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Area hospitals weather the financial storm

Dealing with budget shortcomings, hospitals learn to cope while still care

Atrium Medical Center has plans in place to welcome more specialists, create a surgical robotics program and generally increase the quality of care for patients.
Staff photo by Gary Stelzer.

GARY STELZER Atrium Medical Center has plans in place to welcome more specialists, create a surgical robotics program and generally increase the quality of care for patients. Staff photo by Gary Stelzer.

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By Staff Report Updated 3:00 PM Friday, March 12, 2010

Last year was a tough year for area hospitals because of the faltering economy and the growing number of residents who lost their jobs and health insurance.

Hospital administrators from the region recently shared how they will remain resilient in 2010 and how they are handling economic issues.

Douglas McNeill, CEO, Atrium Medical Center

What are your goals for 2010? We will continue to build our capacity for growth by welcoming new physicians and specialists, especially in neurosciences, and by adding a surgical robotics program. The new DaVinci Robot will allow for precise minimally invasive surgical intervention in select procedures for which robotics are fast becoming the standard of care.

We also intend to become an accredited chest pain center, which will enable us to further enhance our cardiac program.

What changes are you anticipating at the hospital? We will continue to adjust to the three major drivers influencing hospitals throughout Ohio – the national economy, the state budget and resulting franchise tax, and health care reform. We do not know the full impact any of these drivers will have on health care, nor on Atrium, in the coming year and therefore will remain flexible in our response to each of them.

Q: What are some of the challenges facing the region in terms of health or hospital care? In addition to the franchise fee, which is being paid by all Ohio hospitals, the biggest challenge to health care in Butler and Warren counties is the economic environment. With decreased employment, bad debt and charity care builds exponentially, increasing the financial burden on hospitals that treat anyone regardless of their ability to pay. The challenge for our area is to find ways to increase employment and reverse this trend.

What steps did your hospital take to survive the sluggish economy? Similar to other hospitals across the country, at Atrium Medical Center we worked diligently to constrain expenses while becoming as efficient as possible. By focusing on service, quality and growth, we increased patient satisfaction, met or exceeded quality indicators, and grew patient volumes despite the economic environment.

What are your thoughts about the health care reform debate and what changes would you like to see made? Regardless of the tone of the health care debate, the marketplace is already adjusting to the belief that some element of reform will come. I embrace the concept of expanded health care coverage but am concerned about how we will absorb the cost. What I feel is missing in the health care debate is financial incentives for Americans to live healthier lives and therefore reduce their need for health care. By incentivizing people to be more proactive about good health, we can reduce the overall burden of health care cost across the country.

Do you think universal health care is a good idea? Universal access to health care is a good idea. The issue is how to accomplish this in an economically sustainable manner.

What new technology, partnerships or programs will be available in 2010? In addition to welcoming new physicians and bringing on new robotic technology, Atrium Medical Center along with Miami University, Sinclair Community College, Wright State University, Warren County Career Center, Cincinnati State, and other educational partners will be breaking ground on the new Greentree Health Science Academy later this year. The new academy will be located on our campus and will continue its work of training the next generation of health care workers.

Michael Fisher, CEO, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

What are your goals for 2010? Continuing our leadership work on improving quality and safety and intensifying our focus on increasing value to our patients and their families. We also plan to strengthen and expand the work of three recently created institutes: the Heart, Perinatal, and Cancer and Blood Diseases Institutes.

Are you anticipating any changes at the hospital? While the environment in which we operate is being affected by the troubled economy and potential changes in reimbursement, what won’t change is our commitment to improving outcomes and experiences for our patients. We will continue to be a leader in quality improvement, and to invest in research that leads to new discoveries to improve health outcomes for children.

What are some of the challenges facing the region in terms of health or hospital care?

The lack of pediatric primary care providers who accept new patients on Medicaid continues to be a major concern for families. This is a growing problem in this troubled economy. Giving a child a Medicaid card is not the same as assuring access to care if Medicaid reimbursement rates are so low that providers will not accept patients on Medicaid.

What steps did your hospital take to survive the sluggish economy?

We’ve increased capacity by maximizing use of existing space and resources and improving efficiency of operations. We had an exceptionally busy year in fiscal 2009. For the first time we reported over 1 million patient encounters, including patients from 47 states and 40 countries. Families from outside the area continue to come to Cincinnati Children’s for specialized care.

What are your thoughts about the health care reform debate and what changes would you like to see made? We are following the debate carefully and communicating our perspective to elected officials through our state and national children’s hospital organizations. We want to see more attention paid to the needs of children. We believe that our experience with quality improvement initiatives gives us valuable expertise to bring to the public policy discussion.

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