Major Challenges Currently Facing Hospitals

Health system leaders continue to face many difficult and ongoing challenges, including managing financials, technology and systems across their networks. According to the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), healthcare reform is near the top list of challenges, as are government mandates and patient safety and quality. However, these are not their only concerns.

There are other issues, such as changing budgets; infrastructure and technology; and staff resources, revenue cycle management and a variety of other problems. Here are some of the most pressing issues hospital leaders face every day:

Balancing time, priorities and tasks

Leaders increasingly must borrow experience, resources and talent from a variety of departments and teams within their organizations. Funds are often limited for staff investment in non-critical roles and many positions often go unfilled or under filled. A problem with this approach is that business operations and technology enhancements often go unaddressed, and problems can fester; IT troubles can become huge problems as can poor management of a hospital’s organizational and administrative operations in the long term.

Managing mandates and regulation

ICD-10 is going live Oct. 1, 2015. Meaningful use continues to be a challenge for many. Becker’s Hospital Review reports that the amount of preparation hospitals have devoted to ICD-10 and other mandates varies greatly from institution to institution. “Some have been working diligently for the past two to three years and have made great progress. Other organizations are incredibly far behind. The latter problem isn’t limited to small practices or 90-bed hospitals.” In many cases, health systems continue to do nothing, or have done next to nothing to comply.

“Most have had a hard time preparing for it simply because their resources and time are devoted to meeting other high-priority demands” Becker’s reports.

Payer problems

The payer/physician relationship tends to be tenuous. Providers and their employers face uncertainty, perhaps more so now because of the Affordable Care Act. Hospitals are left wondering how to properly treat the patients who choose to see them according to payer contracts and plan guidelines.

Additionally, according to Medical Economics, ACA has caused many payers to drop physicians from networks, making the process of finding new providers confusing and tedious for patients. Medical Economics says that dealing with payers is a top issue faced by hospitals; according to the magazine, “Insurance companies dictate which doctor, which medicine, which test, how long in the hospital. Insurance companies have planted themselves between the patient and doctors and on top of the money pile.”

Technology costs

Health information technology will continue to incur expenses for the foreseeable future. ICD-10 remains a culprit, as does the seeming never-ending changes related to EHRs and other tech investments. HIPAA compliance also could continue to be a significant investment for health systems. Technology and processes that hinder a hospital’s workflows also can be a huge challenge for healthcare organizations, as well as an expense; technology upgrades alone can break some organizations’ budgets.

Staffing and training

Hospitals continue to face trouble, or at least difficulties, with staffing levels and training current staff.

As reimbursements are becoming tied to performance and patient outcomes, staff will be central to this success. The challenge of finding qualified staff is exacerbated by keeping the talent that can be found, plus turnover rates for physicians are at an all-time high, according to American Medical Group Association. AMGA also speculates that retaining care staff will only intensify as shortages continue to persist and more aging physicians begin to retire from the workforce.

There are other challenges that remain, such as patient engagement and improving health outcomes, but these are some of the most pressing issues that nearly every hospital in the United States faces. The challenges can be overcome, of course, but new approaches and solutions are likely needed in the queue for those tasked with tackling the problems.