Becker's Hospital Review

12 CEO / STRATEGY CEOs turn attention from recovery to growth By Alan Condon H ospital margins appear to be stabilizing as 2023 comes to a close and health systems continue working through their turnaround strategies. As hospital margins and overall finances eke back to a healthier footing, health system leaders will be able to spend more time and resources on the growth and transformation of their organizations. Over the next three years, healthcare leaders expect patients to become the ultimate consumer, as technology evolves to meet the evolving patient experience, access and care demands. Collaboration and partnerships between health systems will also increase as leaders strive to expand services and access to care and provide the right care to the right people when and where they need it. "We will deliver uber-friendly technology to consumers like companies have delivered for every other part of our lives," Peter Banko, region president of Chicago-based CommonSpirit, told Becker's. "Consumers will access at their fingertips information — care processes, best practices, research, risks, benefits, costs and outcomes — to further their own understanding and ability to impact their care." More technology and information are expected to drive different collaborative care models that are consistent and regularized, creating improved processes, hand-offs and outcomes as well as greater opportunities for self-diagnosis and self-care. "For health systems and providers, competition will, as a result, be based less on quality, safety, affordability and value (those are now "table stakes,") and more on the ability to innovate consumer experience and system connectedness," Mr. Banko said. Automation will become more prominent in areas such as mobile- friendly patient scheduling and check-in, triage and diagnosis of illnesses and real-time monitoring of treatment adherence, all of which will improve access, quality and efficiency for better health and business outcomes. "Enhancements of care will drive even more care delivery to the outpatient setting leading to higher acuity inpatient care," Michael Young, president and CEO of Philadelphia-based Temple University Health System, told Becker's. "ere will be fewer of us remaining systems — as ongoing reimbursement pressures, increasing labor and supply costs, and claim denial challenges make it impossible for smaller hospitals to operate, forcing more closures." In 2023, 24 hospitals either closed or filed for bankruptcy as high inflation and the rising costs of labor, drugs and supplies offset revenue gains and stifled recovery efforts. Payer challenges and downward pressure on reimbursements is also a challenge for hospitals and health systems, and is not going away in 2024. "We will continue to see margin pressure resulting from reimbursement rates not keeping pace with inflationary trends that are escalating staffing and supply chain costs," Cliff Megerian, MD, CEO of Cleveland-based University Hospitals, said. "As a result, you will see health systems optimizing their operations which may include footprint re-evaluation, increasing focus on value-based care, and greater utilization of digital technology, such as remote monitoring and telehealth services." Health system leaders also expect to see more collaborations and partnerships — as opposed to versus brick-and-mortar acquisitions What 2 health system CEOs are optimistic about in 2024 By Andrew Cass T wo health system CEOs recently shared with Becker's what they are most optimistic about in the new year, from adjusting to long-term changes to addressing maternal mortality: Russ Johnson. President and CEO of LMH Health (Lawrence, Kan.): In 2024 I think we will fully emerge from the "pandemic years." While there are clearly long-term results and changes from our last four years, they will begin to assimilate into our usual and routine operations being seen less as changes and more as new paradigms resulting from that time. I am optimistic about this because it allows leadership to shift from a reactionary mode where we are adjusting our operations and processes based on what we think may be temporary measures and making deeper and broader organizational adjustments to respond to the industry and market as we now know it to be. This may be most evident in the arena of workforce, where many of us have scrambled to make sense of new expectations, demands for greater flexibility, the financial challenges of contract and agency labor and, in my opinion, the more concerning phenomenon of workers feeling disconnected from their sense of purpose and unity with the broader organization. In 2024, I am optimistic that we can reconnect on the deeply meaningful and important work that our employees make happen every day in our hospitals. Michael Young. President and CEO of Temple University Health System (Philadelphia): We are committed to reducing maternal mortality and morbidity in North Philadelphia, which are rising nationwide particularly among women of color. Addressing this crisis requires understanding, innovation, expertise, resolve and resources. Temple Health's new Women & Families Hospital launches [in 2024]. And with strong community partnerships, grants and state and philanthropic support, our new hospital campus will offer expert, trauma- informed care that addresses personal, clinical and social determinants of health while also providing employment opportunities to our community members. n

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