As the healthcare industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace, industry leaders are locating the proper workforce investments to help deliver strong returns.
These strategies, from developing targeted roles to expanding employee support services, help organizations drive revenue, retention and patient satisfaction.
Becker’s connected with three hospital and health system CFOs to find out how specific workforce investments have led to multimillion-dollar gains and improved turnover rates.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What’s one workforce investment you’ve made that paid off faster/better than expected? Why?
Chad Miller. CFO of West Jefferson Medical Center (Marrero, La.): One workforce investment that exceeded expectations was the addition of a Surgery Revenue Cycle Coordinator. This role was created to enhance revenue cycle performance specifically within our Operating Room and Outpatient Surgery Center.
Despite ongoing improvements in centralized billing and collections, the impact of this position has been remarkable — it essentially pays for itself many times over. In its first year alone, we saw a net revenue increase of more than $2 million. The return on investment was both swift and substantial, underscoring the value of targeted, specialized support in high-impact areas.
Sergio Melgar. Executive Vice President and CFO, UMass Memorial Health (Worcester, Mass.): One workforce investment that has had a profound positive impact on UMass Memorial Health is the Innovation Station, our virtual idea platform. With over 95% caregiver participation and more than 200,000 ideas implemented, it quickly became a powerful tool for frontline teams to identify and solve everyday challenges and efficiency gaps. By empowering caregivers to actively problem solve, we’ve uncovered and addressed revenue issues we might not have otherwise seen, while reinforcing our commitment to our caregivers and to improving patient care. Although it took time to build and integrate the platform across multiple access points, its impact was immediate and continues to grow every year.
Shane Hilton. Executive Vice President and CFO, Ballad Health (Johnson City, Tenn.): Any investment in our most valuable resource — our team members — is an investment in the future of care. Our $200 million commitment to wage increases, combined with the opening of 13 on-site childcare centers, directly responded to what our team members told us they needed most. As a result, we’ve seen a faster-than-expected reduction in nursing turnover — now under 13%, which is below the national average — alongside a sharp decrease in reliance on contract labor. Patient satisfaction has increased, with notable improvements in online reviews and other reputation metrics showing 90% of surveyed patients would recommend Ballad Health.
