Choosing the right finance partner

Written By: Bryce Ray

Have you had a difficult time finding a finance partner that truly understands a hospital's financial statements, equipment needs, and financial pressures? As the Chief Credit Officer at Med One I have the privilege of reviewing the financial profile of hospitals nationwide each day; all day (that’s all WE DO).

As with any business entity, hospitals come in all shapes and sizes; for-profit, non-profit, government, large, small, urban, and rural. Within our leasing and rental portfolio you will find the full spectrum of hospitals. These types include: private, publicly traded for-profit, small critical access, safety-net, large investment grade systems, and even VA hospitals. We cover them all choosing to make medical equipment available when the capital budget is not readily available. Our hospital customers are located all over the country, as well as Puerto Rico, and international locations. We have financed all types of equipment within so many creative structures for our hospital customers. Basically, we seek to finance the equipment a hospital needs to operate.

My purpose in describing our portfolio is to make clear that no matter the hospital or circumstance Med One is here to act as a trusted equipment, finance, and rental consultant. With that in mind as I speak to hospital executives I hear their worries loud and clear. I have listed many of these concerns below.

The financial strength of a hospital is extremely dynamic and thus requires strategy and ample planning. A great source of pride for me at Med One is that we truly understand our hospital niche and work with our customers and equipment vendors to find financing solutions that work for all parties. There is little doubt that all parties (hospitals, equipment vendors & financing companies) need to adapt, innovate, and build new programs to move healthcare financing forward and get equipment into hospitals.

In my experience, the most valuable lesson to building understanding, trust, and commitment to develop a partnership requires one to “walk a mile in the others shoes.” Sometimes those shoes don’t feel so good, but at Med One we know that one size does not fit all. We are committed to listening to our hospital customers and making things work based on your circumstances as well as ours.

A Look at the Numbers

Hospital expenditures have recently increased 4.1% to $971.8 billion

$936,531,524,400 Total estimated expenses of all registered hospitals

Nearly 40 percent of the Nation's physicians are hospital-employed.

Physician and clinical expenditures rose 4.6 percent to over $600 billion and growing since 2014.

In 2015, total uncompensated care costs were $35.7 billion. Representing 4.2 percent of total expenses.

Sources:
www.beckershospitalreview.com
www.aha.org