Hospital/healthcare financial recovery under COVID-19: Financial metrics that improve understanding and action

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested the limits of financial executives’ dedication, skill, patience and ingenuity. For many, the first wave of the pandemic has overwhelmed available resources, while others may be battening down the financial hatches for a second (or third) wave. In this maelstrom of uncertainty, it is important for healthcare organisations to have a clear-eyed view of their current financial situation and determine a clear path forward. What complicates matters is that each organisation has its own unique needs, history and circumstance to consider. There are plethoras of unique circumstances that create small or large differences between every hospital in the country that the article will discuss. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to financial recovery: what works for one organisation may not work for another. The key to finding the best approach is a clear and data-driven understanding of each organisation’s unique circumstances. This paper will examine the specific financial metrics healthcare financial leaders should monitor during COVID-19 that provide actionable advice, on the basis of Lumina’s depth of expertise, on precisely how healthcare organisations can use these metrics to chart their own customised path to financial recovery.