High Performance Healthcare: Using the Power of Relationships to Achieve Quality, Efficiency and Resilience

In her groundbreaking bookThe SouthwestAirlines Way, Jody Hoffer Gittell revealedthe management secrets of the companyFortunemagazine called "the most successfulairline in history." Now, the bestsellingbusiness author explains how to apply thosesame principles in one of our nation's largest,most important, and increasingly complexindustries.High Performance Healthcareexplains the criticalconcept of "relational coordination"coordinating work through shared goals,shared knowledge, and mutual respect.Because of the way healthcare is organized,weak links exist throughout the chain ofcommunication. Gittell clearly demonstratesthat relational coordination strengthens thoseweak links, enabling providers to deliver highquality, efficient care to their patients.Using Gittell's innovative management methods,you will improve quality, maximizeefficiency, and compete more effectively.High Performance Healthcarewalks you step by stepthrough the process of: Identifying weak areas of relationalcoordination within your organization Transforming work practices thatare creating barriers to relationalcoordination Building a high performance worksystem to foster consistent relationalcoordination across all disciplinesThe book includes case studies illustratinghow some healthcare organizations arealready transforming themselves using Gittell'sproven tools. It concludes by identifying industry-level obstacles to high performancehealthcare and showing how individual organizationsand their leaders can supportsweeping change at the highest levels.Policy changes and increased access to carewill not alone answer the healthcare industry'sproblems. Timely, accurate, problem-solvingcommunication that crosses all organizationalboundaries is a powerful response to businessas usual.High Performance Healthcareexplainsexactly how to achieve this crucial dynamic,providing a long-awaited cure to an industryin crisis.

Jody Hoffer Gittell is a professor at Brandeis University where she teaches Human Resource Management and Service Operations Management, and a faculty member of the MIT Global Airline Industry program. She is also a former faculty member of the Harvard Business School.