Healthcare's Leading Women: Gail F. Donovan, EVP and COO, Continuum Health Partners

Jennifer Dennard, Social Marketing Director
July 21, 2011


Modern Healthcare recently honored the Top 25 Women in Healthcare, an illustrious group of leaders that have demonstrated vision, courage and commitment to making healthcare better for all involved. Billian's HealthDATA will feature in the coming months a number of these women - including past honorees and future candidates - in its Healthcare's Leading Women series.

2011 honoree Gail F. Donovan is Executive Vice President and COO at Continuum Health Partners in New York, and is responsible for overseeing four hospitals - Beth Israel Medical Center, St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, Long Island College Hospital and the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary - with more than 2,000 staffed beds, an operating budget of more than $3 billion and a staff of 15,000. According to her Modern Healthcare biography, she is responsible for services provided to one out of every five patients in New York City.

Donovan recently shared a bit of wisdom gleaned from more than 25 years in the industry as a panelist at the Modern Healthcare Women Leaders in Healthcare conference. (See " Modern Women Moving Healthcare Forward" at PorterResearch.com for a review of the event.) She specifically discussed her organization's attempts to address cost and quality in order to meet economic challenges related to accountable care preparation. She continues that conversation in the interview below:

Billian's HealthDATA: Continuum Health and its employees have received numerous awards and recognitions. How have you and your colleagues helped to foster this culture of achievement?
Gail Donovan: "The awards we have recently received are testament to our overall pursuit of a culture that emphasizes the highest quality of care. Quality care and quality outcomes are among the principal driving forces of our organization. This commitment resonates from the executive suite down to the front lines of direct patient care. We are proud, also, of our partnership with 1199, our largest union, representing associates of our care delivery teams. We have made tremendous strides in clinical areas - particularly our nationally recognized efforts to reduce hospital-borne infections."

Has Continuum Health specifically tried to foster a culture of professional growth for its female employees?
"I would certainly like to see more women take on the top positions in hospital and health system administration and on hospital boards. Where we need to make further strides is providing the same opportunities for ethnically and culturally diverse individuals. We need to have more well-rounded workforces and leadership teams that accurately reflect the patient populations we serve."

Continuum's commitment to quality is obviously a big part of its mission. How does your role specifically affect quality initiatives throughout the health system?
"I am proud to serve as Continuum's senior administrative leader for our system-wide quality initiatives.  I work closely with our Trustee Committee on Quality and with our hospital presidents and chief medical officers to ensure that we are doing everything possible to advance quality care and positive patient outcomes. I see myself as both a gatekeeper on quality review and as an advocate for further advancement of quality throughout Continuum."

What sort of challenges does Continuum face in providing care to such a diverse population?
"With New York City serving as the worldwide epicenter for ethnic, cultural and religious diversity, we are very challenged as a healthcare organization to meet the particular needs of everyone who turns to us for help. But this does not preclude us from meeting these responsibilities. It may sound rudimentary, but being able to converse with each patient in his or her language of choice remains one of our greatest challenges. We take many steps to ensure that we meet this commitment. We also look for ways to meet the unique needs of all patients, such as dietary needs, and to be sensitive to cultural nuances that are critical to quality outcomes. Being culturally sensitive is a 24/7 commitment."

How is Continuum preparing for the influx of new patients in 2014, many of whom will likely qualify for Medicaid?
"Treating Medicaid recipients is not something new to Continuum. For the past quarter-century, almost one-third of all patients we have served have been insured through Medicaid (or not insured at all). No doubt, these numbers will increase, as access to insurance becomes an option for many more individuals. Our goal is to protect timely access for patients, particularly since we are safety net hospitals. This is a major concern, as models of care change with different financing mechanisms."

You mentioned during the panel that Continuum doesn't need to own all the components of its accountable care organization, which helps with the collaborative nature of accountable care. Can you expand on this statement a bit?
"Our philosophy is that we need to explore all options to best position us to become an accountable care organization. We are an organization that does not feel the need to 'own' every care component within our network. We have many initiatives run in partnerships with physician practices, Federally Qualified Health Centers, nursing homes, home care providers, etc. We are principally in the 'hospital business.' We believe that by working with other organizations in the 'continuum' of care, services will be stronger, and access and quality will be enhanced."

During the panel, you also mentioned that Continuum is striving for accountable care, but won't come close to qualifying - why not? What sort of integrated care initiatives is Continuum moving forward with nonetheless?
"The ACO legislation, as it presently exists, precludes us from meeting all qualifications for such designation in 2012. Unfortunately, the way the legislation is written, I doubt many organizations will be able to qualify next year. We are busy building the foundations in primary care, clinical integration and information technology to support future ACO development."

How is Continuum working with its physicians - both employed and otherwise - to prepare them for more integrated care practices?
"We wholeheartedly embrace the 'medical home' concept and are working with all of our physicians - salaried and voluntary - to become more astute in care management. This is where programs like the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Learning Collaborative provides valuable process guidance as we work with each of our physicians to embrace standard approaches to patient care management." 

Creating guidelines around evidence-based care practices was a popular topic at the conference. Is this something Continuum is trying to implement?
"We have found that data compilation and review is critical to maintaining our focus on quality care.  Data is key to 'state your case' to physicians and insurers. It is a fundamental component of the pioneering 'pay for performance' initiatives at our hospitals. It's not dissimilar to solving a tricky police case -- evidence is key.  Measurements of care, outcome statistics, patient's satisfaction survey results - all these data serve as critical roadmaps and increasingly will be necessary to support reimbursement for services."



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