Mr. Crum told Becker’s CFO+Revenue Cycle podcast that in 2025, the 50-hospital system plans to continue expanding access, particularly its ambulatory footprint, through ambulatory surgery and urgent care centers.
“If you think about the traditional view of healthcare, it’s continuing to invest back into the growth of the 30-plus service lines that we track and report out across our communities, ultimately trying to make sure we meet the needs of the communities where we are,” he said. “[On] the future side of it, it’s making sure that we’re investing in new and innovative ways of doing things.”
The system rolled out a self-scheduling tool in 2024 that allows patients to more accurately match an appointment with their specific needs. It also has a conversational AI tool called Catherine, named after one of the system’s Sisters of Mercy founders, to help consumers to take control of their healthcare journey.
“We’ve rolled that out for a couple of specific service lines and a couple of our markets,” he said. “The goal is to help make it easier for patients to manage their healthcare needs in new and different ways.”
Looking to financial sustainability, Mr. Crum noted that margins have been a mixed bag for health systems over the last few years.
Bon Secours Mercy Health improved its operating losses to $46.5 million (-1.4%) in the third quarter of 2024, up from a $67.5 million loss (-2.1% margin) reported in the third quarter of 2023.
For other systems looking to improve their margins, Mr. Crum stressed the importance of leaning into financial and operational discipline.
“While not everything can be a cost exercise, there are some things that can be cost driven and continuing to lean into that space [and] also looking at reimbursements in different ways of getting paid, whether it be under value-based care or continuing to advance with payer discussions in terms of … continuing to see how can we make sure that’s a valuable process for the patient ultimately so we can continue to provide care.”
