Survey: Improving ambulatory access is top interest for healthcare executives

According to Advisory Board's annual healthcare CEO survey, improving access to ambulatory care is the top area of interest for hospital executives for 2019. The survey polled 90 hospital executives across the country between Jaunary and March, asking them to rank their interest in 29 different areas. Participants were able to specify interest levels in more than one area.

Results show that 57% of respondents determined improving access to ambulatory care to be their top area of interest. Improving ambulatory access would involve making changes to staffing, hours, and/or facilities in order to increase patient accessability to the institutions' outpatient offices. Succesfully doing so would likewise increase patient volume and therefore revenue for these institutions.

Additionally, the following were also identified as areas of extreme interest to hosptial executives for 2019:

• Minimizing unwarranted clinical variation (53%)
• Strengthening primary care alignment (53%)
• Redesigning health system services for population health (52%)
• Innovative approaches to expense reduction (51%)

Source: Becker's Hospital Review