At the Becker’s Hospital Review 6th Annual Meeting in Chicago, Bill Woodson, senior vice president of Sg2, asked panelists their top of mind strategies for their organizations in the current healthcare environment.
Bryan Becker, MD, vice president of clinical integration and associate dean of clinical affairs at University of Chicago Medicine, said academic medical centers have taken a bit of a defensive approach when looking at opportunities to stand out in the competitive market.
University of Chicago Medicine is the largest healthcare provider on the south side of Chicago, Dr. Becker said, but the academic medical center is seeking ways to leverage certain components of its service lines and work with external physician networks to differentiate itself from other healthcare providers and expand its reach into other geographies.
“Where do we have expertise in our clinical service line, and where are those major value additions that differentiate us from the competition in those geographies?” Dr. Becker proposed. Finding those niches, he said will allow University of Chicago Medicine to “go up against an Advocate or Presence (both located in the greater Chicagoland area) with different tools and protocols that are informing care both in the community and back at our Hyde Park campus.”
Smaller independent hospitals, too, can develop strategy around niche services. Emmett Schuster is president and CEO of Gibson General Hospital in Princeton, Ind., a hospital nearly 100 years old. Mr. Schuster said Gibson General Hospital conducted a health needs assessment to determine what niche the hospital could fill. “You have to be flexible and willing to open up to other opportunities out there,” Mr. Schuster said.
Holy Family Memorial, a healthcare network in Manitowoc, Wis., is another independent healthcare organization, but president and CEO Mark Herzog said its independent status isn’t of utmost importance.
“Independence by itself isn’t a value for us, it’s what makes a difference for our community,” Mr. Herzog said. “We can’t find anyone who does community based healthcare better than us.”
Holy Family Memorial, Mr. Herzog said, isn’t necessarily changing its strategy in the face of environmental pressures. Instead, the health network leads with the patient and seeks to foster a culture that supports what is right for the community and reduces costs.
“We need to be very responsive and be great stewards with what we do,” Mr. Herzog said.
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