HFMA webcast draws interest

Thanks to Dawna White and her colleagues from HFMA (Healthcare Financial Management Association) for the invitation to speak in an audio webcast today about our recent experience with staff participation in managing budget difficulties and avoiding hundreds of layoffs. We had 682 attendees from all over the country (see map for some of the participants). Instead of the usual Power Point presentation, I led the listeners through contemporaneous blog postings, like this one, that described what was going on during that time. The key lessons -- transparency to help create a common understanding of the financial situation, creation of live and electronic forums to encourage participation, demonstrating respect for the people and ideas presented, and a clear explanation for the decisions reached -- are discussed in more detail in this posting by PBS's Paul Solman (starting at minute 1:45 in the video).