The 21st Century Rural Hospital by Phil Campbell, FACHE

What will a rural hospital look like in the 21st Century? A rural hospital consultant describes a potential boon for rural hosptials

After 20 years in rural hospital administration, including one stint as a division President with eight rural hospitals, I have experienced nothing less than revolutionary change in healthcare delivery.

     Early in my career, hospital administrators focused almost exclusively on the care" aspect of healthcare. As reimbursement tightened, successful hospital administrators entered a new learning curve and discovered ways to reduce costs and improve services.

     Initially, hospitals began outsourcing emergency physician contracts. Administrators shed a major time-consuming problem area and improved service while saving money—when they made the decision to outsource their Emergency Departments physicians. ED physician outsourcing is almost universal now in urban and rural hospitals.

     Based on the success of ED physician outsourcing, administrators began looking at opportunities in other areas. Food Services became the next successful area for outsourcing.

     Food Service outsourcing vendors were attracted to hospitals with large volumes, and this became an effective quality improvement strategy. However, many rural hospitals were left out of this outsourcing opportunity. Food Service outsourcing vendors required additional stipends from rural hospitals to supplement lower volumes.

     It is easy to predict that the hospital business office will be the next non-clinical area to be outsourced during the 21-Century. As a rural hospital administrator, I have sought vendors for complete" business office outsourcing. However, until recently no companies offered these services to rural hospitals.

     I was seeking a company that emphasized the importance of accurate and timely billing, efficient collecting and managing the business office in a productive and professional manner just as I emphasized the importance of providing high quality hands-on care for patients. None existed.

     Things have changed. Today, at least one company offers rural hospitals complete business office outsourcing. Finally, there is a source for removing one of the biggest headaches for hospital administrators.

     Healthcare Management Resources (HMR) is the solution. Typically, HMR improves cash from the business office by 10% almost immediately. Moreover, they provide a sense of security for administrators that the business office function is getting the attention it requires, and is not wasting resources through inadequate billing practices.

     Why will the hospital business office become the next universal outsourcing trend? When a single decision by a hospital administrator will remove one of their biggest headaches, and improve cash by 10%, the decision is easy. Just like ED physician outsourcing, and Food Service contracting, outsourcing the business office will become universal during the next few years.