Reform and care quality are concerns
ANN ARBOR, MI – ANN ARBOR, MI – Reimbursement cuts and new payment models resulting from healthcare reform are the biggest challenges confronting U.S. hospitals, according to a new survey of hospital CEOs.
The survey asked CEOs of hospitals that won the Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals award in 2011 to rate the key challenges they face over the next one to three years, the reasons for their success and the importance of various industry issues.
The majority of hospital chiefs told Thomson Reuters that reimbursement cuts and new payment models stemming from healthcare reform are the greatest challenges confronting their organizations in the years ahead.
“We know that we’re going to be very accountable for what we do, that everything will be more transparent and that we’re going to be facing reimbursement models that are diametrically opposite to what we have now,” said Georgia Fojtasek, president and CEO of Allegiance Health in Jackson, Mich. “To change without imploding the current model will require a careful transition along with managing in the current fee for service environment.”
The top five challenges listed by the CEOs are linked to healthcare reform — decreased reimbursements, uncertainty about the advent of Accountable Care Organizations, continued cost reductions, changing physician alignment and quality of care.
When asked to rate the factors that have driven their success, hospital CEOs most often cited a sustained focus on quality.
“Many years ago quality wasn’t as formal as it is now. We continue to put more attention, more structure and more discipline to it,” said Diane Seloff, chief of staff at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. “We have various quality councils that focus on driving and approving the quality goals and plans; they assure the accountability.”
Other success factors cited frequently were strong leadership, developing a culture of excellence and a good relationship with medical staff.
“We’re very careful to make sure we have truly equal, win-win relationships with our medical staff,” said Kyle DeFur, president of St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital. “We treat them with respect and value the important role they play in the hospital and the health system. That will create an environment where they want to work, their opinions are valued and they can bring about change and be involved in decisions.”
The survey asked executives to rank the importance of current topics in order of importance. They listed quality measurement, medical staff alignment and cost reductions as the top three. These were also the three issues that hospital CEOs felt their organizations have made the most progress on.
“I think the biggest challenge will be the increasing number of performance measures from the government…and the requirement that you toe that line, because if you don’t it’s going to negatively affect your reimbursement, patient perceptions or maybe even employee perceptions,” said Ken Smithmier, president and CEO of Decatur Memorial Hospital in Decatur, Ill. “It’s different than how the business was when I started 30 years ago.”
