With 2023 coming to a close, Becker's connected with Shelly Schorer, CFO of the California division of Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, to discuss the continued financial challenges plaguing the healthcare industry and to get her thoughts moving into 2024.
Like many health systems and hospitals across the U.S., the California health system continues to face financial challenges like ongoing labor shortages, post-acute care issues and revenue cycle management.
"It's making sure that we do the billing appropriately, we submit the claims and we are working with the insurance companies to be paid appropriately for the care that we give," Ms. Schorer said.
Serving 1 in 4 Californians, the faith-based nonprofit California division is made up of over $12 billion in net revenue, with 31 hospitals, 125 ambulatory care sites, over 39,000 employees, 8,500 aligned physicians, and 1,200 employed physicians and advanced practice providers.
"We've got every geography you could imagine in California," Ms. Schorer said. "That means different issues for different populations and different needs for different communities. [We need to] continue to be sustainable, grow where we need to grow, maintain where we need to maintain."
Along with ensuring patient access, Ms. Schorer says recruitment and retention should also be an important step for systems, with CommonSpirit already participating in several ongoing nursing school and medical school partnerships to combat staffing shortages and hire proper talent.
While no new partnerships or joint ventures are planned for 2024, Ms. Schorer feels the system might need to look in a new direction to find other ways to provide additional services, like ambulatory sites and telehealth: "Even though it's challenging financially in healthcare right now, we continue to invest where we need to invest. That's very important."
Given the unpredictability of the last few years, Ms. Schorer also says efficiency is key.
"Making sure that we are investing the right way at the right time," she said. "You want to be very frugal with your investment dollars and capital. So, where do we build a new building? Where do we put an ambulatory footprint? Where do we do equipment replacement? We just have to prioritize that much like you would your personal budget. You have things that you prioritize that you need as a family, it's the same way that we do that in healthcare."
Looking toward the future, Ms. Schorer feels optimistic about the economy and has some advice for other CFOs looking to boost their margins in the new year: "I believe that we're going to be stronger. I think the advice would be to make sure that you are watching all aspects of your responsibility, because finance leaders will also have to be strategic partners with the operations team and leaders. Making sure that we don't lose sight and also that we are looking for new opportunities for growth."