The Operations and Provider Relationship
Posted by Adrienne Elberfeld, MS, PMP, CPHQ on February 5, 2018
Healthcare continues to be in a state of change and the importance of the relationship between operations and physicians will be a critical determinant of success.
While it is a time of uncertainty in our industry, the movement towards holistic care across the continuum is patient centric and feels like the right thing in care delivery. The best way for everyone to win—providers, ancillary support, the organization and most importantly our patients—is to work as a team and continue to embrace these new models of care. Two announcements from CMS pertaining to alternative payment models signal the on-going emphasis on risk programs: President Trump’s appointee for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Alex Azar’s support of paying for outcomes and efficiency; and the CMS’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) new voluntary bundled payment program.
For any healthcare organization to be successful during the payment shift from fee-for-service to paying for value requires shared authority between providers and operational leaders; inclusive of governing and strategic decision making. This relationship is complex as there are multiple contextual factors affecting patient care: payer reimbursement; cost-containment pressures; increased competition; regulatory compliance; malpractice concerns; and specialty hospitals. The ability for providers and managers to understand expectations and cultures will be the key to providing the best patient care. This partnership can be best achieved through communication, mutual trust and shared goals.
At Cooper, we are committed to having a partnership between providers and operations to ensure a collective vision in patient care. In primary care, this is being accomplished through shared goals, strong physician leadership with Drs. Trzeciak, Angelo, Hyman and Mahamitra as well as Dr. Robertson for the ACO, the monthly “road show” meetings and care management support through the use of APNs, RNs and health coaches. We are committed with ambulatory operations to ensuring all resources, human and Epic, are maximized for optimum skill-task alignment. As we celebrate the one year anniversary of AllCare Health Alliance, I thank you for your continued support in this new model of patient care.
