LEHP ThinkTank Group
Think Tank is an organization that consists of a group of people who think of new ideas on a particular subject or who give advice about what should be done.
The Origin of LEHP's ThinkTank Group
Leading Edge Healthcare Professionals coalesces a group of individuals/businesses to provide comprehensive solutions for medical practices and their patients. Nearly all of the members of this group have worked together at one point in time or another and know each other well, both personally and professionally.
There are a number of entrepreneurial individuals in our group who have worked for many years in the healthcare sector and found themselves searching for something to challenge them beyond the ongoing tasks of their professions. They have found a need for a challenge and/or a change of pace or to redirect their talents and abilities to something more altruistic. For some, it is, quite simply, “a need to give back”. Our think tank group leverages that need to better define one’s self or to embark on a project(s) that is more rewarding or more compelling.
The advocacy/think tank group or a “reflection pool,” as it is frequently called, evolved to provide the opportunity for intellectual stimulation in an open environment without fear or favor.
The Purpose of the LEHP ThinkTank Group
On the basis of the depth of experience of the members in this group, we believe our purpose is more visionary than experiential. This group is taking an analytical and focused approach to areas of medical practice requiring solutions that will bring greater efficiencies and process improvement to the fore.
What Can Be Expected from this Think Tank?
Following are some reasonable and expected outcomes that can be derived from our think tank group:
- Intellectual challenges,
- A paradigm shift in focus and approaches,
- Fresh perspectives, awareness, and understanding,
- Creative ideation,
- Improved collegiality,
- Improved communication, and
- Renewal and rededication of talents and abilities
The think tank process allows one to think outside the box in order to:
- Challenge entrepreneurial and creative thought leaders within the group,
- Develop tools for dealing with meaningful and strategic healthcare issues,
- Develop more holistic/global thinking,
- Stimulate creativity,
- Renew the passion and the determination of the participants.
Within Leading Edge Healthcare Professionals there are a substantial number of members who would find a think tank a worthy endeavor. The goal of this group is to challenge the status quo. We encourage our members to take both emotional and intellectual risks with conventional wisdom as it relates to improving medical practices. For all intents and purposes, the people are the program.
To be successful, the group requires people who are:
- Entrepreneurial,
- Creative,
- Disciplined,
- Experienced in healthcare,
- Willing to go against the conventional wisdom,
- Willing to re-examine basic assumptions,
- Visionary,
- Willing to share (time, talents, abilities, experience)
- Willing (and able) to ask the hard questions: Why? Why not? What if?
Participation in the group is by invitation only, with the group size capped at 11 members. Meetings are currently held monthly. Participants include both students and teachers. Each one of us brings his or her expertise and experience and we share openly, and with an open-mindedness that allows us to learn. Confidentiality is a key to the success of this group. We have the freedom to speak openly, without fear of recrimination. Group members have made a personal commitment to the process(es) we have established. The group has committed to the development of a strategic initiative tied directly to patient care and to an information technology (IT) initiative that will improve processes in a physician practice.
By challenging the status quo, accepted assumptions and conventional wisdom, the LEHP think tank encourages its members to create a greater faith through greater understanding. According to Linda Ray of Demand Media, in an article for the Houston Chronicle, iconoclastic thought leaders “don’t just think outside the boxes, they don’t even acknowledge the boxes exist.” Iconoclastic thought leaders “eschew old ideas and ways of doing business in favor of innovation and creative thinking.” In addition, they encourage people to innovate and to reach for the stars.
Napoleon Hill and his “Philosophy of Achievement” formula embodies the essence of a think tank:
“All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea,”
and, so too with Leading Edge Healthcare Professionals.