Finding a New Way

Finding a New Way

As the Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Compliance for the University of Maryland Medical System, I am responsible for maintaining a team of highly qualified professionals. Also, as the President of NAHQ, I am working with the Board of Directors and staff to support organizations across the globe in retaining and advancing their healthcare quality workforce. So this month, I decided to reach out to a long-time NAHQ member, Steven Martin, to gain another perspective on the pandemic lessons we are learning about developing and advancing quality professionals.

Steven B. Martin, MHA CPHQ FACHE, is the President and CEO of The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCME). He has come up through the ranks in healthcare quality serving in many different roles in his 25-plus year career. Steven joined CCME only weeks ago. Reflecting on his transition into a new role, he shares, “Like many healthcare quality professionals, the pandemic exposed me to different types of work. The challenges of the pandemic helped me understand what I needed and wanted. I really came to terms with what is important to me and it led me to this role.”

New Way of Working

Steven has learned a number of lessons over the last several years and is incorporating these lessons into leading his new team. First and foremost, Steven believes the pandemic has proven that quality teams can accomplish their work in different, nontraditional ways. The result is greater flexibility for the professional and agility for the organization. “Prior to the pandemic, organizations took a very stoic approach when managing their workforce,” he says, “but we have learned we can still be team players in virtual settings and figure things out together.”

New Level of Dedication

Steven, however, acknowledges that the pandemic has been hard on the quality workforce. With so many healthcare quality professionals also having a clinical background, he appreciates that during the pandemic, many are literally working two jobs. When describing this dynamic, Steven refers to it as the day job and the night job. “Many healthcare quality professionals are doing the COVID work during their ‘first shift’ and then catching up with their quality work during the second.” Having made the commitment and necessary sacrifices required to pursue a career in healthcare quality and achieve the Certified Professional of Healthcare Quality® (CPHQ), healthcare quality professionals are naturally motivated to do everything we can to advance quality care even under the most stressful circumstances.

New Opportunity to Improve

During the pandemic, we continue to do what we do: improve processes to improve quality outcomes. For Steven, this is what the pandemic work experience has been about: cycles of learning, improving and quickly changing. It has encouraged us to use and develop much-needed skills that are going to pay long-term dividends for our patients and our organizations. And while the challenges presented by the pandemic have stressed our quality teams and initiatives, the lessons we are learning will advance our work to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.

New Focus on Retention

It is important for healthcare organizations to recognize the contributions that quality professionals make, as well as the lessons learned from the pandemic that can advance the healthcare workforce. Steven believes that healthcare employers need to be more flexible to retain qualified professionals. This is particularly true as the financial toll of the pandemic has led to hiring freezes for many organizations, creating additional resource challenges.

So, how can healthcare organizations work to retain their quality professionals? One answer is by continuing to invest in the advancement of their people. Steven appreciates NAHQ’s work in developing the Healthcare Quality Competency Framework. The Framework, along with related tools and services such as the Professional Assessment^TM and Workforce Accelerator^TM can create a roadmap for how organizations develop their people, including supporting them in achieving their CPHQ.

Steven vividly recalls what achieving his CPHQ meant to him 25 years ago and how it has contributed to advancing his career to the level of CEO. “To get my CPHQ, I had to be committed to preparing. It is a lot of work. But achieving and maintaining the designation is a badge of honor. For many healthcare quality professionals, the CPHQ becomes a part of our identity and will make us think twice before leaving a quality role. But it also prepares us for many different roles in healthcare. The truth is, I think every healthcare professional should study for their CPHQ.”

Steven, I could not agree more.

Emmett T. Ervin, MPA CPHQ
NAHQ President