financial manag discus4

4

Rachel

In researching that well fiscally managed healthcare organizations deliver better healthcare to patients then those that are not managed well has been proven to be true. Hospitals under financial pressure may struggle to maintain quality and patient safety and have worse patient outcomes relative to well-resourced hospitals. Poor predictive validity may explain why previous studies on the association between finances and quality and safety have been equivocal. The issues is that there has been increased awareness on medical spending and while hospitals are trying to control cost they reducing the quality of care because they are focused on the finances. Profitable hospitals with strong cash flows can pay off debt quicker, which allows them to further invest in capital at lower costs than cash-strapped hospitals (Akinleye, 2019). With more capital, these facilities can make sizeable investments in clinical and administrative information technology and monitoring systems, hire better qualified staff, sustain ongoing training programs, initiate evidence-based clinical protocols and quality improvement projects, with the goal and outcome of attracting more market share and increasing profits (Akinleye, 2019). 

On the other hand hospitals that are not performing well financially have a correlation to internal or efficiency issues, such as inferior services or poor management. May hospitals that are facing greater financial pressure from inadequate revenues will limit quality improvements as financial performance declines (Wang, 2018). When the financial performance is on a decline then that causes a reduction in access to capital and raise the costs of borrowing, further hindering the facility in efforts to improve quality (Wang, 2018). This causes a decrease in staff, training and deters any quality control methods. The bottom line is if you do not have the funding and the focus is on financial health then the organization can not be focused on quality improvement, training and technology because they are just operating with the bare minimum. Increased financial performance opens the opportunity to make continuous improvements .  

References

Akinleye, D.(2019). Correlation between hospital finances and quality and safety of patient care.  PloS one,  14(8), e0219124.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219124

Wang, T. (2018). Do health information technology investments impact hospital financial performance and productivity?.  International Journal of Accounting Information Systems,  28, 1-13.

Celeste

There have been many studies completed in support of the relationship between financial performance and the quality of care. Most of the evidence to support this assumes that providers that are more financially stable have access to better resources to take care of the critical or higher risk patients or that when physicians provide a higher level of care this can give them a higher profitability and larger revenue intake (Dubas-Jakoczyk, et al., 2021). Hospitals or any healthcare organization that can pay off debts quicker can invest money in resources to gain profit (Dubas-Jakoczyk, et al., 2021).  

There was a study completed by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare services to prove the fact that there is a correlation between financial performance and higher levels in quality of care and patient safety in an acute care center. In this study, there were 46 indicators to better determine the quality of care with 4 categories: inpatient quality, patient safety, process of care, and patient experience of care (Akinleye, et al., 2019). A financial analysis also took place for the year of 2014, where any profits, losses, assets, and any other margins were accounted for. The overall analysis when assessing hospitals in New York was that these organizations could successfully prove there is a higher level of care when the hospital is more financially stable. One thing noted in this study was the strengths of these relationships. Relationships between finance and quality varied at each facility (Akinleye et al., 2019).  

 

In conclusion, there is an incentive for doctors to give a higher quality of care to patients if there is a financial gain. In most cases, doctors who work at higher paying establishments can give higher levels of care with access to better resources. One hospital that comes to mind when evaluating quality of care versus financial performance is Johns Hopkins hospital. This hospital is one of the most innovative and well-known hospitals across the globe. The reason for this is because these doctors have unlimited resources and research, and the reason for all the milestones met is to better their care for patients.  

References: 

Akinleye, D. D., McNutt, L.-A., Lazariu, V., & McLaughlin, C. C. (2019, August 16). Correlation between hospital finances and quality and safety of patient care. PloS one. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6697357/#:~:text=Strong%20financial%20performance%20is%20associated,ongoing%20resources%20for%20quality%20improvement . 

Dubas-Jakoczyk, K., Kocot, E., Tambor, M., & Quentin, W. (2021, August 10). The association between Hospital Financial Performance and the quality of care-A scoping review protocol - systematic reviews. BioMed Central. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from  https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-021-01778-3  

less