SOUND DECISIONS IN THE
FACE OF REFORM

In his Congressional address Sept. 9, President Obama said we are "closer to the goal of reform than we have ever been." However, the debate continues. And while officials in Washington strive to shape the future of our nation's ability to provide and pay for healthcare, one thing is certain: change is imminent and healthcare providers will have to adapt and further prove their value in the transforming marketplace.
                 
Because the reform bill has yet to be written, let alone passed, its ramifications are still relatively unknown. However, the pressures to reduce cost and improve value are sure to be issues that will continue to need to be addressed.

To deal with challenges already confronting the industry and prepare for those inherent in implementing reform, such as value-based payments and bundling, the need for accurate business intelligence, benchmarking tools, and market insights is even more critical. By sharing the practices and outcomes of top-performing hospitals and health systems, we hope to inspire hospitals to achieve higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness, and equip them with the intelligence to support sound business decisions based on objective data.

Reducing variation in clinical quality and efficiency
The new Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals®: Health System Quality/Efficiency Benchmarks study reveals transparency on the clinical performance of health systems. It is the first 100 Top Hospitals study to measure the performance of health systems — as single organizations. Providing an independent and objective comparison of the relative level of care between health systems, the study sheds light on the potential power of health systems to effect rapid change in quality, as well as the potential impact on patient and community perceptions. The study also honors the 10 top organizations that drive excellence across the system.

As part of our Save $4 Billion campaign to help hospitals improve performance, health system CEOs can request a complimentary review of the study scores for their system. In this discussion, our experts will provide objective insight to help you answer questions such as:

• What is the relative level of quality provided by our health system as an organization?
• How do our system's overall performance and efficiency measures compare to other systems?
• Are performance incentives effective at driving systemic excellence?
• What are the key areas of focus that will make the greatest impact at both the system and member-hospital level?

Improve operational performance
As part of our commitment to share healthcare insights and benchmarks to inform and improve industry performance, Thomson Reuters consultants, account managers, and leaders from the  100 Top Hospitals® team continue to meet with hospital CEOs from across the nation. The discussions use insights from the 100 Top Hospitals Performance Matrix to examine hospital performance in terms of key metrics for the outcomes of care, efficiency, and financial performance.

The 100 Top Hospitals reports help hospital leaders understand their facility's performance and how it stacks up against the nation's top performing hospitals and peers. The Performance Matrix provides CEOs with a report card that measures leadership effectiveness and the impact of decisions on relative performance. This evaluation offers a unique, objective look at performance, and considers both short-term achievement as well as the rate of improvement over five years.

The CEO discussions are revealing some of the common challenges being addressed in the healthcare industry right now. They include a focus on financial viability, in particular expense control; stronger physician engagement, and a continued objective to strive for performance excellence.

In addition to the strategies described above, three areas stood out as priorities for specific, quantified savings, including a focus on patient safety, reducing complications, and LOS reduction in high-volume DRGs.

Data and analysis beneficial to reform
This sort of analysis can also inform reform efforts — the signature policy of President Obama and the focus of considerable negotiations in Congress, said Jean Chenoweth, Thomson Reuters senior vice president for performance improvement, who led the research. "The legislation that is pending will be restructuring the healthcare industry to drive higher value. That will affect insurance companies, health systems, and all of us as patients."

 Learn more about the Save $4 Billion Campaign or the 100 Top Hospitals: Health System Quality/Efficiency Benchmarks study.