Publisher’s Letter: Takeaways from Federation

Takeaways from Federation

My compliments to Kerry Price and the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH) team for a great conference in Washington, D.C. Each year, the FAH Conference is at the top of my list of industry events to attend, and this year did not disappoint!

Yet, as I walked through the Atlanta airport to catch my flight to D.C., the airport had an odd feel to it. The coronavirus was certainly on many travelers’ minds and created a solemn setting.

I have been to more than 20 of FAH conferences through the years, and I remember vividly during the swine flu era the amount of people coughing, sneezing and sniffling through the plenary sessions. It was very different this year; it seems people not feeling well wisely chose to stay home. Hopefully that will become a widely accepted norm.

I thought I’d share some takeaways from the meeting that I found interesting, important or new: No. 1: The political atmosphere in D.C. is gloomy. While this was no surprise pre-COVID-19 outbreak, I think we all hope that our lawmakers will put politics aside in the weeks to come to bring real solutions to this global pandemic.

No. 2: Nurses, doctors and hospitals are all viewed favorably, while insurance and drug companies are viewed unfavorably. This is interesting if you think about it. The frontline care givers are well liked by Americans, but the big, profitable insurers and drug makers are not. Hospitals are still viewed favorably but are slipping because Americans are starting to associate hospitals with rising healthcare costs.

No. 3: The presidential election will be decided by 300,000 to 400,000 people in about 10 regions of the country. These few swing regions are key to deciding whether President Trump gets another term.

No. 4: Ken Kuiper of Medical Strategies International did a great job presenting the Corris Boyd award to Kevin Price, senior director, supplier diversity at Novant Health. The award is to honor the late Corris Boyd, whose vision of building a better way to live and work through leadership and diversity was embodied in the many accomplishments for which he is known.

For 14 years, Kevin Price has supported and featured historically under-utilized businesses. In 2019, Novant’s support of these businesses reached over $1 billion in spend.

Congrats to Kevin on the award. It is well deserved!

No. 5: Value analysis is here to stay and suppliers planning to gain market share need to find a way to make value analysis a competitive advantage. The providers presenting on value analysis emphasized that sales and marketing collateral is not what they want in the information packet.

No. 6: The new leasing regulations are a big deal for capital suppliers. How IDNs book acquisitions of capital has big consequences on the operating expense budget, capital budget and balance sheet. Suppliers that can help IDNs understand the pros and cons of the buy-versuslease decision in the era of these new regulations will certainly be viewed as a trusted advisor.

If we connected in D.C., it was great to see you! If not, hopefully we will next year!

All the best, John Pritchard

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