MDNews - Minnesota

of academic importance Before arriving at Fairview on Nov. 4, Stacey served as President of University of Colorado Health, where the union of academic and community medicine prepared him for his role at Fairview. Fairview's continuum includes more than 40 primary care clinics, a wide range of specialty services, home care, senior services, pharmacies and more. The organization also owns six hospitals — five community hospitals and University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview. Fairview's partnership with the University helps facilitate participation in leading-edge clinical trials that might represent critical breakthroughs as well as provide patients previously unavailable medical treatments. "I believe the future of health care will smile brightest on organizations that effectively amplify academics and research as part of a robust, high-quality community healthcare delivery system. When the power of academic medicine at the University of Minnesota — high-quality clinical care, education and research — is added to Fairview's extraordinary community-based healthcare delivery system, it places us in a position to be the delivery system of choice in the Upper Midwest and the nation. Fairview's patients already are benefiting every day from our partnership." No Place for variation Marshaling wisdom he's accumulated in previous appointments, Stacey begins his tenure at Fairview with a big-picture plan to establish best practices in each of the system's facilities. To accomplish this, one of his goals is to unify every Fairview location with a common communication infrastructure to ensure Fairview consistently delivers high-quality, affordable health care to Minnesotans. "We need to have a communication structure that will allow us to achieve the long-term goal of driving variation out of the system," Stacey says. "It will also help us to find ways to provide higher quality care at a lower cost and to do so collectively by sharing data — comparing data across the industry and our system — so people around the world can look at our care and choose to receive care from our hospitals." of established best practices enhances the patient experience and elevates standards of care throughout the system. Stacey also emphasizes this will increase referrals by producing empirical evidence that proves Fairview is a preeminent system in the area. Fairview physicians are not required to refer patients to a Fairview facility for specialized treatment, and Stacey opposes issuing such mandates. The idea is to foster systematic excellence so physicians refer into the system based on quality metrics and patient satisfaction. "Fairview is the only system in Minnesota providing such meaningful opportunities for medical school faculty, independent physicians and employed physicians to work collaboratively to expand clinical quality, education and research. I believe Fairview will continue to distinguish itself nationally by fully leveraging all three resources and by making sure all providers feel that they and their patients are being treated like customers." opening doors No matter how physicians engage the system — whether they're part of it or in independent practice — Stacey encourages interpersonal interaction. While the network infrastructure nurtures communication, faceto-face interaction promotes an atmosphere of trust and confidence, he says. Stacey's tenure will be one of visible, interactive leadership. He notes that it's easy to distrust a solitary leader, and even the very notion goes against his leadership philosophy. In his quest to provide Fairview physicians the best possible atmosphere in which to practice medicine, Stacey complements rock-solid ethical leadership with an open door policy when it comes to discussing ideas for improving the system. "There's no one more committed to improving patient care and meeting patients' needs than I am. I share physicians' dedication to patients and to providing quality care. Fairview's Board of Directors shares this commitment and has given me this direction as well. If we're not providing the best services for our patients and physicians, then we need to fix that." — Rulon f. Stacey, Phd, fACHE, President and CEO of fairview Health Services "I tell physicians they will have many opportunities to question my intellect, but they'll never have an opportunity to question my ethics," he says. "I think physicians and community members can get past the fact that I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed if they know that I will never lie to them. We can work on the former, but nobody will ever tolerate the latter." To learn more about Fairview Health Services, please visit www.fairview.org. ■ ABouT RuloN F. STACEy RULON F. STACEY, PHD, FACHE, holds a bachelor of Science degree in economics and a master's degree in health administration from brigham young university, as well as a doctor of Philosophy degree in public administration from the university of Colorado. Prior to joining fairview, Stacey helped his health system earn the prestigious malcolm baldrige National quality Award, the nation's highest presidential recognition for performance excellence. Stacey now serves as the Chair of the board of Overseers for the award and is a past Chair of the the Physician as Customer At its heart, driving out variation in favor 43,000-member American College of Healthcare Executives. MdNewS.CoM ■ MD News Twin Cities | 33

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