A CFO Lesson Learned

By David Capone, CEO & Founder DCCS Consulting

DCCS Consulting Financial Advisory Services

Working for a large national health system early my career, I was assigned the opportunity to work in the position of CFO for a regional health system that had 5-years of operating losses.  It was a daunting challenge but one I cherished from a career advancement opportunity.

The health system’s annual operating losses ranged from 3% to 5% of revenues.

As I was being oriented to my new position, I was told there was a need for a rapid financial turnaround and my focus needed to be on revenue cycle, managed care rates, financial reporting, etc..

After months of working with revenue cycle, supply chain, productivity, managed care contracts, it became apparent that the operating losses were not coming from financial management, but rather from operations.

This was not a financial turnaround, but rather an operational turnaround due to a poor workforce culture, inadequate IT support, under performing outpatient/hospital-based physician services, fragmented patient care that included an under performing ED and Hospitalist service, etc.

Ultimately the health system was returned to profitability; however, it took much longer than it would today.   Failure to properly identify operational issues when evaluating financial losses can be a painful professional experience.

When financial results are not on target there should be a comprehensive Enterprise-Level Assessment that includes evaluating both financial and operational performance.

DCCS assists health systems with operational and financial support to improve quality of care, patient and staff satisfaction while strengthening the bottom line.

To learn more about DCCS Consulting services:

David Capone, CEO & Founder, Financial Advisory 302.299.7627 | dcapone@dccsconsulting.com