Timothy Kirsch says his primary roles as hospital CMO include serving as the voice of the medical staff and sharing information between clinicians and hospital administrators.
The new CMO of Laramie, Wyoming-based Ivinson Memorial Hospital is looking forward to playing the role of intermediary between clinicians and hospital administrators.
Timothy Kirsch, MD, became CMO of the UCHealth-affiliated hospital in December. Kirsch's prior leadership experience includes serving as the hospital's anesthesiology medical director. In addition to serving as CMO, Kirsch will continue to practice as an anesthesiologist at the hospital.
Kirsch views his primary roles as serving as the voice of the medical staff and as an essential conduit of information between clinicians and the hospital's senior leadership team.
"I will package information from the senior leadership team and present it to physicians as well as gather information from physicians and present it to senior leadership," Kirsch says.
Serving as the liaison between the medical staff and the senior leadership team requires an intentional approach to communication that physicians and administrators can understand, according to Kirsch.
"Sometimes, senior leaders use language that physicians may not recognize," Kirsch says. "Similarly, physicians use language that senior leaders may not recognize such as highly technical clinical terms. I need to repackage the conversation for each group and get them on the same page."
Part of this communication role is concentrating on data, Kirsch explains.
"I need to be data-driven and concentrate on actionable data that is meaningful for clinicians and the senior leadership team," Kirsch says. "This kind of actionable data includes infectious disease data, length of stay compared to regional and national norms, and readmission rates."
Timothy Kirsch, MD, is CMO of Ivinson Memorial Hospital. Photo courtesy of Ivinson Memorial Hospital.
Practicing as a Clinician Boosts a CMO's Effectiveness
By continuing to practice as an anesthesiologist, Kirsch says he will be able to achieve strong ties with the hospital's clinicians.
"If I was no longer working as a clinician, members of the medical staff may view me as just another member of senior leadership," Kirsch says. "It is important for me to be viewed by my clinician colleagues as still being one of them."
Simultaneously working as a clinician has several benefits for a CMO, according to Kirsch.
"Clinicians need to be confident that I understand the pinch points of what they deal with daily, whether that is a care access issue or an operations challenge," Kirsch says. "Clinicians want to know that I am still in touch with the clinician role and that I am not only helping to drive the senior leadership team's strategy but also remaining patient focused."
Kirsch expects that having a clinical background in anesthesiology will be helpful in serving as a hospital CMO.
"Anesthesiologists operate in a multidisciplinary fashion, where we not only work with primary care physicians prior to hospital admissions and after discharge but also work with specialists to make sure patients are prepared for surgery," Kirsch says. "Anesthesiologists have a bird's eye view of all the specialties in a hospital and how they integrate with one another in a way that other specialty physicians may not be able to see."
Keys to Success for Rural Hospitals
Successful rural hospitals have strong engagement with their patients, Kirsch explains.
"Until you talk with patients and their families, you will not understand what they are dealing with in terms of healthcare and how you can address those concerns," Kirsch says.
Effective rural hospitals also attain excellence in the services they can deliver and connect patients to care efficiently when they cannot offer a service, according to Kirsch.
"For example, we want to be as good as any metropolitan hospital in delivering primary care services," Kirsch says. "For services that we cannot deliver, we want to provide a seamless connection to services at our affiliated health system. We want to integrate care with specialists who work outside of our hospital."
At rural hospitals, a CMO must be aware of financial constraints and help the senior leadership team maintain financial viability. Kirsch explains that CMOs should be familiar with the budget and the cost of care for providing services to patients.
"A CMO should develop services in a way that delivers value and that is designed to be financially sustainable," Kirsch says. "A CMO must understand what patients want in terms of services and how services contribute to the bottom line of the hospital."
There are several factors to consider in identifying services that generate value for patients in rural communities, according to Kirsch.
"To identify how to offer services that provide the highest value for patients at a rural hospital, you need to look at data, payer mixes, and the services that patients are leaving your community to receive at another hospital or health system," Kirsch says. "When patients are leaving your community for services, you need to look at it from the patients' convenience standpoint as well as whether it is financially feasible to offer those services."
Christopher Cheney is the CMO editor at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Communication between clinicians and hospital administrators can be challenging, and a hospital CMO can repackage conversations to get both groups on the same page.
For a hospital CMO, working simultaneously as a practicing physician helps to achieve strong ties with the hospital's clinicians.
Successful rural hospitals have strong engagement with their patients.