Assess healthcare leadership's ability to handle a crisis

As a managed healthcare executive during turbulent times in the industry, here’s a question you should be asking yourself: If a crisis were to suddenly arise for my organization, would my people be ready to handle it?

Any potential crisis can be a wolf at the door for managed healthcare leaders. For example, given the tension between making healthcare information accessible while making it confidential and secure, data breaches are a constant source of anxiety.

Earlier this year, the Washington Post described 2015 as “the year of the health-care hack,” noting that one-third of the U.S. population has had its healthcare data compromised in breaches. In February of this year, Anthem suffered a data breach that affected nearly 80 million patients in one swoop.

READ: Ten Health Organizations Slammed by Cyber Breaches

Beyond the HIPAA headaches that can arise with data breaches, crises may arise related to physician contracting, denials management, and care management related to an increasing reliance on IT applications.

Leaders need to have a crisis plan in place; and they must demonstrate the temperament and leadership skill to weather a storm.

Internal server error