Right now, many hospitals and health systems have one foot planted firmly in the fee-for-service world while the other is dipping its toes into the value-based realm, says William Munley, vice president of orthopedics, general surgery and professional services at Greenville, S.C.-based Bon Secours St. Francis Health System.
That divide, combined with other pressures, can make the future seem bleak. However, at the Becker's Hospital Review 5th Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 17, Mr. Munley said hospitals and health systems that position themselves for service line success will come out on top. "If you have good programs and good service lines, the sky isn't falling," he said.
Here are three tips he gave during his presentation for current and future service line strength.
1. Develop centers of excellence. Bon Secours has concentrated on establishing centers of excellence in areas such as joint replacement, hip fracture, sports medicine, spine care and hand care, Mr. Munley said.
Earning the awards and recognition necessary to establish a center of excellence involves creating dashboards to monitor factors in a number of areas, including service (which involves turnover time, surgery block utilization, etc.), outcomes (pain level and functional level), finance (total cost and implant cost) and miscellaneous factors such as seminars and screenings.
Mr. Munley said quality is also very important. "What we found out is there were common complications that either gave you a great score or put you in the dumpster," he said, referring to issues such as pneumonia, renal failure and urinary tract infections. "If you reduce these, you can reduce your cost per case and these are the things that put you into the upper tier for center of excellence designation."
2. Track outcome studies. Tracking, publishing and promoting good patient outcomes is key for standing out from other hospitals and health systems, Mr. Munley said. "Nobody tracks outcomes studies," he said. He advises hospitals to start using existing outcomes tracking tools or to develop their own.
3. Focus on marketing. Bon Secours markets its centers of excellence using various methods, such as brochures, patient reunions, sport team sponsorships, t-shirts and more. "Keep on marketing every step of the way," Mr. Munley said. "You want patients to choose you."
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