Former CEO of Portuguese hospital gives international view on digital maturity
- 25 March 2019
The former chief executive officer of a Portuguese hospital has offered the Digital Health Rewired Leadership Summit an international perspective on achieving digital maturity.
Speaking today in London, Professor Vasco Antunes Pereira – who has served as chief executive at Hospital de Cascais – spoke about his experiences of being part of a team which led the first HIMMS level 7 hospital in Portugal.
He said: “It is not about the technology, it is technology being an enabler. How do we use technology to drive up quality and patient safety?”
Professor Antunes – who is now CEO of Portuguese private healthcare company Lusíadas Saúde – also emphasised the importance of staff engagement in digital success.
That included enabling and encouraging staff to interact with vendors, and say: “This is my problem, do you have a solution?”
He added: “It is about bringing the two silos together and bridging the gap.”
Professor Antunes spoke too of the importance of supporting staff more generally, arguing there needed to be “human initiatives”.
While he was at Hospital de Cascais, Professor Antunes said there was a happiness committee which focused on the wellbeing of staff.
The former corporate laywer also championed proactive change management and horizon scanning.
Professor Antunes added: “We had to look at where are you going next; how is our organisation going to be prepared for the next generation?”
2 Comments
I like the philosophy but change is rarely a happy process, even if the end result is worthwhile. Of course, ensuring staff are engaged is vital to both realism in the design of change and the commitment of staff to the reason “why?” which is the emotional driver for it. However, I don’t agree about resistance. This is the natural reaction to imposed change and tells us many things, such as that our engagement wasn’t as effective as it should be. But it is not a reason to pull-back. People like the security of the status quo and the health and care sector is ofen change-resistant. That is not reason to pull back and doing so would be the opposite of supporting staff. Resistance is a reason to step up engagement and take a long hard look at the design of the change. The middle of the change cycle is always the worst part and push-back is inevitable, however, the support provided must be equal to the challenge faced by staff on the front line of care. This includes empowerment and trust.
Great presentation lots to learn. Key take away. Ensure your staff are happy and engaged. Be prepared to pull back when you hit resistance
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