Do hospitals pay enough attention to capital budgeting and reporting as opposed to the operational side?
There’s no question that more needs to be done in effectively managing capital spending. Health systems are increasingly short on capital. They have to deal with increasing needs based on needed technology, aging plants, and IT. Operating margins are less than they would like and credit ratings are challenging. The need to focus on capital in all of its aspects is increasing rapidly. We believe health systems should be working to optimize their capital spending. Much of the activity has been on revenue cycle management and fundraising. We think there’s a lot to be gained by squeezing out every penny of each dollar of capital available. We make capital go further to fund more of their priorities. Is it hard to get the bean-counters to give up secretive, Excel-based budgeting? It’s difficult in any industry to effect significant change with processes everyone is comfortable with. Excel is a handy tool in many circumstances. The opportunity to have a fully integrated, enterprise-wide, on-
