CoO CFO Perspective Cash may be “king” but quality is “queen.” Every hospital administrator should have quality and satisfaction in the 97th percentile, but the challenge is to achieve this level of per<strong>for</strong>mance while maintaining a healthy bottom line. pense as a percent of net patient revenue remained consistent with the prior year’s per<strong>for</strong>mance. Technology STPH has embraced technology throughout the patient care delivery model and the entire revenue cycle, resulting in improved productivity and a stronger bottom line. Some highlights include 2010 redesign of the pre-registration process, implementation of benefit verification and copay estimator software, elimination of duplication through autofill functions (asking the patient the same question multiple times) and automatic physician order <strong>for</strong>ward/ verification. These gains are continued with concurrent coding process on the floor, single sign-on <strong>for</strong> physicians and staff, and an electronic health record storage device enabling remote access <strong>for</strong> physician — all serving to decrease Discharged Not Final Billed (DNFB) by 2.1 days in 2011. Standardized Plat<strong>for</strong>m Physician integration comes in many shapes and sizes, but at STPH we believe that one size may not fit the requirements of all the physicians (staff and contracted). Nonetheless, a standardized system plat<strong>for</strong>m means physicians no longer have to access multiple applications, resulting in greater physician satisfaction and increased productive time. A standardized plat<strong>for</strong>m also eliminates multiple interfaces and the need <strong>for</strong> additional IT staffing support, since individual applications require upgrades that cause unexpected “Bolt On” applications to be upgraded as well. CPOE The potential benefits of Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) include a reduction in medication errors, decreased time frame <strong>for</strong> order completion, improved adherence to core measures, patient-centered decision support systems at the point of care, error checking to prevent duplicated orders and an overall reduction in pharmacy cost. The implementation of CPOE systems is not without pitfalls resulting from changes in physician workflow and the need <strong>for</strong> careful integration and implementation by all of the members of the hospital system. A successful CPOE implementation necessitates physician involvement in all phases of the design and implementation process. The STPH medical staff is designing and building a customized CPOE system using the Siemens Soarian plat<strong>for</strong>m, which has the added benefit that our physicians are already all familiar with it. We have in place a physician order set design and development team using “Zynx” order sets to create evidence-based admission order content. Our physician order set content and validation team of representatives from across the STPH medical staff creates standardized orders sets that improve physician workflow efficiency and prevent problems associated with handwritten orders. Staffing <strong>for</strong> PATIENT Improvements Hospital operations depend on technology to improve staff utilization, resource consumption and improve patient satisfaction to contribute to the success of the hospital’s bottom line. Acuitybased staffing models have been around <strong>for</strong> a number of years, but the subjectivity of the patient’s severity has always been in question. Today, staffing models are driven by multiple matrices that allow staffing flexibility tied to patient acuity, patient risk factors and staff skill mix. Knowing how to manage these matrices can reduce hours per patient day (HPPD), improve staff satisfaction and make <strong>for</strong> a com<strong>for</strong>table, cost-effective patient stay. Cash may be “king” but quality is “queen.” Every hospital administrator should have quality and satisfaction in the 97th percentile, but the challenge is to achieve this level of per<strong>for</strong>mance while maintaining a healthy bottom line. At STPH we have been successful in maintaining that critical balance between cost and outcomes. Embracing Change As STPH looks ahead in times of reimbursement uncertainty, an increased appetite <strong>for</strong> capital dollars, and added government compliance reporting criteria means executive jobs are not going to get any easier. Doing more with less has always been the buzz phrase in our industry, but we need to use technology in concert with human capital to their fullest potential to continue our success long-term. Our commitment to embrace changes and improvements may make it harder <strong>for</strong> the grandmother who was born here to recognize us as the same hospital, but those advances are the reason her grandchildren will be proud to choose St. Tammany Parish Hospital as their community health system into the next generation. 26 <strong>ADVANCE</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Executive</strong> <strong>Insight</strong>
esults. <strong>ADVANCE</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Executive</strong> <strong>Insight</strong> 27