UCF Health, which operates a primary and specialty care clinic in both Orlando and Lake Nona, Fla., reported an operating loss of $5.8 million in fiscal year 2017 and has a high risk of losing physicians, according to an outside consultant report reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel.
Here are eight things to know:
1. UCF Health is Orlando-based UCF College of Medicine's clinical practice. It has 29 faculty members who are physicians and nurse practitioners and 69 full-time and nine part-time staff nurses and medical assistants.
2. After hearing complaints from UCF Health staff, Deborah German, MD, dean of the UCF College of Medicine, hired an outside consultant to review the organization's finances and practices. The outside consultant was Chicago-based Navigant.
3. "Our goal is to become better and stronger and use what's in the report to take our practice to the next level," Dr. German said.
4. For the review, Navigant interviewed employees and analyzed clinical data to make recommendations for improvement.
5. The review found that the two UCF Health clinics are bogged down by inefficient technology that prevents patients from easily making appointments and leaves physicians with gaps in their schedules.
6. Navigant said the financial troubles at the clinics were partially attributable to the fact that physicians weren't seeing enough patients. UCF Health could cut its losses by $3 million if physicians saw more patents, Navigant predicted. The clinic's outdated electronic health records make it difficult for workers to find schedule openings.
7. The interviews of staff members revealed that UCF Health is at risk of losing physicians and other workers, as several of them are interviewing for other jobs.
8. Despite the troubles outlined in the report, Dr. German said she remains positive because the issues are fixable. The outdated EHR will be replaced, she said.