Learn about how healthcare CFOs are dealing with the industry's biggest issues in finance.
It’s a challenging time for healthcare CFOs as they navigate an ongoing pandemic, labor shortages, inflation, supply chain issues, and more. These leaders are seeking actionable solutions to these problems that won’t impact their workforce, patient care, or their bottom line.
HealthLeaders has recently connected with several hospital and health system CFOs to learn how they are navigating these difficulties. Here’s what they had to say:
HealthLeaders: How can hospitals and healthcare systems cut costs without sacrificing their workforce?
JoAnn Kunkel, CFO for LCMC Health: It's about being more efficient and having people work to the top of their ability. It's about being able to focus on what's important and making sure that you're automating what you can and supplementing with resources to help people work at the top of their skill sets. We must look at things like that as we move forward and plan for the future. You must have the right number of people to be effective and efficient, but also be as nimble and lean as you can.
HL: What should healthcare CFOs be focusing on in 2022, as the pandemic continues to be an issue?
Kunkel: The biggest thing we're all struggling with is, what is the new normal? 2019 was the last time things were normal, then 2020 it was a total pandemic, 2021 was up and down. In January and February of this year things were difficult for healthcare in the United States, emergency department volumes were changing and there were such labor shortages. So, how do we work more efficiently? How do we adjust to the new volumes? We were already looking at shifting from inpatient to outpatient and home-based care. And that's been exacerbated by the pandemic, and those trends are going to continue.
Read our full interview with Kunkel here: One-On-On With LCMC Health’s CFO JoAnn Kunkel
HL: What are the biggest challenges hospital CFOs are facing right now? And how can we solve them?
Michael Sunday Jr., CFO for Pardee UNC Health Care: Today, hospitals are facing multiple issues in the healthcare industry, including the rising cost of labor, a labor shortage, rising costs of supplies due to inflation, pandemic spikes, and reductions to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. To take on these challenges, we are first looking at ways to not rely on contract labor. That could mean creating a hospital contract labor pool to reduce the impact of contract labor. Other steps would include hiring in-house recruiters to help bring qualified employees into the organization and finding ways to reduce costs, including the reduction of waste and energy consumption. Charge capture is also important to ensure all documentation is being captured on the front end to reduce the likelihood of denials from insurance companies.
Read our full interview with Sunday here: New CFO For Pardee UNC Health Care Discusses Financial Strategy
HL: How do you solve some of the pain points St. Jude's healthcare staff are struggling with?
Pat Keel, CFO of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: There's been a lot written about the stress on the clinical workforce during the pandemic, and it's no different here. Our kids are at higher risk to contract diseases than other people, so we've had to be careful during the pandemic, and that put a lot of stress on our clinical staff because they have multiyear relationships with these kids. So, we've built a resilience system to support staff that includes some of the traditional tools that most hospitals have implemented like a 'code lavender'—a peer support program people can reach out to when they are feeling stressed. It's helped our staff feel supported during the pandemic and allowed us to retain people despite some of the attractive salaries that traveling programs are offering them. We've also added a dog—Rosalie—who dedicates her time to supporting staff, students, and faculty. Anytime Rosalie shows up, it is always a much needed and much happier break.
Read our full interview with Keel here: Q&A With Pat Keel, CFO Of St. Jude Children’s Hospital
Amanda Schiavo is the Finance Editor for HealthLeaders.