Whether they're called accountable care organizations or patient-centered medical homes, healthcare organizations will be transforming in the coming years to new methods of providing care. But are all organizations ready for the changes needed to get there?
The Wednesday 2:30 CDT session “Are Your Physicians Ready for Reform?” will examine the fundamental characteristics healthcare providers will require to effectively manage the sweeping organizational changes needed to be successful in the new healthcare delivery paradigm.
According to presenter John Freedman, principal of Freedman Healthcare LLC, the difference between this transition and past efforts to change the healthcare system is “an unprecedented amount of cost pressure.” While previous healthcare reform efforts also had the mandate of cutting the overall cost of healthcare, they left behind few places within the system to achieve similar cost savings.
One of the bigger hurdles faced by hospitals looking to create a new delivery model, Freedman notes, is the fact that hospitals and providers are often highly siloed operations. Fostering open communication between the silos and often eliminating them is vital to providing better outcomes with less cost.
In the session, Freedman and co-presenters Steve Belof and Bruce Pokorney, MD, will make the point that healthcare reform is focused on reducing costs while improving the quality of care, and healthcare providers need to honestly appraise their organization’s capacity to make such widespread changes.
The presenters will highlight the five characteristics they feel are needed for providers to implement system-wide changes that will take hold and allow the organization to succeed.
Using this information, providers can then determine if they are ready to proceed with remaking their organization, or if they need to do some groundwork prior to undertaking a plan to change their operational structure.