Who’s in charge of leading your hospital through financial implications of the health care transition? How is this leader navigating the challenges? Is this person a team-player?
More often than not this leader is the CFO, and the past few years have presented major obstacles that have led to major shifts in responsibilities and goals for this position.
Before The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and ICD-10, the CFO was more bottom-line focused, placing paramount emphasis on revenue and expenses. Today, the demands and expectations of CFOs reflect the changing priorities of the organization and the evolution of healthcare reimbursement and regulations doesn’t begin to define the current environment of change and this will continue at breakneck speed over the next several years. To keep pace, the healthcare CFO might need to step FAR outside his or her comfort zone and there’s no time to waste doing it. But how?
It’s a tough act for CFOs to juggle their financial and growing strategic responsibilities - ensuring the financial stability of their organization, revenue cycle management, managing the consequences of increasing denied claims - we’ll stop here but you get the picture. And if that’s not enough to make their head spin, CFOs now more than ever must be laser-focused on making the right strategic business decisions to increase quality of patient care and patient retention. I need a vacation just thinking about it. Perhaps, not surprisingly, then, 80% of CFOs said they believe it’s more difficult to be a company leader in today’s business environment than it was five years ago.
Here are 3 traits successful healthcare CFOs will need to adopt to effectively adapt to life AFTER ICD-10:
1. Become More Personable
It’s no longer acceptable to be a born-introvert. The timeworn image of the number-crunching healthcare CFO, toiling behind the scenes have fully transformed into that of a key management leader who is sought after and needed by many. Becoming more personable, getting out from behind their computers and becoming a team player is now a necessity. CFOs must strike a greater partnership with clinical leaders in order to develop strategic plans and reduce costs. Failing to do so will only produce a greater amount of problems during the implementation of ICD-10.
2. Become More Strategic
Burgeoning changes in the healthcare environment are difficult to negotiate and show no signs of slowing down. With such fast-moving regulatory changes like ICD-10, it’s paramount for CFOs to have a solid understanding of operations and the strategies leading to successful deployment.
3. Become More Curious
After ICD-10, healthcare CFOs will need to have an almost insatiable curiosity about their own operations as well as what is happening in the industry. You should be reading every chance you get, networking and thinking about how you can leverage what you see other successful healthcare organizations doing. Also, search for stories in local, regional and national news to keep your ideas fresh and monitor what’s unfolding in your industry. If you fail to stay up to date, especially if you’ve been working for the same organization for many years it’s easy to become stale or even worse, miss out on significant opportunities that could drive profitability.
At VARO, we understand the leader’s role and how it might feel to step outside of their comfort zone. Your role, especially after ICD-10, is unlike anything you’ve been used to in the past. That’s why partnering with a company like VARO, a company who can manage and execute all of your revenue cycle activities including managing the implications of denied claims, are profound.
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Your team can stop dealing with time-consuming inbound patient calls
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Your team can stop spending hours on hold with infrastructure companies trying to resolve small dollar outpatient claims
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You can eliminate the need to initiate and administer patient payment programs which has historically proven minimal success with regards to efforts
Instead you and your team can START spending more time on the more profitable areas of your business - large dollar claims, maximize potential cash flow for small-dollar outpatient accounts, reduce bad debt write-off expenses, and maintain laser focus on ensuring your organization thrives during and post ICD-10 implementation. Download our guide to help maximize patient collections by ensuring you are saying the right thing!
