Interview With Nancy M. Schlichting, FACHE, CEO of Henry Ford Health System

Abstract

Nancy M. Schlichting, FACHE, is CEO of Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan, a nationally recognized $5 billion healthcare organization with 23,000 employees. She is credited with leading the health system through a dramatic financial turnaround and with implementing award-winning patient safety, customer service, and diversity initiatives. Ms. Schlichting joined Henry Ford Health System in 1998 as senior vice president and chief administrative officer. In 1999, she became its executive vice president and chief operating officer, in 2001, Ms. Schlichting assumed an additional role as president and CEO of Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and is credited with its financial turnaround. In June 2003, Ms. Schlichting was named president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System.Ms. Schlichting's vision is to create tremendous clinical excellence, a fabulous patient experience, and a great environment for all healthcare professionals to advance their careers. She believes that great people are the key to providing great healthcare and is committed to helping employees become the best possible healthcare professionals. In 2011, Ms. Schlichting was named one of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine. Becker's Hospital Review named her one of its Women to Know in Health Care, and Crain's Detroit Business named her one of 16 Women to Watch. In 2011, Henry Ford Health System received the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.Dr. Kash: Tell us about the Henry Ford Health System model for healthcare. What makes it unique and what makes you want to come to work every morning?Ms. Schlichting: Our people at Henry Ford are our competitive advantage. I have never worked with such a remarkable group of people, and it isn't just their intellect and professional talent that make them remarkable; it's their commitment to our community and their passion for supporting a vulnerable population of patients and providing the best possible healthcare. Working with the people at Henry Ford has always been a privilege for me, and I have enjoyed every moment of my 17 years here and 12 years now as CEO.I think that the model we have is different because of both our founder and our history. We are 100 years old; it is rare for any organization to celebrate a centennial, especially with the challenges we've faced in the city of Detroit. An important part of our history is that auto pioneer Henry Ford founded our health system, which is unusual for an industrial icon. When Henry Ford Hospital was formed in 1915, Mr. Ford's view of the world was to organize our physicians in a way that was not typical at the time and that is still not typical today. Fie modeled our physician organization after the Mayo Clinic, and today, with 1,200 physicians, we have one of the largest medical groups in the country. This size gives us enormous strength across both primary care and specialty care, and it allows us to deliver care in an organized way. Physicians work as a team. They are salaried, so their incentive is to provide the best care for our patients as opposed to earning the most money or driving volume. 1 think that this structure has allowed us to focus on creating value for our patients and purchasers of care and on delivering the highest-quality care at an affordable cost.The academic mission of our organization is very much a part of our DNA and is why we attract such talented physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. They love being part of the teaching environment and enjoy advancing knowledge and participating in research. I think the academic pieces of our organization are an incredibly strong factor in driving both patients and employees to Henry Ford. Another critical success factor for our system is that we have both the medical group and private practice physicians in our regional hospitals. We also teach osteopathic and allopathic medicine. This makes our model attractive to a diverse group of providers. …