Healthcare Reform Doesn't Kill Jobs

Looming cuts to Medicare reimbursements promise to impact provider budgets, and layoffs might appear to be inevitable in the Buckeye state.  But With PPACA-related quality measures to implement, hospitals and health systems can't exactly remove hands from the bedside if they expect to improve the quality of patient care. 

But with labor costs consuming at least half of most hospitals and health systems' budgets, it certainly attracts the attention of CFOs such as Mary Ann Freas at Southwest General Health Center in Middlebury, OH.

Southwest General's strategies center around labor cost efficiency, says Freas. She points out that the Urban Institute report does not pay enough attention to dual roles of hospitals and health systems—as providers and employers—in the discussion around healthcare reform and jobs.