March 2017

When it comes to the relationship between physicians and hospitals, the message for health care executives is clear: without aligned physicians, hospital admissions are at stake. That alignment has taken on additional importance as physicians and hospitals adjust their strategies to meet rising performance standards within the new risk-based payment models, such as bundled payments.

The Institute of Medicine estimates the scope of waste in the U.S. health care system at $765 billion per year. The bad news is obvious. The good news is hospitals are a target-rich environment for improvement.

With health care providers now shouldering even more financial responsibility, it is incumbent on them to operate more strategically in their quest to deliver value-based care. Under the watchful eye of CMS, providers are seeing the addition of multiple measures related to payer spend for the CMS value-based initiatives.

Saturdays around my house are spent taking care of routine tasks like cleaning, grocery shopping and laundry. The television is usually on in the background with whatever is on HGTV. My favorite is Fixer Upper. While it inspires projects in my own home, it also reminds me of that 1980s movie, Money Pit.

When I think about how most hospitals audit their work processes, a favorite commercial comes to mind: the LifeLock™‘Bank’ TV spot. It begins with several armed robbers entering a bank filled with people. The robbers tell bank customers and employees to drop to the floor, but the security “monitor” remains standing. One of the customers looks up and whispers, “Hey, do something.”