Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1213128
Healthcare Provider Recruitment in Rural Areas BY HILLARY EAMES IN RUR AL AMERICA, PHYSICIANS ARE IN HIGH DEMAND AND SHORT SUPPLY. HOSPITALS ARE USING A MULTITUDE OF CRE ATIVE ME THODS TO RECRUIT THEM. SINCE 2005, 161 hospitals have been closed in rura l America, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Hea lth Services Research. What's more, a study sponsored by the National Rural Hospital Association estimates 673 facilities are vulnerable to closing. Shortages of physi- cians and other healthcare professionals contribute to closures, leaving populations in rural areas without lifesaving care. As a result, health systems are using several different methods to encourage physi- cians to practice in rural hospitals and medical centers. RECRUITMENT METHODS A hospital in central Idaho focused on recruiting semi-retired physicians willing to work part-time, while a hospital in Lakin, Kansas, helps new physicians house-hunt and manage renovations. The hospital also provides babysitting services to physicians, as there are no nanny services in town. Similarly, a hospital CEO in Clark County, Kansas, focused on niche physicians who may be drawn to rural practice, such as those involved in missionary or community work. In both cases, recruiters focused on the ability to contribute to the community in a significant, meaningful way. n 059990059_PhysicianRecruitment1.indd 1 1/3/20 9:55 AM FLAT OR DECLINING PATIENT VOLUME Drives Need for Cost Transformation Among Hospitals BY JOSH GARCIA ALMOST 75% OF SURVE YED HE ALTHCARE ORGANIZ ATIONS WILL INVEST IN COST TR ANSFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OVER THE NE X T T WO YE ARS. A NEW SURVEY on healthcare performance improvement from Kaufman Hall found that stagnant and declining patient volumes was the most important revenue concern for 30% of healthcare executives. Decreasing commercial insurance rates and increasing numbers of Medicare and Medicaid patients were also identified as revenue challenges, with 27% and 19% of respondents listing them as their primary concerns in the survey, respectively. Though the survey found that almost all hospitals in the U.S. have set targets for cost reduction, less than 25% have achieved their goals. Part of this may be due to the fact that almost half of healthcare organizations do not have access to reliable cost data. Having access to trusted data and analytics is vital to creating effective cost reduction initiatives, especially when considering the complexities associated with meaningful cost transformation. Nearly three out of four respondents said they would purchase technology to aid their cost transformation efforts over the next two years. The survey also identified opportunities for healthcare orga- nizations to reduce their costs moving forward. One major opportunity was the reduction of clinical variation, which respondents admitted has seen the least success from their cost transformation efforts thus far. n 2 0❱❱❱❱❱ P H Y S I C I A N R E C R U I T M E N T