Holy Cross Health Created a Rare Dual CMO and COO Role. Here's Why.

A primary goal of the dual CMO and COO role is integrating clinical care with operational leadership.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Holy Cross Health, which features a 557-bed hospital and is a member of Trinity Health, has created a dual CMO and COO role.

A dual CMO and CCO role is uncommon at health systems and hospitals. Scripps Health is one of the only health systems in the country with established dual CMO and COO roles, with Ghazala Sharieff, MD, MBA, serving as chief medical and operations officer of acute care and Anil Keswani, MD, serving as chief medical and operations officer of ambulatory care.

Jose Lopez, MD, MBA, has been serving as CMO of Holy Cross Health since 2021. He took on the additional role of COO effective July 6. According to Holy Cross Health, one of the goals of creating the dual role is to integrate clinical care with operational leadership.

One of the advantages of forming the dual CMO and COO role will be facilitating connections between clinical leaders and operational leaders, according to Lopez.

"When we had a separate COO, the awareness of clinical and operational opportunities was not always there," Lopez says. "In the dual role, I will have line of sight to both sides, which will make it easier to make connections."

Infection prevention is an example of when the dual CMO and COO role can make a significant difference, Lopez explains.

"Temperature control and humidity control are usually issues that are under the privy of the COO, but they can affect infection rates significantly in a hospital," Lopez says.

Serving in the dual role will allow Lopez to influence care environments from a design standpoint and comfort-of-care standpoint for patients and staff members, including issues such as cleanliness.

"These factors are critical for running a hospital," Lopez says. "In this expanded role, I will be able to have line of sight to these factors and be able to efficiently affect change. "

Jose Lopez, MD, MBA, is CMO and COO of Holy Cross Health. Photo courtesy of Holy Cross Health.

Having the dual role will help identify and address opportunities for improvement, according to Lopez.

"Some improvement opportunities will be from the quality standpoint and how the environment of care affects quality metrics," Lopez says. "Other opportunities for improvement may be in operations such as the functioning of our call center and how that facilitates our patients arriving at our physicians' primary care offices in a timely fashion."

Common operational functions such as the call center have an impact on clinical care, and the dual CMO and COO role will help align operational and clinical staff, Lopez explains.

"In my dual role, I will be able to highlight for both the clinical and operational teams how what they do affects the other side," Lopez says. "Healthcare is a team sport, and we need to support each other."

One of the objectives of the dual CMO and COO role is helping Holy Cross Health achieve financial performance goals.

"My approach to healthcare is if you do a good job from a clinical standpoint and have solid operations, financial performance will follow," Lopez says. "Your reimbursement should improve, and your market share should improve."

In addition to continuing to focus on clinical performance in his CMO role, Lopez plans to be more involved in cost control in his dual role.

"If you control costs by making sure you are providing the appropriate care in the appropriate setting for the appropriate length of time, financial performance should follow," Lopez says.