Write a conclusion for your paper and combine all the sections into a project paper. Impact of economic and outside influences to the organization • National and world economy impact • Explanation

St. Jude Children’s Hospital Capstone Project

Purdue Global University

HA499-Capstone

Lisa Giarda

July 11, 2018

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital operates similarly to other hospitals when it comes to pediatric care. The facility is focused on the outcomes of health and the lives of children they are saving while providing quality healthcare to all patients. However, the financial aspects and particularly financial management of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, things are run quite differently. First, the hospital does not bill their patients through the mail or turn away children who need the help. They also do not ask the patients how much they can pay on admission or any day. In other words, the hospital management does not care if the family of the patient can pay the hospital or if they are covered by an insurance company (Pratt, 1997). This characterizes them as a non-profit organization. It also means that the services offered to children are free of charge or paid by other means, unlike other healthcare facilities. According to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital website (St. Jude, 2018), the majority of funding for the facility is from the donations of well-wishers.

Service Reimbursement and Regulations

The service reimbursement analysis of the St. Jude’s Children Hospital shows that the organization survives on a financial assistance policy. The policy was implemented to ensure that the hospital’s economic status complies with the federal laws such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) among other applicable regulations within the jurisdiction. PPACA provides many rights and protection for patients that make health care affordable and fair. This law also allows expanding Medicaid coverage to families that are low income (Healthcare, 2018). This policy ensures that the hospital provides all patients with the required level and quality of care regardless of their financial limitations as well as without any form of discrimination while administering the services. The regulations compose the financial assistance program which is granted to any patient on admission to the St. Jude’s Children Hospital (Portner & Pridgen, 2014). The healthcare facility also provides urgent care to all the children as needed without favoritism or discrimination. According to their policy, the hospital cannot bill or pursue payment from any of the family members of a patient for the urgent medical services administered (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 2018). It is critical to note that the services may not be covered by an insurance company, however, to align with the state requirements there is a billing system put in place on admission for each patient. The actual bills are not mailed or handed to the patient regardless of the presence of the billing system. In case the patient has secured an insurance cover, the healthcare facility’s management bills the patient's health insurance plan or the provided third-party payer. The hospital then covers all the remaining expenses not included such as the treatments, deductibles, co-pays, and coinsurance among other cost-sharing requirements that the insurance or third party does not include. Interestingly the hospital does not report to credit agencies. This allows the organization to achieve its obligations of making sure that patients guardians are stress-free while their child is receiving the best cancer treatments available (Portner & Pridgen, 2014).

Methods of Funding

The healthcare facility boasts of a unique operating model; the hospital operates an average of $2.4 million per day. These funds are raised through public contributions of up to 75% of the required amount (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 2018). This amount seems higher than expected. However, at St. Jude’s Children Hospital when the policy says that the families should not receive a bill, they do not cover any of the costs whatsoever including the traveling treatment, food or housing during their stay. It is also critical to note that while insurance majority can cover most of the services have never been included. This is something that the organization does not expect to change shortly. According to their 2017 reports only 14% of the total money it takes to operate is paid in by the insurance. Similarly, 9% comes from grants and similar sources of funds (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 2018). This is what makes this hospital unique from other facilities considering they receive the majority of the operating costs from revenue, insurance and other sources (Pratt, 1997). The primary methods of funding at the facility come from donations, fundraising, and grants. The facility got funds from community health charities, state employee campaigns and combined federal campaign. Majority of the funding comes from American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities that was also founded by Danny Thomas. ALSAC is the fundraising charity made for St. Jude’s Hospital to raise funds to maintain the hospital. The primary goal of this organization is to raise funds and awareness worldwide to keep the hospital operating (St. Jude, 2018).

Quality, Ethics, and Involvement

The quality of care administered by the St. Jude’s Children Hospitals is remarkable around the globe. The hospital boasts of a long list of achievements and awards which honor every single branch under the St. Jude’s Children Hospital umbrella. The organization is phenomenal. The hospital was awarded the First Northwestern Mutual Excellence in Childhood Cancer Survivorship at ASPHO conference this year (OFWW, 2018). The hospital was named the best children’s hospital in the U.S. by Newsweek from 2008-2018, One of the best 100 companies to work for according to Fortune magazine. They have also been awarded numerous awards such as one of the fifty companies that care in the People’s magazine, one of the top workplaces according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the New Ideas awards given by the National Cancer Institute and most importantly the comprehensive cancer center designation award for the year 2008 and 2014. For instance, the St. Jude’s Children Hospitals department of pathology at the Memphis campus has in the recent past been awarded unique quality and ethics accreditation for their continued effort and promotion of ethics. This department has been ISO15189 accredited by the College of American Pathologists under the 15189-accreditation program. This facility is the first children's hospital in the nation to be certified by the College of American Pathologists. The accreditation is from the ISO the International Organization for Standardization. The standards are for laboratory, management, technical competence and continuous quality improvement. ISO focus on improving the safety of patients and reducing the risk of patients by outlining standards for medical laboratory (ISO, 2018). The Cap is an approved accreditation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The employees are also compassionate and loyal to the required guidelines of no billing. Similarly, the community and employees follow the code of conduct to ensure that they align with federal laws. For instance, it is a no-smoking zone; the dressing code principles prohibit garments that are distracting, it is also a requirement to sign in and out to ensure the children remain safe as well as the promotion of ethical behavior (Portner & Pridgen, 2014).

Marketing

Emily Callahan is the first Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at ALSAC. When Callahan first joined ALSAC five years ago, the charity did not have a formal marketing division. She was able to build the marketing department by pulling together teams that already exist with the charity. The CMO added new members to the group including brand marketing, creative communications, and interactive marketing. Callahan stated with the help of the CEO Rick Shadyac of ALSAC they have to be able to build “brand-centric culture where everyone in the organization is responsible for the stewardship of the brand, as well as the funds raised to support our missions” (CMO, 2018). The long-term vision that the CMO is wanting to make the brand iconic by using the scorecard to measure how St. Jude is perceived, supported and understood. The results of the scorecard will be able to increase the brand of St. Jude on a national and international audience to raise high dollars for the hospital. The marketing team always research and the data to market to the audience. The group follows trends like social media the group also use the economic and political trends to market. ALSAC like every other marketing department ask advice from experts and use the marketing tool that includes, video, mail, mobile, social and email. This marketing tool is essential for the St. Jude brand, so that individuals all over the world can be aware of the resources available (CMO, 2018).

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