Designing the CFO of the Future

Tomorrow's healthcare finance executive will need new priorities and skills to lead a health system forward.

Future finance leaders are entering into an increasingly complex and high-stakes healthcare market. What type of skills and strategies are going to set these leaders up for success?

We have some ideas.

Let's face it, the CFO role is not what it used to be. No longer are CFOs just the financial gatekeepers of a health system. There's a lot more to the job now, like leadership and communication skills.

Leadership: Communication with Executive and Clinical Staff

Future finance leaders will need to get a good grip on effective communication across all domains of their organization, including executive staff and clinical staff. They need to build mutual trust and understanding first. Without this trust and frequent, thorough communication, CFOs will find themselves in dangerous territory, making decisions in a vacuum that may impact patient care in ways they don't fully grasp.

Finance leaders will also need to have a robust skill set in negotiation. Effectively communicating with payers in contract negotiations and vendors for products and services is crucial. Future CFOs can look into courses to improve these skills before jumping into important discussions.

"The CFOs of the future really do have to have that strategic knowledge," says Bristol Health CEO Kurt Barwis. "They may be smart, but you can't put them at the top of your organization if they have no people skills, no interpersonal skills, and, most importantly, no self-awareness skills."

The Nurse Outlook: Virtual Nursing

Virtual nursing is all the talk in healthcare right now, but leaders need to be thoughtful about integration, including understanding the financial implications. Integrating AI and virtual nursing can streamline processes and give clinicians time back with the patient, but these tools should be used as assistants, not replacements.

CFOs will need to collaborate with CNOs to figure out how virtual nursing will make the most impact for their health system. Clinical feedback from a CNO can help CFOs make the right investments. The right technology and strategies will mean the difference between a virtual nursing platform that succeeds in improving outcomes and reducing nurse workflows and one that wastes time and money.

While a virtual nursing strategy can help to retain and hire nurses, CFOs know that this alone isn't going to solve the workforce crisis. Working with clinical leaders and investing in the tools they need to do their jobs effectively and efficiently will make an impact on retention and workforce challenges.

Industry Tech

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of new technology and the possibilities for innovation. But leaders will need to prioritize where they need to pay the most attention, i.e., the areas directly impacting patients and staff.

For CFOs, don't pounce on new tech too fast. Discuss with CTOs and CIOs the technology trajectory the organization should pursue. A CFO should be able to understand and communicate the value of IT when collaborating with CTOs. A sloppy tech integration makes it even more difficult to measure ROI.

For AI, CFOs will need close collaboration with CTOs, CIOs and other executives to examine what specific challenges AI can solve for their health system. Don't pour investments into AI just for the sake of having AI. There's much that goes into this decision, including development costs, educational costs, determining market needs, creating utilization balance, and assessing potential ROI, — not to mention governance costs, which include legal and liability concerns. CFOs need to have a full understanding of the financial risks when adopting AI into an organization.

"Our goal is not to replace our workforce with technology, but to help our workforce be more effective and efficient in doing their jobs, while also improving their experience when taking care of patients," says HealthLeaders Exchange Member and Finance Director of AdventHealth Kaitlyn Anderson.

Physician Workforce Expectations

Recruiting and retaining physicians is becoming increasingly expensive, and future CFOs will need to explore different strategies to help CMOs maintain a stable physician workforce. They'll need to collaborate with CMOs to get an understanding of where physicians' challenges lie and create a financial strategy that helps CMOs address those challenges.

CFOs can also collaborate with CMOs to create a workplace environemtn that physicians will appreciate and enjoy. This may involve a culture revamp, with more opportunities for collaboration and open discussion and investments in educational pipelines, and technology to help physicians with their workload.

Disruptors

Healthcare is a much more competitive industry now, and so-called disruptors are targeting key pain points, like cost and convenience. While some of the early primary care models from retail, disruptors have failed to show sustainability, CFOs need to understand where and how those models could affect a health system's financial stability.

The trick for CFOs is to understand where to compete with disruptors and where to stand back and let the market determine what works. They'll need to understand where a health system can invest in collaborations or other programs to improve care while reducing cost, and they'll need to understand how technology and other investments can support the patient journey and keep them from seeking care elsewhere.

Above all else, it's important for CFOs to understand that disruptors and "out of the box" ideas can be good for healthcare by exposing the industry's weaknesses and identifying what patients really want. And it will be up to the CFO to craft a financial strategy that addresses those needs and keeps the health system on firm footing.

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