Case Study
Great Plains Health: Need For “À La Carte” Medical Consulting Leads To CHC
The Situation
Many hospitals come to Community Hospital Corporation (CHC) in critical condition. Others come to optimize their health. Great Plains Health (GPHealth) in North Platte, Nebraska, is healthy and strong, with robust finances and a governing board that asks smart questions. Managed for nearly 25 years by an outside organization, GPHealth began to question the partnership’s value in 2009, and looked instead for an advisory partner to provide specific services according to need. Hospital leaders tapped CHC Consulting, the management and consulting arm of CHC, leading to improvements in operations, supply chain and productivity.
Background
GPHealth is a nonprofit, fully accredited, 116-bed regional referral center serving west Nebraska, northern Kansas and northern Colorado. Service areas span 34 counties, 136,000 lives and approximately 67,832 square miles. With nearly 100 physicians representing 30 medical specialties, GPHealth offers advanced medical services, including neurosurgery, heart and vascular, cancer, orthopedic services, women’s services, and a level III trauma center.
Although GPHealth thinks big, hospital leaders know that bigger isn’t always better. Such was the case with the management contract, which included a “big bundle” of services for which the hospital had no use.
“We wanted a vendor to be a trusted partner to help us achieve our goals and vision,” explains Ivan Mitchell, CEO, GPHealth.
The Plan
Instead of a bundled management contract, “We wanted more of an à la carte arrangement based on what we felt we needed, including group purchasing and help fine-tuning operations,” says Mitchell.
CHC Consulting listened to and met those needs as opposed to pushing a prepackaged solution. And in designing a custom solution, “CHC thought of things we hadn’t based on their assessment of how we operate,” he adds.
“CHC values the independent business model and helps keep it viable in the face of economic uncertainty and sweeping changes in the healthcare industry.”
Ivan Mitchell, CEO, Great Plains Health
Along with transition support as GPHealth parted ways with its longtime management company, CHC Consulting provided or assisted with:
• Analyses of revenue cycle, supply spend and productivity
• Conversion to CHC Supply Trust and its GPO partner, HealthTrust Performance Group
• Custom contracts for orthopedic implants
• Perioperative process improvement
• Profitability performance plan
• Plans for regional development as well as market share growth
• Practice management support
• Annual survey accreditation preparation
• Ongoing Strategic Planning support, including:
> Annual Market Assessment
> Community Health Needs Assessment and Implementation Planning
> Medical Staff Development Planning
“CHC’s financial acumen is exceptional. They made sure we were running as efficiently as possible,” Mitchell says.
The Results
CHC Consulting arranged for custom contracting for physician-preferred items, steering GPHealth to save 25 percent, or $425,000, on their annual hip and knee spend of $1.7M.
In recent years, CHC has facilitated several strategic planning efforts involving GPHealth along with other health systems and physician leaders.
As an organization, GPHealth has grown to nearly 100 medical staff members, some of whom travel to other clinics throughout Nebraska. Newer services include neurosurgery, cardiology and endocrinology, along with an expanded Emergency Department to better serve the local community.
These are examples of helping a good organization perform better.