In 2008, healthcare spending in the United States reached $2.4 trillion, and was projected to reach $3.1 trillion in 2012. Healthcare spending is projected to reach $4.3 trillion by 2016. U.S. employers are undoubtedly one of the most crucial customers for hospitals today. Struggling to contain skyrocketing healthcare costs, businesses are eager to partner with providers that can help them decrease their expenses, increase their profits, enhance employee productivity, and bolster their competitive standing.

Market research indicates that employers today want:

• One-stop shopping.
• Easy access to care and services.
• Value-added services.
• Satisfaction with health plans.

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As we reach mid-year, now is the prime opportunity to reflect on the state of your organization and your role in its success. Is your marketplace position what you want? Are you achieving your goals on pace with the original plan? And most importantly, are you - as an individual - doing the right things to help achieve positive outcomes? Are you communicating your role in those outcomes?

Today's healthcare workplace is a frantic environment. But, effecting change in an organization starts with you, as an individual leader. By taking a look inward, you can position yourself as a better leader for your team. You have the tools within you (or can take steps to acquire these tools) to improve the outcomes of projects that you do for your organization. But how do you identify them and use them in your everyday leadership responsibilities?

Even the most seasoned executives among us need to step back and assess how we're doing. Are you truly walking the talk and motivating your team? Consider these five ways to boost your leadership skills.

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Think about how you prepare for a typical sales call to an existing client. You plan your visit. You outline your objectives. Then, you cross your fingers and hope that your customers are delighted with their service experience.

But, what happens when they aren't? The first thing you instinctively do is take a deep breath and ask for more details. You assure the client that this incident isn't typical and make a promise to look into resolving the problem.

If the problem is yours to resolve, you take care of it. But if it's not, there are a number of questions to answer:

• What department is responsible for this?
• Who works with the client to resolve the issue?
• How do you learn whether it's been resolved so you don't encounter dissatisfaction on your next visit?
• How do you determine how many other companies are having difficulty with the same issues?

In this article we'll look at how to move from a reactive to a proactive approach to issue resolution management and how to create a sales and operations partnership for handling that process.

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