As hospitals and health systems work to adapt to a post-pandemic world, the evolution of big tech and retail companies like Amazon and CVS Health, who are navigating pathways deeper into healthcare, can give pause to many healthcare leaders. But Jan Grigsby, CFO of Brunswick-based Southeast Georgia Health System, welcomes the change.
"I see all of this disruption in healthcare as healthy in many ways," Mr. Grigsby told Becker's. "It's forcing all of us to ask hard questions of ourselves. Are we perceiving the landscape of healthcare correctly? Are we listening? How do we become a smarter, sharper contributor of healthcare for the communities we serve?"
Mr. Grigsby, who started with Southeast Georgia Health System in late April, said that competitors such as CVS, Amazon, Walgreens and Walmart will soon realize just how complex healthcare can be. However, for hospitals and health systems, this is a complication that they've dealt with and navigated around for many years.
Essentially, these new disruptors will allow those who have been in the industry for years to take a hard look at their organizations and find new angles that they might not have tried before, or areas that they are running successfully.
"I think they come in and say 'we can do that better' and healthcare systems say, 'come on in, the water's warm, give it a try,'" Mr. Grigsby said. "Then we're not surprised when some of them jump out because the profit margins aren't what they want."
For many hospitals and health systems, margins have seen some improvement, but capital access remains a challenge for some smaller facilities. Mr. Grigsby pointed to two key areas to help organizations improve their margins: quality and technology.
"Quality drives the bottom line and not the other way around," he said. "It drives the bottom line for real and long lasting margin growth. There's tricks of the trade that will get some short-term satisfaction and some short-term positive margins, but if you're not fixated on quality and being a highly reliable organization, then no mission, no margin."
Mr. Grigsby said the system pays close attention to the information technology that is available to ensure the tools are being used to their fullest potential and not being shelved.
"CFOs are now having to dive into that partnership with information technology more so than ever before."
Through strong communication with clinical teams and frontline workers, systems can also ensure that they are producing quality financial initiatives. This can help with both retention and recruitment efforts.
"I think people are your No. 1 asset, treat them that way," he said. "Especially coming off the other side of COVID and the pandemic, it's how precious your culture, your employees and team members are. There's been so much turnover due to the struggles that important clinicians faced during that terrible time. It's important for executives to be cognizant of that and put forth strategies that allow them a culture that is able to come back from all of that."