Publication: Journal of Patient Safety
Date: 3/1/2010
Authors: Charles R. Denham, MD
Abstract: As opined by the author, “Fairly or unfairly reflecting reality, many in the quality and patient safety leadership positions bemoan that the role of the CFO has been to say ‘No’ to spending on performance improvement. Yet, changes in health care will mandate new coalitions and new partnerships between players who are often on opposing sides of budget debates. The next generation of great hospital leaders may come from the ranks of our finance leaders, who can help translate core values into bottom line performance by educating themselves in the financial impact of performance improvement. There are a number of issues with great potential for performance improvement, which include performance envelopes, chasing zero infections, impact scenarios, legal myths, quality teams and financial know-how, changing revenue assumptions, readmission red-ink revenue, coding issues, evidence-based point estimates, delegated purchasing risk, vendor risk, cost of technology adoption, cost of leadership failure, and purchaser gain sharing. It is our belief that the next generation of great leaders may come from the ranks of our CFOs and finance leaders who help translate core values into bottom-line performance.”
