Challenges Faced by Healthcare Financial Leaders

The healthcare industry is ever-changing. One area that is constantly in flux is finance –  particularly payment models. Changes in payment models affect every area of healthcare, from outpatient centers to larger healthcare groups who find themselves needing to provide impeccable service with fewer resources.

Challenges Faced by Financial Leaders

Financial leaders working in healthcare are tasked with keeping the organization solvent while allocating funds that allow for the best care for the patient population. Financial leaders we have placed find themselves working to solve various issues.

The most common issue financial leaders must work on is how to manage investments in a capital-restricted setting while ensuring the success of the organization. The key role of these leaders is to ensure that their hospital or healthcare system is financially solvent. At the same time, they must make sure that the financial resources they manage are sufficient to deliver great care to patients and that their organization plans ahead. In short, financial leaders must minimize costs and indirectly enhance patient care, satisfaction, and results.

Financial leaders face many challenges when working with other leaders to future-proof their healthcare organization. For example, we are in a time where digital and tech evolves at an incredible pace. There are novel medical tools and systems being developed daily. It is up to financial leaders to adjust budgets to allot the finances to be able to afford these new technologies. If this task is not achieved successfully, the organization can fall into a state of obsolete IT infrastructure that can cause significant issues in the future.

Another aspect of healthcare finance that these leaders face is the constant mergers that happen within the industry. Health systems expand and engulf smaller entities. When hospitals come together, financial leaders must work to be compliant and solvent to keep patients safe, happy and to keep employee turnover to a minimum.

Financial leaders must set aside funds that will make it simpler for hospitals and healthcare providers to stay compliant. For example, they need to ascertain that there are funds to allocate to HIPAA audits and compliance training.

If your healthcare organization is looking to achieve results, you need to have a strong finance leader who can balance the sheets as well as the many responsibilities that need to be met in order for you to achieve your mission. Your financial leaders must make sure that you and your team have the resources to treat the patient population while achieving safety, legal, and satisfaction goals.

How Can Financial Leaders Achieve Goals for their Healthcare Organizations

Innovative healthcare leaders can face these challenges in various ways.

There are leaders who are looking to new sources of funding for projects.

Other financial leaders are making smart tech decisions. For example, many are leasing equipment. This helps them to both procure the latest technologies for other departments and not get stuck with technology that will become null and void in a few years.

In cases where there is a merger, financial leaders have the opportunity to bring vendors and systems together when it comes to maintenance, service, and technologies.

Other financial leaders are coming together with other hospitals and healthcare systems to create a shared resource system that will reduce costs.

How to Find The Right Healthcare Financial Leaders

The executive search team at Summit Talent Group specializes and comes from the healthcare industry. As such, our leadership has a full understanding of the challenges faced by healthcare organizations. We understand more than the qualifications and certifications that make a financial leader good on paper. Because of our extensive healthcare experience, we understand the qualities that will make a healthcare financial leader the right fit for your organization and its mission. If you would like to speak with us about how we can help you with your healthcare talent search, contact us.

We look forward to speaking with you.