Cheryl Sadro, senior vice president and CFO of Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine and executive vice president and CFO of Johns Hopkins Health System, has been in her dual role since early January. Now nearly eight months in, one of Ms. Sadro's many goals for the health system is to focus on margin improvements post-pandemic.
"We're still recovering from that inflated labor cost, and we're still trying to make sure that we know how to navigate through that," Ms. Sadro told Becker's.
It's a situation that many hospitals and health systems have also found themselves in. While many organizations are seeing improvement signs, Kaufman Hall's June National Hospital Flash report pointed to a growing divide between higher- and lower-performing hospitals.
"...We would like to get back to some pre-COVID margins under the HSCRC all-payer model," she said. "We need to get to a place where we have margins that can sustain capital growth, as well as help us move forward with other initiatives."
The Health Services Cost Review Commission in Maryland regulates hospital prices to ensure equitable pricing across payers, be that self-pay, Medicaid, Medicare, private or commercial, for same hospital identical services, according to the Maryland Hospital Association's website.
To get to pre-COVID margins, Ms. Sadro said the system has put together a long list of process initiatives to go through, looking at areas like labor and supply costs.
"We also want to make sure that from the outpatient side, we're being as efficient as we can at providing care. Our physicians and faculty are working with us on that, they really are supportive," she said.
When it comes to being successful at leading in her dual roles at Johns Hopkins Health System and Johns Hopkins Medicine, Ms. Sadro pointed to the importance of developing a strong team to lean on for support and guidance. She has also made it a priority to shadow other professions at the health system to gain a stronger industry understanding.
"I think if we can make ourselves available and vulnerable and get out there and learn, it builds a relationship so that when you do need to talk to somebody, it's much easier," she said. "It also gives you a little bit of a line of sight to the reality of what's happening out there."
With the CFO role being historically male dominated, Ms. Sadro acknowledged that she has been faced with some challenges over her more than 35 years in accountancy and financial leadership positions, but stressed the importance of maintaining integrity and professionalism when dealing with any setbacks.
"Find a mentor," she said. "Be good at what you do. Work hard and know your stuff and be prepared. Don't let the little stuff get to you."
Looking ahead to the next five to 10 years in healthcare, Ms. Sadro shared that while she does think that artificial intelligence will be a helpful tool, it won't supplant things instantly.
She also pointed to a stronger emphasis on outpatient care, particularly geared toward academic centers, along with the importance of finding ways to be fairly reimbursed.
"I think that we have to do our part and make sure that we're being as efficient as we can, but also take care of our patients," she said. "I think the industry, just like any industry, still has some growing to do, and has some change it will go through, but there's not much more of a noble profession than being in healthcare. I don't take care of patients, but I get to be around the great people who do. There's no more mission-driven, noble thing to do."