YOUR GUIDE TO Lee Health’s 2023-2025 Strategy LEE HEALTH’S STRATEGY & INNOVATION DEPARTMENT Learn More About the Journey Ahead
IS ABOUT SETTING YOURSELF APART FROM THE COMPETITION. IT’S NOT A MATTER OF BEING BETTER AT WHAT YOU DO - IT’S A MATTER OF BEING DIFFERENT AT WHAT YOU DO. MICHAEL PORTER Strategy
A Letter from the Members of Our Chief Officers Leadership Council (COLC) Dear Lee Health Leaders, This past year was not easy as we faced a devastating hurricane that greatly impacted our community, our team members and our loved ones. Despite this event, we banded together as #LeeHealthStrong by checking on fellow employees, ensuring our patients’ safety and putting others before ourselves. We are deeply grateful for your continued dedication to Lee Health and your generosity toward each other. Before the hurricane, we began a multi-year process to evolve Lee Health’s Strategic Plan, as well as revitalize the way we approach strategic planning. After months of hard work, planning, research and conversation, we are delighted to achieve another milestone in our transformational journey — the introduction of Lee Health’s first Competitive Strategy. While competition among health care providers is not new, the amount of new competition emerging in our region requires us to respond strategically and with clarity and urgency. As patients are presented with new choices, it is increasingly important that Lee Health becomes the trusted partner in Southwest Florida by providing outstanding care and experiences to the patients, families, consumers and businesses we have the privilege to serve. We are not waiting to take action. Our region’s population is growing rapidly, and with that growth comes responsibility – ensuring our family, friends and neighbors continue to have convenient and timely access to the full array of health care services they need to stay well. This requires us to wisely steward our financial and human resources, prioritize our time and investments and work together to achieve our new Strategic Aim. While we are evaluating the timing and scope of our priorities in response to Hurricane Ian, our competitive strategy as a whole is enduring. As leaders, each one of us has an important role to play as we work to introduce our new Strategic Plan to team members and educate them on what the plan includes, why we are making these decisions and what will be required to bring our plan to life. We ask that you read through this Strategy Guide in its entirety, as it provides helpful information when communicating about our strategy with your teams and if you have questions, we’ve developed a Strategy & Innovation department page on VirtuaLee with additional tools to help support you. With gratitude and confidence in our shared future, Lee Health’s new Competitive Strategy is focused on helping us achieve our new Strategic Aim: To be Southwest Florida’s Health System of Choice
WHO WE ARE Our Enduring Mission, Values and Promise Our Values: Our ExceptionaLee Promise: Our Mission: To be a trusted partner, empowering healthier lives through care and compassion. RESPECT We foster an environment of integrity and transparency. We show respect for you and your choices and one another as colleagues and people. EXCELLENCE We strive for excellence in everything we do. We uphold the highest standards of safety, quality and deliver an exceptional experience. COMPASSION We care for you and your loved ones like our own. We cultivate a safe, comforting and healing environment in every interaction. EDUCATION We encourage individual and organizational learning as a means to promote healthier lifestyles and improve our delivery of care. Although much is changing in health care, we believe that some things shouldn’t change. Lee Health’s mission will continue to be the enduring cornerstone of our identity, and our values and ExceptionalLee Promise will continue to shape our interactions and decision-making—just as they have done in the past. We promise to listen and communicate effectively, embrace empathy, act with compassion and continually improve care—creating a safe, comforting and healing environment for our patients, their families and each other.
Lee Health FY 2022 | 5 WHERE WE’RE HEADED Our Vision & Roadmap for the Future Our Vision To inspire hope and be a national leader for the advancement of health and healing. Looking back on strategic plans, it is clear that they challenged us and guided and enabled our accomplishments in countless areas across our health system. We believe our new Competitive Strategy will enable us to do even more than we dreamed possible just a few short years ago—transforming Lee Health and improving the lives of everyone we serve.
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN Caution: Curves Ahead As we reflect on the journey we’ve been on as a health system, we can take great pride in what we have accomplished together. While we expect the path ahead to remain somewhat challenging and uncertain, we are fully confident in our collective ability to execute our new Competitive Strategy, fulfill our mission and achieve our Strategic Aim. Where care is delivered will continue to shift out of hospitals and into ambulatory and virtual settings. Health systems typically earn two to three times the revenue for services delivered in a hospital versus services provided in ambulatory and virtual settings. Experts estimate the pandemic drove 10 years’ worth of telemedicine innovations in roughly 12 months. We anticipate consumer preference for ambulatory, home care and virtual care to far outpace growth for inpatient care in the future. Payer mix is changing – increasing financial losses from Medicare and Medicaid. The number of people on Medicare is expected to grow 35% by 2030, and the number of people on Medicaid has increased as a result of the pandemic. Often, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement does not cover the full cost of a care episode – leaving little room, if any, for margin. Given that many health systems operate with very low margins, a 5% change in payer mix could be devastating. There is growing competition for services that generate higher net revenue. Today, many health systems’ margins come from pharmacy, imaging and a few select specialties. Payer actions, price transparency and growing competition are likely to drive down reimbursement and, therefore, health systems’ ability to generate any profit from these services. Newer private equity and venturebacked for-profit health care provider companies are wellfunded and looking to disrupt. Health care startups have deep financial reserves and are often less regulated, have fewer longterm financial obligations and can focus exclusively on services that provide higher reimbursement. This allows them to grow quickly and redirect patients from health systems to competitors or lowercost alternatives. The workforce is growing older, burnout is growing rapidly and higher numbers of professionals are leaving the workforce. COVID-19 has accelerated burnout among physicians, advanced providers and nurses. This has resulted in 25% of physicians considering early retirement and 76% of doctors and nurses experiencing depression in 2020. Shortages will be compounded by increasing pay demands and new care delivery models, such as virtual care. COVID-19 has significantly strained the finances and operations of health systems to varying degrees. The need to respond to the pandemic has consumed health system leadership, and disruptions to patient care (suspension of elective surgeries, lower outpatient and emergency department utilization) have resulted in increased costs and lower revenue. It is also making it more difficult to accurately predict patient volumes and revenue.
1 million+ The Potential Population of Lee County by 2030 Lee County Economic Development Office Projections *there will likely be disruptions to these projections due to Hurricane Ian LOCAL & REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN: Warning: Construction Zone Ahead Although our desired direction is clearly marked, we must stay vigilant and responsive to the many twists, turns and roadblocks we may encounter along our journey. This includes staying aware of changes happening in our local community and region. A CLOSER LOOK AT SOUTHWEST FLORIDA’S FUTURE Southwest Florida and its economy are growing rapidly. As a result, opportunities and challenges are also growing. The population will continue to increase throughout Lee County, particularly in Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres Growth is placing strain on infrastructure, including health care, housing, affordability Many industries are seeing an increase in competition for talent, including in health care Health care consumers have more choices than ever, and choices will only increase in the future THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Southwest Florida’s rapid growth and strong economy have made it extremely attractive to other health care systems and provider companies. HCA Healthcare is developing a system of care NCH and Physician’s Regional are developing key service lines Millennium has received funding for further expansion A Collier County health system is expected to announce another new hospital
OUR ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE: Defining Our Strategic Aim Over the years, Lee Health has delivered compassionate, high-quality care to literally hundreds of thousands of people from Lee County and beyond. While a large percentage of Southwest Florida residents already look to Lee Health for their health care, we are not complacent. Our new Competitive Strategy will help to ensure we achieve our bold new Strategic Aim, which includes the following concepts and terminology: Our Strategic Aim To be Southwest Florida’s Health System of Choice SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Population growth and economic development have made our region more attractive to competitors. We must become a “care destination” for consumers outside of our designated district to ensure the longer-term financial viability required to fund our public purpose in Lee County, especially as Lee County becomes saturated with health care providers. HEALTH SYSTEM We are committed to offering our region a full continuum of care and to seamlessly navigating our patients through their care journeys. This does not mean we need to own or operate every service and offering along the continuum. We are thoughtfully considering strategic partnerships and organizational structures to reduce complexity and costs. CHOICE Consumers and patients will have more options for their care. Our complete care team, including physicians, advanced providers, surgeons, nurses and other clinicians, will also have more choices in where to deliver care. Payers will exert greater influence on network design and development. To deliver patient-centered care, we will create unparalleled experiences and build trusted relationships across all of these audiences through the activation of our research-driven brand promise.
OUR ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE: Our Strategic Priorities Overview WHAT IS A STRATEGIC PRIORITY? Strategic priorities are the objectives Lee Health will achieve over the course of the Strategic Plan implementation. Increase Access to Primary Care Because resources are not unlimited, we need to prioritize and sequence where and how we will expand access. Our “front door” initiative to grow primary care capacity remains a priority. • The greatest demand for services will be in Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres based on projected population growth. • A Cape Coral strategy that unifies our system of care is under development to ensure we have a coordinated plan to preserve and grow market preference. A refreshed Lehigh Acres strategy will soon follow. • We are also exploring new care access points that cultivate relationships well before a consumer needs health care (e.g., the Partners in Wellness program). Pursue and Deliver on Value-Based Care Payer Arrangements With the emergence of risk-based contracting as a competitive advantage, we will invest in capabilities to enter into fully capitated agreements with payers within the next three years. • In capitated agreements, Lee Health receives a fixed amount of money per patient for the delivery of health care services. • To grow attributed lives (enrolled members in capitated plans) supporting our preferred network, we will develop a clinically integrated network with conditions of participation that position us to influence payers’ plan design. • In an additional effort to combat rising health care costs, we will also focus on growing attributed lives in our direct-to-employer branded offering, Lee Health Care Partners. Optimize and Differentiate Surgical Services Surgical services will be strengthened to preserve revenue contribution as competing hospitals enter the region. • Improving the experience of surgeons and surgical staff is critical for growth and retention. • To streamline operations and improve accountability and focus, we have recruited a Vice President of Surgical Services to oversee inpatient and outpatient surgery, sterile processing and anesthesia. Differentiate and Grow Heart, Cancer and Musculoskeletal Service lines We remain steadfast in our commitment to service line development for cancer, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal care. • We will design unparalleled patient experiences that excel in patient engagement and navigation. • We will focus on enhancing our reputation in these clinical areas by expanding access and capacity in convenient locations and providing seamless crosscontinuum inpatient and outpatient care coordination.
OUR ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE: Our Strategic Enablers Strategic enablers are the capabilities, capacities and/or resources that contribute to the operating effectiveness of our organization and the longer-term approach we will take to effectively execute our Strategic Plan. Deliver On Our Brand and Promise Lee Health’s brand promise states that our patients, employees and community have our undivided attention. In essence, we are all yours. We exist for the sole purpose of serving the people of Southwest Florida with exceptional health care. It is critically important that we stand behind our brand promise and that each and every one of us is delivering on it every day and night. To build brand trust and loyalty, there must be consistency between what we say and what we do. • We will ensure our team understands how the work they do impacts our brand and how they can live out our brand promise. • We will create marketing programs that bring our Lee Health brand to life and are consistent across platforms. We will listen to our team members and providers in the same way we listen to our patients. By building a strong brand, we will remain the health system of choice in Southwest Florida. Accelerate Digital Transformation and Innovation The community members who founded Lee County Hospital in 1916 had no way of knowing how their $300 investment would evolve and grow into Lee Health. Following in their footsteps, we will continue to innovate and transform care for future generations. Through digital transformation we will advance our health and healing capabilities by deploying innovative digital approaches to access, patient care and operational effectiveness. • Principles Guiding this Work: Collaboration between health care professionals, vendor partners and patients focused on improving lives through health care innovation. • This work includes process automation, which is technology-enabled automation that supports the streamlining of our internal system to increase the speed and quality of care delivery while reducing the costs of our day-today operations. By accelerating innovation, we will embed critical capabilities into the organization that will support our vision as a partner of choice for pioneering practices and treatments that harmonize consumer outcomes and experiences while driving down the cost of care. • Principles Guiding this Work: Embrace thoughtful risk-taking, build consumer empathy and foster resilience.
Elevate the Human Experience in Health Care We are keenly aware patient experience is deeply intertwined with and inseparable from the experience of our team members and providers, so this enabler encompasses and focuses on strengthening both the patient experience as well as the team member and provider experience at Lee Health. People, not processes or places, are at the heart of exceptional health care. While we deliver excellent care, navigating the care journey isn’t as easy as it should be. • Disparities impact nearly every aspect of health care, including access and outcomes. Our commitment to strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion will become increasingly evident. • We believe health care can and should be more person- or humancentered. To deliver on this experience, we will focus on strengthening our patient-centered culture and supporting our workforce. Drive Clinical and Performance Excellence At Lee Health, we strive for excellence in all we do, so this enabler focuses on advancing both clinical excellence and performance excellence. Clinical excellence enables us to optimize the health and well-being of our patients through the delivery of high-quality, patient-centered care and services, as well as the inclusion and engagement of our patients’ families and their caregivers. Performance excellence involves leveraging our strengths and addressing current and emerging challenges to be the very best health system we can be. • We will ensure our leadership team, workforce and operational structure are aligned with our Strategic Plan and the voice of our customers. • We will continue to evolve our key processes and offerings to further set ourselves apart. • We will achieve our desired results by holding ourselves accountable, tracking progress toward our goals and through focused improvement.
LEE HEALTH’S STRATEGY & INNOVATION DEPARTMENT Learn More About the Journey Ahead