People First

A Proven Method for an Exceptional Healthcare Practice

Amy Lafko

Transform your healthcare practice with a prescription for success.

What if your healthcare practice was a place where everyone—administrators, care providers, and patients—felt good? A place where burnout, job dissatisfaction, or staff turnover simply didn’t exist? A place where you and your team show up every day energized, fulfilled, and inspired to deliver the highest quality of care?

For too long, the healthcare system has been built exclusively around the needs of patients, at the expense of the mental and physical health of the very people who are expected to care for them. It’s time for a People First approach—one where your finances, people, and business initiatives aren’t suffering at the expense of patient needs.

In this essential guide to organizational design for the healthcare sector, operational leadership expert Amy Lafko shows you how to build a thriving practice by focusing on the people who keep it running. You’ll discover how to:

Provide clarity around organizational mission, vision, values, and goals
Engage, align, and empower teams
Enhance communication and trust
Decrease staff turnover and increase buy-in
Boost profit margins
Eliminate employee and leadership burnout
Improve patient satisfaction
Design a sustainable strategy for growth.

By flipping the focus of your organization from the people who need care to those who provide it, your people will be armed with the tools and support necessary to bring their best to your patients. Whether you’re in the process of mapping out your private practice, already running a successful practice, or are experiencing turmoil within your healthcare organization, you can set yourself on a path toward increased staff and patient satisfaction, improved productivity, and enhanced efficiency. People First is your prescription for success.

Reviews

“Amy Lafko’s engaging approach to storytelling provides a roadmap for reinvigorating your teams and your career…putting people first!”

Alan Ayers president, Experity; Lifetime Membership Award, Urgent Care Association; senior editor, Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

“Each chapter of People First will force you to see things from an entirely different perspective. Amy Lafko is a guide along the path of the People First method.”

Craig Knack CPC, CMPE, director, Practice Operations Cardiology, Vascular, Urology, Patient Experience, St. Peter’s Health Partners

“People First makes it clear why focusing on your people is the first step to business success. Amy Lafko’s simple, actionable approach to the complex world of personnel management will give any owner or leader needing direction a clear path forward.”

Derek Fenwick PT, MBA, SHRM-SCP, senior director, human resources, Infinity Rehab; nominating committee, American Physical Therapy Association

“Amy Lafko’s vulnerability in sharing lessons she learned the hard way sparked a new level of clarity and energy for my own leadership path.

Heather Jennings PT, DPT, director, American Physical Therapy Association

“This is a wonderful model! I learned that clearly stating and defining goals and giving team members the ‘bigger picture’ at the start of each meeting helps them be more engaged and helps focus the conversation and actions. It also creates purpose and motivation to continue a certain action toward a goal.

Sarah Gerrish MD, faculty, Family Medicine Residency of Idaho-Boise and chair, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; instructor, University of Washington School of Medicine

LESS

Amy Lafko is a leadership and organizational design expert, keynote speaker, author, and adviser who spent decades as a leader in healthcare operations. An in-demand corporate trainer and leadership consultant, she has brought her real-world lessons and inspirational ideas to large organizations across the healthcare, non-profit, and business sectors. Learn more at thepeoplefirstbook.com.

ISBN 978-1-77458-120-9
$22.00 CAD • $17.95 USD
Published August 24, 2021

5.5 × 8.5 • 266 Pages
Paperback, ebook