The Evolving Role of the Hospital CFO

Looking back over the years, from 1980 (when I took my first Hospital CFO job) to the current time, it is evident to me that there has been a quantum leap in the role of Hospital CFO’s. Long gone are the days when a Hospital CFO spends the lion’s share of his or her time focused on financial reporting as the core component in the sphere of the position’s responsibilities. Now the most critical component of the Hospital CFO’s role is strategic planning. The CFO must have a clear vision of where the organization is going, and what it needs to do to get there. Resources to assure the goals of an optimal patient experience, operational excellence, strong physician relationships, and a motivated and performing labor force must be carefully planned and allocated during a time when reimbursement has grown increasingly fragile.

 

As time has moved forward, I find myself more and more immersed in operational issues at the Hospital. At current, I serve as the Chief Staffing Officer (CSO), overseeing an 800 FTE workforce. Part and parcel to this process, I closely monitor on a daily basis how each Hospital department is staffing to assure each unit is achieving its productivity standard, and controlling premium pay by minimizing registry and overtime. At times, this certainly doesn’t make me the most popular person in the Hospital, but with a fair and consistent approach I have found that most personnel respond to my leadership in this area. Like many Hospitals in this day and age where more is expected with less, C Suite members have to wear multiple hats. In addition to being the CFO and CSO, I also serve as the Chief Compliance Officer for the Hospital, and oversee real estate matters. What a difference from the years when I was the “Chief Bean Counter” back in the early 1980’s over accounting, payroll, accounts payable, and data processing. Nowadays, my realm of responsibility also includes Materials Management, where I Chair the Supply Management Action Team, and Case Management, comprised primarily of registered nurses, where length of stay management, accurate patient status, timely discharge planning, and effective utilization review are critical components to the Hospital’s financial success. I suspect I would have gotten long odds back in 1980 if I had offered a bet that one day I would be overseeing RN’s as a Hospital CFO.

 

I have evolved into being far more of a visible senior leader than in years past. I round in patient rooms on a daily basis, and am the administrative liaison for our surgical nursing unit. My time is also purposely allocated to leading key employee recognition initiatives such as the organization of our off-site employee Christmas party galas. I led the delivery of our Dr. Martin Luther King celebration event in January, 2013, which included employees and the public and helped promote the Hospital’s image as a community leader in honoring a great man. I procured and distributed Joe Tye’s “The Florence Prescription” to the Hospital’s leadership Team to assist in driving a cultural change at our Hospital with the goal of reaching new heights in the patient experience, quote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Lady with the Lamp” during orientation of our new employees, and send out inspirational emails to our Director leadership Team most every week. I even sing Happy Birthday to our employees celebrating their birthdays each month.

 

I also find myself closely involved in physician relationships. With more than 600 physicians on staff, it is difficult to see and respond to all our physicians on an ongoing basis. It takes a concerted team effort, and one which I am eager to do my share to assure that we have happy, satisfied physicians, who like to come to our Hospital because they know we listen to them, to whom we have demonstrated that we take action if there are fixes needed, and are responsive to their needs. All of these things are critical ingredients to successful physician relationships, of which I am proud to play a key part.

 

Essentially I believe that a successful leader has to continually reinvent oneself in order to grow in effectiveness and contribute in maximum fashion to the organization’s success. I have embraced the Hospital CFO evolving role, and am confident that as a result my impact as a senior leader of our Hospital has exponentially grown.