Revisiting this article from 2015 on hospital strategies for improving care. The Affordable Care Act requires hospitals to make changes that help reduce costs while improving patients' quality of care, but there are several theories or approaches on how best accomplish that. Some started charging patients per week or month, rather than per service, while others charged per illness or surgery. Others gave physicians bonuses when they conducted enough cancer screenings or performed surgeries with fewer complications, all in the hopes of delivering better care and lowering costs.
It's now 2018, and Fierce Healthcare reports from a Leavett Partners survey that most physicians don’t believe value-based payment models are the answer. Interesting is the divide between physicians and employers: "Only 22% of the 621 physicians surveyed thought ACOs would lower spending, compared to nearly half of employer benefit decision-makers (48%). And 21% of physicians said bundled payments would work, while 46% of employers believe they can lower spending."
There's a buy-in gap that could be improved through more clear payment, reporting and data around physician contracts and payouts.
Cost reduction tops list of 5 top CFO priorities for 2018
Healthcare Finance News
Another survey reveals that CFOs consider cost reduction the most important performance management activity for 2018. It's shocking to us that 56% of CFOs and executives said their organizations "lack access to clean, consistent, and trusted data," while 90% believe hospitals should be better leveraging financial and operational data in decision-making.
In an era of tightening margins, it's more important than ever to understand and optimize spend — even a 1% spend reduction or an increase to reimbursements has a huge impact on bottom lines.
