HFMA VIEWS

Robert Fromberg
Editor-in-Chief, HFMA

Yesterday afternoon, HFMA Chairman Joe Fifer revealed what CFOs are really like.

Well, it wasn't exactly Fifer who identified the characteristics. In preparation for his opening keynote speech yesterday at HFMA's Revenue Cycle Strategies Conference--the subject of which was "The Leadership Your CFO Needs"--he asked his staff to describe what a CFO does, and he shared the result with the audience. Among the responses was this gem: A CFO could be replaced by a robot that repeats, "Answer with yes, no, or a number."

Fifer's more serious point was that CFOs are pulled in many different directions and must rely on staff for an array of crucial activities--ones that if not done right can even cost a CFO his or her job.

Fifer said that today the CFO's role goes beyond the traditional responsibilities. Today, CFOs are at the center of a huge shift in how hospitals interact with all stakeholders over healthcare finance. And this shift is something that all finance staff play a role in.

Fifer encouraged the attendees to put the patient at the center of healthcare finance and to do what's right for those patients--give them information about prices that is meaningful to them and to change the pricing system so that prices are defensible. He had a long list of what is tough about pursuing those goals, but an equally long list of the actions that his organizations and others have undertaken to embrace this approach to consumerism.

At the end of his presentation, he donned the cap of his favorite baseball team--the Detroit Tigers--and headed off to the reception, where the World Series game was to be broadcast. (Too bad about the rainout; I hope the weather is better tonight.)