Message from the President

Better health. Better health care. Lower cost. Everyone that works in the healthcare industry should recognize those three goals as the Triple Aim.

We, along with just about everyone else in health care, have organized our resources and our efforts around the Triple Aim. It’s hard work. It doesn’t pay well. But it’s the right thing to do.

It’s been nearly 10 years since Dr. Don Berwick of the Institute for Health Care Improvement first recommended the Triple Aim. Although there is widespread agreement on the importance of those three goals, progress has been relatively slow for a number of reasons.

Accomplishing those noble goals requires a lot of really hard work. Being safer, more efficient, more effective, more timely, more equitable, and more patient-centered doesn’t come easy. Improving health requires helping to care for our friends and neighbors before they get sick. And caring for more people, more often, and at a lower overall cost is very challenging.

No, it’s more than challenging. It’s exhausting.

Across the country, exhaustion and burnout, among those of us in health care, are occurring at epidemic levels. The caregivers need their own care.

That’s why we spent time in our recent Heart of Lakeland event talking about how we can take better care of each other, and particularly, how we can take better care of ourselves. We talked about physical, emotional, and spiritual health. We shared ideas on making exercise and good nutrition a priority, recognizing and reducing the impact of stress, and relaxation techniques. I hope you’ve committed to taking care of yourself in those ways.

We’ve also taken steps to understand exactly how the Lakeland team is doing. We recently measured ourselves on engagement, burnout, and culture of safety. The good news is we are better than average on all three measures. Better than average is good, but when it comes to those mission critical issues, it is not good enough.

If we are going to address the issues of exhaustion and burnout in health care, while enhancing engagement and safety, it will require more commitment, more resources, new goals, and additional leadership.

Lakeland is taking important steps to do just that.

First, we are replacing the Triple Aim with the Quadruple Aim. What’s new? In addition to better health, better health care, and lower cost we are adding a better work experience.

Second, we have a talented leader, Debra Johnson, whose new role as Chief Experience Officer and Assistant Vice President of Love and Respect (I’m completely serious here) is focused entirely on making sure we are both taking great care of our patients and their families, and taking great care of each other.

So you can expect, over the next few months, to see and hear more about how we’re improving the work we are currently doing, and committing to doing more, to achieve that higher aim.