Capacity & expertise: Components for growth

Contributor: Roy Massie

What stymies forward progress more than anything?  Not enough of the right people with the right skillset to take on key projects that contribute to an organization’s future state.  Simply put… the lack of capacity and expertise.

Many health plans today do not have adequate staff, even for important projects.  Compounding this problem is that inefficient processes and systems drain resources that could otherwise be focused on growth.  They want to grow their business, but are so busy just keeping the lights on that they struggle to take on strategic projects, even when they are important to future growth.

If this sounds familiar, you are in the same boat with many health plans that we talk to today.  They are so lean, that they have to savagely reduce good projects and initiatives.

However, health plans have several options:

1. Hunker down and stay the course, risking future growth and revenue.
2. Hire on new FTEs to take on the new projects, adding to overhead expenses.  Training these new FTEs can also impact how rapidly a project can be deployed.
3. Determine it is both cost effective and more efficient to outsource some or all the work to ensure that the right people with the right skillsets are working on key projects.

In today’s environment, health plan staff is already strained to capacity.  Yet they are still under pressure to deliver broader results, and not just in the short term.  With industry changes like individual coverage and regulatory changes consuming resources, it’s easy to see why they struggle to take on more projects.

Staff capacity and expertise should not be a hindrance to growth.  Health plans should weigh all options available to them.  To learn more, visit the SunGard iWorks Healthcare website.

For information on other healthcare payer-related topics, visit iWorks Healthcare.

Read about how iWorks Healthcare can help you Capitalize on Change and how iWorks can help you address your Healthcare Data Dilemma.

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