David Zechman
Retired Hospital President and CEO; President - The Zechman Group LLCThe Zechman Group
About
I am a semi-retired Hospital President and CEO. I have 46 plus years experience in healthcare starting as an on the job trainee Respiratory Therapist. I have worked at all levels of management from working supervisor to serving as a CEO at my last three jobs. I have served healthcare organizations all over the midwest including stand alone rural hospitals, healthcare systems, stand alone community hospitals, and academic medical centers. I just completed a 10 month engagement as the interim hospital CEO at Mary Lanning Healthcare, a stand alone 166 bed hospital in Hastings Nebraska. I recently wrote a book titled: "Driven by Compassion - 8 Values For Successful Servant Leadership. It is based on real life experiences and was 5 star rated by Amazon. I currrently teach my book as part of hospital leadership development programs and executive coaching. I have a BSE from Miami University (Ohio), an MPA from Cleveland State University, and I am have a LFACHE certification recognizing me as a life time member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
David Zechman
Published content
expert panel
Healthcare marketing has a translation problem.Clinical experts think in diagnoses, treatment protocols, risk factors, outcomes and evidence. Patients often think in much more immediate terms: What does this mean for me? What happens next? Can I afford it? Who do I call? Do I need to do something today?The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality notes that 88% of U.S. adults lack the health literacy skills needed to manage all the demands of the healthcare system, while 36% have limited personal health literacy. Bridging those two worlds requires more than simplifying medical terminology. It requires healthcare organizations to rethink what patient content is supposed to accomplish.The Senior Executive Healthcare Think Tank brings together leaders with expertise spanning patient experience, workforce strategy, policy, quality, equity and healthcare technology. They suggest that the most useful healthcare content is not simply easier to read, but more relevant, more contextual, more credible and more tightly connected to the decision a patient is trying to make. Below, they share how healthcare marketers can bridge the divide between complex clinical expertise and the patients who need to understand and act on it.