President & CEO, MedStar Health

By This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it | Corridor Inc. Staff Writer
Originally published March 2008

Photo by Lisa Helfert.

     Samet started with Columbia-based MedStar in 1998 as chief operating officer and was promoted to president and COO in 2003. He took over the helm in January after the retirement of John P. McDaniel.
    MedStar has 25,000 employees and 5,000 affiliated physicians, a network of ambulatory centers, a comprehensive home health organization and a large primary care physician practice network.
     MedStar's list of accomplishments grew in 2007 when five of its hospitals were ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News and World Report and Microsoft acquired health intelligence software that was created by several MedStar physicians.     
     Last month, MedStar merged with Montgomery General Hospital in Olney, its first Corridor hospital acquisition. A $30 million expansion project is planned to improve patient care services.
     The company ended 2007 with $3.1 billion in annual net operating revenues — a figure Samet, 49, hopes to meet or beat during his tenure as CEO with a focus on people, systemics and performance.
     After 25 years in the business, he still lives and breathes health care.
      “I can't imagine wanting to live in a community that doesn't have world class health care and dedicated providers everyday in that community,” he said. “I still love walking the halls of any of our hospitals and seeing a family interacting with a caregiver … the fact that they're there says that on a very personal level they trusted us with the most important thing in their lives.”
     Corridor Inc. recently sat down with Samet to discuss the challenges, changes and future of MedStar Health. 

What are the top three challenges facing the health care industry?
Everything we do is provided by people; it's people touching people. Given the demographics of the aging population and the demand that's there for health care services how we recruit the best and the brightest is certainly one of the real challenges for us.

From a field standpoint, I think reimbursement, revenue and the ability to actually have the resources to provide the care that the country expects continues to be a significant issue. We spend a lot of money on health care but we're not organized from a systemic standpoint to effectively and most efficiently spend those resources.

The third biggest issue facing the field is perhaps a discussion around health at a national level ... Everyone has to think about their own personal obligations to health and what we do to stay healthy or not.

How is MedStar addressing these challenges?
The people issue is front and center and what we are doing now to try
to create future health care workers and keep our workers within the organization. Not only do we have a need but they are really good jobs.

The second issue is what we call systemics …We do great things across the MedStar system but the challenge is we don't necessarily do that same great thing, everyday, at every place.

Thirdly, the approach to wellness and education is very complicated. The biggest issue looking forward is how do we work creatively with other organizations that perhaps historically we haven't seen as true partners.

How much of an issue is finding qualified workers?
It’s a significant challenge. We have to create opportunities and awareness for young people to think that health care is a really good profession to go into … It circles all the way back – it’s a people business and you have every expectation, and you should, that at 3 a.m. you can bring your child in or a loved one, there will be a care team waiting for you. That’s what we have to work hard to make sure is as true 10 years from now as it’s true today.

Any plans for new hospitals in the Corridor?
No, none today but it's fair to say that we will continue to look to partner in a lot of different ways with both hospitals and physician groups across the region.

Is health care more focused on profit versus patient?
I don't think it's a profit focus because if you look at the profitability of the non-profit health sector it's such a small margin business nobody would be doing the mission-based work if it was a profit mode. But we are very much caught up in the business of health care because of the regulations, rules and the way the system is set up and the worry that if there aren't enough dollars how will we provide this care.

Even with so many people without insurance?
Health care at this point is so disjointed in the U.S. We have 45 million Americans uninsured and that should be totally unacceptable to us as a country with the wealth that we have. It doesn't matter if you're a direct caregiver or one of the thousands of support people, everybody should be able to see their role through the patient first.

Just like any other business, how does MedStar survive through a recession?
All health care providers, MedStar included, are impacted by the general state of the economy. As the stock market isn't doing well, obviously you feel that pressure.

The [investable] dollars are important because if you are an organization like MedStar, because of its non-profit status, there are no shareholders or stockholders. Any dollars that are generated out of the stock market are all there to be reinvested into the hospitals and hospitals need that.

Systems like MedStar have certain advantages over stand alone small organizations, because in these tough times of economic pressure, you have a lot of components of the organization to utilize. You have more flexibility if you can have the courage to stare it down and be thoughtful and careful with it but it doesn't make it easier.

What would you like to see done different in hospitals?
I think the challenge for me and for all folks in leadership roles in hospitals is that we have the finest health care system in the world, I honestly believe that. And the challenge for us is to acknowledge, even while saying that, that we can do it better and there are areas that we can improve … The fact that there’s opportunities to improve or to change to grow going forward doesn’t mean it should be taken as an indication that we’re not proud of where we are as a health care system today.