Smarter Money Management in the Health Care Sector from Hospitals and Health News

By Howard Larkin

With the financial vise already tight and sure to get tighter, hospitals search for ways to survive on less.

Fiscal Fitness, cost reduction, money management, efficiency, variation, Medicare, payment, reimbursementFrom the Papal Nuncio's compound overlooking Port-au-Prince, Chris Van Gorder was struck by how beautiful the Haitian capital looked nestled by the sea. But as the president and CEO of San Diego-based Scripps Health descended into the city with his medical response team after the January 2010 earthquake, his impression shifted radically. "I had never seen such death and devastation in my life," Van Gorder recalls.

The jarring contrast between how the city appeared from above and on the ground, helped crystallize some long-developing notions Van Gorder had about his own organization. First, it threw into sharp relief the need to make health care more affordable, effective and responsive to all patients' needs. Second, it made it clear that accomplishing this would require looking at — and managing — Scripps horizontally rather than vertically.

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