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Hospitals should use their histories

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Dan Beckham writes in Hospitals & Health Networks:

Every hospital and health system has a history. Each underwent significant developments that occurred at critical junctures extending back to the organization’s beginning. Taken together, these developments lead to an array of institutional distinctions including core capabilities and points of differentiation. It is also out of that history that the values that constitute organizational culture emerge. Yet many, perhaps most, health care organizations remain ahistorical — they ignore a strategic asset of considerable importance.Every hospital and health system has a history. Each underwent significant developments that occurred at critical junctures extending back to the organization’s beginning. Taken together, these developments lead to an array of institutional distinctions including core capabilities and points of differentiation. It is also out of that history that the values that constitute organizational culture emerge. Yet many, perhaps most, health care organizations remain ahistorical — they ignore a strategic asset of considerable importance.”

“It behooves every hospital and health system to capture and consider its history. One way to do this is to hire a historian. A good historian can dig through documents, conduct interviews and write the organization’s story. Within many hospitals and health systems, there are often individuals with a strong sense of the past who may be willing to volunteer as historians.”

To read all of  Mr. Beckham’s piece, please hit this link.

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