Jackson Health System announces the possibility of outsourcing its emergency departments
MIAMI - For many hospitals and healthcare systems around the country, making the decision to outsource a particular department within a facility can be both more cost effective and efficient, however, isn't always a go-to solution for healthcare leaders.
In late August, the Jackson Health System, a six-hospital network based in Miami, announced it will consider proposals for outsourcing physicians, physician assistants and advanced nurse practitioners in its emergency departments.
"The bottom line is that in order to transform care at Jackson Health System, we are really questioning every system. We need to evaluate every aspect of how we do business, so that's basically the reason behind requesting a proposal to outsource," said Ed O'Dell, corporate director of media relations for Jackson Health System. "We're trying to see how we can do things most efficiently and effectively."
O'Dell said that just because a request for proposal was sent out does not mean that outsourcing the emergency rooms is a done deal. He added that in the past, the healthcare system had considered outsourcing in two other areas of the business - in its corrections health department in area jails and with its Medicaid eligibility-screening program.
O'Dell said they discovered that their own department could provide more efficient and effective services in corrections health than outsourcing the department to another company, therefore they chose not to outsource.
On the other hand, it was found that an outside company could provide the Medicaid-eligibility screening program much more efficiently so Jackson Health chose to outsource this area of the business.
Oliver Rogers, president of hospital-based services at TeamHealth, a clinical outsourcing company based in Knoxville, Tenn., said in many cases hospitals choose to outsource a department for leadership purposes and the execution of that leadership.
"It's not that they don't have or can't get good doctors," Rogers said. It's the management of those positions and the different service areas that's the issue.
Renee Sharp, senior consulting manager at IMA Consulting, a healthcare consulting firm based in Philadelphia, said that when considering outsourcing, hospitals should really think about what the structure of the outsourcing may look like.
"There're plenty of local groups that try to band together to provide services for multiple hospitals and those tend to have a vested interest in the community. Or in some cases is it better to employ your own?" she said. "What is more cost effective?"
Jason Clark, managing director of Healthcare Solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle, added that while other industries have been outsourcing for decades.
"The evolutionary comet is coming to healthcare and they're either going to have to find ways to survive or go bankrupt or shut down. So management is looking at a plethora of ways to be more efficient, more profitable and provide better access to patients," he said. "Not that they didn't do this before, but I think they'll really have to dig in deep."