Conflict, Feedback, and Negotiation in Health Care

Online Program Overview

The stakes are high in health care. The ability to negotiate and manage conflict is crucial to guiding your organization. As the health care landscape continues to change, the need for effective leadership and communication skills for managerial stakeholders continues to be pivotal.

This online program is designed to build on your leadership and management skills. This course will empower you with cutting-edge skills and confidence to tackle the challenging situations you face as a leader. These techniques can be used by any stakeholders; be you a physician leader, practicing physician, residency director, or nurse manager.

Harvard faculty will enhance your ability to face the most complex situations and conversations with greater confidence. Instructors use a combination of learning approaches such as teaching mini case studies, interactive classroom discussions, and helping you apply newly learned skills to real work situations. 

By the end of the program, you will have built the confidence and developed the skills necessary to be more effective at managing conflict, having difficult conversations, and negotiating with others. 

In this online program, you will increase your confidence in the critical management areas of:

• Navigating conflict 
• Providing feedback 
• Skillfully approaching negotiations 

A Strong Foundation in Negotiation and Conflict Management 

Leaders spend considerable time managing interpersonal conflict. The substantive issues being negotiated in health care often require a difficult decision between two equally good or bad alternatives – with the care of a patient in the mix. The need to effectively and quickly negotiate through informal, unarticulated channels makes strong relationships critical. 

One way to effectively manage conflict and ultimately build strong relationships as a leader is through frame-based feedback, which is founded on the concept that people’s actions are driven by their “frames,” or their point of view regarding the situation at hand. Without discussing a feedback receiver’s frames, changes to his or her learning and behavior is unlikely. 

Learning Objectives

Within a learning environment that will facilitate career growth, this program will develop your expertise in the following critical areas:

Conflict Management:

• Develop strategies for overcoming the barriers and challenges to conflict management
• Apply the skills of using frame-based feedback to conflict management and relationship building
• Identify the key components of organizational accountability for supporting a culture of trust and psychological safety

Negotiation:

• Explore the dynamics of influence in the context of health care leadership
• Develop strategies for overcoming the most difficult challenges of negotiation
• Apply the skill of interest-based negotiations to real situations
• Develop effective methods for driving decisions

Credits and Logistics

Continuing Education Credit

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health designates this live activity for a maximum of 12 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has an agreement of mutual recognition of continuing medical education (CME) credit with the European Union of Medical Specialties (UEMS). Additional information regarding this agreement may be found on the American Medical Association (AMA) website.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will grant 1.2 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for this program, equivalent to 12 contact hours of education. Participants can apply these contact hours toward other professional education accrediting organizations.

All credits subject to final agenda.

All participants will receive a Certificate of Participation upon completion of the program.

Faculty

Current faculty, subject to change.

Theodore J. Witherell, MA

Program Director

February 18 – 20, 2025

Primary Faculty
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Jo Shapiro, MD, FACS

Faculty

February 18 – 20, 2025

Senior Educator, Center for Medical Simulation
Department of Anesthesia, Pain and Critical Care
Massachusetts General Hopsital

Associate Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery
Harvard Medical School

Agenda

Who Should Apply

This program is specifically designed for physician leaders. Clinicians with the following titles are strongly encouraged to apply:

• Assistant VP
• Assistant Medical Director
• Chair
• Chief Medical Officer
• Chief Operating Officer
• Director
• Division Chief
• Executive Director
• Executive Administrator
• Medical Director
• Non-Physician Dyad Partner
• Nurse Manager
• Program Director
• Professor
• Residency Director
• Service Line Leader
• VP
• Vice Chair

Individuals interested in this program may also benefit from our online program Health Care Financial Management for Physician Leaders.