FINAL BOARDING CALL: A LOOK AT HEALTHCARE AND THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY

There I sat in a hard plastic chair, waiting. Waiting for it to be our turn. After two cancellations, a gate change, and now another delay, it is time to get home. I eagerly, but with somewhat decreasing optimism, wait for the latest update. Again, I check my phone again to see what emails or texts have come through since I last checked it. Searching for a Wi-Fi connection fast enough to talk to my workplace and let them know it might be a little while longer. I reflect that this is why we must continually communicate in our hospitals and clinics. Our patients are eager to hear their test result, or family members, the latest update on their loved one. If we are not overcommunicating, the lack of news causes increased anxiety, and the negative narrative becomes the predominate internal and external communication. A feeling of helplessness or anger is the end result.

Finally, I hear the loud voice over the intercom. “We’ll start boarding in 10 minutes for the flight to ....” Relief pours through me, and I look around, looking forward to getting where I’m headed, noting the strain around my fellow passengers’ eyes, their equally anticipatory and hopeful looks. Their furtive looks at their watches, quick glances toward the restroom, contemplating a last-minute dash. We are a group of people completely immersed in a process outside our control yet totally dependent upon the outcome, trusting that the system will see this through for us.  

As a healthcare executive with 30+ years of experience leading hospitals and clinics, I can’t help but note similarities between the airline industry and healthcare. Both are global industries essential to the well-being of humanity. Intensely complex, they both have many moving parts that must work together seamlessly in order to function properly. Though slightly different, each industry deals with life-and-death situations on a daily basis, and as such, must always be prepared for the worst. Finally, both industries are heavily regulated by local, state, and federal governmental agencies lending themselves to additional coordination through systemness for safety.

Recently, the two industries have faced similar problems, as have many other corporations worldwide. Staffing issues. Supply shortages. It’s just that when these two industries suffer, it makes global headlines because it impacts everyone and quickly at that. 

By July 4, 2022, the airline industry had experienced more flight cancellations than the entire 2021 year and is on track to be the worst year for flight cancellations on record. The healthcare industry parallel is  reality of the growing personnel shortage of physicians and nurses, along with medical supply chain delivery delays that continues to place pressure on the entire industry.  

The staffing needs for airlines include pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, and many other essential personnel to ensure safety, fuel, and the necessary parts to keep their planes in the air. Healthcare facilities need to staff their clinics and units with nurses, doctors, and other medical personnel to ensure that they have the ideal expertise and enough pharmaceuticals as well as medical supplies to meet the needs of their patients. When these things can’t, or are not happening, it can cause major negative consequences.

In fact, the quality-of-service dips in both industries. For the airlines, business in other industries slows considerably or grinds to a halt, a precursor to deeper economic woes. In healthcare, sick people get sicker and healthy people can’t get the preventative care they need.

What are the building blocks of success for both the healthcare and airline industries? 

People. Both healthcare and airlines are service-based industries that require a high degree of customer service and satisfaction. Each works to serve a greater good and help people. The employees and professionals that work for both the airlines and healthcare are individuals who, at their core, care about other people. Those who aren’t motivated to help others don’t last long in these industries. These enterprises have an amazing opportunity to recruit and retain the best and most committed in the entire world, to better serve others through their dedication and expertise.

Process. In both industries, there is a designated process put in place for every step. And with good reason. We’ve seen what happens when one person skips any phase in the process. Planes don’t take off on time, surgeries get cancelled, and much more. When a complex process is continually improved, you’ll see both a well-oiled machine and growth across both industries. Each enterprise must leave room in its process to continually improve.

Innovation. Airlines and healthcare both rely heavily on technology, from check-in kiosks to electronic medical records. As technology evolves at warp speed, these industries are quick to find technological solutions to help their people improve the process. In healthcare, we’ve seen this emerge most recently through virtual healthcare, medical monitoring devices, and robotic noninvasive surgical procedures. The airline industry has always been a frontrunner in high technology solution implementations, from technological aviation advances to the electronic check-ins to mid-air Wi-Fi solutions.  

Often, we tend to become insolated in our industry and start thinking we are in this alone, or perhaps our situation is much too unique. More often than not, though, many challenges we are seeing across industries right now could be solved more quickly if we looked outside the enterprise we are in. Reviewing outside our industry we can discover similarities and adopt possible solutions. Let innovation take hold of your process, encourage your teams to explore and pilot, and embrace the positive change.

Isn’t it time we became better partners? Stop thinking of things as their problem and start thinking of them as OUR problems. We are all in this together, and together, we are stronger.

Tagged: healthcare, airline industry