HSG, a national healthcare consulting firm, has expanded its performance improvement services to address healthcare worker shortages, burnout, and growing pains from physician practice acquisitions. These factors, coupled with billing delays and credentialing errors, can cause health care organizations severe losses and revenue cycle issues. By growing its network of experienced healthcare project managers and interim leaders, HSG is able to quickly send in seasoned experts to address systemic operational issues and special projects for healthcare organizations across the country.
National surveys continue to show increasing numbers of employed physicians despite the fact that, according to a study published by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), U.S. hospitals and health systems are reporting substantial operating losses from medical practices they own or operate. The root causes of these operating losses are often unclear to management. Still, it’s common for specific operational impacts to surface shortly after a merger is complete, from revealing issues within the corporate culture to improper billing and practices that cost hospitals and healthcare systems millions of dollars. Often, it requires an outside perspective from an experienced healthcare executive to discover the root of the problem and develop a plan for course correction.
“As employed physician networks grow, the infrastructure needed to support physicians often lags behind,” stated Davis Creech, Director at HSG. “Multiply lagging operational infrastructure by healthcare worker burnout and shortages, and you have an equation for mounting operating losses. This confluence of circumstances drove our decision to enhance our interim and temporary project management solutions for hospitals and healthcare systems. Many organizations really need an experienced boost right now to effectively get out of the weeds,” Creech added.
There are several red flags organizations can look for to see if an interim leader or temporary project manager should be considered. Revenue cycle issues are usually at the top of the list, closely followed by organizational growth that has exceeded middle management’s capabilities. Other circumstances that often cue a decision to bring in HSG’s stable of experts include new physician practices being added to the organization, high turnover rates, and strained corporate cultures.
HSG partners with hospitals and healthcare systems to discover the root cause of issues and create plans to solve the problem. From implementing HOPDs and provider-based billing evaluation and training to payor credentialing and onboarding of newly acquired private practices, HSG’s veteran onsite project management team can be an interim answer to completing prioritized organizational projects and developing solutions to systemic problems.
