The opportunity to resolve problems from a variety of perspectives can be a major plus, as Bill Griffin, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation, can testify.
He credits his promotion in January to the CFO’s chair not only to his 23 years of growth and advancement within the Baptist system, but also to his previous professional experience in public accounting with Arthur Andersen and KPMG Peat Marwick, during which he served Baptist as a senior manager of its account for six years before accepting an invitation to join the organization.
“The mid-'80s is when Baptist started growing outside of the Memphis area,” Griffin said. As its KPMG CPA, he was involved in many of its acquisitions and/or expansions, doing financial due-diligence work on Oxford, New Albany and Booneville in Mississippi, and Blytheville and Osceola in Arkansas, as well as construction of the new DeSoto-Southaven facility. “Golden Triangle, to that date, was the largest acquisition I had worked on -- a 300-bed hospital and regional referral center in Columbus, Mississippi."
Following that acquisition, he signed on in 1993 as chief financial officer for Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle and served there for two years before being offered the job of CFO at the “big hospital” in Memphis — BMHC’s major downtown medical center, serving as part of a 1,900-bed dual campus tertiary center with Baptist East.
When their managed care division was formed, he served as the division’s CFO. In 2000, he became vice president of corporate finance and also served as corporate privacy and security officer before taking this most recent step to the senior vice presidency and the corporate CFO’s desk.
His path seems almost predestined, with regular advancements and new roles throughout the system leading inevitably to this conclusion — and now that he has arrived, Griffin has an acquired treasury of invaluable eyewitness and hands-on experience and successes to delve into, not to mention a deep understanding and commitment to the organization’s philosophy and policies.
“It’s been an interesting 29 years,” he said, having been involved in the expansions of the Baptist East area, witnessing the historic closing and demolition of the big hospital, and supporting the formation of an integrated delivery system resulting from their aggressive acquisition of physician practices and development of that network.
There were nostalgic moments, as well: He recalls the aggressive plundering of the old hospital’s “Elvis Suite,” discovered during a final tour of the hospital before demolition: “Tiles off the floor, the thermostat off the wall, doorknobs, light switches, even the toilet seat was gone — and they started popping up on eBay!"
In retrospect, the University of Mississippi graduate said the proudest accomplishments of his career are the length of his tenure with Baptist and his many accomplishments benefiting the BHMC system. He points to a recent “heavy focus” on centralization and standardization of different areas that have historically been handled in-hospital but are now centralized in the corporate center of the system: namely, coding for all 14 of the hospitals, clinical documentation and transcription functionality, as well as managed care finance (which models and manages payer contracts and all the terms associated with it).
“We’ve also centralized our supply chain, so that all of our contracting — for vendor contracting and capital purchases — is handled by teams of experts,” he said.
During this turbulent period, rocked by vast changes ignited by the Affordable Care Act and the changes and challenges in reimbursement it has brought about, with shrinking revenue from Medicare and third-party payers, Griffin has also seen the dramatic transformation of his own job responsibilities.
“The CFO role in healthcare has changed a lot in recent years," he said. "It’s definitely become more of a strategic role, with strategic implications — to be able to work with the rest of the senior team. We have a strategic officer here, overseeing strategy for the organization, as well as our operations officer, and it’s definitely a team effort. We’re not just counting beans anymore.”
“Hospital systems are caught in a tough spot,” he added. “Continuing to grow and at the same time trying to manage revenue reductions and counteract them by trying to contain costs is a real balancing act.”
Griffin cites recent “very tough financial decisions” that had an impact on the system’s bond rating, dropping it slightly. He stresses that there’s nothing unhealthy about an “A-” rating, and points out that those decisions were hugely expensive but arrived at “very consciously — and with purpose.”
The roughly $250 million investment to establish its epic electronic health record (EHR) system — aggressively and successfully implemented — and its equally aggressive physician practice acquisition strategy both helped to better position Baptist for dealing with the new directions healthcare is likely to take.
“While it certainly put a crimp on our financial performance for a bit,” Griffin said, “we’re starting to see improvements come back around. We’re in a very good position, looking forward, to be able to move and address issues as they arise.”
His “to-do” list of priorities is a long one, he admits, including restructuring and internal changes that will focus on the overall revenue cycle, explore ways to adapt lean accounting concepts to healthcare, exercise dedicated diligence in controlling costs, and enhance revenue through improved processes or innovative approaches.
He speaks optimistically of re-examining financial reporting, the budget process, closing the books, and communication overall.
“The biggest component is going to be just working strategically with the rest of the executive team as we plan things out going forward," he said. "I think this young team is really going to come together. It’s starting to gel; I see nothing but good things for Baptist.”
A scholarship-winning musician, Griffin plays a variety of instruments, including guitar, piano, drums, banjo, mandolin and clarinet. He is married to his college sweetheart; their daughter attends Washington University Medical School in St. Louis.
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