Monthly Archives

October 2015

Oct 28 2015
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President’s Message

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October has arrived which normally means cooler weather, shorter days and leaves turning those magical colors. “Not so fast”, to quote Lee Corso on ESPN during the Saturday Game Day show. Most of Texas has experienced excessive rain fall in the spring, extended heat this summer met with lack of rain, drought conditions and most recent in North and Central Texas, flooding rains again; meaning I still have to mow the yard! Slow to come but I think fall is finally upon us!! As we all know fall normally signifies football and I have noticed a trend that most conversations, business and personally start with something about our little league team, our college team and or our favorite pro team on what happened that weekend or what will happen in the next game (basic trash talking). I recall in my travels this summer seeing team shirts on fans 6-8 weeks out from the season with anticipation of great things to happen. As I reflect on what I just said it reminds me of today’s healthcare; expecting one thing and getting another. Uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring, how will we cope, can we survive the storm, what will it look like when its passed…..my friends I don’t know that anyone has the complete answer but what I do know is that we are blessed to live in a great nation and a great state that can and will survive whatever storm you may encounter. National HFMA & the South Texas…

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Oct 19 2015
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Getting to the Essentials in Evaluating Value/Risk Contracts

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By Debra L. Ryan and Andrew S. Cohen Transition of the nation’s healthcare system toward a value-based business model requires healthcare providers to move toward value-based contracts and care delivery models. Twenty-two percent of hospital and health system leaders anticipate such contracts will constitute 50 percent or more of their payment arrangements within 24 months, up from 7 percent of those leaders six months ago, according to a recent Kaufman Hall survey. Under many value-based contracts, organizations accept greater financial risk by agreeing to deliver defined services to a specified population at a predetermined price and quality level. Organizations must develop a contracting and corresponding care delivery strategy that involves careful planning, skills development, and a phased approach. Thorough assessment of contracting options and specific contracts is essential. Identifying best-fit contracting options Evaluating risk- and value-based payment arrangements involves weighing organizational resources, capabilities, and goals against contract terms, including potential risks and rewards. Executives must be able to articulate the organization’s short- and longer-term goals, and its most appropriate role in the emerging population health management environment. Examples include an integrated delivery system suited to be a “population health manager” responsible for the full care continuum, a regional provider best positioned to maintain a clinically integrated delivery network of defined scope as a “population health comanager,” or a community hospital that will be part of a network managed by a population health manager or comanager. Healthcare leaders should assess the hospital’s or health system’s care delivery model and network, and…

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Oct 19 2015
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Salucro Leadership Series: The Consumer Experience | Kevin Kumler

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1. During your career you’ve represented healthcare providers and healthcare companies. How have you seen the patient experience evolve since you started? Considering there was no iPhone, mobile apps, or Facebook when I first started out, there have been fundamental shifts in the world as well as in the healthcare industry. In looking at the broader changes since then, technology has advanced at an unprecedented rate. It has helped us do things we’re already doing better and faster, and allowed us to do things we could never do before. It also allows us to solve patient problems that have been persistent pain points since I started in the industry in the ‘90s. These new experiences across all other consumer industries have conditioned patients to expect the same levels of choice, immediacy, and personalization when it comes to their care. While patients used to be a passive participants, they’ve since shifted to become more informed and empowered. In healthcare today, patients have started to play a more active role and they ‘get a vote’. 2. The shift from patient to consumer is a topic we are hearing a lot about in the healthcare industry. Many cite different reasons driving this change, including patients taking on more financial responsibility for their own treatment. Could technology and options like ZocDoc also be at the heart of this change? Patients have become accustomed to elements that have benefitted them in other markets: transparent and clear information, readily available alternatives, and low switching costs. These…

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Oct 12 2015
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Using Marketing’s Playbook to Engage Patients Financially

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By Kristen Jacobsen, Director of Marketing Revenue cycle leaders at the HIMSS Revenue Cycle Solutions Summit in Chicago talked about key challenges facing the industry. They tackled tough topics, including ICD-10 and the growing complexity of collecting patient balances. They talked with consistency about the need for change, the goal of patient centricity and the importance of metrics to track payment performance. It struck me that many proven tactics marketers use to engage potential consumers can help financial leaders improve results in the patient-pay revenue cycle. Marketers consider demographics, personas, channels, messaging, conversion rates and more to tailor communications that drive results. That model can prove effective for patient financial engagement as well, leading to better experiences for patients and better financial results for the provider. Consider the following: Segment your audience Marketers seek to understand common needs and behaviors of their audience because different segments are moved to action for different reasons. That’s true, too, of patients. No two patients are the same. Each has distinct financial needs or preferences that have an impact on how, when and if they chose to pay their healthcare bill. Understanding common needs, motivators and payment patterns within your patient population—and building common profiles for those segments—is the first step in building a more effective financial communication framework. Optimize your messaging Segmentation allows you to vary messages to patients to achieve the best results. For example, you might emphasize the availability of online payments for a demographic segment that’s inclined to pay in…

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