Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health is in active planning mode and strategizing about the future ahead of its new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, CFO Gail Kosyla told Becker's.
Ms. Kosyla, who has been Yale New Haven's CFO since November 2022, is working with health system leaders "to allocate and develop a capital plan that will maintain our organization's ability to deliver quality care and to ensure our growth according to our joint strategic plan with the Yale School of Medicine."
The health system's biggest growth opportunities over the next few years include stronger alignment with Yale School of Medicine towards improved access for services and population health.
"Additionally, we are partnering with operational and clinical leadership to ensure that our turnaround efforts have been hardwired into our operations," Ms. Kosyla said.
First-quarter results indicate that hospital operating margins are recovering on average, but 40% of hospitals continue to lose money and there is a growing divide between high- and low-performing hospitals, according to a recent analysis by Kaufman Hall.
With four in 10 hospitals still in the red, driving operating margins back into the black is a top priority for CFOs over the next few quarters, and some organizations are seeing improvements after applying a back-to-basics approach.
"Organizations should focus on growth initiatives as identified by their strategic plans. Growth initiatives should have targeted ROI — whether financial or mission-based, and where possible, should align pricing strategies in payer relationships," Ms. Kosyla told Becker's. "Consider optimizing systems of care, including partnering where it makes sense. Systems need to ensure that patients' needs are at the forefront. This may mean they need to stop doing services that are no longer aligned. Systems should also strive to reduce costs through standardization to achieve greater efficiencies and outcomes."
Thank you to Mariah Muhammad of Becker's Healthcare, who contributed to the development of this article.
All leaders featured in this article will speak at the Becker's CEO+CFO Roundtable, Nov. 11-14 in Chicago. Learn more and register here.