HCMC Presidential Column

Welcome to HCMC!

As we usher in a new chapter for health care capacity management, I am thrilled to share with you the exciting launch of the Hospital Capacity Management Consortium (HCMC) as a formal Professional Membership Group (PMG) within the American Hospital Association (AHA). This is a pivotal moment in our journey, and I couldn’t be more excited to be part of it with all of you.

The formation of HCMC as an official PMG marks a significant milestone in our commitment to transforming how health care organizations manage capacity, improve patient flow, and enhance the delivery of care.

The Consortium was born in 2020 by James J. Scheulen, PA-C, MBA, who was then the chief administrative officer of emergency medicine and capacity management at Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore; Vikas Parekh, MD, associate chief medical officer of capacity and operations, office of clinical affairs at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor; and Robert Fogerty, MD, MPH, senior medical director of clinical leadership at Yale New Haven (Ct.) Hospital, out of a shared recognition that, to meet the growing demands of today’s health care system, we need innovative, collaborative, and strategic approaches to capacity management. Unlike other health care disciplines, there was not an organized group dedicated solely to capacity management, so they formed it. As we’ve seen over the past few years, the need for sharing solutions within the capacity management industry has never been more urgent.

A Few Words About Myself

I grew up in Nebraska, part of a large family that taught me to love challenges and value hard work. As an ICU nurse, I thrived in the intense environment, where my knack for problem-solving and love for complex puzzles were used to care for some of the sickest patients. Now I use these skills to care for patients in a different way. I am now on a quest to eliminate as much of a patient’s wait time as possible.

My natural curiosity around hospital logistics and passion for improvement landed me a role leading the Patient Placement Department at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Some of my career highlights were the collaborations I was involved in and led during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was clear early in the pandemic that we needed to centralize and streamline operations by bringing together patient placement, the transfer center, staffing, the float pool, and the rapid response team under one division and create a Capacity Command Center. Leading this initiative was both challenging and rewarding, and it transformed the way our hospital managed patient flow. Every day, our team assembles a giant moving puzzle, with the goal of ensuring that every piece fits perfectly to improve patient care and resource allocation. This is the coolest job in the health care field (but I am biased!).

This journey from ICU nurse to capacity management leader has been an incredible adventure. I love making a positive impact and continue to draw inspiration from my Nebraska roots, my family, and my inclination to seek out new challenges. When Jim Scheulen approached me about joining HCMC in the early days, my mind was blown. I could not wait to join a network of professionals working on the same or similar issues. It has been another career highlight to be on the HCMC Advisory Board and serve as President. I have learned more from our HCMC network and their lived experiences than I could ever have imagined 5 years ago. And I certainly never imagined we would grow large enough for AHA to notice us, let alone bring us on as a PMG.

What's Coming Up

In the coming months, HCMC will roll out a range of initiatives and programs:

Spring Symposium: This free online event took place on Tuesday, April 29. This year’s symposium focused on thought leadership in the areas of financial management, command center design, and length of stay & readmissions. We welcomed over 800 registered attendees, the highest turnout for an HCMC Symposium ever!
Conversation Circles and Webinars
AHA Leadership Summit: HCMC members will be speaking in the session: The Capacity Management Playbook: Proven Strategies to Unlock Access, Drive Growth and Achieve Financial Success. We will also host a conversation table, “Capacity Management: Insights and Strategies.”
HCMC quarterly newsletter: Sign up to make sure you receive it.
Future posts on this blog from myself and other thought leaders in the field.

My Vision for HCMC’s Future

Drive thought leadership – We will position HCMC as the go-to thought leader for capacity management in health care. This will include producing research, publications, curricula, and capacity management leadership development programs. It will also include collaborating with external stakeholders to influence national and state conversations on health care regulations that affect capacity and flow.
Elevate Professional Development – We will expand our educational offerings beyond our bi-yearly symposia. These offerings will include curriculum, conference presentations, blogs, webinars, and conversation circles
Shape the future of health care delivery – We will work closely with AHA, our members and industry partners to advocate for policies that improve health care delivery. Our aim is to ensure that every patient receives timely, efficient and high-quality care, regardless of where they are in the system.

Join Us on the Journey

The launch of HCMC as an official PMG is just the beginning. We have an exciting road ahead of us, and I invite each of you to be a part of it – volunteering, connecting in our member-only online community, sharing your ideas and best practices. Together, we will shape the future of capacity management in health care, creating solutions that improve the patient, staff and provider experiences and support the sustainability of our health care systems.

Look for my quarterly blog posts in this space.

Thank you for your commitment to this work and for being part of this incredible journey. I look forward to seeing all the great things we will accomplish together in the months and years to come.

Heidi High

MBA, BSN, NE-BC, FACHE