Leading health care providers are faced with complex business issues every day—issues that are mission critical and impact hospital operations. Like how to respond to the ever-increasing scrutiny on cost and quality. Implement measurable and sustainable performance improvement. Identify the untapped potential of facilities. Navigate the “new frontier” of IT connectivity – both within the hospital’s walls and, more importantly, across the health care continuum. Or forge successful physician partnerships.
Even with all these complex challenges, health care enterprises are still required to grow and fulfill their mission. And, despite the dramatic economic slowdown, the overarching demographic trends for health care providers will continue to drive increases in demand. Consumers cut back on discretionary spending in a recessionary economy, and this is resulting in less demand for truly elective procedures. With a much larger proportion of hospital margin coming from the outpatient side, this softening will create downward pressure on hospital profitability. While demand for elective health care services will lag until the markets recover, demand for nonelective services will continue to grow as the population inexorably grows and ages (reimbursement challenges notwithstanding). Acute care volumes will remain largely recession-proof. When the economy recovers, and pent-up elective demand surges, the rebound in demand for health care services may be overwhelming. Strategies are needed to prioritize resources and meet the challenges ahead.
The goal is to operate as a successful provider focused on growth and enhanced market positioning—to be the leader in delivering premier health care and enterprise profitability. The challenge is how to reach this goal and not miss out on opportunities to strengthen and grow the organization.