Cejka Search And Solucient Form Partnership To Study Hospital Leadership Characteristics

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Cejka Search and Solucient(R) today announced plans for a survey of hospital chief executive officers to identify leadership characteristics, skills, and management practices that the CEOs consider critical elements of the top hospital leadership teams.

“The survey is designed to provide vital insight into executive leadership skills necessary for success in hospital performance,” said Myra Mengwasser, vice president/practice leader at Cejka Search. Mengwasser is spearheading the survey for Cejka Search in partnership with Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president of the Center for Healthcare Improvement at Evanston, Ill.-based Solucient.

“This study will use scientific methods and objective data to differentiate leadership characteristics of high-performing hospital CEOs and other executives,” said Chenoweth. “We believe the results will add to the burgeoning scientific body of information about the measurement of healthcare management performance.”

Data generated by the leadership survey will indicate background and longevity of hospital leaders, management practices, management team composition and other factors. For the past 12 years, Solucient has used a national, comparative, balanced scorecard approach to set the standard for identifying top performing hospitals across the country through its 100 Top Hospitals(R): National Benchmarks for Success studies and awards. Consistent winners of the Solucient 100 Top Hospitals award will be among those receiving the survey.

“Solucient is expanding its research capabilities via partnerships with other organizations to provide the healthcare industry with better business tools and scientific processes to define and measure organizational management,” said Chenoweth. “Cejka Search’s expertise in understanding leadership characteristics of healthcare executives and in assessing those characteristics in individuals makes Cejka an ideal partner for the leadership study. The partnership between Cejka and Solucient combines the unique expertise and relevant experience needed to apply scientific methods to objectively study and better understand the characteristics and practices of top performing healthcare executives and their teams.”

“Cejka Search is excited about this project, which offers an opportunity to develop an additional dimension to evaluation of healthcare executive candidates,” said Mengwasser. “The study will provide added value for our healthcare executive search clients when defining leadership roles and team composition. The data will help us provide clients with research-based intelligence about qualities most critical to success in healthcare leadership.”

Mengwasser said the survey will be distributed to a sample of hospitals nationwide. Cejka Search and Solucient expect to announce survey results during the first quarter of 2005.

Solucient(R) is an information products company serving the healthcare industry. It is the market leader in providing tools and vital insights that healthcare managers use to improve the performance of their organizations. By integrating, standardizing and enhancing healthcare information, Solucient provides comparative measurements of cost, quality and market performance. Solucient’s expertise and proven solutions enable providers, payers and pharmaceutical companies to drive business growth, manage costs and deliver high quality care. For more information, visit http://www.solucient.com/ .

Cejka Search is a nationally recognized executive and physician search organization providing services exclusively to the healthcare industry for more than 20 years. Partnering with organizations in pursuit of the nation’s best healthcare talent, Cejka Search completes assignments across all levels of the healthcare continuum. Cejka Search is a Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. company, a leading provider of healthcare staffing services in the United States.

For further information, contact: Gail Gardner, 314-727-9500, ggardner@adamson-inc.com, or Bill Wendt (Cejka Search), (314) 726-1603, (800) 678-7858, bwendt@cejkasearch.com Web site: http://www.cejkasearch.com/

Cejka Search

CONTACT: Gail Gardner for Cejka Search, +1-314-727-9500,ggardner@adamson-inc.com , or Bill Wendt of Cejka Search, +1-314-726-1603,+1-800-678-7858, bwendt@cejkasearch.com