Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/821337
44 44 CEO/STRATEGY 5 Biggest Concerns for Health System Executives in 2017 By Tamara Rosin A new set of concerns has emerged among hospital and health system executives, according to The Ad- visory Board Company's latest Annual Health Care CEO Survey. The survey, which was completed by 183 C-suite execu- tives between December and January, found the No. 1 concern among health system leaders in 2017 is improv- ing patients' access to care in ambulatory or outpatient set- tings. Last year, this concern was ranked No. 6. An entirely new concern — finding innovative ways to lower expenses — came in at second place. The No. 3 concern was boosting market share for outpatient surgical proce- dures, up from No. 10 in 2016. "This shift in topic rankings reflects a change in hospital and health system priorities in part driven by current dis- cussions on healthcare policy reform," said Chas Roades, chief research officer at The Advisory Board Company. "Im- proving cost-effective access for consumers, who are likely to bear more direct financial responsibility for the cost of care, will be a growing concern for healthcare providers in the coming decade. Our survey shows executives are con- sidering new strategies to remake their cost structures to respond to the changing environment." The survey asked executives to rank their level of concern on 26 issues. Here are the top five. No. 1: Improving ambulatory access (57 percent) No. 2: Innovative approaches to expense reduction (57 percent) No. 3: Boosting outpatient procedural market share (55 percent) No. 4: Minimizing unwarranted clinical variation (53 per- cent) No. 5: Controlling avoidable utilization (49) n Trios Health Cuts 95 FTEs to Improve Finances By Kelly Gooch K ennewick, Wash.-based Trios Health, part of the Kennewick Public Hospital District, is reducing its workforce through various measures, including layoffs, according to a Tri-City Herald report. e system said the workforce reduction is part of a restructuring plan assembled by management consulting firm Quorum Health Resourc- es to improve district finances, according to a news release. "e Quorum report concluded that our operations were not sustainable without significant financial and operational adjustments," Marv Kinney, KPHD board president, said in the release. "We are actively course cor- recting as it is our intention to continue to serve the Tri-Cities." Under the restructuring plan, Trios Health reduced 95 full-time equivalents as of April 1. Trios Health said the 95 FTE reductions were accomplished through various means, including attrition, scheduling and work hour changes, voluntary layoffs and involuntary layoffs. Approximately 23 percent of the FTE reductions were involuntary layoffs. is means roughly 25 employees were involuntarily let go, according to the report. e involuntary layoffs affected employees in ambulatory care/preop- erative services, pharmacy, administration, medical staff services and urgent care within Trios Health's hospital and Trios Medical Group, among other departments, reports the Tri-City Herald. "As we worked through the process we had ongoing conversations with our unions and have kept our providers and staff in the loop at every turn over the past two months, including the sharing of Quorum's plan — all 401 pages," Trios Health Interim CEO Craig Cudworth said in the re- lease. "We took due care to notify affected individuals ... so there were no surprises. It was and remains a priority to offer dignity, respect and trans- parency to all affected, whether by their choice or not. Losing colleagues hurts. We are friends, neighbors and even family. is is a very difficult time for us." In addition to the reduction of 95 FTEs, Trios Health also plans to reduce an additional 20 FTEs in the next several months. e system said the 20 FTEs will be reduced through "additional attrition, hourly adjustments relative to patient volumes/need and additional opportu- nities identified by employees." "We will diligently watch our productivity numbers to meet our tar- gets," Mr. Cudworth said. "We are already seeing early indications that we are on the right track." Overall, Trios expects to save about $4.3 million annually through the total reduction of 115 FTEs. n