Healer, Leader, Partner

Jack Cochran

Physicians undertake a noble, demanding profession, improving patients’ lives. But the rapidly changing world of healthcare, and the complex knowledge and technology involved, challenges this calling. Physicians need to be healers, confidants, and caregivers while developing skills as leaders and partners. This indispensable guide provides practical, actionable learning to help physicians become effective, compassionate, and confident leaders, transforming healthcare into what patients want, need, and deserve.

Says Dr. Cochran: “When I became a surgeon, I had four years of medical school, six years of residency training, and a rigorous certification process to verify my competence. When I became a leader in the business of medicine, most of my training was on the job, just in time, and trial and error, which is a very different journey.”

In this book, Dr. Cochran draws on his own path, focusing on essential skills for effective leadership, to provide in-depth examinations of critical topics including communication, leading change, managing performance through culture, and relentless personal development.

Press & Praise

Richard S. Isaacs, MD, FACS, CEO and Executive Director, The Permanente Medical Group, Inc.; President and CEO, The MidAtlantic Permanente Medical Group; P.C., Kaiser Permanente

"Jack Cochran provides highly practical advice for leaders to inspire physicians and medical staffs. This book highlights the need for innovative systems and the critical components for transforming American Health Care. He leverages the lessons learned while serving at the helm of the nation's premiere physician-led healthcare organization, Kaiser Permanente. Jack concludes that physician leadership and the relationships with patients and staff are vital to achieve the highest quality and most effective healthcare. The insights provide important knowledge, capability and expertise and are presented in clear, accessible language. It is a must read for all of us who are dedicated to providing the best in health care."

Jeffrey Pfeffer Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University and author of Dying for a Paycheck

"Jack Cochran was the leader he describes when he was at Kaiser-Permanente. Filled with practical, actionable, and timely wisdom for a struggling health care system, Healer, Leader, Partner is essential reading for leaders in health care or for that matter any organization that takes leadership--and the care of employees and customers--seriously."

Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS, 17th Surgeon General of The United States, Distinguished Professor University of Arizona

"In this very insightful book Dr. Jack Cochran dissects the evolving healthcare landscape while illuminating the essential role of the physician as a leader, healer and partner. A great read for the public as well as all healthcare professionals."

Jack Cochran

Dr. Jack Cochran practiced plastic surgery in Denver for ten years before moving to Kaiser Permanente Colorado to establish their plastic surgery program. He served St. Joseph Hospital as a member of the hospital board and as medical staff president. At Kaiser Permanente, he served the region as a member of the board of directors and was the physician president from 1999 to 2007.

In 2007, he was selected as executive director (CEO) of the Permanente Federation, serving as the organization’s national leader until 2015. During that time, Kaiser Permanente attained national status for excellence in clinical quality and completed the largest civilian deployment of a clinical information system to link twenty thousand physicians and 10 million members. Repeatedly named on Modern Healthcare’s list of influential physician executives, Dr. Cochran worked extensively with national health policy development, including working with The White House and United States Congress and spoke globally about integrated care, innovation, quality improvement, and physician leadership.


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