TL1 -3 FY2012 Review
A look back at fiscal year 2012: transition to the future!
By Gary Campbell, president and CEO
Transitions are challenging and rewarding all at the same time. It’s why Florence Nightingale said, “Were there none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach for anything better.” Recently, you may have been hearing Centura Health leaders refer to the transition we are making as the second curve of health care. This second curve is about getting better at what we’ve always done to serve our patients and residents, while making the necessary changes to become the leaders of our health care future. The good news is that our team of associates, as well as our resources, gives us the capability to make this transition into the future. Our responsibility is to continue to move forward, according to plan, just as we did during fiscal year 2012.
The family grows in size and expertise
FY12 was a key year in our transition to the future of health care: good in so many ways, (although not without its challenges and disappointments), and leaving us hopeful for what we can accomplish together in FY13. A big part of the good news is that we grew as a system, both in size and expertise. We added several affiliated hospitals to our network, acquired a cancer center in Durango, opened Castle Rock Adventist Health Campus and expanded staff across the system, bringing our total number of associates to more than 15,000. Among those joining Centura Health in the past year were several outstanding senior executive team members including Jeff Brickman, Morre Dean, Dan Enderson, Todd Folkenberg, Allen Kemp, and Carole Peet. Additionally, 37 physicians graduated from the Centura Health Physician Leadership Academy, enhancing our team of expert physician leaders throughout the state. This focus on team expertise is vital as we move to the second curve of health care and includes every Centura Health associate through the ongoing evolution of our Performance Feedback & Development process.
Big numbers all around
In FY12, we saw record numbers of surgeries, outpatient visits, emergency department visits, and physician office/clinic visits. Our total net revenue set a record at more than $2.3 billion and for the first time in our history, the salaries and benefits we paid to our associates exceeded $1 billion. Along with the growth in net revenue, we saw significant growth in the charity care we provide to those unable to pay for their health care. For the full year, charity care exceeded $400 million and the total uncompensated care we provided was valued at more than $600 million.
Pursuing excellent outcomes
We also improved in a number of areas related to our clinical outcomes, such as implementing computerized provider order entry (CPOE) at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center and St. Thomas More Hospital, adopting numerous evidence-based practicesacross the system, and achieving an overall CMS “perfect care” average score of 92 percent. The average inpatient in FY12 was “sicker” than ever before, yet we were more efficient than ever in treating them and returning them home with the average length of inpatient hospital stay equal to just 4.1 days. We established the Value Optimization Council (VOC) to improve the health care value we deliver to every patient, as well as the Clinical Integration and Standards Council (CISC) to improve overall clinical excellence and reliability.
Our hospitals also won a number of awards for clinical excellence including Penrose-St. Francis Health Services repeat selection as one of the top hospitals in the nation. All of our home care agencies were named among Home Care Elite’s top home care agencies in the country. A number of individuals also received national recognition for excellence including Erin Denholm, who was selected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as one of a select few national Innovation Advisors.
Perhaps the area of improvement of which I am proudest is our progress in improving overall inpatient satisfaction, with most of our hospitals now ranking in the top quartile nationally. These achievements are extremely important as we “Strengthen Our Foundation” of clinical care and transition more of our resources to helping people stay well.
Challenges to conquer
The past year was not all peaches and cream, however, and we did not accomplish everything we wanted. Among our biggest disappointments was the decision of the Colorado Springs City Council related to the lease of Memorial Health System. Although our overall net revenue increased by more than eight percent over FY11, despite our best efforts we saw our expenses increase at an even faster rate. While our recent associate satisfaction score improved as a system, that improvement was less than other hospitals and we lost ground on a comparative basis. The area of greatest concern in FY12 was the change in payer mix that challenged us throughout the year, resulting in payments to our hospitals well below the level we expected.
Getting ready for FY13 and beyond
FY12 will go down in the books as a year when we laid the foundation for the transformational change we expect for all American health systems during the coming years. Among the foundation stones we laid were our involvement in the Colorado Region 6 Regional Care Collaboration Organization, the development of Colorado Health Neighborhoods, the construction of the 144th Street project in Denver, and the associate health program pilot in Colorado Springs. Now that the year is behind us, we can breathe a sigh of relief. It needs to be a quick one though; FY13 has already begun and promises a new set of challenges and surprises. In an upcoming article, I will make my usual annual predictions about what the future holds. In the mean time, let’s stick to our plan, continue to reach higher, face our challenges head on, and continue to extend the healing ministry of Christ to our patients and residents with grace and respect.