A few weeks back the famous daredevil tightrope walker, Nik Wallenda navigated across the Chicago skyline from Marina Towers to the Leo Burnett Building. I was in downtown Chicago the evening prior and walked by all three structures as well the Chicago River that would lie below Mr. Wallenda’s “night time walk”. The area was already bustling with activity from the curious on-lookers such as me to the many trades of engineering personnel readying the “wires” and stage for this historic event.
This week’s blog theme has many parallels to the HTM service professionals “new” environment in this constantly changing healthcare business powered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As the HTM service professional now walks his or her daily “tightrope” so carefully balancing the responsibilities of patient safety, timely customer service, financial stewardship and a shifting medical device presence that is Information Technology (IT) driven. We now see the “HTM Tightrope” has been hoisted higher into the sky with many balancing variables surrounding the walker’s wire.
Many challenging questions now face the modern day HTM service professional and how prepared one is in adapting to change has always been the fine line separating success and struggle. Take a moment to think about your own “personal tightrope”. How do you balance and adapt to a changing environment? Are you proactive or reactive? When walking the “wire” are you looking down at the abyss below or visioning the forward pathway? How cognizant and skilled are you in utilizing the balancing bar?
Well as we all know by now, Nik Wallenda traversed all three buildings with the greatest of ease. It made for great media viewing from television to You Tube. We all love to watch the daring but are you ready and able to be the “tight rope” walker star? It is said point A to B is the simplest path but even at that a balancing act still has to occur in order to assure success.
