February 2017

It's no surprise that reviewing purchased services contract categories like laundry, medical waste or language interpretation can seem like a daunting task – almost like trying to climb Mount Everest.

Making decisions is what management is all about. The higher an individual rises in an organization, the tougher the decisions get – the stakes are higher, there are fewer obvious choices and it's likely the team is riven by conflict over which choice to make.

Repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a unifying, and politically potent talking point for Republicans on the campaign trail, since the law was passed nearly seven years ago. Beyond the campaign, opposition to the law in Congress by the GOP has been ubiquitous.

In the world of fee-for-service care delivery, linear strategic planning and static annual budgets were standard practice for hospital leaders.