Houston Methodist's new CFO's strategic plan for the system

With just one month as executive vice president and CFO of Houston Methodist under his belt, Anthony DeFurio has stepped into his new role with a clear vision for the future of the health system. 

Mr. DeFurio comes from Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health, where he served as executive vice president and CFO. He succeeded Kevin Burns, who retired at the end of September. 

Becker's connected with Mr. DeFurio to discuss his strategies for not only sustaining but elevating the financial health of Houston Methodist, which include a careful balance between leadership style, annual budgeting, fostering collaborations and long-term strategic planning.

Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for context and clarity. 

Question: Can you provide three financial goals that you have for Houston Methodist in your new role? What strategies do you plan to implement to accomplish these goals?

Anthony DeFurio: Houston Methodist has a long, proud history as one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers. Our vision is to lead medicine through unparalleled safety, quality, service, and innovation. 

Fulfilling this vision requires balancing the clinical, research and teaching missions during both long-term strategic financial planning cycles and annual operating and capital budget development. Partnering with clinical and operational leaders to achieve the goals established during those planning cycles is essential. 

Third, making sure that the balance sheet of the organization is healthy and consistent with the longer-term goals of the organization requires leadership from the senior finance team.

Q: What is your leadership style like and how will this help Houston Methodist achieve financial success?

AD: Leading the financial organization of a large academic medical system requires an open and collaborative communication style. It is quite natural in a learning organization to be able to share best practices and develop a shared appreciation for how financial acumen and discipline will continue to support the goals of unparalleled safety, quality, service and innovation.  

Additionally, senior finance executives must be intentional about developing their teams and bringing cross-functional thinking to the complex challenges facing the healthcare industry.

Q: What advice do you have for hospital and health system financial leaders looking to get their margins up?

AD: [Financial leaders should be] disciplined about the capital allocation process when facing competing needs for growth capital, partnerships and acquisitions, and innovation will be the key to achieving sustainable margins over time. 

Developing a strategic financial plan that is a critical component of the overall strategic plan and vision of the organization is essential. Margin compression has made this discipline more critical than ever.

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