Financial Sustainability Report: December 2020

The December 2020 Financial Sustainability Report, sponsored by Kaufmann Hall, examines hospitals’ and health systems’ growing imperative, driven by COVID-19, to pivot their OR strategy to the ambulatory care arena. Other content explores new initiatives focused on SDOH and new opportunities to reduce costs of physician credentialling through collaboration enabled by distributed ledger technology.

Ambulatory Care

3 ways hospitals need to pivot their OR strategy in the wake of COVID-19
By Jeff A. Peters
To maintain OR procedural revenue in the years following COVID-19, hospitals and health systems require a new surgical services strategy led by physicians and characterized by a focus on ambulatory care, with a strong emphasis on improving the patient experience and overall OR process efficiency.

SDOH

Commentary
SDOH: An emerging population health priority
By Pam Nicholson and Dudley Morris
In recent years, public health and not-for-profit organizations have focused on addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) and their impact on individuals’ wellness and ability to access healthcare services. Progress has been slow to date, but recent initiatives suggest use of effective approaches to addressing SDOH is gaining momentum.

M&A

How health systems can avoid unforeseen obstacles during a merger
Sponsored by Kaufman Hall
By Tim Shoger
When pursuing a merger and acquisition (M&A) transaction, merging parties should engage in intentional integration planning to avoid a host of potential barriers that can dampen the promise of the new organization. Ideally, integration planning starts with developing a strong business case and continues through the pre-close transition and efforts to combine operations within the new organization.

Population Health Management

Healthcare organizations prepare for sicker patients in 2021 due to deferred care
By Rich Daly
Healthcare organizations are bracing for a sicker 2021 patient populations due to pandemic-era disruptions in care, even as they scramble to prevent that outcome.

Physician Credentialing

Distributed credentialing: The new provider mobility imperative
By John Bass
Healthcare organizations must validate the identity and credentials of all the physicians that deliver care in their facilities, which creates a significant revenue cycle, recruiting and physician relations challenge. New approaches using blockchain and distributed ledger technology offer a way for organizations to collaborate on this process, thereby saving them substantial expense.

Cost of capital

Determining cost of capital can be a tricky matter for not-for-profits
By Richard Rollo
An important question for healthcare finance leaders is, “What is our cost of capital?” The answer to this question, however, is not at all straightforward and ultimately depends on context, with tax exemption possibly hanging in the balance.