In partnership with Fierce Healthcare
Forrester, Gartner, and McKinsey – the largest research organizations in the United States agree that the coming months will be turbulent waters for healthcare as organizations face long-standing industry challenges and broad economic currents.
Health systems face rising medical costs and utilization, waning consumer confidence, increasing demand for price transparency, and an upcoming election that will test their resilience and adaptability. Healthcare systems’ margins are lagging behind their financial performance compared to pre-pandemic levels. Almost one-quarter of hospitals encountered debt covenant challenges during the past 12 months.
However, for some health systems, the acute strain of labor shortages, inflation, and endemic COVID-19 on the financial health of the healthcare industry eased in 2022. Much of the improvement is the result of digital transformation efforts undertaken by healthcare stakeholders over the past year or two.
One example of successful transformation efforts is Prime Healthcare, which has partnered with Steer Health to roll out a digital front door across its 44 hospitals. Prime Healthcare has not only received multiple awards for patient safety and quality but has also improved its financial rating and market position in the overall complex US healthcare landscape as a top 10 and top 15 healthcare system.
Let’s take a closer look at how the partnership between Prime Healthcare and Steer Health is empowering the health system to overcome the current industry hurdles.
How Digital Transformation has accelerated Prime Healthcare’s success
While many hospitals try to increase margins by first evaluating costs, this ends up being too short-sighted for managing today’s healthcare challenges. A more holistic approach is needed to address financial challenges. As the fifth largest for-profit health system in the United States, Prime Healthcare took a forward-looking and innovative approach. To align patient needs and organizational requirements, the health system began strategically integrating AI early on and adopting a holistic digital-first strategy.
“In order to succeed in a rapidly evolving environment, health systems are forced to continuously improve and innovate. AI and digital strategies will likely be the greatest disruptors to care delivery and lead to a new future. Today, the road to providing exceptional clinical care and experience while expanding access, revenue, and volume is a journey that must include leveraging technology to support our patients and their needs,” says Kavitha Bhatia, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACHE, President & Chair, Prime Healthcare Foundation and Chief Medical Officer of Strategy, Prime Healthcare.
“Our focus is on constantly expanding access into our care delivery model while streamlining operations to ensure consistent growth and exceptional quality of care. Our partnership with Steer Health began with a search for innovative solutions to achieve these goals,” she adds.
Prime Healthcare has been able to tackle complex challenges and achieve sustainable growth through an exciting journey marked by innovation, collaboration, and resilience. Steer Health uses AI to drive growth, improve the patient experience, and contribute to cost savings for healthcare organizations and clinics. Like many innovators who are making a difference in sectors like finance, education, and retail, health tech companies like Steer are essential to helping health systems integrate new technologies and transform their business for a dynamic future.
Health systems must address the sources of declining profit margins with a holistic approach that uses existing resources more effectively, understands underlying market, and strategizes growth to make use of these dynamics. Integrating AI enables strategic choices that allow health systems to become more agile and better perform in the future.
Hospital systems that forge this invaluable relationship between technology, growth, and the patient experience will see a pivotal transformation that directly contributes to improved revenue, clinical outcomes, and experience.
Here are 5 key innovation areas that health systems need to prioritize in order to grow in resilience and financial strength:
- Improving labor productivity with the help of clinical technology
- Technologically innovating across both administration and care delivery workflows
- Improving efficiency through better technology deployment and automation across services.
- Enhancing patient engagement and satisfaction with GenAI technology
- Building stronger reputation management for higher patient acquisition
By integrating a digital-first perspective, hospitals can significantly improve patient acquisition, foster patient trust and retention, and enhance their competitive edge. Additionally, AI-enabled platforms can contribute to the quadruple aims of healthcare by enhancing patient experience, improving population health, reducing costs, and elevating provider satisfaction through predictive and contextual member outreach, personalized treatment recommendations, and streamlined administrative tasks.
Prime Healthcare’s strategy included a thoughtful rollout of all of these areas, starting with one community hospital and expanding throughout the system to 44 hospitals and hundreds of outpatient locations. Their comprehensive approach resulted in increased patient acquisition and retention, improved payor mix, and a boost in patient trust, standing out amongst retail clinics and providers.
Interested to explore further and dive deeper into strategies for ensuring the financial growth of your healthcare organization?
Download the full playbook developed in partnership with Fierce Healthcare and unlock invaluable insights from Prime Healthcare’s CMO, Dr. Kavitha Bhatia, MD, MMM, FAAP, FACHE.
