inPractice - Winter 2019 - 3

SECOND
OPINION

Q&A

Vik Acharya,

COO of Brandywine Hospital

In this special edition of Second Opinion, we interviewed Vik Acharya, chief operating
officer of Brandywine Hospital, about the business side of health care. Acharya's lifelong
passion for patient care led him to the COO role at Brandywine earlier this year, where
he's responsible for managing the day-to-day hospital operations and budgets. He also
collaborates with other departments and leaders as Brandywine and its health system,
Tower Health, prioritize projects and plan for the future.

How would you describe
Brandywine Hospital and
how it fits into the larger
Tower Health system?

How is the business of
health care different from
other businesses?

What major forces do you
see shaping the business
of health care in the next
decade?

What's one lesson
you'd like to share with
tomorrow's health care
leaders?

Brandywine Hospital is one of seven hospitals in the Tower Health
system. When you have all these moving parts, it's important for health
care administrators to not only think about their own institution's
priorities, but also the larger priorities for the whole system. We have
a very specific strategic plan for the whole system focused on growing
five key areas-neurosciences, cardiovascular services, women's health,
oncology and orthopedics-and each part of the health system has a
defined role in growing these priorities.

Because hospitals are reimbursed for services by payers that all reimburse
at different levels, it's a vastly different way of operating a business. Plus,
people forget that a lot of different people work in hospitals-not just
doctors and nurses, but also techs, food service workers, IT folks, and of
course, health care administrators. Managing this diverse range of people
can be a challenge, but the most important part is recognizing everyone's
role in contributing to excellent patient care.

Electronic medical records already play a huge role in health care, and
that role will just continue to expand as we get a better understanding of
how we can analyze their data to improve patient care. The change from
a fee-for-service model to a pay-for-quality model is also having a huge
impact on how we think about and approach patient care. So much of
the focus now is on a quality patient experience and positive outcomes,
which I see changing health care for the better.

Especially when you're on the non-clinical side of hospital operations,
you have to keep in mind that the patient comes first. Sometimes you
have to remind folks of that focus, and the rest-financials, budgets,
all of that-will follow. If you keep patient care the priority, you'll see
everything else come together. Financials get better, satisfaction scores
go up, employees are more engaged-all because everything is focused
on the patient.

PA College / Winter 2019

inPractice - Winter 2019

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