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John W. Mitchell, Senior Correspondent | May 15, 2015
From the May 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
HBCN: What should people know about LCMC Health?
GF: We are the only private, nonprofit, full-service children’s specialty hospital in the state. We operate the largest birthing hospital in the state at Touro, which makes 3,349 deliveries a year. With the intensive care units in our facilities we are the referral center for the most critically ill patients in the state. We do not turn anyone away. We are also a significant player in both Louisiana State University’s and Tulane’s medical training programs, as well as research trials, such as in oncology. With our mix of services we take care of our population from birth to end of life, which includes the nursing home facilities provided at Touro. We have an experienced leadership team here at the system who are charged with helping each of the hospitals in our system to succeed in delivering the best in modern patient care.
HBCN: What are the biggest challenges at LCMC Health?
GF: I think the single biggest shift is toward population management (keeping patients healthy). This is a big change. I see this affecting demand for inpatient services, with a leveling off and even declining. The new payment model (ACA) will focus on cost containment as services shift from inpatient to the outpatient. We have to focus to reduce care variation by managing outcomes. We have a challenging environment, all being driven by a move away from fee-for- service.
Information technology is the single biggest component of every decision I make now. All the devices in a hospital – from patient monitors to infusion pumps must have connectivity to the electronic health care record. This is a cost component that didn’t exist until recent years. But we’re still putting the latest medical technology and design into the new hospital to create efficiencies and patient safety. For example, there will be MRI in the operating room, so rather than move a patient out of the OR for imaging to check placement before the surgery is complete, we’ll do it right in the OR.
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