Middlefield Hospital

As the Chief Executive Office of Middlefield Hospital, it has been brought to my attention by the Chief Financial Officer that our financial performance has been deteriorating for the past six (6) months. It has also been brought to my attention that the new facility has been admitting more new patients and our admissions have been declining. The number of uninsured patients has increased over this period of time. The management team has identified some other interesting facts that are possibly hurting the reputation of Middlefield Hospital. My determination is that the financial performance of Middlefield Hospital needs to be improved.

Research has shown that hospitals are operating on tight budget all over the world, and they need to find way to reduce their costs and also try to manage productivity in all areas and job categories. I have developed some strategies and recommendations for Middlefield Hospital that will help us to improve the financial performance of the hospital. I will individually address each of the facts discovered by the management team and discuss the proposed recommendations for each. The payer mix of Middlefield Hospital is comprised of more and more Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured patients and fewer patients have commercial insurance.

This has caused a decrease in the net income of the hospital. Therefore, I think we should considering more advertising to increase the new come. Advertising should and will attract more profitable patients. The nearby hospital that competes with Middlefield has opened a wellness center that offers a comprehensive array of preventive and wellness services to the community. Wellness centers can offer services that are very useful and convenient to the community. Some of these services are skin care and body services, which include fitness services, personal training and nutrition consulting, chiropractic, holistic medicine, and acupuncture. (http://www. salonbuilder. com/info/wellness-centers. html)

I also think we should open a wellness center that offers a full service fitness center to accommodate the community. We should look into the services that this other nearby hospital is providing in their wellness center, and we should extend our services to the ones they are not offering. Our wellness center should also include a retail store to allow the patients to purchases the products that we use on them. I know this will require a specially trained staff, and we will make sure that the staff is qualified with all certifications needed.

Also, in lieu of the wellness center, we should offer a monthly health fair for new and existing patients. This monthly health fair will also draw new patients to the clients. Most of Middlefield’s managed care contracts are more than 2 years old. In hopes of getting a handle on the managed care contracts, I would like to assign a team of personnel to specifically handle and maintain the various managed care contracts. I would like for this team to make sure that we are getting the best out of these contracts. The team will know what our goals are before deciding on a managed care contract.

Some of the goals that would be considered are: Increasing or protecting revenue Aligning with other practices that already contract with the specific Managed Care Organization (MCO) Fostering a relationship with certain MCOs Increasing/protecting our patient panel The Joint Commission survey is scheduled for next year, and there are significant problems with the hospital’s quality improvement program. To improve the quality program, each department will be assigned a staff member to follow-up with patients after their hospital stays or visits via email or telephone.

We will also send out surveys to all patients for feedback on their visits. Surveys will also be available to visitors for feedback on their visiting experience at the facility and their interaction with the personnel of the facility. Follow up will be very important for providing good quality care. The health plan offered to employees is getting more expensive each year. The benefits director has been asked to look for more cost effective health care plans that are more affordable to our employees. I am working on some financial incentives that I can offer to the employees to help curtail the cost of the health plans.

The benefits director will also work with the health care plan providers to ensure that we are choosing the best health plans for our employees. With the strategies and recommendations I have suggested, it is hopeful that Middlefield Hospital will overcome its poor financial performance. I am looking for Middlefield Hospital to supersede its competition and excel with its reputation and performance to the communities and areas that it serves. We strive to provide outstanding health care services to all who utilize our facilities.