Page 75 - BusinessWest December 9, 2024

BusinessWest
MONTHLYFEATURE
DECEMBER 9, 2024 31
“We find more people who don’t want to work weekends, or they don’t want to work nights,” said Hatiras, adding that someone has to work those shifts, and the challenge is to incentivize people to want to.
Roose agreed, noting that, through some creative initiatives involving schedules, compensation, and overall culture, Mercy Medical Center has recorded a 33% reduction in turnover rates over the past nine months.
Bottom Line
As they looked ahead, those we spoke with again referenced the unforeseen, which is always a con- cern in this sector — again, because the ongoing issues are stern enough.
Hatiras said that, in addition to ongoing attacks by Big Pharma on Section 340B, there is some con- cern about planned cuts to the amount of support given to disproportionate-share hospitals, as con- tained in the Affordable Care Act.
Those cuts, included in the landmark legislation on the assumption that more people would have health insurance and that the need for additional support would be reduced, have not been imple- mented, he told BusinessWest, adding that the pro- gram expires Jan. 1, and there are questions about whether this lame-duck Congress will continue to kick that can down the road.
“If those cuts go into effect, it’s a lot of money — in Massachusetts, I think it’s $600 million, maybe $800 million,” he said, adding that hospitals like HMC will certainly be impacted.
Banko isn’t predicting any cuts to 340B or Medic- aid’s Disproportionate Share Hospital program, add- ing that reductions to either would be devastating to
the state’s hospitals and, therefore, unlikely.
As for the longer term, he noted that the demo- graphics he cited earlier will continue to challenge
hospitals and healthcare systems in this region, underscoring the need for real change in how care is provided.
“How we get paid versus how we provide care are two different things,” he said. “We’re going to have to figure out new care models with physicians, advanced practice providers, how we provide nurs- ing, more virtual care, more outpatient care. Com- pared to other parts of the country, we don’t have a lot of ambulatory outpatient access points, so not
a lot of imaging centers, surgery centers, or urgent care.
“So now, we’re stuck going to the big-box hos- pital,” Banko went on. “So we have to find ways to offload care to community settings, less costly set- tings, and starting to develop personalized care.”
Roose agreed. He called this an inflection point for the sector, one that requires a call to action and a transformation in how care is provided, with more intervention earlier that may prevent real problems later.
“Personally and professionally,” he said, “I see
a real calling to try move upstream and intervene earlier — not only with individual improvements through lifestyle changes that can attend to the fac- tors that can contribute to chronic disease, be that movement, appropriate nutrition, or good sleep, but also thinking more systemically about how we sup- port the decisions and the resources within the com- munity to lead people toward better health, better wellness.” BW
“Decisions made in your 30s, 40s, and 50s show
up in your 70s and 80s ... you’re probably going to experience cancer, and you may experience heart disease or stroke, and you may need a hip replacement or spine surgery.”