Beware of the false choice between advancing your Quality mission and your margin
March 18, 2025Share:
Bring impactful solutions to your leaders
Financial pressures in healthcare are not new. But in today’s rapidly evolving environment, the pressure is on to act quickly and decisively to address financial challenges.
Very often, one of the first areas to be downsized is Quality. This happens based on the assumption that Quality is a cost-center and that a choice must be made between advancing a safe, high-quality system and removing non-essential spending. NAHQ has data that confirms this is a false choice and a mistake that has consequences for patients and the bottom line.
A false choice is a logical fallacy that presents only two options when, in reality, more options exist. The risks of a false choice are many, including:
- Poor decision making and missed opportunities – Limiting options can result in overlooking better alternatives and can stifle creativity and innovation, leading to lost opportunities for improvement.
- Polarization and conflict – In debates or discussions, false choices can create unnecessary divisions by forcing people into opposing camps instead of exploring common ground.
- Oversimplification of complex issues – Many real-world problems are multi-faceted, and reducing them to a simple "either-or" choice can ignore crucial nuances and lead to flawed conclusions.
NAHQ urges leaders to think critically and act thoughtfully around balancing mission and margin, to be innovative and seek new solutions that advance both causes.
Today’s opportunity to lead is extraordinary. Yes, it’s hard. It means speaking truth to power and trying new things to address complex and serious challenges.
Imagine if during these challenging times, you could be part of a movement, led by NAHQ and your peers at CHRISTUS Health, Kaiser Permanente and more, that are driving down costs and improving Quality & Safety. These leaders are delivering ROI of 5 and 20 times the investment.
Now it’s your turn.
The risk is low; the opportunity is high.
There are win-win solutions that will sustain healthcare and your organization for decades to come. And, they check all the boxes for healthcare executive priorities.
I am personally willing to communicate to healthcare leaders in large and small formats, at events or in your executive offices about the opportunities to make healthcare safer, improve Quality and deliver millions of dollars back to your bottom line.
If you would like to discuss this, please reach out. NAHQ is here for you. Our team is here for you. I am here for you.
CEO, NAHQ
Learn more at nahq.org/organizational-programs/
