TY - JOUR
T1 - Operational and Financial Performance of Georgia’s Critical Access Hospitals
AU - Kimsey, Linda G.
AU - Apenteng, Bettye A.
AU - Mase, William A.
AU - Opoku, Samuel T.
AU - Hanna, Mark D.
AU - Boakye, Kwabena G.
AU - Carhuff, Lisa
AU - Owens, Charles
AU - Peden, Angela
AU - Tedders, Stuart H.
AU - Whaley, Patricia
PY - 2017/1/1
Y1 - 2017/1/1
N2 - Background: Georgia’s Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) face increasingly complex threats to financial sustainability, as demonstrated by the disproportionally high number of closures in comparison to other states in the nation. Methods: Financial performance measures (including profitability, revenue, liquidity, debt, utilization, and productivity), site visits, key personnel interviews, and a revenue cycle management assessment were used to assess the strategic landscape of CAHs in Georgia, analyze financial and operational performance, and provide recommendations. Results: For CAHs in Georgia, financial and operating performance indicators, interviews, and assessments depict a challenging operating environment, but opportunities for improvement exist through implementation of a Lean Six Sigma program and improved benchmarking processes. Conclusions: Georgia’s CAHs operate in a challenging environment, but operational improvement strategies (such as a Lean Six Sigma program) and benchmarking directed towards business processes, including revenue cycle management, provide opportunities for sustainability in the future.
AB - Background: Georgia’s Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) face increasingly complex threats to financial sustainability, as demonstrated by the disproportionally high number of closures in comparison to other states in the nation. Methods: Financial performance measures (including profitability, revenue, liquidity, debt, utilization, and productivity), site visits, key personnel interviews, and a revenue cycle management assessment were used to assess the strategic landscape of CAHs in Georgia, analyze financial and operational performance, and provide recommendations. Results: For CAHs in Georgia, financial and operating performance indicators, interviews, and assessments depict a challenging operating environment, but opportunities for improvement exist through implementation of a Lean Six Sigma program and improved benchmarking processes. Conclusions: Georgia’s CAHs operate in a challenging environment, but operational improvement strategies (such as a Lean Six Sigma program) and benchmarking directed towards business processes, including revenue cycle management, provide opportunities for sustainability in the future.
KW - Operational
KW - Financial
KW - Performance
KW - Georgia
KW - Critical access
KW - Hospitals
UR - https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/hpmb-facpubs/31
UR - https://doi.org/10.21633/jgpha.7.106
U2 - 10.21633/jgpha.7.106
DO - 10.21633/jgpha.7.106
M3 - Article
VL - 7
JO - Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association
JF - Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association
ER -
