Strategic Focus

  • Three Hospital CEOs on the Top Challenges They Face and the Tough Decisions They Make

    Each year the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) sends a survey to over 1,000 hospital CEOs in hopes of learning something new about what’s on the minds of our nation’s hospital leaders. For the past 10 years running, the number one concern has been “Financial Challenges.” Beneath this underlying concern exists a myriad of…

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  • Is Consolidation Right for Your Hospital?

    Continual reimbursement cuts and the uncertainty of reform have many hospitals and physician groups seeking merger opportunities. There’s a lot of discussion about hospitals being unable to survive without X amount of revenue per year. $2 billion. $4 billion. Pick a number, and you can find some smart person who will tell you it’s absolutely…

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  • Nine Strategies for Primary Care Alignment

    Over the past three years, we have recommended to all of our clients that one of their main focuses should be the development of their primary care strategy. The reasoning is simple − in the current fee-for-service environment, primary care physicians own the referrals that will drive volume to specialists and to the hospital; however,…

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  • Leveraging Your Employed Physician Group for Payment Reform Success

    Reimbursement for healthcare providers is continuing to shift towards increased incentives for quality outcomes and cost management, as insurers (particularly CMS) focus on reducing fee-for-service payments and increasing the amount of risk taken on by providers.  As examples of this, recently, we have seen CMS release its regulations for Value-Based Care Organizations (ACOs), which will…

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  • Transitioning to ACOs: Six Strategies To Implement NOW

    “But what should I be doing NOW?” Several CEOs have asked us that question, as they struggle with how to make an effective transition from a market that incents volume to one that incents quality and efficiency. We can’t stress enough the importance of preparing NOW for the new incentive structure. Those that aren’t are…

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  • Increasing the Value of Your Employed Physician Group

    Hospitals and systems have mixed results when employing increasing numbers of physicians, that according to the influx of calls we have fielded from our clients. They want to know the best way to engage these physicians to improve results, citing significant practice losses, physician apathy, and frustration from administration that employment has not had more…

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  • Primary Care Strategy: Will Your ACO Fail Because You Lack One?

    Preparing for the Value-Based Care Organization (ACO) model is becoming a reality for hospitals and health systems across the country, and addressing how to react to the upcoming changes is floating to the top of senior executive agendas. This movement is gaining momentum as executives recognize that the current fee-for-service model of reimbursement is unsustainable…

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  • Core Competencies for a Successful ACO

    Understanding the ACO Movement The background information on the ACO movement is included the white paper. The paper addresses the factors driving the movement to ACOs, systemic challenges, current initiatives, and the expertise required to be successful. As part of the assessment, eight key success factors have been identified. Those are: Core Competencies To achieve…

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