Healthcare costs
VIEW FROM THE FINANCE CHAIR
What does the current risk and insurance landscape look like to healthcare CFOs? Brian Lovdahl, CFO for Baldwin Area Medical Center, shared his views with HRMR.
three factors: 1) consumers are becoming more concerned with cost and are forgoing treatment; 2) consumers are looking to alternative solutions for diagnosing and treatment; and 3) consumers continue to fear health reform and do not understand how it applies to them.
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Against this backdrop, however, Baldwin Medical Center is forging ahead with new developments.
“These are exciting times for our organization as we have undertaken the
a busy interstate,” says Lovdahl. “From the time we purchased the land to the time we will be putting shovels in the ground will be about 15 months.”
At the same time, a new electronic medical record (EMR) system is has been handling the process really well and we are all excited for completing these two major tasks,” says Lovdahl.
Next to ICD-10, Meaningful Use, a new EMR system, and building a new facility, two of the biggest challenges for Baldwin Area Medical of falling patient numbers.
“We are continuing to struggle with physician recruitment and having
community is becoming a bedroom community for the Minneapolis St. Paul metro and people are getting more and more of their care at facilities closer to their workplace.
Lovdahl believes that one of the most important and exciting
challenges over the coming years will be the shift to population health, keeping people well and out of hospital wherever possible. Rather than viewing this as a threat, he sees it as an opportunity to broaden the
“Healthcare organizations have made a lot of money by keeping
be successful by keeping patients out of our facilities,” he says.
12 | HEALTHCARE RISK MANAGEMENT REVIEW | Annual 2014
ike many facilities, Baldwin Area Medical Center, an integrated hospital and clinic in Baldwin, Wisconsin, has seen decreased (CFO) Brian Lovdahl believes this can be attributed primarily to
“I believe that people genuinely want to be healthy but many do not know where to start. There are smartphone applications and devices that help you count calories while monitoring everything from exercise to sleep habits. As we are looked at less and less for investment for the consumer.”
this shift have not yet been properly structured and put into action.
“Unfortunately, the evolution of payment for quality is slow, unclear, and inconsistent. There are no industry standards and this leaves providers trying to manage numerous contracts, reports, and reimbursement mechanisms. It insurance companies are developing new methods of reimbursement that haven’t been thoroughly vetted.”
COMMUNITY HEALTH Looking to the future, costs look set to remain an issue with the increased focus on population health and preventive care.
“Population health should be our goal every day we come to work,”
the mechanisms to be reimbursed are few and far between. We have
but unfortunately, it has also been a direct hit to our revenue stream. Our organization operates on a relatively small budget in a rural area population health and reduce patient volume, it will actually force us to charge more for the fewer services we do provide.”
At the same time, as pressure is applied to spend less money on in a position where he has to weigh total cost of care with insurance companies vs professional liability risks.
“How can I justify telling a provider that they shouldn’t perform a test on a patient that they believe is necessary because we are getting monitored on our total cost of care or test utilization?”
As a relatively small provider with limited resources, Baldwin Area Medical Center addresses its insurance needs by partnering with an insurance broker
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