New challenges for healthcare administrators arise on a regular basis. Is your goal to become the head of operations and the true leader in a healthcare facility? It’s important to learn about how changing laws, regulations and technologies can affect your day to day life once you:
- earn your degree
- gain experience
- land a great administration position
The challenges of being responsible for keeping your institution running smoothly in the midst of change will always exist, but the cause for the challenges will change over time. It is important to understand the major challenges that exist today, and how these factors can influence the roles of administrators so you know what to expect for the future. Read on and learn about some of the ways that reform laws and trends will affect health systems strategies in the future.
Navigating Through New Territory Due to the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act is in effect, but there is uncertainty behind the implementation of the act concerning health insurance exchanges. With states like Ohio and Wisconsin announcing that no state-based exchange will be implemented, and other states choosing to set up their own models, many administrators have no clue what the exchanges will look like and what the payers’ participation on the new exchanges will be. Healthcare administrators and the insurance providers will need to work together as the uncertainty is cleared up and the exchanges are implemented throughout the year.
The Challenges of Medicaid and Medicare Funding
As soon as you enter the role as Healthcare Administrator you will learn that you will have little to no control when it comes to Medicaid and Medicare funding. With Medicare cuts being a consistent threat that can affect health systems in the future, there is no doubt that these institutions are going to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. No one knows how the ACA and the funding cuts due to the implementation of the new Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program will ultimately affect hospital payments and budgets. To combat the problem, many systems will start focusing on strategies that involve raising satisfaction and quality of care to reduce readmissions.
The Pay-for-Performance Scheme
Quality of care is very important, but up until recently administrators did not have an incentive to improve satisfaction ratings. With the industry moving towards a new pay-per-performance scheme, quality measures and readmissions rates will play a role in the new payment model. Those who improve quality will receive a higher percentage of incentive payments, making the improvement of quality a financial priority. This will change the way the physicians treat patients and the way a patient experiences experience treatment and follow-ups.
The healthcare industry is changing quickly and dramatically. There are many new initiatives in terms of healthcare and in terms of payment models. Healthcare administrators need to be prepared to deal with all of the changes no matter how challenging they can be. Health systems can stay afloat during a difficult time by:
- engaging patients in their health
- focusing on quality
- gathering the big data to measure quality metrics
As you study Healthcare Administration, you will learn more about the challenges for healthcare administrators and how to deal with these challenges effectively.