Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/821337
39 39 CEO/STRATEGY Shawn Sheffield. Chief Strategy Officer of Keck Medicine of USC (Los Angeles): "In California broadly and at the Keck Medical Center, payer mix is something we watch carefully. We are balanced about it; our location is in East Los Angeles, so our area catches a large Medi-Cal population. We don't prioritize private payers over Medi-Cal patients. One of the things we've worked on is successfully making sure we have the letters of agreement in place with medical providers and insurers so we are reimbursed for care. It can be a challenging balancing act to ensure we provide the right care for all patients, but I'm proud of what we've done at Keck. As a healthcare services provider, we are closely watching what hap- pens with the legislation and how future healthcare laws will roll out. In California, the ACA was positive because it extended coverage for uninsured patients considerably. At the end of the day, we are an aca- demic medical center with the unique opportunity to provide tertiary and quaternary care for patients who have limited options for where they can go. In the future, we are going to keep doing what we're doing now: demon- strating we provide value regardless of the patient population. If we can be the provider that most meets the price point and provides good out- comes, that's where we need to be. Given the ACA noise, as long as we are focused on the fundamentals of providing value-based healthcare, we can have a huge impact." Kristy Taylor, DHS. Founder of Heka Healthcare Consulting (Palm Beach, Fla.): "I disagree with this policy on a personal level, because patients should not be prioritized based on their ability to pay. As a healthcare business professional, however, I understand the necessity of having to make decisions that will keep the business financially viable. Hospitals are a business. Although we are ultimately here to help indi- viduals, we have to sometimes make uncomfortable decisions that will lead to increased profits. We have to keep our doors open if we want to be able to help patients at all. e decision from the Mayo Clinic seems to have been made with this understanding in mind. Unfortunately, due to the low reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicaid and the growing costs of healthcare, hospitals are being faced with these sorts of decisions every day. Many will argue the ethics of this, but ultimately as a business, all leaders are faced with similar questions and will have to make such tough deci- sions. With all of the red tape associated with Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, some healthcare organizations may be asking, is it re- ally worth it? In my opinion, the Mayo Clinic has made the difficult decision that comes with having to grow and sustain a healthcare busi- ness, while trying to remain patient-centered." Deane Waldman, MD. Director of the Center for Health Care Pol- icy with the Texas Public Policy Foundation (Austin): "[I believe] every hospital that still has not closed its doors cherry-picks patients. It makes the practice moral because without doing that, they couldn't make nurse payroll. e costs of the massive federal bureaucracy and compliance costs combined with the cost of uncompensated care (mandated by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986) requires either you cherry pick or go out of business. At my last university hospital, uncompensated care made up 24 percent of a bil- lion dollar budget. at's a quarter of a billion dollars they need to 'find' somewhere. e only unusual element is a major CEO's willingness to speak the truth." n 5 Things to Know Before Becoming a Healthcare Consultant By Emily Rappleye Considering a switch from industry to consulting? H ere are five things to know about the healthcare consult- ing field, based on a career guide from Washington, D.C.-based George Washington University's Milk- en Institute School of Public Health. 1. Compensation. A management consultant's base salary averages more than $131,000 annually — in 2015 the median salary was $131,613, according to the report. Additionally, many top firms provide hefty perfor- mance bonuses — roughly 25 percent of a base salary — as well as signing bonuses, which can range from about $25,000 to $35,000, according to the report. 2. Location. Typically the highest demand for consultants is in large metropolitan areas, where hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, govern- ment agencies and other potential clients may be dense. The largest con- centration of healthcare consultants (26.1 percent) is currently located in the Southeast, and the second high- est concentration is in the Mid-At- lantic region, where 18.2 percent of nation's healthcare consultants re- side, according to the report. Another 16.7 percent of healthcare clients are based in the West. 3. Type of work. Based on percent- age of revenue, the healthcare con- sulting field's focus first and foremost is strategic management (36.8 percent of revenue in 2015), which involves advising on strategic plans, transac- tions, value-based care strategies and governance, among other initiatives. The second-highest revenue source is financial management and operations (18.9 percent). After that, human re- sources and benefits projects account for 12.9 percent of revenue, followed by IT strategy, which accounts for 9.3 percent of revenue for healthcare con- sultancies. The remainder of revenue is made up for other offerings such as marketing, equipment planning or practice management. 4. Main clients. Hospitals are the most common clients for healthcare consul- tants, followed by pharmaceutical firms, other healthcare providers, government agencies, medical device companies, and finally, payers, according to the re- port. 5. Background. No specific educa- tional background is needed to be a consultant — many firms offer entry-lev- el positions to candidates who recently earned undergraduate degrees. How- ever, more senior positions require more industry experience or advanced education, according to the report. n