Management Behind the Mask

When you think of professionals in the healthcare field you usually envision highly-trained specialists with extensive knowledge of the mind and body. These are, after all, the people we turn to when unforeseen illness or accidents rear their ugly head. Hospitals, doctors and nurses have always been under a lot of pressure, yet some people forget that they usually have little time to oversee operations taking shape day in and day out. With constant patient intake, check-ups, appointments, care, and surgeries, staff cannot be expected to handle a full load of additional administrative tasks. For these, they turn to pros like Candis Kinkus.

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Like many of her colleagues, Candis Kinkus shared an interest in science and was awarded an undergraduate degree on the subject from the University of Pittsburgh. Later she completed an MBA in Marketing and Finance at the school before receiving post graduate degree in Health Management Systems from Carnegie-Mellon University. With a polished education and studies behind her, Ms. Kinkus sparked a career that would manage and direct some of the most prestigious institutes in medicine.

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She became the Director of Morristown Memorial Hospital in Morristown, New Jersey. There she created and implemented a new commercial laboratory through a joint venture, while generating annual net revenue in the millions that kept streaming for the 10-plus years she acted as its director. Later she became the Manager at Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and implemented a new Primary Care Center accommodating both primary and specialty care services. Meanwhile, she evaluated how management operated during the training of new employees and helped support cross training so that employees of different departments could support one another more seamlessly – all while supervising the construction of a new $32 million facility.

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After Highmark she became the Director of the Pennsylvania Medical College & Allegheny General Hospital. In this new role Ms. Kinkus held directorial positions in several departments. Pennsylvania Medical was an incorporated chain of hospitals, and her responsibilities included overseeing a daunting 35,000 employees with nearly 2,000 beds for patients. Kinkus, however, took it in stride and managed the duties impeccably. She then joined the Gateway Medical Group as its Practice Manager before becoming Director of the Pathology Dept. at the Magee – Women’s Hospital, where she took care of fiscal management, clinical operations and administrative services. Today, Candis Kinkus is the Director at the Vanderbilt Medical Center providing over 5 million tests every year and managing both a budget of $52 million, and over 350 employees.  

To learn more about Ms. Kinkus and how her field of work could be the saving grace that gets you safely in and out of the hospital, visit her website. Healthcare might appear different to you.

Relying Upon Top Quality Medical Administrative Support

As the world of medicine continues to grow and expand, so do the needs for quality administrators in this vital field of professional practice. As an experienced and effective medical administrator, Candis Kinkus has been instrumental in assisting many different medical agencies and institutions in achieving the important goal of effective and productive administration for a variety of departments, including pathology, community medicine and emergency medicine, and education and research.

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Her resume impressively reads like a who’s who for institutions in the world of medicine. In addition to having been the director of Morristown Memorial Hospital, Candis Kinkus has also brought her talents and skills to such organizations as Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Magee Women’s Hospital, Gateway Medical Group and Pennsylvania Medical College & Allegheny General Hospital, to name just a few of her affiliations and relationships.

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Currently, she works as the administrative director of the Vanderbilt Medical Center, where she is directly responsible for providing over 5 million tests per year, along with overseeing a $52 million budget and managing more than 350 employees. Prior to this prestigious position, her experience included creating and implementing a new laboratory for Morristown Memorial Hospital which generated annual net revenues in the millions for more than a decade, supported cross training for employees of different departments at Blue Cross/Blue Shield which allowed more expansive and professional support for various unrelated services and even supervised the construction of a new facility that is worth over $30 million.

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With her unrelenting commitment to providing greater and more reliable health services and support at a wide variety of national institutions, along with authoring an important work about laboratory management, Candis Kinkus continues to make a significant difference in the administrative segment of the medical field. She remains an excellent model for any individual interested in working in medical administration!

Personnel matters: Do hospital administrators need MBAs or medical degrees?

Hospital leadership is an important of medical care and its main concern goes beyond measuring financial performance and extends to improving patient outcomes and the quality of life both of the patients and hospital workers. Good hospital governance is integral in fostering sustainability in the financial, operational, and clinical aspects of care, particularly in the move toward affordable and quality healthcare delivery.

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Since medical care has become a big service-delivery business, much has been expected from healthcare leaders. Hospital administrators are facing the unique challenge of bringing additional skill sets into the healthcare system, which is now evaluated based on patient experience. With the pressure for better distribution and management of healthcare, solid business skills should be deployed toward maximizing resources and the skills and time of medical professionals. As the industry continues to evolve, hospital administrators need to wear many hats and ensure that they are qualified to navigate different systems and procedures that impact business and administrative functions. Communication and collaboration skills, IT knowledge, and effective deployment of resources are among the key traits needed to survive the economic and operational complexities of today’s working environment.

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Even if hospital administration is handled by competent physicians and other clinicians who underwent years of training to master the art and science of medicine, healthcare management needs business and legal experts to keep the system moving. If the organization is headed by leaders without a medical background, it’s crucial to apply the hospital administration model called “co-management.” This model sees physician leaders working hand in hand with non-physician leaders who have obtained extensive business education essential for running the non-clinical part of the organization. This business model is highly recommended in this difficult time where promoting the best doctors and clinicians to management positions isn’t necessarily an advantage, since they’re being taken out of important day-to-day operations and transferred to positions outside their lines of expertise.

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Candis Kinkus has years of experience as a hospital administrator specializing in quality improvement, operations management, lean management, team building, and patient-centered care. Subscribe to this Facebook page for more information about her clinical expertise and for more insightful discussions on healthcare reform and delivery.