ACHE Survey: Top Issues Confronting Hospitals in 2014
Survey: Healthcare Finance, Reform Top Issues Confronting Hospitals in 2014
CHICAGO, January 12, 2015—Financial challenges again ranked No. 1 on the list of hospital CEOs’ top concerns in 2014, according to the American College of Healthcare Executives’ annual survey of top issues confronting hospitals. Healthcare reform implementation and governmental mandates ranked next in a tie for second, closely followed by patient safety and quality.
“The survey results show that these are challenging times for CEOs and leadership teams, and we are all expected to do more with less,” says Deborah J. Bowen, FACHE, CAE, president and CEO of ACHE. “Taking care of patients and improving patient safety and quality in their organizations is job No. 1, but CEOs acknowledge they must do so in a climate of complex payment reform, dwindling reimbursement and government mandates.”
In the survey, ACHE asked respondents to rank 10 issues affecting their hospitals in order of importance and to identify specific areas of concern within each of those issues. Following are some key results from the survey, which was sent to 1,118 community hospital CEOs who are ACHE members, of whom 338, or 30.2 percent, responded. The issues in the following table are listed by the average rank given to each issue, with the lowest numbers indicating the highest concerns.
Issue |
2014 |
2013 |
2012 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial challenges | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.5 |
| Healthcare reform implementation | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.7 |
| Governmental mandates | 4.6 | 4.9 | 5.0 |
| Patient safety and quality | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.4 |
| Care for the uninsured/underinsured | 5.5 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
| Patient satisfaction | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.6 |
| Physician-hospital relations | 5.9 | 6.0 | 5.8 |
| Population health management | 6.8 | 7.6 | 7.9 |
| Technology | 7.3 | 7.9 | 7.6 |
| Personnel shortages | 7.4 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
Within each of these 10 issues, respondents identified specific concerns facing their hospitals. Following are those concerns in order of mention for the top three issues identified in the survey. (Respondents could check as many as desired.)
Financial Challenges (n = 338)1 |
|
|---|---|
| Medicaid reimbursement (including adequacy and timeliness of payment) | 69% |
| Bad debt (including uncollectable emergency department and other charges) | 67% |
| Decreasing inpatient volume | 63% |
| Medicare reimbursement (including adequacy and timeliness of payment) | 57% |
| Competition from other providers (of any type—inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory care, diagnostic, retail, etc.) | 55% |
| Government funding cuts (other than reduced reimbursement for Medicaid or Medicare) | 55% |
| Increasing costs for staff, supplies, etc. | 55% |
| Revenue cycle management (converting charges to cash) | 39% |
| Managed care payments | 37% |
| Other commercial insurance reimbursement | 37% |
| Inadequate funding for capital improvements | 32% |
| Emergency department overuse | 26% |
| Other | n=22 |
Healthcare Reform Implementation (n = 338)1 |
|
|---|---|
| Reduce operating costs | 78% |
| Shift to value-based purchasing | 66% |
| Alignment of provider and payor incentives | 65% |
| Align with physicians more closely | 54% |
| Develop information system integrated with primary care MDs | 48% |
| Regulatory/legislative uncertainty affecting strategic planning | 47% |
| Study avoidable readmissions to avoid penalties | 46% |
| Hire one or more primary care physicians | 35% |
| Obtain funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for electronic records (meaningful use) | 32% |
| Study avoidable infections to avoid penalties | 26% |
| Other | n = 17 |
Governmental Mandates (n = 338)1 |
|
|---|---|
| CMS audits (RAC, MAC, CERT) | 80% |
| Implementation of ICD-10 | 68% |
| CMS regulations | 64% |
| State regulations | 34% |
| Increased government scrutiny (e.g., IRS, Sarbanes-Oxley Act) | 32% |
| Other | n = 35 |
About the American College of Healthcare Executives
The American College of Healthcare Executives is an international professional society of more than 40,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations. ACHE offers its prestigious FACHE® credential, signifying board certification in healthcare management. ACHE’s established network of 80 chapters provides access to networking, education and career development at the local level. In addition, ACHE is known for its magazine, Healthcare Executive, and its career development and public policy programs. Through such efforts, ACHE works toward its goal of being the premier professional society for healthcare executives dedicated to improving healthcare delivery. The Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives was established to further advance healthcare management excellence through education and research. The Foundation of ACHE is known for its educational programs—including the annual Congress on Healthcare Leadership, which draws more than 4,000 participants—and groundbreaking research. Its publishing division, Health Administration Press, is one of the largest publishers of books and journals on health services management including textbooks for college and university courses. For more information, visit ache.org.
Contact:
Lisa M. Freund, FACHE
Vice President
Communications and Marketing
American College of Healthcare Executives
One North Franklin, Suite 1700
Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 424-9420
lfreund@ache.org
A special Thank you to The American College of Healthcare Executives for this useful resource.
Source URL: http://www.ache.org/pubs/Releases/2015/top-issues-confronting-hospitals-2014.cfm