Teaching Guide

Video Vignette: Rethinking Healthcare

Featuring: Greg Poulsen

Background on Greg Poulsen:

Greg Poulsen joined Intermountain Healthcare in 1982 and is now Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Intermountain Healthcare. As a member of Intermountain's four-member Management Committee, he shares responsibility for the breadth of operational and strategic issues of the organization. Mr. Poulsen has direct responsibility for strategic planning, research and development, marketing, and payer contracting. Mr. Poulsen was responsible for development of the first integrated hospital cost definition and accounting system in the U.S., which was subsequently marketed by Ernst & Young. He is a Commissioner for the Commonwealth Fund in Washington, DC, where he works to define a high performance health system for the United States. He has been a consultant to the Swedish Health Minister and the British National Health Service. Locally, he serves on several boards and is Chair of the Utah Health Data Committee Consumer Information Council. He is Vice Chair of the Utah Foundation and frequent participates in national and international health policy development.  Mr. Poulsen received dual Bachelor of Science degrees in physics and biology from Brigham Young University, where he also completed graduate studies to earn a Master of Business Administration.

Summary: Hospital Executive analyzes patterns around physician delivery of care to innovate within a 22 hospital, 185-clinic integrated health system in order to stay operationally efficient, maintain a high level of patient safety and deliver results.

Takeaway: Innovation results from dedicated prototyping, data gathering, and leadership, focused on the value of the change and a strategy to drive adoption.

Considerations and Questions:

1-    What about the prototyping process was helpful in Greg’s overall effort to innovate?

2-    Once convinced he had a compelling innovation, what did Greg do well to ensure the learning was captured in new strategy and processes? 

3-    How could Greg have better anticipated the obstacles to implementing his new innovation-based strategy?

4-    What is especially challenging about innovating in a highly regulated industry?  What are the opportunities?

Video Vignette: Rethinking Healthcare

Featuring: Greg Poulsen

Segment 1:

Summary: Hospital Executive analyzes patterns around physician delivery of care to innovate within a 22 hospital, 185-clinic integrated health system in order to stay operationally efficient, maintain a high level of patient safety and deliver results.

Considerations and Questions:

1-    Do you think prototyping processes was a useful investment of time and energy? Why or Why not?

2-    What must be part of the prototyping process?

3-    What options seemed most compelling for Greg?

4-    In your own organization how do you set up prototypes to test concepts or products?

Segment 2:

Summary: Greg Poulson must focus on convincing his physicians to adopt the new process and buy into the innovation.

Considerations and Questions:

1. What kind of a strategy would be most effective in getting experts to change how they provide care?
2. How could Greg have better anticipated the resistance he got from physicians?
3. In your own experience, what do you do to get “buy in” around new processes or product ideas?

Segment 3:

Summary: Greg Poulson works to drive adoption of the new processes across the hospitals and shares lessons learned from the experience.

Considerations and Questions:

1. How did Greg’s expectations match his strategy and results?  What could he have done better?  What did he do well?
2. What surprises you about the lessons Greg learned from this effort to innovate and drive adoption?
3. What steps do you always take when driving innovation in your work?
4. What lessons can you share about success you have had in leading innovation?