Healthcare Consulting

The healthcare environment is getting more and more complex.

Increasing demands, decreasing resources, burnout, bullying, and incivility have challenged healthcare leaders now more than ever before. Although healthcare organizations KNOW they have a problem with disruptive behaviors, they may not know what to do about it.

This is where we can help.

Through our custom healthcare consulting services, experts at the Healthy Workforce Institute are changing the face of healthcare and helping organizations become employers of choice!

We work with healthcare organizations that understand that the way their employees treat each other SHOULD be just as important as the care they provide and are committed to doing something about it.

"The HWI is a much needed resource to the healthcare setting. Experiencing a healthcare environment in which people are tired, experiencing PTSD from pandemic work, turnover rates at an all-time high, new hires with little or no hands on patient care experience, inexperienced leaders, and the tsunami of worker shortages are all adding to the turbulence of the setting. Leaders need the skills to address these tumultuous times. I've had the opportunity to work with the HWI while at two different healthcare organizations. The impact of their guidance in equipping leaders to handle the resulting disruptive behaviors has enabled us to move to a more respectful work culture. The work with the HWI should be a requirement of all leaders working in healthcare."

"Dr. Renee Thompson has generated a Healthy Workforce culture that has empowered all staff to recognize and commit to a ‘zero tolerance’ for incivility. Thank you Dr. Thompson for sharing your expertise that led to our organizations’ ability to identify and address issues so that we have a “Healthy Workforce Environment."

“As a large specialty practice, we have invested a great deal of energy and time on becoming a patient-centric organization. We have utilized many of Dr. Kusy’s teachings and approaches that were inclusive, engaging, and effective…the stimuli that made our large specialty practice one of the most successful within the entire corporate structure, as documented by improvement of our net promoter scores.”

“When I was asked to be part of the Healthy Workforce Institute’s deep dive I knew I had to take advantage of the opportunity. The staff has really embraced the change and they know we have a lot to work on. This opportunity has taught me a lot and has allowed me to grow as a leader. Thank you!”

“Dr. Mitch Kusy was not only a consummate content expert on healthcare leadership, but one of the most engaging, responsive, and collaborative consultants with whom I have ever worked. Mitch was able to seamlessly incorporate evidence-based research to support critical learning concepts tailored to healthcare and listened to what we needed. The kudos to Dr. Mitch Kusy are not just words—the evaluation from our medical leaders demonstrated significant application of learning, providing them with the cutting-edge to be more successful in the teams they lead. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that Mitch is also an absolute joy to work with.”

“Since doing work with the healthy workforce institute, the leadership team has used strategies not just with staff interactions, but with patients. We are better at investigating and understanding the importance of real-time feedback to promote a safe working environment for everyone.”

“I have fewer complaints, but they still happen and I address them more quickly and with less dread than I did before. One big difference since working with Renee is that I am better at having these conversations than I was, and breakdowns in communication are still about 90% of the issue. I also challenge the staff bringing the complaint to have a conversation with the other person, and then follow up to see if that conversation has taken place.”

“As the Executive Medical Director of Minneapolis Children’s Medical Center, I engaged Dr. Mitch Kusy to develop medical leaders to assume greater team and organizational leadership roles. His translation of research to practice-based leadership and outstanding facilitation skills coupled with his design of unique learning opportunities contributed to medical leadership successes. And Mitch was fun to work with. As a result, leaders sought him out for additional coaching and team building venues.”

“Renee has been a great resource for myself and my leaders. Renee set the foundation to help us address bullying and paved the way to a healthier culture. She provided us with great tools and shared her experience and knowledge with our staff. I am forever grateful for the time I was able to spend with her.”

"Our organization was indeed fortunate to experience Dr. Mitch Kusy and his rigorous approach to improving organizational culture, while also making everyone feel comfortable and relaxed every single time! Mitch led us on a 9 month journey that started with only three departments but ultimately “infected” the entire hospital with each department anxious to get on the bandwagon for change. It was thrilling to see so many staff become engaged and excited. I attribute Mitch’s rich understanding of human behavior and his broad experience with myriad healthcare organizations as keys to success. We were delighted to work with him and recommend him and his approach to any complex organization in search of improvement."

Consulting Packages

Healthy Workforce Comprehensive Assessment

When an executive leadership team discovers a bullying and incivility problem, they either ignore it or try to address it themselves. In both cases, they typically fall short.

Why is that?

They fall short because they don’t always take the necessary steps to find out what’s really happening on the front lines. To implement systems, processes, and structures for ongoing identification and elimination of disruptive behaviors, the issues need to be fully understood by an unbiased expert.

That’s where we come in.

Our comprehensive assessment of your organization equips healthcare executives with the data, information and the recommendations they need so that they implement the RIGHT strategies that will effectively address and eliminate disruptive behaviors.

We begin by identifying both the strengths and shortcomings of the organization. This is accomplished using a blend of employee focus groups, interviews, surveys, and document review. The assessment concludes with submission of a comprehensive report of findings and recommendations for improvement.

With time limited and multiple ongoing strategic priorities, you have one shot to get this right.

The Healthy Workforce team is standing by to be your partner in this important initiative. We work with your team to identify what’s really happening within your organization and provide you with a customized solution.

“Before you can truly solve a problem, you must first take time to fully understand it.” ~Renee Thompson

Healthy Workforce Intervention

There is an epidemic of bullying and incivility in healthcare, and it has to change. It not only affects morale and retention, but it also affects patient outcomes.
In fact, research shows that…

71% of physicians and nurses have linked incivility to medical error.
27% of them said it led to a patient’s death.
Nursing Solutions, Inc. showed that 81% of nurses who leave an organization cite peer and nurse manager relations as a cause for leaving.

For healthcare executives who want to avoid these detrimental outcomes, an organization wide intervention is required.

The Healthy Workforce Intervention is a 1-year program designed for healthcare organizations that want to do it right the first time and set the foundation required to transform their culture. Starting by establishing a Healthy Workforce Committee, this program is designed to hardwire, scale, and sustain healthy workforce principles across the organization.

Through onsite and virtual collaboration, this program creates a healthy, professional, and supportive work environment and reduces incidents of workplace bullying and incivility using the following proven approach:

Strengthen Organizational Infrastructure through interdisciplinary involvement, policy and process augmentation, and continuous education and training through robust curriculum.
Equip Front Line Leaders through skill development, ongoing leadership development, and HR support.
Empower Employees through ongoing education and training and employee led healthy workforce initiatives.

We can’t afford to ignore the negative impact disruptive behaviors have on the financial health of our organizations, the physical and emotional health of our employees, and ultimately the outcomes of the patients we serve.

Let us help you like we’ve helped other organizations cultivate a professional, supportive, and nurturing work culture that rejects any incidents of disruptive behaviors because they are better equipped!

Healthcare leaders have an ethical responsibility to our public and employees to do better.

Department Culture Change Initiative – Focused Intervention

Now might not be the right time for some organizations to commit to a comprehensive intervention, yet they have pockets of disruption that absolutely need to be addressed. There may be retention concerns, numerous complaints, poor employee engagement, inter-professional issues, and dropping patient satisfaction scores.

Not to worry. We can help!

We’ve designed the Department Culture Change Initiative for organizations that want to start changing culture by narrowing their focus on a few select departments.

Some of the common departments we’ve worked with include:

Surgical Services – OR, PACU, SDS
Critical Care Departments – Medical, Surgical, Trauma
Emergency Departments
Women’s and Infant Services – NICU, Mother Baby, Labor & Delivery

The Department Culture Change Initiative focuses primarily on equipping leaders and their physician partners to transform their cultures from unprofessional and disrespectful to professional and supportive. You will work both face to face and virtually with Dr. Thompson and members of the Healthy Workforce team during this 6-month unit focused approach.

The DCCI is organized into four strategic phases:

Phase 1: Heighten Awareness

During this phase, your leaders will engage in honest conversations with employees, collect baseline data regarding current behaviors, and heighten awareness of disruptive behaviors that undermine a culture of professionalism.

Phase 2: Create and Communicate a Powerful Vision

During this phase, your leaders will create a vision for the culture you want to create, establish your department-based expectations, and begin targeted skill development regarding professional behavior.

Phase 3: Address Incidents of Disruptive Behavior

During this phase, your leaders will build a strong partnership with their HR representative, follow a process for addressing disruptive behaviors, and utilize simple confronting techniques as a team. This is where leaders learn to address, not avoid, disruptive behaviors.

Phase 4: Hardwire and Sustain a New Norm

And finally, during this phase, your leaders will select HWF champions, incorporate healthy workforce principles into existing processes with hiring, and celebrate successes.

This comprehensive “deep dive” provides leaders and their teams with the tools needed to hardwire and sustain a healthy workforce culture within their department.