Altru, Memorial Health, Penn State Health and Sharp HealthCare are among the systems that reported improved year over year operating performance in their most recent financial reports.
Becker's asked the CFOs of the four health systems to share one key to their boosted operating performance:
Altru
Grand Forks, N.D.-based Altru posted an operating income of $8.8 million in the three months ended March 31 up from $3.5 million posted over the same period last year, according to its May 7 financial report.
CFO Derek Goebel said a key to the system's operational improvement has been an aligned executive leadership team that is focused on improving the culture of the organization.
"For example, we introduced several leadership academies to bring physicians, advanced practitioners, and future leaders of the organization together to dive deep into topics like financial management and revenue cycle operations," he said. "We have a strong commitment to transparency, having difficult conversations as part of change management, and the importance of strategic thinking."
Memorial Health
Springfield, Ill.-based Memorial Health posted an operating income of $46 million in the six months ended March 31, up from an operating loss of $12 million posted over the same period last year, according to its May 29 financial report.
Memorial's Senior Vice President and CFO Katie Keim said that over the past year the system made a strategic decision to focus on the "core functions of our mission and to cease programs that were nonessential."
"This realignment allowed the organization to reduce leadership positions by 20%, resulting in salaries and benefits savings that put the health system on stronger financial footing," she said. "Since then, the organization has maintained ongoing vigilance and implemented processes to proactively manage labor costs and non-clinical positions."
Penn State Health
Hershey, Pa.-based Penn State Health posted an operating income of $48 million in the nine months ended March 31, up from an operating loss of $125.6 million posted over the same period last year, according to its May 30 financial report.
Penn State Health's Executive Vice President and CFO Paula Tinch said the system has boosted operational performance by transitioning from a period of substantial facility growth into "one of optimizing our expanded academic health system by strategically utilizing our new assets and implementing better strategic processes."
"As an example of one key focus area with Penn State Health’s Hampden Medical Center and Lancaster Medical Center now fully online, our teams implemented a process of ensuring that patients can receive appropriate care close to home in our community hospitals," she said. "This enhanced process has allowed us to better manage access to tertiary and quaternary level care at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, our system’s academic hub, while leveraging the capabilities of our community hospitals to their fullest to meet our patients’ needs. All of this together has increased our overall system-wide patient-care capacity while allowing us to deliver the right level of care at the right place at the right time."
Sharp HealthCare
San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare posted an operating income of $1.3 million in the six months ended March 31, up from an operating loss of $62.2 million posted over the same period last year, according to its May 29 financial report.
Sharp's Executive Vice President and CFO Susan Green said the health system is "relentlessly focused" on improving margins that have eroded post the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Toward that end, we have implemented several strategies for improving health care affordability in San Diego County, namely investments in people, technology and infrastructure," she said. "In addition, Sharp HealthCare reduced contract labor significantly from its height in 2022 and has also appointed a chief transformation officer, whose mission is to drive process improvements through our newly created Office of Transformation. Combined, these investments will promote sustainable margins to ensure health care access to the vulnerable communities we serve."