When evaluating readiness for the future there are four key considerations that every healthcare financial leader should consider.
1. Advanced Reporting and Enhanced Visibility
Today, healthcare CFOs are mandated to deliver near real-time visibility into the financial performance and viability of their organization. Access to precise, up-to-date data is imperative for informed decision-making in the healthcare sector. When financial teams grapple with delivering timely data, it obstructs their ability to make critical financial decisions.
The healthcare industry’s rapid pace necessitates the ability to monitor financial health in real-time. 72% of healthcare CFOs surveyed by Sage believe that an “increased use of predictive analytics” is likely to impact their role over the next three years, a figure significantly higher than their non-healthcare CFO peers. These results, combined with 75% of healthcare CFOs planning to spend more time on financial/scenario planning over the next three years, highlight a strong industry desire to improve financial modeling and predictability and use data to predict where the business needs to go next for success.
Healthcare CFOs should continue to demand financial systems that provide visibility and insights into their institutions’ financial well-being, which depends on tight integration with clinical data that empowers them to make data-driven decisions promptly, ensuring adaptability and competitiveness in their fast-evolving industry.
58% of CFOs surveyed by Sage believe that an “increased use of predictive analytics” is likely to impact their role over the next three years.
2. Data Accuracy and Integrity
Healthcare CFOs must shift from error-prone spreadsheets to automated systems. By integrating clinical data into financial platforms, they can ensure data accuracy, mitigate risks, and improve decision-making. Modern financial management solutions are essential for achieving this level of precision and control.
Similarly, automating manual reporting processes, across the board, are essential to enhancing visibility and performance. According to the Sage research, an overwhelming 95% of healthcare CFOs believe that “more finance processes in (their) organization could be automated to improve efficiencies.”
Simply put, in healthcare organizations, automation translates to operational efficiency. The results ultimately reduce the burden of manual accounting across disparate revenue and cost sources, providing more time for financial analysis, forecasting, and bottom-line improvements.
81% of CFOs believe that “more finance processes in (their) organization could be automated to improve efficiencies” (with healthcare industry CFOs responding at an even higher rate).
3. Adherence to Evolving Industry Standards
The healthcare industry operates under a dynamic regulatory framework characterized by evolving accounting standards and compliance requirements. CFOs are required to understand that outdated financial systems are at risk of impeding their organizations’ compliance with these standards. Prioritizing the automatic integration of clinical data equips healthcare CFOs with the right information at the right time, ensuring compliance with industry regulations, such as HIPAA, fostering transparency, and facilitating the confident navigation of evolving healthcare compliance requirements today and beyond.
4. Streamlined Intercompany Consolidations
As healthcare providers expand or establish new entities, or pursue M&A, intricate intercompany consolidations become the norm. Traditional, outdated software solutions may not be sufficient for addressing these complexities. Today, healthcare CFOs must once again prioritize having systems in place that can integrate clinical data to ensure streamlined multi-entity consolidations. Doing so simplifies financial reporting processes, enhances accuracy, and expedites financial consolidation—a critical factor in making well-informed strategic decisions.
To learn more about how Sage Intacct and LBMC W Squared are helping financial leaders across the healthcare spectrum thrive in today’s complex and challenging healthcare environment, contact us.
Written in partnership with Sage Intacct.
