neil examines four areas in which new policy and practice
could help promote innovation. To read
this essay, click here. | |||||
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| July.
2006 | The
discipline of cultural competence has not yet established a unified definition
or commonly understood framework. This month Ed O’Neil explores tensions
in the field in order to deepen our awareness of the desire for cultural
competence, to clarify our definitions, and to improve approaches to patient care.
To read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| June.
2006 | Primary
care has persistently deteriorated over the last half century and, without intervention,
the future for primary care providers looks even more dismal. This month, Ed O’Neil
outlines necessary changes to create a more cost-effective primary care system
that meets the needs of the population. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| Disparities
in health outcomes reflect our nation's intolerable disproportionate burden of
disease, disability and death among particular populations. This month Ed O’Neil
examines education's role in improving health outcomes by creating a more diverse
and culturally competent health workforce. To
read this essay, click here. | ||||||
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| April.
2006 | Without
a substantive change in the pharmacy practice model, the US is facing a long-term
shortage of pharmacists and a sub-optimal use of drug products to manage the nation’s
disease burden. This month Ed O’Neil outlines steps pharmacy can take to
align the profession with the changing system of care. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| March.
2006 | This
month Ed O'Neil examines the concept of nursing professionalism and suggests that
in order to meet the demands of the emerging system of care, the current nursing
practice model needs to not only include the profession's core competencies, but
also further embrace reform and substantial change. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| February.
2006 | One
critical element missing from effective health care reform is a context for reframing
the essential, large-scale aspects of health care such as finance, delivery, public
health, and information. This month Ed O'Neil presents the concept of a health
commons in order to provide a context for reframing our health care system.
To read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| January.
2006 | This
month Ed O'Neil examines seven key drivers for our future health care system.
While they will manifest themselves in different ways and at different speeds
across health care professions and institutions, understanding them in order to
direct and leverage change will be the key to sustained success over the next
decade. To read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| December.
2005 | In
light of the aging Baby Boom generation and the estimated 40% size increase of
the U.S. population by 2050, this month Ed O'Neil suggests that we ask a few fundamental
questions about whether our current system of care serves the nation's interest
before building new schools and training programs. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| November.
2005 | Health
care in the U.S. constitutes sixteen percent of the Gross Domestic Product, three
times what we spend on education, and is more expensive than health care in any
other nation. This month Ed O'Neil discusses four integrated approaches to address
the unsustainable cost of care in the U.S. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| October.
2005 | Hurricane
Katrina has inspired many health care professionals to assist with first response,
secondary care, and resettlement. This month Ed O'Neil explores the opportunity
to create a preparedness plan for the entire health professional community to
organize and better prepare the health care workforce for the next disaster -
natural or manmade. To read this essay, click
here. | |||||
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| September.
2005 | Transaction
costs are a major challenge to patient safety and the quality of health care.
This month Ed O'Neil discusses the prevalence of silos in the health care professions
and practices and suggests integration methods to improve quality and the ways
in which patients experience the system as consumers. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| August.
2005 | Primary
care medicine faces the daunting challenge of changing its dominant practice model.
It must become more adaptive to the access, quality, and price demands of, patients,
payers and the public. This month Ed O'Neil offers ten suggested actions for primary
care to begin to change its practice model. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| July.
2005 | Over
the next two decades the majority of employment growth in health care will be
in the workforces on the front line of patient care to an aging population, such
as nursing and long-term care assistants. This month Ed O'Neil explores labor
and management collaboration in order to plan for this growing workforce.
To read this essay, click here. | |||||
| June.
2005 | This
month Ed O'Neil discusses the importance of teams in and across health professions
education and offers three suggestions to move the team agenda forward in order
to meet the health care challenges of the coming decades. Shifting toward a more
team-orientated reality sounds so seductively simple and desirable that it is
surprising we have not made more progress. To
read this essay, click here. | ||||
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| May.
2005 | The
US health care system is more expensive than any other in the world, produces
50,000 to 100,000 avoidable deaths annually, and leaves over 43 million individuals
uninsured. Instead of continuing to feed a system that's not working, Ed O'Neil
suggests five ways in which we might shape the system differently in order to
produce new types of practitioners. To read
this essay, click here. | |||||
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| April.
2005 | This
month Ed O'Neil discusses the need to train and prepare health care leaders to
effectively change our health care system. Responding to this challenge will require
health care leaders from all settings and professions to concentrate on the small
steps that will eventually lead to significant change. To
read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| March.
2005 | After
twenty years of focusing on leadership development and organizational change,
Ed O'Neil presents four broad domains that are paramount for leadership in health
care: purpose, people, process and personal. Mastery of these will be essential
as leaders address the enormous tasks ahead of remaking our health care system.
To read this essay, click here. | |||||
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| February.
2005 | New
political realities in California may challenge conventional notions of how to
regulate health care professions and the care they provide. Should we continue
to resist fundamental structural change? Or, is it time to embrace today's market
realities? To read this essay, click here. | |||||
| January.
2005 | As
a new year begins, the Director revisits five familiar trends that could materialize
as a bi-product of current economic realities and consumer demands, having major
implications for conventional health care delivery systems and the workforce.
To read this essay, click here. | ||||
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