BACKGROUND:
It is first critical to understand that this is not the typical consultant's story! Although the consultant who will facilitate the discussion has had involvement with the 3 CFOs and their organizations it has been minimal and is not referenced within the discussion. The power of these CFO messages is that they did not rely on consultants to make their changes happen, but rather took the lead in creating their new revenue cycle futures. In addition, their stories will be especially compelling because these CFOs did not wait until they were challenged by the economic downturn and healthcare reform threat. Rather, they pursued the necessary changes because it was the right thing for them to do as leaders.
Their messages will be heard as universal. The panelists have been carefully selected because they represent diverse organizations:
Panelist #1 Facility Profile: Full-service acute care, medium-sized, stand-alone community hospital in a competitive suburban Midwestern setting.
Panelist #2 Facility Profile: Moderate-sized, full-service acute referral center (serving 18 Pacific Northwest rural counties) with transitional beds; research and teaching facility with an affiliated Critical Access Hospital; member of a large, multi-state religiously-sponsored organization with numerous revenue cycle functions provided by the Corporate organization.
Panelist #3 Facility Profile: Large, urban, 4-hospital (acute care, psychiatry, children's) state academic health organization; numerous faculty practice centers and specialty services, primary referral center for the Southeastern state.
THE PANELISTS STORIES and ATTENDEE TAKEAWAYS
Each CFO will share the different pre-change assessment method they used, their reason for selecting the preferred approach and the specific opportunities the evaluations identified. In each case, significant bottom line opportunities were exposed which had not previously been revealed in their regularly measured KPIs. Their comments and data will also highlight: the questions their assessments raised and they were ultimately able to answer regarding previous erroneous assumptions related to staffing benchmarks, expense reduction initiatives and organizational re-structuring; the process opportunities that had not yet been grasped despite various benefits they had reaped by implementing various system applications; the compliance risks which had not been exposed despite their RAC readiness efforts and standard audits; and the absence of a truly mission-congruent, patient-centered, and clinically and financially integrated process model.
The panelists will then discuss the approaches they took in pursuing the non-consultant led organizational change plan by first securing buy-in and executive-inspired accountability among the clinical and financial leadership teams. The CFOs will subsequently focus on each organization's access-driven process transformation models, including performance-based outpartner agreements; internal incentives; ROI-driven employee development and career laddering; and the CFOs will provide detailed before and after data to confirm the measurable benefits realized.
Each CFO will conclude their comments with the critical general and specific wisdom they gained and provide both cautions and encouragements for their peers.