Akron Beacon Journal...
Agent of change  
September 29, 2011 

Advocates of the Affordable Care Act talk about the health-care reform legislation as a “game-changer,” requiring significant adjustments in the way everyone approaches health care. The thinking at its crafting was that the changes would spur consumers and providers alike to re-examine how they use or manage health care, with the goal of maintaining high quality while driving down overall costs. 

Summa Health System now is taking the steps that reformers anticipate every player in the health-care market must adopt. It is doing so sooner rather than later as major provisions in the law go into effect in 2014. 

Ahead of the overhaul, the Akron-based hospital system last year paid for a comprehensive review of its costs and performance, taking into account the new national mandates, standards of patient care and payment policies. The projection from the analysis is that within the next 10 years, due to the scheduled changes, Summa could lose between $200 million and $950 million in revenue. 

Revenue reductions of this order would cause any business to pay attention. It is not surprising, then, that Summa plans to make adjustments that would cut some $966 million out of its operating costs during the next decade.

The health system, which employs more than 11,000 people in Summit County, announced on Monday strategies it expects will help maintain profitability in a rapidly changing and competitive health-care landscape. Summa hospitals are recognized as high-performers in several clinical specialties, including cancer care, orthopedics and geriatric care. The system’s operations also appear financially sound, projecting a positive margin of 2.6 percent this year. 

All the same, the reform legislation dramatically alters the environment. It puts a high premium on efficient operations. Among other changes, providers anticipate lower reimbursements for services through Medicare and Medicaid, government programs projected to face higher demand as the elderly population grows and coverage extends to cover more lower-income families. At the same time, providers face higher national standards, or incentives to reduce their rates of costly hospital readmissions and infections. 

Summa plans to consolidate several services and jobs; renegotiate contracts with vendors and streamline its supply system to cut costs. In essence, the health-care overhaul presents a national challenge. Hospitals and other providers across the nation must embrace the hard work of maintaining quality while improving efficiency. Summa has jumped to the front, reflecting the importance of the country finally “bending the curve” on health-care costs. 

Read it at the Akron Beacon Journal