Survey Indicates Signs of Optimism Among Healthcare Providers

In my local business journal (Triangle Business Journal) there was an article this week about a new study by Grant Thornton that indicated that healthcare executives predict an increase in hiring at a much hire rate than non-healthcare executives. Grant Thornton surveyed 846 CFOs and senior comptrollers from public and private companies, of which 72 were from health care organizations. You can access the Grant Thornton website and their press release about the study by going to http://tinyurl.com/ybpqzd6.

Although there are signs of optimism in the survey results, there are also indications that healthcare CFOs are having to deal with the realities of the recession by cutting bonuses and reducing health benefits for employees. Here is an excerpt from the Grant Thornton press release dated October 28, 2009:

"In a survey of health care CFOs and senior comptrollers conducted by Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd, 38 percent say their organization will increase hiring in the next six months - 14 points higher than the national number - and one of the highest industries surveyed. More than half (52%) plan to reduce bonuses and half (51%) believe the U.S. economy will improve in the next six months.

In terms of pricing pressure, health care CFOs are overwhelmingly concerned about the cost of employee benefits (83%), such as health care and pension costs. Not surprisingly, 41 percent report that their company is reducing health care benefits and 21 percent are reducing 401(k) matches."

You can check out the original Triangle Business Journal article at http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2009/10/26/daily59....

Post by Dan Dunlop, The Healthcare Marketing Community & Blog