As the healthcare industry starts to consider a post-COVID-19 era, leaders should think about how they can go beyond reconstruction to transform their organizations.
That was the core message in remarks by HFMA President and CEO Joseph J. Fifer, FHFMA, CPA, on Wednesday during HFMA’s Digital Annual Conference. His session, “COVID-19: Beyond Reconstruction to Transformation,” kicked off the first day of the six-day event.
“This moment represents a unique opportunity for transformation, using this catastrophe as an accelerant to move things along,” Fifer said.
The U.S. has moved out of the honeymoon phase, characterized by a sense of optimism that things soon will return to normal, and into the disillusionment phase, Fifer said. In that phase, “Communities and individuals realize the limits of their disaster assistance. As optimism turns to discouragement and stress takes its toll, negative reactions may begin to surface in all kinds of different ways. Productivity drops. The energy to find innovative solutions is diminished.”
The disillusionment phase can last months or even years. But eventually, the reconstruction phase takes hold as individuals and communities begin to assume responsibility for rebuilding their lives and a sense of recovery becomes pervasive.
