Twyman Towery has over 30 years experience in the healthcare field beginning with his becoming the administrator of an 800 bed hospital and school at the tender age of 23. He received his masters in Medical and Hospital Administration from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health on a scholarship from the State of Tennessee Department of Mental Health and was repaying his debt to the state. Since then, Dr. Towery has witnessed the implementation of Medicare, DRGs, the growth of the investor-owned companies, the struggle of inner city and rural hospitals the emergence of HMOs and managed care organizations, hospital-physician alliances and their subsequent dissolution, painful employee downsizing and the other tumultuous changes experienced by healthcare professionals through these tumultuous decades. He has worked extensively in healthcare in Europe, South America and the Middle East, experiencing their healthcare systems first hand.

   Over the last 14 years Twyman has addressed hundreds of healthcare audiences including: hospitals, hospital associations, boards of trust, all types of nursing organizations, medical staffs and medical specialty organizations, healthcare (nursing home) companies and state organizations, home healthcare entities, insurance groups such as Blue Cross, health maintenance organizations, pharmaceutical companies, state pharmacy associations, non-profit hospital consortiums, investor-owned companies, ancillary health groups (engineers laboratory, radiology, volunteers, human resources and others) and countless other healthcare groups.

   As a Life Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, he has stayed in touch with the academic side of healthcare, while working in the trenches. Twyman uses humor to make his points and makes sure the audience continues to laugh throughout his speeches, seminars and retreats.

   Twyman’s presentations help you manage change. Success depends on leaders who continuously create improvements in the way things are done. Twyman sees his job as being a catalyst and teacher in this process, while helping others feel good about their contribution to their organization and society.

   His latest books, The Wisdom of Wolves: Nature's Way to Organizational Success and The Power of Eagles: Nature's Way to Individual Accomplishment are enjoyed by everyone and are a featured part of many of his presentations. These books use these majestic animals as metaphors for management examples on topics such as: Courage, Symbolism, Mentoring, and many other characteristics possessed by great leaders. His next two book, The Depth of Dolphins: Nature's Way to Intelligent Communication, and The Art of the Warrior will be released in the near future. It is one of Dr. Towery's unique ways of teaching management techniques in a way that they are easily understood, enjoyed and effective.

Topics Include:

Strategic Planning

   Managers today long to know where their organization is heading and the role they can play in its future. It often seems that crucial direction is determined by spur-of-the-moment decisions. People want to believe there is more to their efforts than "bottom line" performance and want to be part of the success. When managers are allowed to help formulate policy, difficult but crucial goals are realized.

Culture & Values

   In today’s world of sicker patients, lower occupancies, less staff, less reimbursement, managed care pressures, Medicare and Medicaid cutbacks, less time to train people properly for the job, pressure to cut expenses and increase profits, people are often not sure what their culture is anymore. They long for the time they understood that quality care comes first and everything else will work out. But times are not so simple anymore, so it is important to rebuild or redefine what the culture actually encompasses. Financial, board, medical staff, and other issues can all be included in the context of corporate culture. While a readiness to change is important, the protection of deeply held organizational values is crucial.

Managing Up

   The CEO of a healthcare organization can no longer be expected to come up with all the new ideas needed to stay ahead of the competition, so managers and other employees must feel the freedom to come up with their own creativeness to keep the hospital ahead. This usually means they must feel free to fail, which must be encouraged by top management. It not, the employees will simply play it safe, doing their work, going home and leaving NEW thinking to the folks at the top. Twyman’s programs force everyone to get "out of their box" and begin helping the boss think. Quality teams that have a clear focus and the support of management often produce spectacular results.