Recently, I had the pleasure of catching up with an old friend, Jan Jennings, who of all things is living out of a motor home in Wheeling, W.Va. No, he hasn’t fallen on hard times; he’s just being budget conscious as he runs two hospitals, Ohio Valley Medical Center and East Ohio Regional Hospital, on an interim basis.

Jan has been around the track a few times, and probably has a better grasp of healthcare than a lot of his peers. He seems to be getting better at running hospitals as he gets older. He is currently president and CEO of American Healthcare Solutions in Pittsburgh, which specializes in “performance improvement challenges facing America’s healthcare institutions.” That’s a euphemism for troubleshooting; Jan’s company works to get various healthcare clients back on track so that they can perform with greater efficiency in serving patients. He is well suited for that task, having led some of the most prestigious healthcare organizations in the country. They include Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Millard Fillmore Health System in Buffalo, N.Y. (now Kaleida Health) and St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital Center in Utica, N.Y. (now Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare). Coupled with his many leadership positions, in 1983 Jan Jennings was picked by the American College of Healthcare Executives as the winner of the Robert S. Hudgens Memorial Award for Young Healthcare Executive of the Year. So when Jan Jennings speaks I listen attentively and so should you.
 
Jan’s unusual living arrangement is a result of American Healthcare Systems’ philosophy in taking on consulting and rescue assignments around the country. “We distinguish ourselves by doing things differently,” he told me. “For instance, we don't stay in hotels that don't have a free breakfast, and we don't stay in hotels that charge more than $100 per night. I stay in my personal motor home whenever I can do so on an assignment, and that precludes having to stay at a hotel. We try to keep expenses down simply because we feel our first concern is that our expenses be kept to a minimum so that the money can be used for patient care instead. After all, that should be the top priority for us and any other organization that does this work.”

Cynics might question Jennings’ sincerity, but if you spend time with him it becomes obvious he takes his responsibilities to his clients very seriously.
 
I asked him what he felt was the biggest change in healthcare that has taken place  during his career. He immediately answered that the emphasis on quality of care is the biggest change he has witnessed. “Years ago such an emphasis on quality would have been unthinkable, but today it’s major.”

With healthcare reform coming at breakneck speed, I asked Jan what executives should be focusing on to avoid getting overrun by that change. He said quality of care is of course important, but so is patient satisfaction, which many organizations have kept on the back burner. It’s really about treating patients with dignity and respect and as human beings. He gave me a personal example of how things haven’t changed in many hospitals and health systems by telling me how was treated recently while a patient in the hospital. He has always felt that when entering a patient’s room, caregivers should first knock on the door, identify themselves and ask permission to enter the room. They should explain to the patient the reason they are there and what they will do, and before they leave they should make sure the patient understands what has been done and answer any questions the patient may have. Jennings was disappointed at the lack of such courtesy shown by staff at the hospital where he was a patient.

(I agree. In the future, hospitals will be required to give outstanding customer service under health care reform, but many are far behind in this area and totally unprepared for the future. Unfortunately many C-suite execs just don’t get it, and until they do they risk dooming their hospitals to failure.)
 
With new fraud and abuse regulations coming under reform, Jennings feels hospitals should hire compliance officers and have them report directly to the board. They should also be prepared for the future by hiring more attorneys and accountants. Their roles will increase in importance with the complicated and fluid intricacies of the new healthcare reform regulations take effect.

Jan also thinks too many CEOs kowtow to their boards rather than playing a leadership role in decision making. He feels CEOs in the future will be called upon to make the critical decisions that will determine the future of a hospital or IDN.

As to the future of healthcare, Jennings is optimistic and full of enthusiasm for the challenges ahead. I asked him how he could have such an attitude at this point in our industry’s history, and he told me about his father, who returned from serving in the military in World War II full of passion and enthusiasm for the future. He said he had a lot of love in his family, which translated pretty easily into a career in healthcare, making the patient experience a truly rewarding one.

After a long career, Jan Jennings is ready to keep on driving that motor home to hospitals that need his help.