Credit: Getty/Stewart Sutton
Care coordination at discharge, price transparency and patient-centered care models that meet the needs of all patients are just some of the top concerns of healthcare executives today.
In a two-part interview with Forbes, senior healthcare executives revealed issues and changes facing their organizations and how they influence the evolution of the industry. Here's a sampling:
Price-conscious patients
"We get about 4,000 calls a month for people ... wanting to know the cost for an MRI or CT scan at each of our hospitals,” he told Forbes. Changes he describes in the article include a redesigned patient bill.
Care coordination
George S. Barrett, CEO of Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal Health, told Forbes that coordinated care is the biggest change facing the industry and that his organization is focusing on discharges to address problems such as poor care coordination and post-discharge care.
Patient-centered care
The aging population complicates patient-centered care, he adds, especially when patients have multiple chronic illnesses.
But the industry must also change to address the needs of all patients and create a more patient-centered system focused on outcomes.
Health disparities
The care needs of a growing Hispanic population is top-of-mind at the City of Hope in Durate, California.
Forty-six percent of its patient population is Hispanic and providers need to address diseases and conditions that are disproportionately higher among Hispanics, says Robert W. Stone, president and CEO.
He explains in the interview how his organization is trying to create a workforce that better reflects that makeup.