Broward Health Financial Leaders Embrace Evolution of Healthcare Finance

“One of the emerging trends I am seeing in healthcare finance is the shift from a volume-based healthcare model to one more focused on the value and quality of care provided to the patient,” said Romaine Layne, assistant CFO at Broward Health Imperial Point.

 

Onel Rodriguez, CFO, Broward Health Coral Springs, agreed. “We are constantly being challenged to deliver healthcare in the most efficient way, yet at the highest quality of care possible.”

 

The financial officers across Broward Health do not perceive this shift to a value-based system as a burden. Rather, it creates opportunities to provide patients with the best experience possible while being cared for at a Broward Health hospital.

 

“Financial departments in all hospitals now focus much of their time on patient satisfaction, because not only is it the right thing to do, but also because the financial viability is directly tied to patients having a positive experience,” said Kim Cole, CFO of Broward Health North.

 

The question remains: what are the best methods for marrying fiscal responsibility with peak patient experience? Alan Goldsmith, CFO of Broward Health, believes technology and enterprise integration are keys to success.

 

“You leverage technology to obtain more real time data that can be used to drive results,” he said. “In addition, we promote working as a team. Each hospital in Broward Health is not a silo but part of a larger system. We win as a team and lose as a silo.”

 

“At Broward Health Imperial Point, we are currently looking at solutions that will bring integration across all of our systems to increase efficiencies,” said Layne. “We must simplify processes and provide real-time data for analysis and reporting to focus our resources on patient care and quality outcomes.”

 

Part of the greater use of technology includes electronic medical records, which Cole indicated are designed to improve patient safety and outcomes while reducing medical errors.

 

These innovative steps in finance enable expense reductions and allow for investments in capital improvements. Multiple Broward Health hospitals have seen refurbishments and expansions be made to modernize infrastructure and improve community access to care.

 

“These updates will increase the standard of care for the community,” said Paul Schwarzkopf, CFO of Broward Health Medical Center.

 

This past spring, Broward Health North completed a $70 million, multi-year project that included the new 36,000-square-foot Emergency Department and Trauma Center, expanded surgical services that included six new operating suites, as well as interior and exterior renovations and a new central energy plant that has increased energy efficiency. Broward Health Imperial Point has renovated its medical and surgical units, Emergency Department and Wound Care Center. Broward Health Coral Springs’ new tower, which features The Maternity Place, a Level II NICU and enhanced surgical services, opens to the public in early September. And the Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital at Broward Health Medical Center finalizes renovations to the neonatal intensive care unit later this year, bringing state-of-the art care to the tiniest patients.

 

“Our patients deserve state-of-the-art health care, and that’s what these capital improvements bring to the community” said Goldsmith.