After reporting $1.1 billion in net income in 2023, compared to a $715 million net loss in 2022, Jenni Alvey, senior vice president and CFO of IU Health, is pleased with how the health system is coming out of the pandemic.
"I feel like it was a strong year," Ms. Alvey told Becker's. "We are not back at the same level we had been previously, but we feel like it is a stair-step back to where we were pre-pandemic."
Much of IU Health's earnings in 2023 were related to investment gains.
"You have a lot of people react to the $1.1 billion and say, 'Hey, look at that, they're making so much money' … but $930 million of that was investments," Ms. Alvey said
In an effort to continue reducing expenses, the health system's price plan is expected to exceed $1 billion in total patient and employer savings by 2025.
"We're on track to deliver on our commitment, which was to get to national averages when you look at all services and all payers," Ms. Alvey said.
A true passion for Ms. Alvey is IU Health's price transparency program, which offers comprehensive estimates, like out-of-pocket costs, for all medical procedures.
"We committed to getting our prices to a place that we are proud of, that we feel like we can defend, that people feel comfortable paying, and that we can tell you what it is," Ms. Alvey said. "We want it to be so easy for our patients."
The health system also spends a lot of time on its financial assistance policies, connecting with patients to ask them specific questions about their income, how many kids they have, and how much certain costs would be as a percentage of income.
"What we're passionate about is making sure patients know what to expect. We feel good about the prices and the costs," she said.
Along with working to reduce patient cost, the health system is also investing in major upgrades to its hospitals, including $2.3 billion in construction of an expanded medical campus that would combine two existing downtown Indianapolis hospitals.
The new 864-bed hospital, which is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2027, will feature three towers, 50 operating rooms, and 380 outpatient exam rooms to support IU Health's cancer, cardiovascular and neuroscience clinical institutes.
"We're taking those two old hospitals and putting them together in one that then means our staff does not have to go back and forth anymore," Ms. Alvey said. "From a health equity perspective, having one hospital where everyone is treated the same. Everyone has individual rooms, nice new beds. We think that's what Indiana deserves."
Another nearly $2 billion for additional investments will go to IU Health's downtown Indianapolis campus and its neighboring property holdings. The health system has also put half a billion dollars into the health district.
"Healthy food, affordable housing, good schools," Ms. Alvey said. "That's what we're really focusing on in that community."
Looking to the future of healthcare, Ms. Alvey said it's important for health leaders to be thoughtful about ways to reduce cost and improve care efficiency and affordability.
"As a CFO, I think you have to take off your financial hat and operate as a peer internally with your chief nursing executive, your chief medical executive, your chief operating officer, your chief HR officer," Ms. Alvey said. "You have to work as a group to try to accomplish your goals. Systems who row hard together and their executive teams, I think you'll find are very successful and you can see that in their results."