4 Ways for the Health Care COO-CEO Partnership to Thrive

The health care chief operating officer (COO) role remains one of the most complex, nuanced and ambiguously defined leadership positions in the field, according to a recent report developed by WittKieffer in partnership with Vizient Inc.

The report attempts to decode today’s COO role in health care and provides a framework of four leadership facets that drive COOs’ success. The findings come from a survey of Vizent’s health care COO network and interviews with health care COOs and CEOs.

5 Critical Challenges Impacting the COO Mandate

The authors identify five critical challenges facing today’s health care COO mandate. These challenges reflect the many-sided nature of the contemporary COO role and require leaders who can manage financial constraints while aligning strategic vision and operational execution.

Manage financial pressures.
Balance time among strategy, operations and people management.
Drive occupancy, capacity and throughput.
Align strategy and operations.
Manage complex operations.

Addressing these challenges in today’s dynamic health care environment will be difficult. Over the past three years, 80% of COOs have reported a significant increase in responsibilities, the report notes. Collaborating with a wider range of constituents and leaders and identifying growth opportunities are the main reasons their roles have expanded, COOs said.

COOs also are taking on more talent-related responsibilities such as development, engagement and culture, as well as an increased focus on community partnerships and artificial intelligence (AI) and technology engagement.

This growing scope of responsibilities is mirrored by an increase in team size and breadth. More than 63% of COOs have seen an increase in the number of direct reports, with the majority overseeing five to 10 functions. These functions commonly include imaging, laboratory, pharmacy and support services. Many COOs also report managing ambulatory, clinical and perioperative services and nursing, the report states.

Not all of these core requirements are new, of course, but they point to the importance of COOs being able to drive execution with precision and purpose.

4 Critical Areas in Which COOs Must Excel

The report suggests that COOs will need to excel in the following critical areas:

1 | Leverage AI and Technology

The ability to use technology and AI to enhance operations and the patient experience will be critical. Digital fluency has become essential for operational leadership, moving beyond the domain of information technology alone. COOs are expected to champion technology-enabled innovation.

2 | Create Clarity amid Chaos

Articulating a coherent operational vision that both anchors teams and shows them the way forward is essential, even as external pressures mount. In a fragmented, ever-changing environment, future-ready COOs must balance short-term demands with long-term thinking, helping teams to see beyond the day-to-day noise and reinforcing focus and purpose even when the path forward is uncertain.

3 | Recognize Cross-industry Patterns

Future-ready COOs bring insights and lessons from other sectors such as retail, logistics, hospitality or technology into the context of health care. They recognize that patient expectations have been reshaped by consumer experiences elsewhere and are adept at bringing in new thinking without abandoning the rigor health care requires.

4 | Lead across Distributed Environments

Going forward, COOs will need to guide multisite operations with a combination of local responsiveness and systemwide coherence. Engaging clinical peers as partners, not just constituents, has become a defining skill for COOs navigating care transformation in matrixed, team-based environments.

4 Takeaways for COO-CEO Partnerships to Thrive

The report offers these suggestions for COO-CEO partnerships to excel in the future.

Build job clarity.

Alignment between the COO and CEO is fundamental to the success of both leaders and the organization. With so much variation and change in the COO role, it is important for CEOs to clarify what type of COO they need.

Expand the COO’s impact.

COOs must increasingly operate as system integrators. CEOs should encourage COOs to step beyond departmental silos and develop a deep understanding of enterprise priorities, from finance and long-term planning to community partnerships and digital transformation.

Strengthen people skills.

COOs today are much more people-focused than ever before. Building and maintaining strong relationships to create alignment and purpose is essential. The most respected COOs keep patient-centered care and workforce well-being at the heart of operational decisions, even when trade-offs are required.

Consider the COO’s next step.

For some, the COO role is a stepping stone to CEO; for others, it is the destination. It’s important to consider COOs’ career goals and how their current roles set the stage for future success, where strategy and operations intersect.