Are you driving growth in healthcare or falling behind? Find out now!

As a healthcare manager, you are constantly facing the challenge of balancing the delivery of high-quality care with the need to control costs. The pressure to improve efficiency and reduce waste is increasing, and the stakes are high: healthcare costs are rising faster than inflation in most countries, and the quality of care is often inconsistent. In this environment, it's more important than ever to be able to grow your organization and achieve sustainable success.

So, what does it take to grow in healthcare? According to an article in the Harvard Business Review by Michael E. Porter and Thomas H. Lee, the key is to focus on maximizing value for patients. In other words, you need to achieve the best outcomes at the lowest cost. This requires a fundamental shift in the way healthcare is delivered, from a supply-driven system organized around what physicians do, to a patient-centered system organized around what patients need.

The authors propose a six-step strategy for moving to a high-value healthcare delivery system.

The first step is to organize around patients' medical conditions rather than physicians' medical specialties. This means identifying the specific medical conditions that your organization is best equipped to treat and focusing your resources on delivering high-quality, efficient care for those conditions.

The second step is to measure costs and outcomes for each patient. This requires collecting data on both clinical and financial outcomes and using that data to identify areas for improvement. By understanding the true cost of care for each patient, you can identify opportunities to reduce waste and improve efficiency.

The third step is to develop bundled prices for the full care cycle. This means pricing your services based on the entire experience of the patient, rather than billing for each individual service. By bundling services together, you can reduce administrative costs and provide more transparent pricing for patients.

The fourth step is to integrate care across separate facilities. This means breaking down the silos between different departments and providers and creating a seamless experience for patients. By coordinating care across different settings, you can reduce duplication of services and improve communication between providers.

The fifth step is to expand your geographic reach. This means identifying areas where there is unmet demand for your services and expanding your operations to meet that demand. By increasing your reach, you can capture more market share and achieve economies of scale.

The final step is to build an enabling IT platform. This means investing in technology that can help you collect and analyze data, coordinate care across different providers, and improve communication with patients. By leveraging technology, you can improve efficiency and provide better care for your patients.

Implementing this strategy requires strong leadership and a commitment to change. It also requires a willingness to experiment and take risks. But the rewards can be significant: by focusing on maximizing value for patients, you can achieve sustainable growth and provide better care for your patients.

To make this strategy work, healthcare managers need to be data-driven and results-oriented. They need to be able to collect and analyze data, identify areas for improvement, and implement changes that deliver measurable results. They also need to be able to communicate effectively with both internal and external stakeholders and build strong partnerships with other providers and organizations.

In conclusion, growing in healthcare requires a fundamental shift in the way healthcare is delivered. By focusing on maximizing value for patients, healthcare managers can achieve sustainable growth and provide better care for their patients. This requires strong leadership, a commitment to change, and a data-driven, results-oriented approach. By following the six-step strategy proposed by Porter and Lee, healthcare managers can achieve success in a challenging and rapidly changing environment.

Read the whole HBR article here- https://hbr.org/2013/10/the-strategy-that-will-fix-health-care