The Value of Collaboration in the Healthcare System

Image by Piron Guillaume

Imagine being in a relay race where each runner hoards their baton, refusing to pass it along. The race stalls, chaos ensues, and the entire team loses. Now, replace that race with healthcare – a field where collaboration could mean the difference between life and death – and you’ll begin to understand the dysfunction in our system.

Collaboration, a value most of us are taught in kindergarten, is notably absent in an industry that could save lives by embracing it. Instead of working together to solve systemic issues, many healthcare organizations act like competitors in a high-stakes game, protecting their secrets and prioritizing profits over patients.

The healthcare system, a lifeline for millions, is mired in practices that prioritize revenue over the well-being of its patients and employees. This is more than a matter of ethics and morality, it’s a crisis impacting accessibility, affordability, and the quality of care.

“The healthcare system as a whole needs to put its patients and employees first. Instead of working together to capitalize off of those who are the most vulnerable, the industry needs to come together to make healthcare more accessible and affordable. This means coming up with innovative ways to provide the highest level of care possible,” says DoorSpace CEO Sarah M. Worthy.

Healthcare organizations have the power to transform the industry through resource sharing and collaboration. Imagine if hospitals and healthcare systems that had successfully tackled employee turnover or integrated groundbreaking technologies willingly shared their methods. These innovations could ripple across the industry, elevating care standards and reducing systemic inefficiencies.

Instead, the opposite is often true. Competitive secrecy reigns supreme. Hospitals and healthcare corporations hoard valuable insights, reluctant to share what works with their counterparts. The result? A fragmented system where pockets of excellence exist in isolation, while the broader industry struggles with outdated practices, understaffed facilities, and burned-out employees.

Worthy continues to contend “If one hospital has figured out how to manage turnover and innovate technology, then it should share their findings with other organizations.” The stakes couldn’t be higher. When innovation is withheld, patients pay the price with their health.

The profit-driven nature of healthcare isn’t new, but its consequences have grown more visible. In the United States, where medical debt remains a leading cause of bankruptcy, the prioritization of financial gain over patient care is evident at every level. From exorbitant prescription drug prices to surprise billing practices, the system is riddled with inequities designed to extract maximum revenue.

For employees, the picture is equally grim. Healthcare workers, particularly nurses and support staff, face increasingly unsustainable working conditions. Long hours, understaffing, and stagnant wages contribute to high turnover rates, leaving facilities scrambling to fill gaps in care. These challenges are exacerbated by a lack of industry-wide collaboration that could alleviate some of these pressures.

The healthcare industry has a lot to learn, and if something works for one place why gatekeep that information? There should be no secrets when it comes to patients’ health, instead organizations should be more open about their success in order to make the industry more universal,” says Worthy.

The healthcare system doesn’t have to operate this way. The tools for transformation are already within reach. What’s missing is the collective will to prioritize patients and employees over profits. To get there, the industry must embrace a culture of transparency, resource sharing, and innovation. But, systemic change requires public pressure. Patients, employees, and advocates must demand more from the institutions that claim to serve them.

So, what does a better healthcare system look like? It’s one where collaboration replaces competition as the driving force. It’s a system where hospitals don’t view one another as rivals, but as partners in a shared mission to save lives. It’s a world where patients don’t have to choose between receiving care and avoiding financial ruin.