Health Service Systems Week 6 Essays

Health Service Systems Week 6 Essays Health Service Systems Week 6 Essay Health Service Systems Week 6 Essay This paper analyzes the strategies and recommendations to improve the financial performance of Middlefield Hospital. The problem started when the chief financial officer (CFO) indicated that the financial performance of the hospital has been deteriorating over the last 6 months. Hospitals throughout the world are operating on tight budgets. Therefore operational managers must find ways to reduce cost and â€Å"manage productivity across all areas and job categories† (Langabeer, 2008, p.129). There are many factors contributing to this problem: The hospital is exceeding its budget, the new facility across town has continued to cut into Middlefield’s market share by admitting more patients, and the number of admissions to the hospital is declining each month, while more uninsured patients are seeking services at the facility. The hospital has to change its strategies in order to improve its overall financial performance. These strategies include: spending on accounting systems to cut costs, increasing the accounts receivable collections, or increasing legitimacy with stakeholders and donors; improving efficiency through professional administration; spending on advertising to increase revenues through increased market share and premium prices; and offsetting patient care losses with substantial net income from sources not directly connected to patient care. After convening with the Middlefield Hospital management team, we were able to identify the core facts that my recommendations were built on. Medicare is responsible for 37 percent of all community hospital revenues, and reimbursement for capital expenses constitutes only about 7 percent of this revenue. In addition, the patient population of Middlefield Hospital is comprised of more and more Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured patients and fewer patients have commercial insurance. In order to increase the net income the hospital should invest in advertising. Furthermore, advertising is likely to yield significant gains in Middlefield by attracting profitable patients. In return, the hospital should get ready to be shopped as many of our existing patients will be looking for other high-quality, fairly-priced providers. To retain our patients and attract new ones, the hospital’s trained-staff should be ready for the question of cost from empowered direct-pay patients. They also need to be prepared with a price list and a clear statement of what services are provided in Middlefield. To increase the hospital’s quality improvement program, I recommend that Middlefield reach out to their patients regularly. This can be achieved by following simple steps such as; assigning a staff member to call selected patients one month after their visit to see how they are doing; print their schedule and circle who to call; put notes in the chart as needed; pre-schedule annual exams and follow-ups for the on-going care; and to be proactive for patients as many will not remember to call. This is especially important when people are paying for more care themselves. According to our text book, surveys can be used as another tool to measure patient’s satisfaction with the hospital offered-care â€Å"Hospital survey was developed and implemented to periodically measure hospital care from the patient’s perspective. Results are intended to help hospitals improve their performance in areas identified as consumer concerns†. My other recommendation is merging into wellness programs. They are available in many forms depending on what the community needs. Such preventive programs can be identified by soliciting feedback from the hospital’s community, physicians and other health care providers. Wellness programs may include health risk assessments, exercise promotion, diagnosis-specific disease management, nutrition, weight loss, body mechanics, yoga, parenting and stress management. Because of the competition with a nearby hospital, wellness programs can be customized to meet specific community or employer requirements. The hospital may also partner with larger organizations such as the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society to attract new patients to seek services at Middlefield. Emphasis on the intended positive effects of managed care is vital at this stage of improving the hospitals financial performance. By having a single point of healthcare management, we believe efficiencies are maximized and effectiveness of care delivery is ensured to the benefit of the covered subscribers. Middlefield should adopt a high level of intellectual resources that ideally operate to control costs and resourcefully allocate healthcare services. To help reduce the cost of the employee’s health plan, Middlefield can offer financial incentives to its employees by providing cost effective care, encouraging positive outcomes, and giving the employees the chance to get involved in preventive programs so they will have a healthier life-style. Middlefield hospital can build a new reputation by adopting new innovative-services, focusing on three powerful interests: patient safety, employee satisfaction, and financial health- and focus on their mission as  providing quality care at an affordable rate. Barton, Phoebe Lindsey (2009). Understanding the US Health Services System, 4th Edition. Building Low-Cost, High-Quality Health Care Regions in America ihi. org/IHI/Programs/StrategicInitiatives/HowWillWeDoThat. htm Human Resources and Community Development cbo. gov/ftpdocs/107xx/doc10753/1983_05_06_hospital. pdf Langabeer, J. R. (2008). Health care operations management: A quantitative approach to business and logistic.