Triple Aims Of Leadership In Healthcare

Introduction

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2001 called out for a new healthcare system for the 21st century. Six aims of improvement were identified within Crossing the Quality Chasm that are aligned with Berwick’s Triple Aim, which ensures provision of high quality patient care: safe, effective, efficient, patient centered, equitable and timely. Despite of being hailed as the leader of medical advancements, the US healthcare system is disorganized and fragmented; thus resulting in poor quality care and patient/family dissatisfaction. A problem in the system can be corrected with development of new leadership to tackle the chaos (1). Leadership is vital and essential in all levels of organization especially in the varied settings of healthcare

Several people of the healthcare field are recognizing it to be a vital component for the success of an organization. What was not known before is that leadership exists at every level of an organization. From a patient perspective, leadership means the coordination of care among the multidisciplinary teams. Effective coordination results in patient satisfaction and subsequently provider satisfaction. From a clinical team perspective, frontline leaders have positively influenced patient safety by reducing staff burnouts, emphasizing over communication to ensure clarity between team members and developing empathy and cultural awareness while caring for

Best leaders in any organization are those who have qualities of both transactional and transformational leaders. A systematic review showed that transformational leadership is one among the group that promotes positive quality of care measures (7). Transformational leaders are those who “inspire followers to transcend their self-interests for the good of the organization (3).” They have developed sense of self-awareness, create relationships and motivate staff members. The “trickle down” effect of such leadership promotes effective communication and positive attitude. They cast the vision, articulate the mission’s objectives and deploy the vision and values. With regards to modern medicine, patient and community are at the center of medical practice and interdisciplinary teams are required for modern management. Transformational leaders inspire, motivate, coach, and advise each frontline leader to bring out the best performance through developing basic traits – trust, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, empathy, and cultural sensitivity. Physicians forget to be conscious leaders in the midst of daily turmoil that includes caring for several patients, maintaining appropriate documentation, and handling a team composed of attending, residents, interns, and medical students. Instilling positivity