How hospitals succeed with clinically-led strategic sourcing and total cost management
Sponsored HealthTrust– June 2024 – The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
Hospitals and health systems constantly balance the need to deliver quality care while running a successful business. As shifts in sites of care, payment models and patient choices drive macro changes, how do providers deliver exceptional care while maintaining financial performance?
According to HealthTrust Performance Group (HealthTrust), a leading healthcare performance improvement company, organizations should consider the following to successfully navigate these market shifts:
Empowering acute and non-acute care organizations with total cost management
ASC innovation around surgical and anesthesia techniques, as well as recovery strategies, has been a major contributor to the decreasing number of procedures on the CMS “inpatient only” list. That’s good news for patients, but the impact on hospitals is significant.
In response, hospitals are reevaluating their care delivery strategies by consolidating activities, analyzing value streams to remove waste, and seeking economies of scale. Simultaneously, non-acute care organizations like physician offices and ASCs are engaging in similar work to improve efficiencies.
Harnessing physician input for shared decision-making
Healthcare organizations that will succeed in today’s challenging environment are those that engage physicians in shared decision-making and collaboration, particularly when focusing on growth areas that ASCs can’t capture.
“It’s important to have conversations with physician leaders to identify potential commodity savings so organizations can stand up businesses for new growth,” said Dr. Young, HealthTrust’s Chief Medical Officer. “With cardiology, for example, if you want to start a complex EP program or TAVR program but have a lot of variation in drug-eluting stents, those are essentially commodities with existing standardization opportunities.”
Optimizing healthcare value – HealthTrust’s impact across diverse care settings
Healthcare organizations recognize that GPO and contracting services alone aren’t enough to manage financial performance. In response, HealthTrust has built capabilities around its core GPO, focusing on labor, purchased services, and clinical and operational efficiency improvements.
“Our members expect us to have a differentiated market value and to simplify everything as much as possible,” said Dr. Young. “That means an easy-to-use contract portfolio, operational guidance and strategies that promote efficiencies. They want transparency in the supply chain, analytics and the business, as well as supply chain resiliency and business continuity plans.”
HealthTrust offers the same robust contracting, clinical strategy services and seamless contract portfolio to acute care members and to non-acute physician practices and ASCs through HealthTrust’s AdvantageTrust group. HealthTrust has a unique viewpoint of the market through both acute and non-acute lenses, leading to a broad perspective and ability to identify areas members should prioritize.
HealthTrust is committed to helping all members understand policy, payment and regulatory factors, as well as market dynamics. Based on this knowledge, organizations can conduct scenario planning and identify the best ways to deal with today’s evolving business environment.
With the inevitable shift in care taking place, the need for strategic partnerships that deliver meaningful value are increasingly necessary. Learn more about how HealthTrust provides strategies for success at healthtrustpg.com.