47% of health system executives indicated that they were extremely interested in addressing the challenge of rising consumer expectations for service, according to The Advisory Board Company’s Annual Health Care CEO Survey. Additionally, 45% of hospital and health system executives said they were extremely interested in identifying patient engagement strategies – a four-percentage-point increase over the previous year.
For its Annual Health Care CEO Survey, The Advisory Board Company surveyed 209 C-suite executive members in December 2015. The firm’s membership includes some of the largest and most progressive hospitals and health systems in the United States. Survey questions are based on the Advisory Board’s more than 10,000 annual research interviews with health care executives.
Additionally, research from The Advisory Board Company reveals that providing patients with inaccurate price estimates can affect patient satisfaction. Nearly one-third of hospital and health system executives (31%) expressed extreme interest in addressing this issue and developing consumer-focused pricing strategies.
The survey asked executives about their level of concern for 25 topics, ranging from reducing drug costs to mergers and acquisitions. The top five areas of concerns to hospital and health system executives are:
1. Engaging physicians in minimizing clinical variation (53%);
2. Redesigning health system services for population health (52%);
3. Meeting rising consumer expectations for service (47%);
4. Patient engagement strategies (45%);
5. Controlling avoidable utilization (44%).
“Health systems are facing a push toward consumerization, fueled by more patient financial accountability, as well as the push to population heath and managing the total cost of care,” said Lisa Bielamowicz, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director, Research and Insights at The Advisory Board Company. “Health systems are seeking strategies that bring together these potentially conflicting market forces.”
