Healthcare News of Note: Most healthcare CEOs are optimistic about the future of their business despite a potential recession

• Most of the CEOs in the Healthcare, Media & Entertainment, Telecom & Cable, and Aerospace & Defense sectors indicated being somewhat or extremely optimistic about the future of their business even in the face of a potential recession.
• While roughly one-third of 2021 hip and knee replacement episodes were performed by providers with 100 or more prior surgeries, approximately 50% were performed by providers who had performed less than 50 surgeries from 2017 through 2020.
• Data available in the recently launched Congressional District Health Dashboard includes measures such as life expectancy, diabetes rates, uninsurance and children in poverty.

Over the past few weeks, I have found these industry news stories that should be of interest to healthcare finance professionals.    

1.  Healthcare CEOs are among leaders in 4 industries who are less fazed by a potential recession

Healthcare is one of four industry sectors where a majority of surveyed CEOs indicated they are “somewhat or extremely optimistic” about the “outlook for the future of their business considering a potential recession,” according to the 4th annual AlixPartners Disruption Index.

The goal of the index is to “delve deeper into the changing nature of the global economy and what business leaders must do to adapt to and take advantage of these shifts,” wrote the authors.

CEOs on the impact of a recession

The report’s findings, which are based on a survey of 3,000 senior executives from 10 industries (300 CEOs per industry) and nine countries, found not all sector CEOs reacted similarly to the potential 2023 recession.

The survey, which was conducted from Sept. 2 to Nov. 14, 2022, showed the following:

CEOs expressing optimism in the face of a recession tended to be from the following industries:

• Media & Entertainment — 93%
• Telecom & Cable — 91%
• Healthcare — 90%
• Aerospace & Defense — 89%

4 largest disruptors

The report authors wrote: “Four major forces will transform the world economy in the years ahead.” The disruptors are demographic decline, technological advancement, deglobalization and climate transition. The authors added: “These represent challenges — but also huge opportunities.”

For additional details about the major disruptors expected around the world, how to prepare for a recession and specific insight on each of the industry sectors, review this AlixPartners healthcare industry brief.

For more information

For more insight on disruption in healthcare, check out HFMA’s “Disruption is real,” a  supplement in which supporters of Volume 1 of HFMA’s Healthcare 2030 series provided analysis.

2. High-volume orthopedic surgeons generate better outcomes for patients at lower cost than less-experienced peers

Not only do “high-volume orthopedic surgeons generate better outcomes at lower costs,” but “thousands of negative clinical events*. . .  could be avoided each year by steering patients to high-volume providers,” according to a January report  by Clarify Health Institute.

The analytic sample consisted of commercial claims data** for:

• 66,367 hip replacements completed by 10,100 providers in 2021
• 111,666 knee replacements completed by 13,432 providers in 2021

Surgeon experience levels

Not all orthopedic surgeons have the same amount of experience, according to the report authors, who wrote, “While roughly one-third of 2021 hip and knee replacement episodes were performed by providers with 100 or more prior surgeries, approximately 50% of hip and knee replacement episodes were performed by providers who had performed less than 50 surgeries from 2017-2020; 17% of hip replacements and 13% of knee replacements in 2021 were performed by surgeons with less than 10 prior surgeries documented in the commercial claims data.”

Major findings

Based on the study, findings for both hip and knee replacements when performed by orthopedic surgeons with the most experience include:

• Lower rates of post-acute inpatient readmission at both 7 days and 60 days
• Lower rates of post-surgical-stay orthopedic specialist visits, emergency department visits and inpatient days

* The examples of negative clinical events cited by the authors were readmissions, emergency department visits and revision surgeries.

** The institute “calculated historical surgical volume using finalized claims from 2017 to 2020 and assessed recent professional surgical episodes using finalized 2021 claims for hip and knee replacements.”

3. The new Congressional District Health Dashboard spotlights health issues and inequities

The recently launched Congressional District Health Dashboard “provides actionable measures of health and its drivers calculated at the congressional district level, showing users how their district is doing on health outcomes, social and economic factors, and more,” according to the dashboard’s About page.

The data includes measures such as “life expectancy, diabetes rates, uninsurance, and children in poverty — to demonstrate strengths and challenges in their regions and drive positive change at the district, state and national level,” wrote the authors. 

Although the data is expected to be useful to policymakers, advocates and community members, it also seems likely hospital and health system leaders could use the data to help target certain health issues affecting people in the communities they serve.  For instance, Downers Grove, Illinois, where HFMA is based, is in the 6th District of Illinois, which ranks “worse than the U.S. average” for binge drinking and air pollution, according to the “Snapshot” portion of the dashboard.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s 4th Congressional District, which includes part of Milwaukee County and almost the entire city of Milwaukee, fares “worse than the U.S. average” for: binge drinking, children living in poverty, firearm homicides, housing with potential lead risk, lead exposure, low birth weight, neighborhood racial/ethnic segregation, obesity, opioid overdose deaths, premature deaths, preventative services for those 65 years and older and teen births.

The dashboard was created by the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, in partnership with and support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and it builds on the school’s experience creating and managing the City Health Dashboard since 2018.

The dashboard also can be used to drill down to reveal metric demographics, metric maps and more.

HFMA bonus material

• Read the Feb. 8 article “Texas court again backs providers in No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution litigation,” by Nick Hut, senior editor.
• Did you or someone you know receive an HFMA certification from September through December 2022? Check out our latest Honor Roll.
• Read “Various data highlight the ongoing labor challenges facing hospitals and other healthcare providers,” by Nick Hut, senior editor.