Saint Raphael Healthcare System: Recognizing The Fundamentals Of Healthcare Revenue

Main Category: Conferences
Also Included In: Medical Practice Management
Article Date: 14 Oct 2011 - 7:00 PDT


"High quality care is consistent with a better financial outcome," says Lawrence McManus, Chief Financial Officer, Saint Raphael Healthcare System. By providing the best care possible, medical centers can lower infection rates, length of stay and ultimately costs.

A speaker at the upcoming marcus evans National Healthcare CFO Summit Fall 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 24-26, McManus discusses the significance of the cash flow process and Revenue Cycle Management (RCM).

How can reimbursement for services provided be maximized?

Lawrence McManus: Healthcare Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) must clearly understand the fundamentals of revenue and discover negotiable elements with Medicare and Medicaid in order to get paid.

Trying to get additional dollars from commercial payers has become increasingly difficult. Healthcare providers must put together a case for getting what they are entitled to. Knowledge of the market is crucial when discussing payment rates.

Everyone will have to do more with less in terms of revenue in the following years.

How can healthcare CFOs effectively balance the quality of care and costs in today's economic environment?

Lawrence McManus: High quality care is consistent with a better financial outcome. This leads to lower infection rates, length of stay and ultimately costs. Hospitals can then attract more patients to their facilities and increase cash flow.

There is a huge struggle for revenue in the US. CFOs can influence the cash flow process relative to workflow automation and registration. The revenue cycle can help get more cash in this tough environment.

How can healthcare providers be prepared for upcoming regulations?

Lawrence McManus: Healthcare CFOs must run an excellent facility and focus on the big picture, which is high quality care and having good doctors in place. This all costs money.

In addition, working with administration can help ensure that the medical facility is well managed, providing flexibility in case things change.

No matter what regulations come into play, transparency, forward-thinking strategies and a strong focus on quality will help hospitals flourish whatever comes their way. They cannot mitigate all risks, but they can make sure they do a good job.

What should healthcare CFOs' top priorities be?

Lawrence McManus: The top priorities today are quality, cutting costs and understanding the revenue cycle. By putting together a bridge plan, hospitals can find additional revenue to help mitigate unexpected challenges that might pop up.

What long-term strategies would you recommend?

Lawrence McManus: Consolidating and streamlining will become critical in the years to come.

More focus should be put on providing the best care possible to the community. Having an IT platform in place to meet the needs of the doctors and healthcare providers can be quite expensive; consolidating across different regions makes sense.

About the National Healthcare CFO Summit Fall 2011

This unique forum will take place at The Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 24-26, 2011. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The summit includes presentations on strategies for growing net revenue and controlling costs, revenue cycle management and the transformation of our healthcare system.

For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website.

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Complementing our summit format, the Finance Network - marcus evans Summits group delivers peer-to-peer information on strategic matters, professional trends and breakthrough innovations.

About marcus evans Summits

marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world's leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com

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