Head of the Heart Institute
Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Thursday, July 22 2010
In August 2007, Michele Molden was named president and chief executive officer of Piedmont Heart Institute in Atlanta. In that position, she is responsible for development of the financially and strategically integrated partnership of more than 100 cardiovascular specialists and Piedmont Healthcare to form one of the largest cardiology groups in the country. Piedmont Heart Institute is both physician-managed and physician-governed. Prior to her promotion, Molden was executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Piedmont Healthcare, where she was responsible for development, human resources, information systems, and materials management, as well as marketing and public relations, business development, and outreach services.
Prior to joining Piedmont Healthcare in December 2002, Molden served as senior vice president for outreach services in (then named) Olympic Health Management in Bellingham, Wash. She had also been vice president of planning and marketing at Saint Joseph’s Health System in Atlanta. Last year Modern Healthcare magazine named Molden to its Top 25 Women in Healthcare list.
Molden, who grew up in Ohio, now lives with her husband, Jack, and two of their three daughters in Atlanta. She received her MBA from Kennesaw University in Kennesaw, Ga.
Womenetics: What did you want to be when you grew up?
Molden: I couldn’t decide whether to be a writer or a lawyer. As an undergrad, I took science classes. My degree was in microbiology, and I minored in sociology – sort of schizophrenic. I can carry on a good argument with myself.
Womenetics: How did you get into the medical field from there?
Molden: I started in basic research in the medical environment and was recruited by a start-up that developed diagnostic test kits for hospitals and labs. It was very interesting. I developed project management around the country, and we started developing diagnostics for unusual diseases. Then I was divorced and then starting dating a guy in Atlanta. I answered an ad in the newspaper for a program manager at Saint Joseph’s Hospital. I consider myself a strategist and planner, and I was vice president of planning and marketing when I left. I took a hiatus to work with Olympic in Bellingham, Wash., for five years and then was recruited by Piedmont. When I talk to young women, I tell them to be a better career planner than I was. My path was different and wasn’t forged with planning, even though I am a planner.
Womenetics: How important is it that Piedmont Heart Institute is physician-managed?
Molden: It is the key to the success of the organization. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that physicians know the best care for their patients. Our physicians have been quick studies with hospital administration in a short time. We’re not physician-owned. We’re a not-for-profit and owned by the community. But our physicians feel like they are owners. They don’t have an equity piece, but they manage and govern the organization. There are a majority of physicians on the board.
Womenetics: How would you describe the state of the health care industry in the United States today?
Molden: Physician-managed is where the industry should go. I don’t know what “accountable care” means, but you need to make the health care system more efficient and deliver it with higher quality and less cost. An alignment and integration of the physicians and hospitals has to happen to move this forward. We’re creating one model for that. We need to take the strengths of our U.S. system and fix our weaknesses, not emulate the programs in other countries. The main weakness in our system is that we’ve never been willing to have the debate about how we make sure everyone has access and who should get the most expensive health care. I was disappointed with the health care reform debate. I was excited that there might be a national discussion with the people who know more about it. But that didn’t happen. It became so politicized. It would have been transformational for our society.
Womenetics: Tell me about Piedmont’s Women’s Leadership Alliance.
Molden: It’s so exciting! I was the only woman in senior management in 2002. A year later, my boss, Tim Stack, said to me, “Fix that!” So I spoke with consultants and other companies. Many organizations were developing affinity groups for women and other populations. Tim and I code-named the alliance, “Steel Magnolias.” And we developed a business-oriented organization for any woman at Piedmont to participate so that we could learn the barriers to women ascending. There’s no charge to join. We have about 700 members. We provide mentoring and all kinds of programming and coaching for women. Eighty-five percent of our work force is female.
Womenetics: What are your top three goals for Piedmont Heart Institute?
Molden: 1. To make it a destination site for cardiovascular disease. 2. Figure out how to take the Heart Institute and make it work across the Piedmont system. 3. Take the lessons we’ve learned at the Heart Institute and take it to other specialties.
I’ve made every mistake that can be made. I’m a believer that mistakes are the stuff success is paved with; just don’t make the same mistake twice. Acknowledge your mistakes, but if you’re not making mistakes, you are not taking risks.
Womenetics: What’s your biggest dream?
Molden: To see Piedmont Healthcare become absolutely essential as a health care asset that people in the community see and so the best physicians want to practice here and patients want to come here. A big part of that is Piedmont Heart Institute. In the future, people will make their medical decisions differently; the way people make choices is going to change. Young people are more likely to do research (before choosing a doctor or hospital). More quality care will be vetted.
Womenetics: How do you unwind from your stressful day?
Molden: I married the best husband who is so accommodating. We’ve been married 20 years, and we’re still head over heels in love. I’m also addicted to great books and any movie. I get out of my day-to-day stuff; I’m very good at detaching. I typically take five or six books on vacation with me, but I have to be very careful not to read all night.
Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.
